Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation

Our Gold Wing group got togther for a worthy cause - the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. We were able to donate $300.00 on behalf of Chapter P and thank all of those who contributed. Thought we'd send a few pictures of some of the kids that benefited from this foundation. It was a beautiful day and we were truly blessed by being there.





The children were so precious.











A future rider.











Gary enjoying the gathering.











I think he's hooked!

Goldwing Trip to Branson

Hi, all. We just got back from a trip to Branson, MO on the Goldwing. We left Thursday and stayed the first night in Hot Springs, AR, then on to Branson on Friday. It was nice to get in cooler weather. It was between 60 and 70 degrees there. We only got rained on a little on the way there. We saw two shows, Lee Greenwood and Louise Mandrel the first night and Noah, the musical, the second night. We had a great time then we headed back Sunday morning. We went back through Fort Smith where we visited our daughter and grandkids. We rode through some beautiful mountains both ways. It was a long ride back, we left Branson at around 9 a.m. and got back to Granbury at around 9 p.m. That's a long time to be on a bike, even with stops along the way!



Our daughter, Krista, and grandchildren









Gary living on the edge!

Labor Day and a Birthday Party!

We had a great time Labor Day weekend with family. The youngest grandchild, Jonathan, turned 3. As you can see from the pictures, we had a great time!




Nana and the Birthday Boy!











One huge present.











Cowboy Johnny!








My son John and two of our grandsons.








Relaxing in the hot tub.

Importance of Selecting a Trusted Lender

One of the most important parts of a real estate transaction is selecting the right lender. We recently helped a sweet young couple find a home only to have the entire deal fall through.

They already had a lender when we met and said they were planning to get a US Department of Agriculture (USDA) rural loan. This is a great loan program for rural areas that assists households with an income of less than $83,000. You don't have to put any money down and you can finance the closing costs if the house appraises for the full sales price plus the closing costs.

We put an offer on the home and it was accepted, then it was in the lender's hands to get the loan approved. This is all great, but the loan has to go to USDA for approval after it has been approved by the lender so it takes longer than most loans, at least 45 days. Therefore, it is important for the lender to move quickly in order to get it to USDA and still close on time. Our clients provided all the documentation and we checked with the lender periodically who said everything was going well. However, the lender took 42 days and then sent it to USDA and told us to "just get an extension." The only thing is, the seller received a back-up offer and decided not to extend - our clients were out!

We tell you this so that you will know how important it is to get a proven lender. We have worked with several lenders that have helped prior clients successfully buy homes with USDA rural loans. We will be glad to give you their contact infomation and work with you to buy the home you want.

IRS's Top 10 Tax Tips for Home Sellers

Last week the IRS released "Ten Tax Tips for Individuals Selling Their Home," (IRS Summertime Tax Tip 2011-15). We wanted to post this list of IRS tips as it's a good starting place for sellers to begin to understand this often complex area of tax law.

Here are the IRS's top 10 tax tips for home sellers:

1. In general, you are eligible to exclude the gain from income if you have owned and used your home as your main home for two years out of the five years prior to the date of its sale.


2. If you have a gain from the sale of your main home, you may be able to exclude up to $250,000 of the gain from your income ($500,000 on a joint return in most cases).


3. You are not eligible for the exclusion if you excluded the gain from the sale of another home during the two-year period prior to the sale of your home.


4. If you can exclude all of the gain, you do not need to report the sale on your tax return.


5. If you have a gain that cannot be excluded, it is taxable. You must report it on Form 1040, Schedule D, Capital Gains and Losses.


6. You cannot deduct a loss from the sale of your main home.


7. Worksheets are included in Publication 523, Selling Your Home, to help you figure the adjusted basis of the home you sold, the gain (or loss) on the sale, and the gain that you can exclude.


8. If you have more than one home, you can exclude a gain only from the sale of your main home. You must pay tax on the gain from selling any other home. If you have two homes and live in both of them, your main home is ordinarily the one you live in most of the time.


