Affordability Archives

Should your home-buying plans include waiting for the next hurricane? Only a global crisis will trigger 3% rates again and here's why.

Why Waiting For 3% Rates is Like Praying For a Hurricane

By Bobby Franklin, REALTOR® | North Texas Market Insider™ | Legacy Realty Group – Leslie Majors TeamServing Waxahachie, Midlothian, Ennis, Red Oak, and the greater Ellis County and DFW MetroplexUpdated: May 2026 | Reading Time: ~20 minutes Here’s what I want you to understand before you read a single word of this article: the people waiting on the sidelines for rates to “come back down”...

A 2021 building code mandate was struck down saving builders and buyers $9,600-$31,000 per home, especially those using FHA and USDA loans.

HUD and USDA Just Killed the “Green” Mandate That Was About to Make Your New Home $31,000 More Expensive

By Bobby Franklin, REALTOR® | North Texas Market Insider™ | Legacy Realty Group – Leslie Majors Team | Serving Ellis County, DFW & Greater North Texas | 214-228-0003 | northtexasmarketinsider.com Published: May 2026 | Reading Time: ~18 minutes Cut to it: On April 28, 2026, HUD Secretary Scott Turner and USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins jointly pulled the trigger on a Biden-era...

Something Broke in the Housing Market – And It’s Not What You Think

If you’ve been scrolling TikTok or Instagram lately, you’ve seen the posts. Viral charts. Apocalyptic headlines. People claiming that if home prices had just tracked income growth since the 1970s, the average house today would cost around $170,000. And now, right alongside those posts, you’re seeing headlines screaming that sellers outnumber buyers by over 600,000 nationally, the biggest gap ever...

⚡ Companion Resource: This article is a deep dive on the Iran conflict as a geopolitical force on North Texas real estate covering the history, the fallout, 2026 forecasting, and the strategic playbook on how to succeed in this market. For the full March snapshot of DFW inventory, prices, days on market, and county-by-county data, read the March 2026 North Texas Market Report. For the full 2026 guide read The Complete 2026 North Texas Real Estate Intelligence Report .

The Iran War and It’s Devastating Impact on The Housing Market

By Bobby Franklin, REALTOR® | North Texas Market Insider™ | Legacy Realty Group – Leslie Majors Team | Waxahachie, TX | 214-228-0003 | northtexasmarketinsider.com Last Updated: April 13, 2026 | Reading Time: ~25 minutes ⚡ Companion Resource: This article is a deep dive on the Iran conflict as a geopolitical force on North Texas real estate covering the history, the fallout, 2026 forecasting,...

The 89th Texas Legislature just signed over 1,155 bills into law. Learn what this means for homeowners, buyers, sellers, and developers.

40+ New Texas Laws That Are Attracting Thousands of New Residents

Published: April 2026 By Bobby Franklin, REALTOR® | North Texas Market Insider™ | Legacy Realty Group – Leslie Majors Team | Serving Ellis County, Waxahachie, and the Greater DFW Metroplex You saw the viral social media post. “40 New Laws Have Gone Into Effect in Texas in Order to Attract More Residents to the State.” And you probably thought what most people think: Is that even...

Frost's New Progress Mortgage offers a zero dollar down payment with no PMI. Potentially saving homebuyers hundreds per month on their mortgage and thousands upfront.

The $0 Down Affordability Hack North Texas Homebuyers Need to Know in 2026

By Bobby Franklin, REALTOR® | North Texas Market Insider™ | Legacy Realty Group – Leslie Majors Team | Serving Ellis County, DFW & Greater North Texas The Headline That Should Have Stopped You Cold I want you to sit with this for a second. One of the most respected, financially stable banks in the state of Texas just re-entered the mortgage business after a 20-year absence...

Discover how President Trump's executive orders could pave the way for improved housing affordability over the next 1-3 years

Can President Trump Really Fix Housing Affordability With Executive Orders?

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 Let me give it to you straight. On March 13, 2026, President Trump signed two executive orders aimed directly at the housing affordability crisis in this country. And within about 48 hours, my...

Local, independent investors delivered 216.9% more starter homes to the U.S. housing market than homebuilders did in 2025.

Investors Created 216.9% More Starter Homes Than Builders in 2025

By Bobby Franklin, REALTOR® | Legacy Realty Group – Leslie Majors Team | North Texas Market Insider™Serving Ellis County, DFW & Greater North Texas | 214-228-0003 | northtexasmarketinsider.com The Number That Changes Everything You Think You Know About Housing Affordability Let me stop you right there before you skip to the next reel. I know what you’ve been reading. Hedge funds...

No. It is not basically the same thing. And confusing the two could cost you tens of thousands of dollars in financing costs, insurance headaches, and resale value over the life of your ownership. Let me walk you through the full picture so you can make a decision based on data, not assumptions.

Tiny Homes vs Manufactured Homes in North Texas: Which One Actually Fits Your Life and Your Financing in 2026?

By Bobby Franklin, REALTOR® | Legacy Realty Group – Leslie Majors TeamServing Ellis County, DFW & Greater North Texas Let me tell you what most real estate agents won’t. Most of them don’t know the difference between a tiny home and a manufactured home beyond square footage and the Instagram aesthetic. And because they don’t know the difference, their buyers make expensive decisions...

Nationally, tiny homes range from approximately $30,000 for a basic DIY build to well over $150,000 for a custom or builder-grade model with high-end finishes. The final number depends on size, materials, foundation type, land costs, and build complexity. Here’s how that breaks down in the North Texas context

Can You Really Buy a Tiny Home in North Texas for Under $150,000? An Honest Breakdown from a Local Market Insider

By Bobby Franklin, REALTOR® | Legacy Realty Group – Leslie Majors TeamPublished March 10, 2026 | Serving Ellis County, DFW & Greater North Texas Here’s a number that should stop you cold: the average age of a first-time homebuyer in Texas is now 54 years old. Read it again. Fifty-four. That’s not a market inefficiency. That’s not a blip. That’s a structural failure, an entire...

Affordability