Last updated: July 21, 2026 Every real estate feed in Texas lit up when the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe broke ground on a 685,000-square-foot casino resort out in East Texas. The renderings looked like a slice of the Vegas Strip dropped into the pines north of Livingston, and the comment sections filled with the same question from Waxahachie to Fort Worth: when does Dallas get one? Here is the read...

An "Active" license means someone passed a background check at some point in the past. It does not mean anyone has checked on them since. Last updated: July 2026 I am a TREC licensed real estate agent in Texas and I want you to know why you shouldn't treat a TREC license as your only measuring stick of an agent's trustworthiness. The people best positioned to show you where this system stops...

By Bobby Franklin, REALTOR® — North Texas Market Insider | Serving Ellis County, the I-35E Corridor, and the DFW Metroplex Last updated: July 19, 2026 Two headlines hit your feed this month. CNBC ranked Texas the second-worst state in America to live in, and WalletHub called it the fourth most financially distressed state in the country. Both studies are real. Both are being screenshotted by...

Update, July 8, 2026: This report covers June, and June's story has already flipped. Days after the ceasefire was signed, it cracked when Iran attacked three commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. The United States answered with fresh strikes, revoked Iran's oil waiver, and President Trump, speaking from the NATO summit, called the interim deal "over". Oil jumped roughly 6% and mortgage rates ticked...

By Bobby Franklin, REALTOR® | North Texas Market Insider™ | Legacy Realty Group – Leslie Majors TeamServing Ellis County, Waxahachie, DFW & Greater North Texas | 214-228-0003 | northtexasmarketinsider.com Two numbers went viral this summer and almost everyone made the same mistake, reading them as separate stories. A record 25.2 million adults under 35 are living with their parents, and a...

By Bobby Franklin, REALTOR® | North Texas Market Insider™ | Legacy Realty Group – Leslie Majors TeamServing Ellis County, DFW & Greater North Texas | 214-228-0003 | northtexasmarketinsider.com "Is the Dallas Zoo expansion going to raise home values near Oak Cliff?" "What neighborhoods will benefit from the Dallas Zoo's new African Shorelines habitat?" "Is now a good time to buy near the...

By Bobby Franklin, REALTOR® | North Texas Market Insider™ | Legacy Realty Group – Leslie Majors TeamServing Ellis County, Waxahachie, Midlothian, DeSoto, Ennis, and the Greater DFW Metroplex | 214-228-0003 | northtexasmarketinsider.com Last updated: June 16, 2026 Here is the thing most buyers in Ellis County will find out a week too late. The single most consequential housing bill in a...

A war on the other side of the planet has been quietly setting the price of your next mortgage payment in DFW and this week the most important number in that whole equation finally moved. The United States and Iran reached a framework deal to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, with the signing scheduled for Friday, June 19 in Geneva, according to NBC News. The instant the news hit, oil fell more...

By Bobby Franklin, REALTOR® | North Texas Market Insider™ | Legacy Realty Group – Leslie Majors TeamServing Ellis County, Waxahachie, Midlothian, and the Greater DFW Metroplex | 214-228-0003 It’s midnight and you’re scrolling Zillow again. You keep landing on that new construction listing in Midlothian, then bouncing back to the “cheaper” resale home two zip codes away, running the...

By Bobby Franklin, REALTOR® | North Texas Market Insider™ | Legacy Realty Group – Leslie Majors TeamServing Ellis County, Waxahachie, Midlothian, Red Oak, Ennis, and Greater DFWPublished June 2026 | Updated Regularly This article is written for educational purposes and is not legal advice. Fair housing law is evolving fast right now; consult a licensed Texas real estate or fair housing attorney...