Right on the Money: Housing market lessons learned in 2023

DALLAS — 2023 brings big news to the housing market. I became a licensed Texas real estate agent.

Yes, yes. Maybe it wasn’t the “big news” part.

No, it’s been another eventful year for mortgage rates, home prices, and the amount (or lack thereof) of home inventory for sale in 2023. And as I was studying for my real estate license this year, I took lots of notes about:what we should do all I know about real estate.

I turned this into a special series of reports called “Right on the Money: Home Schooling.”

The special brings together some of these reports, as well as some non-housing coverage from one of the most-watched “Right on the Money” episodes of 2023, along with fresh interviews. Summarized in time. His long ROTM special available at the top of this article and on WFAA+.

As always, there’s a lot we don’t have time to cover in each episode, so we’ve included additional information and important links to articles that accompany each report.

Below are links to each report from the feature. Clicking on one of them will take you to the full article and additional information and links for that report.

If you own a home, you may have experienced a significant jump in your homeowner’s insurance premiums in 2023 as many insurance companies increased their premiums. It can have a chilling effect on you because the last thing you want is to see your premiums go up any further when you need to make a homeowners insurance claim.

We have created this report to explain how some claims can be adverse..

In 2023, some statistics received from the Central Appraisal District of Texas show that some homeowners may be missing out on significant benefits that could lead to lower property taxes. I was surprised. The homestead exemption is even more important now that Texas has signed a new property tax relief bill into law.

This is an episode about making sure you secure your property (and the exemptions that come with it).

As I have done over the years, I discovered and reported new information about the real estate valuation process. There is so much to know in this space! This year, I thought it would be valuable to talk about some best practices for making protests successful, and give some details about how often protests are successful.

This is my report with information on protest methods and statistics on how often homeowners are successful.

As I said earlier, there is a lot to know in this area. Here you will find additional information and expert advice on how to protest. Also, here are some great insights (from insiders) about the protests.

I went through a North Texas rite of passage in 2023. A new roof was needed because the old one was damaged by hail. There’s nothing fun about that process. Especially the part where you look for someone to cover your head better. Texas also does little to regulate this important industry.

However, as discussed here, there are resources that can be very helpful for Texans purchasing a roofer.

You might be thinking, “That’s great information, but it looks like we’ve had hail damage since the summer, so it’s probably too late to file a claim now!” Well, maybe not. Here’s how the window to file a roofing claim may be open longer than you think.

This is the kickoff to my “Money Friendly” series that started in 2023 and will be an even bigger focus for me in 2024. These reports sit at the intersection of the environment and the economy. It turns out that efforts to combat climate change are contributing in many ways to a booming industry, where companies are finding creative and lucrative ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle.

In this feature, we visit unique stores where things that once went in the trash can become treasure..

Raising the initial funds to buy a home has become increasingly difficult in recent years. Since home prices are steadily increasing, it is very difficult to collect a certain percentage of the total price to bring prices down. That’s why many Texas homeowners purchase private mortgage insurance (PMI).

This is my article about how many Texans pay PMI and how to stop paying PMI.

Mortgage rates rose quite impressively in 2023. As you can imagine, this gave some homebuyers pause. However, some home sellers have taken advantage of offering buyers free money as part of the sale to encourage buyers to do business. Those proceeds can be used to “buy down” mortgage interest rates.

One of my favorite real estate experts explains interest buyouts here.

2023 was another difficult year for many renters. One person described how she was surprised when her landlord offered to renew her lease. When he consulted the property manager, they were also surprised. They told him that it was a computer algorithm that helped create that offer. So he did some homework and got them pretty far down.

Read my article on how to survive (more) rent increases.

Of course, you don’t have the right to lower your rent, but as a landlord you have many rights. This article will discuss some of them.

With the Federal Reserve raising interest rates to slow the booming US economy, many of us are starting to realize how important it is to protect our credit scores. Because of the interest rate hike measures they have taken, we are paying more to borrow money than in recent years, even if we have good credit scores. But if your credit score isn’t very good, these costs can really go up. So it’s no wonder this was one of his most popular episodes of Right on the Money in 2023.

Here we’ll discuss the most important things to do to maintain your credit score.

For first-time homebuyers, it can be daunting and expensive. However, there are programs to help first-time homebuyers. Please note: not all first-time buyers are actually first-time buyers. This may include people who have not owned a home for several years. We will explain it below.

Here’s my report on some options for first-time (or first-time) buyers..