BILL CHERRY'S GREATEST DALLAS PARK CITIES REAL ESTATE BLOG

My friend, Norman Stanowski, is an economist.  We often sift through economic data and reach similar conclusions.  He sent me this piece the other day.

What it portrays is a real estate market that is perfect for anyone whose future has in it a change of homes.  That especially holds true for those who would like to sell their current home and buy one of substantially greater value.  While to do so would be going against most people's emotions, in reality it offers far less risk and substantially better opportunities for future gains than remaining in your current house until the market recovers, then making the change.

It gives you the opportunity to take advantage of an investment strategy called arbitrage.

Meanwhile, here's what will work to your advantage even though it will be bleak for others.

The U.S. Housing Market Is Now LOCKED Into a Chronic, Long-Term Depression

Housing starts - the most important measure of the housing industry - is still a disaster zone.

Beginning in January 2006, they suffered their worst plunge in recorded history - from an annual rate of 2.3 million to a meager 477,000 in April 2009. Thus ...

In just three years, 79 percent of America's largest industry, impacting more Americans than any other, was wiped away.

Then, despite a series of government agency programs to shore up the industry ... plus $1.25 trillion poured in by the Fed to buy up mortgage-backed securities ... plusa big tax credit for new home buyers, housing starts perked up ever so slightly: They recovered to an annual rate of 612,000 in January of this year.

But this recovery was so small, it retraced just 7.5 percent of the prior fall. In other words,

Even after massive government efforts, and even at the highest point in their recovery this year, the housing industry recouped less than one-tenth of its historic three-year bust from 2006 to 2009.

Worse, the housing industry has now resumed its decline.

The most alarming factor: Widespread "strategic defaults" on home mortgages.

These are defaults by homeowners who can afford to meet their monthly mortgage payments, but have deliberately decided to stop paying.

They realize their home is worth less than they owe on the mortgage - transforming it into a dead asset they're willing to give up. They know their bank, already overwhelmed with foreclosures, won't get around to evicting them for as long as two years, allowing them to live in the house cost-free. They also know this tactic can give them tens of thousands of dollars in extra cash. So they're defaulting en masse and getting away with it.

End result could be:

• New supplies of foreclosed homes hitting the market.
• Bankers who would rather cut their wrists than finance new homes, and ...
• Perhaps a new slump in housing that's worse than even some pessimists were expecting.

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS - PARK CITIES

Our 45th Year

214 503-8563

DALLAS DRY CLEANERS
10531 East Northwest Highway

I'll admit it.  I was taught to buy and wear top quality, tailored clothes and footwear and to take good care of them. 

In the care department, there is nothing harder on clothes than dry cleaning and commercial laundering.

So you can imagine what a nightmare I am as a customer for most cleaning shops.  They smile when I come in the first time, but usually with each successive time, the welcome gets less sincere, and I get more grouchy.

We moved to Dallas five years ago.  I have already tried and fired at least nine cleaning shops.  The work was sloppy, they cut corners, and they didn't understand the concept of replacing buttons they broke without me bringing the garment back.

So rather than having you subjected to this same unrewarding experiment, I want to tell you that I have found a good dry cleaners and laundry.  DALLAS DRY CLEANERS.  The physical address is 10531 East Northwest Highway, but if I were giving you directions, I'd say that it's in the series of buildings that's home to the Kroger's at the corner of Northwest Highway and Plano Road.  The shop fronts Northwest Highway, and it's west of Kroger's.

One of my friends there is Freddie Hernandez.  He's going to be leaving at the end of the summer.  He's going to go to the University of Texas in Austin to study computer engineering.  He'll be a sophomore.  I'm very proud of Freddie.

<<--Freddie Hernandez

And then there are Dat and Duyen Nquyen.  They share the same last name, but they aren't kin.  Two spectacular young people who have strong, friendly personalities and are very customer oriented.

In fact my friends are so good at what they do that Tien Tran, the owner, spends much of every day playing golf.  He knows that while he's gone, his business is in good hands.

See what you think...

