Now that you have, hopefully, gotten your income taxes behind you it’s time to deal with your property taxes.

Beginning in late April the Dallas County Appraisal District (DCAD) will be mailing their proposed assessment for your 2012 taxes so it is time to make sure you are not paying more than your fair share.

There is a myth that a high tax assessment is good for home resale – it does not matter.   Your home’s value is based solely on what amenities your home has and what other homes in your neighborhood have sold for, so lower your assessment and save on your taxes.

Two ways to reduce property taxes are 1) make sure you are getting all the exemptions to which you are entitled; and 2) make sure that your assessment is equal to or lower than the actual market value.

The most common exemptions are 1) homestead – for your primary residence only, 2) Over 65, and 3) Disability. More information can be found at www.dcad.org.

To check your assessment vs. market value have your local realtor (me) pull the previous 6 months of sold comps in your neighborhood which, if lower than your assessment,  you will show DCAD for an assessment reduction.

There are 3 ways to protest:  1) online, 2) with a DCAD appraiser, and 3) in front of the Arbitration Review Board (ARB) (not recommended).  If your case is clear cut (i.e.  you recently purchased your home for less than the DCAD assessed value) you should file your protest online at www.dcad.org.

How to protest in person?  Go online to www.dcad.org and request an ARB hearing review date.  Between May 1 and May 31 go to the DCAD offices (Stemmons Frwy near Inwood) and meet with a DCAD appraiser (usually less than 30 minutes).  If you and the appraiser come to an agreement you are done and can release your ARB hearing date at that time.

Where to start? www.dcad.org,  click on “Search Appraisals”

What to show DCAD? DCAD does not care about your opinion, what homes nearby are listed for, or common sense.  What makes a case with DCAD is a list of recent (6 months) sales and the condition of your home.   Note that online your home condition is listed from “Poor” to “Excellent”.

Important dates:  April 27—new assessments begin going out

May 31—last day to file protest and/or meet with a DCAD appraiser

I have some other secrets I can convey if you want to call or email.   Happy Protesting!

Who would have thought the hottest commodity in East Dallas would be a grocery store? For months, the good folks in Lake Highlands waged a seriously coordinated campaign to get Trader Joe’s to open in the new and coming Lake Highlands Town Center. That would be a great location for them, but Joe & Co passed for now in favor of a couple other more developed locations. Simultaneously, Madison Partners (the real estate company which owns the old Arcadia site) has been busy promoting its new “Arcadia Park” concept. The idea was to have a handful of permanently mounted food trucks sharing some common facilities. Officials at the City of Dallas worked for months on creating zoning standards to create this type of facility. They were afraid that similar developments would pop up all over the city without proper zoning being addressed. Just before New Year’s day, word came down that instead of the food truck facility, Madison had landed Trader Joe’s as a tenant on the Arcadia site. Count this is as a major feather in Madison’s cap!

So what about the Food Trucks?

Plans are that the food truck concept will share the space with Trader Joe’s. This makes much more sense when you think about it. They will be able to share facilities such as restrooms and a covered eating area. Given the weather extremes we have, this will allow the food trucks to be open year round. Madison currently plans to roll out both Trader Joe’s and the food trucks about the same time. They have only just begun the process of getting permits and choosing a contractor, so don’t expect dirt to be flying anytime soon. Madison estimates opening near the end of 2012.

Why not the Whole Foods site?

The first question people ask is, why don’t they use the abandoned Whole Foods site? Mostly, that site is more than 3 times the size of the typical Trader Joe’s. Of course everything is bigger in Texas, but that pushes things a little too far. The typical Trader Joe’s is less that 15K sqft. The Whole Foods site is close to 45K sqft, not including the Blockbuster portion. In addition, Whole Foods is still holding the lease through 2013 and won’t give it up to another grocery store until it runs out. Plus, wouldn’t a new building with an attached food truck entertainment concept sound a lot more fun than a dilapidated old building?

This 3 bedroom – 2 1/2 bath home is in the Country Forest neighborhood of North Lake Highlands.

Features include hardwoods, lots of light and a wonderful outdoor entertaining area.

Offered at $219,900.

