Are Home Values in Van Alstyne At Risk?

During the last year, several houses near us have been listed for sale. While a small number of these houses are new and have never been lived in, the majority are pre-owned.  A smaller subset of the pre-owned houses are unoccupied, and at least one of these has a sign in the yard, placed there by the realtor, stating a "short sale" is involved. 


So I decided to see just how many houses in the Van Alstyne zip code of 75495 are for sale by searching www.realtor.com. What I found was 88 properties listed, either by realtors or directly by the owner. The properties for sale are varied and range from large new houses on acreage to small older and new houses built on city lots in developments. A fairly large number of houses have been for sale for long periods of time.  I also noticed that some of the asking prices have been reduced, at least once, since the properties went up for sale - some remarkably so.


In one instance, a new home on a city lot that once listed for over $300,000 inow sits for sale at the drastically reduced price of $199,900. And there are two somewhat smaller houses nearby with prices cut dramatically, as well.


What does this mean for home sellers in the Van Alstyne area?  First, it means if these houses with seriously reduced prices sell first, those of us who may sell our own houses will be faced with some ery low comparables.  And this means lower market prices, and definitely lower appraisals, for us all.  


The sad fact is there is very little we can do to change this situation, except hope these houses don't sell first.

Street Repairs Seriously Needed in Van Alstyne

Earlier this year, after the election, I was hopeful the City of Van Alstyne would become serious about making some much needed street repairs. And when I saw re-surfacing begin on several residential streets near the downtown area, I remained hopeful the new administration really meant business. But I lost hope when I learned that a newly-elected city official lived on one of the streets being resurfaced.

And now, months later, I have seen no signs that repairing Van Alstyne streets is a priority of our city government.

Why is repairing our city streets not priority?

Is it because there is insufficient funding available?

Based on a recent city tax increase and the amount of taxes paid by Van Alstyne property owners, it would appear that adequate funding would not be a problem.

Was it naive of me to believe that new city officials would attempt to breathe some life into this town and make improvements where warranted? Unfortunately, it looks that way.

Maybe when the crater-size potholes in the westbound lane of Village Parkway causes someone to have an accident, maybe, just maybe, the city will take notice and take action.