9. If you received the first-time homebuyer credit and within 36 months of the date of purchase, the property is no longer used as your principal residence, you are required to repay the credit. Repayment of the full credit is due with the income tax return for the year the home ceased to be your principal residence, using Form 5405, First-Time Homebuyer Credit and Repayment of the Credit. The full amount of the credit is reflected as additional tax on that year's tax return.


10. When you move, be sure to update your address with the IRS and the U.S. Postal Service to ensure you receive refunds or correspondence from the IRS. Use Form 8822, Change of Address, to notify the IRS of your address change.

Florida Visit

Last month I had an opportunity to go to Florida to visit my daughter and her family. We had a great visit and it was really nice to see my grandaughters.


We went to Downtown Disney and took this picture in front of a sea monster made completely of Legos!
My son-in-law works right across the street from Downtown Disney and met us for lunch.






Sunset with my girls on Lake Apopka!











We had a small alligator watching the sunset with us.

Interesting Article

Below is an excerpt from an article written by Eric Schroeder that appeared in the Inside Lending newsletter.

INFO THAT HITS US WHERE WE LIVE...Increasingly, the wrong thing for consumers to do is to stay out of the housing market. In many locales, owning a home is now less expensive than renting. Rents are rising and vacancies falling, according to a report that tracked leasing data across the country. For the second quarter, rents rose in all but two of 82 markets, while vacancies dropped in 72 of them, sending the vacancy rate to 6%, its lowest level since 2008. Another report showed rental listing prices up 6.7% nationally in June versus a year ago.

Meanwhile, national average mortgage rates got pushed down some more, thanks to the prior week's disappointing jobs report. And the Mortgage Bankers Association reported demand for purchase loans was at about the same level as a year ago, although down a tad from the week before.

Motorcycle Trip to Knoxville

Thought we'd share a little of our recent motorcycle trip to Knoxville with you. This was the Dragon's Tail - 318 turns in 11 miles! It was a great trip except the last few hundred HOT miles!

Buy a Granbury Home with No Closing Costs

The Granbury area qualifies for the USDA Rural Loan. We've had several clients who used this to buy their home and ended up not having to pay anything at closing. Watch this video to hear the details.

New Listings

We wanted to highlight two of our newest listings here in Granbury. Both of these homes, as well as all of our other listings, can be viewed in detail at www.wheatleyagent.com.

6303 Kenilworth Court









3133 Meandering Way

House Updated and Ready to Sell

Gary and I took a little break from updating the blog as things really started to heat up in time for summer. Back on March 2, we shared pictures of a house that we purchased and planned on fixing up and selling. The renovation is finally done and we wanted to post updated pictures for you.

Century 21 Realtor Awards!!!

Century 21 had their Annual Awards Banquet March 26th. This year’s theme was “The 60's.” We were pleasantly surprised when we were awarded as Multi-Million Dollar Producers, Top Producing Team and the 2010 Quality Service Producer Award. These are issued from Century 21 National. We are most proud of the Quality Service Award as it means that our clients were pleased enough with our service that they took the time to complete and send in the survey. We feel that if we provide good service to all of our customers, they will remember us when they or their friends need a realtor and the other things will come. In addition to this, Gary won “The Hootie” award, meaning that the other realtors in the office voted that he is a real hoot. He’s already working to get this again next year!



2010 Quality Service Producer Award Recipients - we are most proud of this recognition!







Arriving in style!








Gary enjoying his well deserved Hootie Award.

Gold Wing Road Riders Bowling Challenge

Gold Wing Road Riders Association (GWRRA) Chapter P, where we are currently serving as the Chapter Directors, hosted the Annual North Texas Chapter Bowling Challenge. 6GWRRA Chapters competed for bragging rights. There were 62 bowling participants and countless volunteers and spectators attended. Chapter B from Garland won this year’s Challenge, taking the trophy Chapter P has held for the last 4 years and will host the Challenge next year.