For more information visit www.10006Hickory.com

In June of 2006, Lower Greenville residents were horrified to see one of three Greenville Ave landmarks go up in flames when the historic Arcadia Theater burned down after a fire started in an adjacent restaurant. Then in 2010, a second landmark was lost when the strip that housed Terilli’s original location and the Greenville Ave Bar and Grill also burned. GBG was the oldest bar in Dallas at the time. Fortunately, the last of the landmarks, The Granada Theater, is in very good hands and is thriving.

After a long wait, both of these burned-out locations will be coming back to life this summer. In completely opposite incarnations: The old Terrilli’s strip is being rebuilt to resemble its old self in many details. Thankfully, they were able to repair and preserve the original façade of the building (and keep their ADA exemptions intact at the same time.) But the Arcadia site, which was bulldozed and left vacant for years is coming back as something completely different: a food truck court and pavilion concept, or as some jokingly refer to it, the Lowest Greenville Trailer Park or “Truckateria”.

The Trailer Park concept will be a first in Dallas, although there are several in Austin which are wildly popular. Being the first such development in Dallas meant quite a lot of zoning rules had to be created from scratch. Fortunately, neighborhood friendly developer Madison Partners was behind the whole thing, so the new zoning should respect the surrounding neighborhood. Now that the city-red-tape hurdle has been passed, Madison Partner is ready to begin construction on the site. They will build an outdoor pavilion capable of seating up to 200 people, about half of which will be covered. Landscaping and common plumbing will comprise most of the additional development, then six AirStream trailers will be bolted to the ground and finished out as food service stations. One additional trailer will serve beer and wine. Each truck will be individually operated by a different vendor serving a different product.

But don’t worry, these trucks will not be serving corny dogs and fried twinkies. The current plan is to target celebrity chefs looking to seek a different market. Imagine Dean Ferring or Steven Pyles designing a menu of reasonably priced street food. In a sneak preview, TrailerCakes has shown up on the lot a couple of times. Think of Sprinkles on wheels, but better. The developer tells us that they hope to have the trucks open for lunch as well. Between both Terrilli’s and the Lowest Greenville Trailer Park opening soon and the City of Dallas’ $1.2M investment in the street improvements, Greenville Avenue should be rockin’ and rollin’ in no time!

For some time, there has been a growing level of violent crime on Lowest Greenville Ave, in the area between Belmont and Ross. For over a year, Lower Greenville Neighborhood Association along with M-Streets, Vickery Place, Hudson Heights, Lowest Greenville West and the Belmont NA have worked with Councilmembers Hunt and Medrano and CPC Commissioner Bill Peterson to create a Planned Development District along Lowest Greenville Ave from Belmont down to Bryan. With support of a couple of the major property owners and several business owners, the City Council officially passed the PD in January by a unanimous vote. Although there was an organized opposition, they chose not to appear at the council hearing.

Going forward, businesses which wish to operate past midnight must get a Special Use Permit from the city in order to remain open after midnight. Although final decisions are made by the City, for those businesses that continue to foster a criminal atmosphere, residents and neighborhood groups may oppose their applications. There is an 8-month grace period before the last of the permits must be completed, so it may be a little while before the real impact of the PD takes place. Residents are hopeful that the small minority of businesses that forced this issue will change their business model in the meantime.

A safer atmosphere will attract more businesses with an opportunity for profit during hours outside of 11pm-2am on Friday and Saturday. With the city’s plan for two blocks of streetscape improvements and Madison Partners’ plans for the old Arcadia site, expect dramatic changes to the Lowest Greenville area in the latter half of 2011. There will be a lot of construction and turn-over during that transition but the investment will pay off for both the business community and the neighborhood.

Built in 1946 and designed by prominent Dallas architect Charles Stevens Dilbeck, the historic Belmont Hotel is perched high on a hill in N Oak Cliff (corner of Ft Worth Ave and Sylvan) and is home to Bar Belmont.

On a recent visit with friends to this wonderfully eclectic destination, I was amazed at the breathtaking view of Downtown Dallas.  Nowhere else in the city have I seen such a view.  As the sun began to set, the reflection off the tall buildings was gorgeous.

