Two of those schools up for consolidation are located in East Dallas – James W. Fannin Elementary School and James B. Bonham Elementary School.

For more information about the hearings, the district’s reasoning behind closing the schools, and proposed rezoning boundaries click here.

Enjoy a self-driving tour of 12 modern homes across Dallas.  Purchase tickets and find out more information here.

That’s right, for the past month Dallas has been under a mandatory, Stage 1 water restriction that allows the city to impose fines ranging from $250-$2,000 on residents that repeatedly fail to follow the strict lawn watering regime outlined below:

Additionally, on days that watering is allowed, residents may only water before 10 a.m. or after 6 p.m.

For more information visit the Dallas Water Utilities Conservation Division’s website by clicking here.

In a recently released white paper, the Fed told lawmakers that aggressive action is needed in order to prevent home values from falling further. One suggestion included renting out foreclosed homes, which it anticipates would “deliver a better loss recovery than selling the property”. Are renters ready to start calling the US government ‘landlord’?

Government sponsored Freddie Mac now requires that borrowers have a minimum of 20% equity in their homes while refinancing. The move is aimed at increasing refis and helping borrowers stay current on their mortgage.

Ouch.

Apparently the discrepancy is due to  flaws in the data analysis conducted by the National Association of Realtors from 2007-2010.  Luckily it appears that home sales are now on the rise throughout most of the country – and in Dallas the housing market is chugging right along.

Image courtesy of CNN Money.

The new store is scheduled to open this fall – get excited!

Both forms are five pages long and contain a cover sheet matching actual closing expenses more closely with the Good Faith Estimate (GFE).

The revised forms and more information can be viewed at the “Know Before You Owe” section of the CFPB website. The agency is aiming for a July 2012 launch date.

According to Treasury Department data, lenders willing to reduce mortgage principal have cut an average of 31% of unpaid balances. Principal reductions began in 2010 under HAMP and have increased in popularity during the past year. Moody’s Investor Service estimates that banks lose approximately 70% during a foreclosure/REO sale and 60% during a short-sale, so lenders have an incentive to write-off a much smaller amount quickly.

Congress’ ban on manufacturing traditional, incandescent light bulbs (which was set to go into effect on January 1st) has been repealed – what that means for you and me is that we can continue to buy the cheaper-yet-less-efficient bulbs in lieu of expensive-but-energy-efficient fluorescent light bulbs.  I don’t know about you but I like having that choice.

But here’s the big question – even though manufacturers can continue to produce incandescent bulbs, will they?  The repeal comes just weeks before the ban was scheduled to go into effect, meaning manufacturers have already spent a ton of cash re-tooling their production lines to manufacture energy-efficient bulbs.

I guess only time will tell whether the incandescent bulb will survive.