Gary as Emcee.

Flip that House - Wheatley Team Addition

We picked up a foreclosure as an investment property that we are in the process of fixing up to sell. These are the "before" pix of the home. The green carpet is gone now and there is nice hardwood underneath. The new bathtub is in and new kitchen cabinets are coming 3/14. We hope to have it ready by the end of March. Then it will just need floors and painting. I think it's going to be great! We will post updated pictures once the house is complete.

If you have ever dreamed of purchasing a property of your own to do this with, there are a lot of great deals out there right now! We would love to help you find an investment property of your own.




First "before" picture.








The kitchen cabinets are being replaced.







There are beautiful hardwood floors under there.







Laundry room.








The pink tub is now gone!

Latest Snow Pictures

Here are some pictures of the last snow we had. At the time, the temp was around 15 degrees. We have really enjoyed the weather the last couple of weeks being around 70 degrees!

Becky ready to get to work!








Gary has experience with shoveling snow from our time spent in Wisconsin.






Almost done!

February Snow!

A view from our back porch! We hope all our friends are staying warm.









Can you find Odie?

Spending Christmas with Family

We had a blessed Christmas with friends and family. The first week or so of January was a little slow, but business has really picked up the last two weeks. We listed a home last Thursday and received a contract on it Saturday. This might be the perfect time to list your house!

Gary and Becky in the Square











Our Grandaughter - so sweet!








Grandad and our youngest grandson








Gary being Gary!

Important Information on Loan Modification and Foreclosure Scam Alert

Texas PBS, in cooperation with the Texas Foreclosure Prevention Task Force and NeighborWorks® America, will air a 30-minute special in January on scams surrounding foreclosure prevention and loan modification.

Scam artists across the country are preying on homeowners who are facing foreclosure, promising to modify loans and guaranteeing to save a home from foreclosure. They charge fees up front and then disappear. Many victims lose money and their homes.

The PBS special will feature an expert panel discussion on the warning signs of a scam, how people are approached, including an interview with a family who was victimized by a scam.

The moderator of the show is Purva Patel, a consumer reporter with The Houston Chronicle. She has written extensively about mortgage issues. Patel leads a conversation of the following experts:

- Deanya Kueckelhan, Regional Director of the Federal Trade Commission. Deanya is an attorney involved in prosecuting loan modification and foreclosure rescue scams.

- Joyce McDonald, Executive Director of Austin-based Frameworks Community Development Corporation. Frameworks is a HUD-approved housing counseling agency. They offer homebuyer education, financial literacy and foreclosure mitigation services at no cost to their clients.

- Yolanda McGill, Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. McGill works as the senior counsel for the groups Fair Housing and Fair Lending Project. A large portion of her work involves preventing loan modification scams and serving as a clearinghouse for information from around the country.

The show will air in DFW on Monday, January 10 at 10 pm.

Well Wishes for the New Year

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! As we prepare for 2011, we want to take the opportunity to thank you all for following our blog. Gary and I are continually looking for ways to improve our services, and we want to invite you to provide us feedback on the information we post. If there is information that you enjoyed, would like to see more of, or if you just want to chat, click on the "comments" hyperlink below each blog entry. If you're already a client and want to comment on our service, we'd love to hear that too!

Thanks again for your support and we wish you a Happy New Year!

Thanksgiving in Granbury

This year we had Thanksgiving dinner at our house with some family we hadn't seen in years. We had a great time seeing everyone and have much to be thankful for. We cooked a 23-pound turkey, ham and lots of sides. Although it was a cold day, the kids still had fun playing outside.

Becky with her sister, Linda.







Our son, John, his wife, Dora, and Gary.







Our granddaughter, Juliana, with her second cousin.







Our grandson, Nathan, doing a card trick.







Our granson, Jonathan, giving us a "thumbs up."







Becky's sister, Susie, and Aunt Yvonne.