On a lovely spring day in Dallas, the terrace at Bar Belmont is the place to be.  With the Dallas skyline as the back drop, let the conversations and cocktails flow!

For more information on N Oak Cliff, contact me at g_quarles@yahoo.com or visit my real estate web site at www.DFWHousing.com.

Gary Quarles is a full time real estate agent with Keller Williams Dallas City Center.

But for a rental or multi-family property one more important factor is the income or rent potential as most of the potential buyers will be investors.

Real estate investors can look at several different criterion, the most basic being the simple per unit cost.   However, if two different duplex properties are each priced at $130,000 (or $65,000 per unit) then they are the same value to an investor, right?   Not necessarily.   Not if the properties have different rental rates, taxes or other expenses.

Three ways real estate investors use to compare properties are the Cash on Cash Return, the Cap Rate, and the Gross Rent Multiplier.

The Cash on Cash Return is the Annual Cash Flow divided by the Cash Investment in the property.   Cash on Cash takes into consideration all expenses including any financing.   Cash on Cash is shown as a percentage and is a way to compare a real estate investment to say, what an investor might make on the same cash invested in a bond or stock.

The Cap Rate is the Net Operating Income (i.e. before mortgage payments) divided by the Market Value.  Cap Rate does not take into account interest cost or depreciation.  The higher the Cap Rate the better the return.

The Gross Rent Multiplier is best used on multi-family properties with many units.   It is the Sales Price divided by the Potential Gross Income.  The LOWER the GRM, the better.  However, the GRM can be deceiving since it uses Gross instead of Net income.

For more information on this, please contact me at curtiscannon@kw.com or visit my website www.CurtisCannon.com.

Curtis Cannon is a full time real estate agent with Keller Williams Realty Dallas City Center, Dallas, Texas.

Live the history of White Rock Lake.  The phenomenal landmark turns 100 this year, and coordinators are not letting this birthday go by without some parties.  Who knew this water mass meant to meet the needs of areas such as Lakewood, Hollywood Heights, and Forest Hills would offer so much to city dwellers.  Events have already begun, and the proceeds will help fund ten projects, including improving trails, renovation of the dog park, and restoring the park forests.

The weather so far has been awesome, so why not get your glasses and leave the sun lotion at home.  Events that have taken place surrounding the White Rock Lake area have had great turn out and a lot of fun.  A few of the festivities were Raise the Woof Pup Rally, a nature weekend, Evening at the Arboretum, and a golf tourney.  Don’t miss out on the upcoming historical exhibit, fashion week, and festival.

Recently, Justin Bieber woke up after falling asleep during his traditional Smurf’s marathon, and thought “unlike Papa Smurf, it’ll be ok for me to hit on all the action at these White Rock Lake parties!”

http://www.whiterockdallas.org/

As Realtors in North Texas, we all claim deep knowledge of the communities we represent.  One group of business owners and residents is taking their notion of communal spirit a step farther.  Pay attention to the buy local movement going on in East Dallas.

In 2009, a group of local business and community members started Live Local East Dallas.  Their goal was simple.  Educate East Dallas residents on the benefits of trying to conduct business, shop, and/or eat locally and encourage all of East Dallas to think before conducting any sort of business outside of the East Dallas area.

Check out www.livelocaleastdallas.com.   By partnering with Advocate Magazines, the group publishes an online directory of locally owned businesses with membership in Live Local East Dallas.

RED Day (Renew, Energize and Donate) is an initiative dedicated to celebrating Keller Williams Realty’s year-round commitment to improving our local communities.  Each year, on the second Thursday in May, tens of thousands of associates from across the United States and Canada participate in a wide range of projects, devoting their time to renewing and energizing aspects of the neighborhoods in which they serve.

RED Day initiatives run the gamut: From rebuilding homes, refurbishing local parks, giving to local food shelters, hosting blood drives, beautifying beaches and so much more. Projects are chosen by each individual market center based on a need they see within their community.

Recognizing her leadership in guiding the culture of our company, RED Day is held in honor of Mo Anderson, vice chairman of the board, Keller Williams Realty.

This event is an entrenched part of Keller Williams Realty’s culture and displays the extraordinary effect a company can have when individuals come together to work as a team for the greater good of everyone.