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS - PARK CITIES

Our 45th Year

214 503-8563

WEB

There used to be a school a half-block behind Galveston's famous seawall.  It was Lovenberg Junior High.  It was torn down after a storm seriously damaged it about forty years ago.

But it was the junior high school I went to in the early 1950s.  And I forgot to tell you it was directly across the street to the west of Galveston's most famous seafood restaurant, Gaido's.

The Gaido family has owned and operated that institution since 1911, and has served millions of fish to tourists and islanders.

The Gaido patriarch was Mike Gaido.  He understood the restaurant business and the importance of good food and service better than anyone. 

One of my school chums was a fellow named Robert.  I remember he played the French horn in our school's terrible band. He made good grades in the academics.  Robert hated the school cafeteria so much that he not only brought his lunch from home, but he would eat it outside on the school's steps rather than at a table inside with his friend.

Robert said the cafeteria looked like a prison and smelled like dirty dishwater and Clorox.

One day, Robert decided to take his sack lunch across the street to Gaido's.  He walked in the door, and before the host could say much more than "Welcome to Gaido's," Robert had crossed the dining room and was sitting at a banquette with his lunch spread out on the table.

The dining room was all but totally full.  Conversations stopped.  Everyone looked at Robert.  Everyone wondered how Mr. Gaido would handle the situtation.

Mr. Gaido, obviously in disbelief, came over and said hello and asked if he could get Robert anything.  "Sure," Robert said.  "I'll have a Coke and a glass of water."  Mr. Gaido personally brought it to the table.  When Robert got ready to leave, he asked for the check.  The waiter said, "Mr. Gaido picked up your check."

Everyday at noon, Robert went across, spread his lunch out on the banquette's table, and Mr. Gaido brought him a Coke and glass of water.  When Robert asked for the check, the waiter would always say, "Mr. Gaido picked up your check."

Well, one day one of the teachers was looking out of her classroom window and she saw Robert walking back from Gaido's.  She met him as he came in the door, and as soon as she found out where he'd been and what he'd been doing, she reported it to Pop Smart, the principal, and he put a stop to it.

It wasn't Mr. Gaido who told Robert he couldn't bring his sack lunch to Gaido's.  That's marketing.

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS - PARK CITIES

Our 45th Year

214 503-8563

WEB 

Everyone knows the story about the founding of Playboy Magazine in the early 1950s by Hugh Hefner, who in his 30s, was working for Esquire Magazine when he had an epiphany about the same time that Esquire refused to give him a token salary raise.

<<---Hugh M. Hefner turned 84 this past April

And everyone has an opinion about Mr. Hefner's personal life as it has been reported to us over the years, the content of the Playboy magazine as it has evolved over the past nearly 50 years, and the Meese Report that stepped in and dictated how it can be marketed.

Subscription and news rack sales of Playboy are reported to have diminished from about eight million at their highest to currently between two and three million, although I was unable to find the audited reports to confirm this. 

Playboy announced this week that Mr. Hefner, who personally owns 69.5% of the company's voting stock, is proposing to buy all shares for $5.50 each that are in the hands of others.   That's $122.5 million which is almost twice what the shares have been trading for on the open market.

I began my teen years reading Playboy.  And other than looking at the pictures of the "girls next door," I read short stories by well-known authors.  I learned about business from J. Paul Getty.  I got an early appreciation of art and jazz and found out about exotic cars.

I was shown style, style in how to choose clothes and to dress, and I got cooking lessons from famous chef Thomas Mario, who also introduced me to the method of making fine cocktails.

Mr. Hefner wrote a long series titled The Playboy Philosophy.  It was a carefully researched and intellectual piece that explored the sociology of human beings.  I read that, too.  And from it I learned things I hadn't known before and began to think about how I should live my adult life.  Sometimes I agreed with Mr. Hefner, other times I didn't.  Nevertheless, like a college classroom discussion, it helped me to understand who Bill Cherry was then and figure out who he would be later.

In 1986, about thirty years after Playboy's first issue hit the stands,  Edwin Meese was the attorney general in the administration of Ronald Reagan.  On orders from President Reagan, he and nine commissioners, including Christian activist, Dr. James Dobson, explored and tried to figure out what constituted pornography, and how it could be regulated without violating First Amendment rights.

A good deal of what it decided to stifle were not only the rights of Mr. Hefner and his magazine, but the rights of those who chose to read it and those who retailed it.

One of the new restrictions was that Playboy, and others with similar photographic content, had to wrap each of its magazines in a sealed wrapper, a wrapper that one could not see through if the cover displayed what the Messe commission defined as photographic pornography.

That wasn't enough for the 7-Eleven convenience stores, who had sold the magazine, unwrapped and easily available, on its store racks for thirty years.  They decided that they wouldn't no longer carry the magazine.  Other retailers interfered as well, some hiding the magazines behind the counter so customers would have to ask for them, others putting them on the highest shelf of the magazine rack so that only the tallest person could reach one.

And that's where we are today, even though hard core pornography now runs rampart and virtually unmonitored and unregulated on Internet web sites, in movie houses, and in places euphemistically called "gentlemen's clubs."

So a week ago, I decided to see how Playboy was being treated in Dallas.  Here's the silliness of what I found.

At Barnes and Noble's largest Dallas store, the store across Northwest Highway from NorthPark Center, for most, the magazine cannot be reached without the use of a store employee with a ladder.  In the photo, only about an inch or so is visible.  That's it at the very top, left-hand corner.

However, across the store, a hardcover anthology of Playboy centerfolds is wrapped in cellophane and displayed on a shelf that is chest high and with its cover facing the customer.  Directly next to it, also facing outward, is a hardcover book titled XXX 30 Porn Star Portraits. It isn't wrapped in cellophane.

At Borders Bookstore on the corner of Royal and Preston, the magazine is wrapped but can easily be reached on the magazine rack.  However, next to it is a similar magazine called Maxim.  It is unwrapped.

Within fifty feet from the magazine rack at Borders, among the "coffee table books" in the section on photography, is a large book that "explores" photographing homosexuals.  This book is extremely sexually graphic, including men with erections It's title is Man to Man - A History of Gay Photography. It isn't wrapped in cellophane and it is on a shelf that is waist high.

7-Eleven stores still don't carry Playboy.

Yet all around us, the world is being shown that the Meese Report and the actions taken by the government as a result, have not accomplished their mission. 

What they have done is provide rules and regulations that, at least in the case of Mr. Hefner and Playboy, interfere with his freedom of speech, interfere with his company's rights to operate in a free market, and worse of all, require his company to follow restrictive rules that are not applied to others.

Those are the reasons that Playboy Enterprises stockholders have seen their investment shrink dramatically in recent years, a cost that surely none of those on the Meese Commission experienced since surely they had no financial interest in the enterprise.

What we do know for sure is that the Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution, a requirement that the public demanded before the Constitution could be ratified.  The sole purpose of the Bill of Rights, in general, is to promise protection of each individual's dignity.  In other words, that in the actions of the government, we will each be treated equally.  What is applied to one, will be the same as what is applied to all others.

That obviously isn't happening here.  It's time for Mr. Hefner, his shareholders, and those interested in selling and buying his magazine, to be allowed to regain their guaranteed freedom.

 BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS - PARK CITIES

Our 45th Year

214 503-8563

WEB

BLOG

From the Dallas Morning News and the Texas A&M Real Estate Center in College Station.

HIGHLAND PARK PROPERTY TAX REVENUES DROPPING

HIGHLAND PARK (Dallas Morning News) - Highland Park's property tax base is projected to fall 4.4 percent next year, according to an early estimate presented this week to the town council. That translates into a $443,294 shortfall for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins this fall.

Property taxes account for 62 percent of the city's revenue. Highland Park has one of the lowest property tax rates in the area, at 22 cents per $100 of taxable valuation, and council members are hesitant to raise the tax rate to 23 cents.

"Everything should be on the table at this point," said council member Gail Madden. "I'm not interested in going up even a penny either. Everybody's struggling - everybody."

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS - PARK CITIES

Our 45th Year

214 503-8563

WEB

BLOG

Two of the major highlights of the multitude of cable networks were the Home and Garden Network (HGTV) and the Food Network.

We liked to watch Pat Simpson and Jodi Marks show how to build a closet or lay a hardwood floor.  They were not just actors.  They were actually trained home builders.

<<==Pat Simpson

Jody Marks ==>>

And Emeril cooked so much like my mother did -- the way I learned -- that seeing him prepare New Orleans' recipes was a joy. 

But now HGTV, at least during prime time, is one show after another of a couple about to move somewhere, looking at three homes shown them by a local Realtor, and finally buying one.

The Food Network has contests among chefs so the home audience can see who the judges pick. 

During the daytime, as far as I can tell, the only real chefs are Ina Garten and Bobby Flay, with Bobby's main interest seeing what he can prepare on an outside grill.  Ina actually prepares and shows the audience how to cook recipes.  The remaining personalities appear to, in the main, be nothing more than actors who demonstrate a recipe, the products of which have been prepared behind the scenes by trained professionals.

I have found two HGTV shows that I really like.  One is called "Sarah's House." The other is "Holmes on Homes."  Both series are produced and recorded in Canada.  Sarah Richardson is actually a trained and good designer.  Mike Holmes is a real building contractor.  The audience learns valid information from both of them.

<<--Sarah Richardson

I can't leave out Candace Olson, who is an interior designer who has no intention of trying to see how cheaply she can change the look of a room.  She's has excellent credentials and at 6 feet tall, was a champion college volleyball player.  She's another Canadian.

I wish the two networks would return to the original formats. 

 Candace Olson ==>>

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS - PARK CITIES

Our 45th Year

214 503-8563

LINDSEY'S TREE AND FIREWOOD SERVICE

10717 Northwest Highway at Plano Road

Lindsey's is one of those Texas sort of businesses that we take for granted, take for granted until we are challenged to name its competitors.  There may be one or two at the most, spread among the several million citizens who live in Dallas.

I took this photo the other day when I was there taking advantage of their offer of free mulch.  Before the morning was complete, I had taken and spread in our home's flower beds, just shy of 250 gallons of Lindsey's mulch.  (That's Bill Cherry, Realtors' answer to the Lexus there in front.)

But Lindsey's also supplies huge amounts of the fire wood that is used by restaurants, barbecue stands, in home grills and fireplaces throughout Dallas. Whatever kind of wood you want, from oak to fruit wood to pinion, it's all available here.

And the part I like best is the correctly dimensioned stacking forms that let customers know they are getting a full or half cord.  That's a rarity.

In addition to their firewood service and their free mulch, Lindsey's handles the shaping-- even the removal when necessary -- of many of Dallas' homeowners' trees.  

So back to the free mulch.  The gates are open 24-7 and the sign says you're welcome to load up at your convenience.  And make sure you see Lindsey's for firewood and for tree manicuring.

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS - PARK CITIES

Our 45th Year

214 503-8563

WEB

In most circles, all you have to do is mention "life insurance salesman," and you'll watch the listeners mentally turn you off as if they were an old person removing their hearing aid.

Before you discount this post and zap it into infinity, read a bit of it and see if there isn't some information that will be very valuable for you to know, consider and act on.

There are two forms of life insurance that everyone should have:

            Permanent Insurance:  Permanent insurance products are most often called Whole Life and Universal Life.  Because of the way they are constructed and the way the Internal Revenue and probate courts consider their importance in a family's welfare, they provide great benefits that no other investment provides.

            Term Life Insurance:  These policies are substantially cheaper because 1) there is no benefit to the insured or his beneficiary if the insured doesn't die prior to the expiration of the policy and 2) they are primarily beneficial to young people, say those younger than 65, whose actuarial chance of dying while the policy is in effect is minimal.

Each of these formats, when properly added to a person's financial planning, offers a wholeness and security to the insured and the beneficiary(ies) that he names in the policy, that cannot be equally provided by any other financial vehicle.

There are other valuable products as well, including Annuties and Endowments.

Irresponsible salespersons who sell equities but not life insurance frequently recommend the idea that goes like this: "Buy term insurance and invest the difference."  That recommendation almost always mixes two products that are frequently counter-productive to what the client really needs. 

When I first was out of college, I worked for a mutual fund management company that was owned by a life insurance company.  I thought it would be to my advantage to learn about life insurance, so I enrolled in the Chartered Life Underwriters (CLU) program at the University of Houston.

That intense and difficult educational course of study convinced me that no one should consider buying life insurance or not buying it without the counsel of an agent who is a CLU.

The best one I've ever met...the one who absolutely knows how life insurance works and how to tailor it to clients is Ronald Coleman - just like the name of the old-time movie star.  Ron has been serving clients for forty-two years.

Those who are in the Dallas-Fort Worth area would be wise to schedule an appointment with Ron...an appointment to have him review the coverage you now have and to make certain you are properly covered to your and your family's advantage.

Ron Coleman, CLU, CAC, CFRA, CSA

The Gallagher Group

3030 LBJ Freeway, Suite 700

Dallas, Texas 75234

214 722-7580

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS - PARK CITIES

Our 45th Year

214 503-8563

WEB

Just before noon in June of 1958, my daddy and I were strolling in mid-town Manhattan on our way to nowhere in particular, when we reached Radio City Music Hall.  Its major tenant was NBC - The National Broadcasting Corporation.

A fellow in a doorman's uniform at the entrance said to my daddy, "Would you and your son like to see a radio show?"  The man went on to explain that one would be starting in a few minutes, and that they didn't have enough people to complete the audience.

Daddy said to me, "What do you think?"  We went inside, caught the elevator and went up a number of flights, got off and walked down the hallway to the studio.  There were a few people inside, but even full the room wouldn't accommodate more than about fifty.

There were a handful of vacant seats on the front row, so we took two of them. There was no elevated stage.  The performers and the orchestra would be doing everything at floor level, right in front of us.

More people began to arrive, probably because of the doorman's salesmanship, until the audience was just about completely full.  A small orchestra gathered, tuned up, and then the announcer came out, welcomed the audience, then told us how to clap.  (You do it with your hands very close together and in a staccato fashion rather than as we normally do.  That way, it sounds to the listeners as though the audience is much larger than it really is.)

About two minutes before the live broadcast was to begin, famed orchestra leader, Skitch Henderson came out.  The orchestra members got quiet.  The announcer stood in front of the floor microphone, the clock on the wall ticked down, and at noon, the director signaled Mr. Henderson who then gave the downbeat, and the orchestra began the theme song. The announcer welcomed the radio audience to hear the "song stylings of Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney to the music of Skitch Henderson and his Orchestra."

For the next thirty minutes, these greats performed within a few feet of my dad and me.

When it was over, Daddy and I went for lunch at a small restaurant that was on the mezzanine of the Waldorf-Astoria.  Be a son-of-a-gun if they didn't have a chamber music group playing.  Within a few minutes after we were seated, Mr. Crosby, Miss Clooney and Mr. Henderson came in for lunch.

The show was free, the Waldorf had a lunch special so Daddy and I ate for less than five bucks, and we ate in the dining room with three international stars.  And five years later, I briefly performed as the evening pianist in that dining room.

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS - PARK CITIES

Our 45th Year

214 503-8563

WEB

I've disliked condos for a very long time, primarily because their value and their ease of resale always seem to drop dramatically when the market gets soft.

And, when times are good, they always seem to get horribly over-built.

This article, though, seems to have a point, and if in fact it is accurate, I may have to modify my criticisms.  CONDOS GO MINIATURE.

Perhaps the strongest feature is that should the resident outgrow the unit, it shouldn't be difficult to fit it into the rental market.

What do you think?

Minature

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS - PARK CITIES

Our 45th Year

214 503-8563

WEB