Every year around Thanksgiving, I will be asked by one of my sellers if they should take their home off the Spring Texas real estate market during the Holidays.

My answer is “It depends”. If your reason for selling is because of lifestyle, your time frame is flexible, and you do not want to be inconvenienced with showings during the holidays, then my answer is “go ahead and take your home off the market”.

If you have your home on the real estate market for ANY OTHER reason, then my answer is “keep it on the market”. 

Yes, it is true there are less buyers viewing homes during the holidays. But the buyers are more motivated and less “lookers”. 

So before you decide to take your home off the Spring Texas real estate market for the Holidays, consider these reasons for keeping it on:

• Not all buyers celebrate the same Holidays. It may be the Holidays for you but not for the buyers of your home.
• Your Holiday decorations increases your home’s curb appeal.
• Employers relocate their employees during all months of the year. Not just the Spring and Summer months.
• The Spring Texas weather during November and December is still very pleasant. Rarely and I do mean rarely do we have snow. Its a great time for buyers to be out viewing homes.
• Buyers have a little more time during the Holidays to view homes because they have vacation days that have to be used before the end of the year.
• There are fewer homes on the real estate market. Translating into less competition and increasing your home’s probabilities of selling.

Now I wish I could tell you with 100% certainty that if you keep your Spring Texas home on the market during the Holidays, you will be given the gift of a buyer. But unfortunately I can not.

What I can tell you with 100% certainty is if your home is NOT on the market it WILL NOT SELL. This I know.

Its that time of the year, again. The time of year I dread going to my mailbox because I know any day now lurking inside I will find the bills for my Spring Texas Property Taxes.

In Spring Texas, we have three taxing entities the MUD (Muncipal Utility District), the school district which can either be Conroe, Klein, or Spring, and the County which can either be Harris or Montgomery.

In my case, my MUD is MUD #104, the school district is Klein school district, and the county is Harris County. Each taxing authority sends out its own property tax bill. Receiving three separate bills instead of one combined property tax bill makes me feel like my property taxes are a just a wee bit smaller.

So far I have received my 2008 property tax bill from MUD #104 and the Klein school district. The Harris County property tax bill has not found its way to my mailbox yet.

Since I was an Accountant before I was ever a Realtor, I am a stickler for the details. So when my Spring Texas property tax bills arrive, I carefully review each bill for the following:

• Does the taxable amount/appraised value equal the amount the HCAD (Harris County Appraisal District) assessor and I agreed was the taxable value of my home.

• Do the bills reflect the homestead exemption that I qualified for and applied for?  My MUD does not offer a homestead exemption. But the Klein school district offers a homestead exemption of $15,000 off the assessed value. While Harris County offers a homestead exemption of 20% off the assessed value of my home.

Read More »

If you have been sitting on the fence and waiting for the If you have been sitting on the fence and waiting for the mortgage interest rates to go lower before purchasing a Spring Texas home, the time to ACT is NOW.

Last week after the FED announced they would purchase $600 Billion of Mortgage-Backed securities backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae, the mortgage interest rates declined.

The move by the FED was designed to help increase the availability of credit while lowering the interest rate. And it certainly has lowered the interest rate. Not just by a fraction but by 1% from 6.5% to 5.5%.

Unlike a retail store that advertises a price for a certain period of time, interest rates are unpredictable and move on a daily basis. And to make matters worse, there is no one out there that can accurately predict how long the mortgage interest rates will stay at the low to middle five-percent range.

Thus if you are waiting for a good time to buy a Spring Texas home, the time is now. Get out there and  purchase: 

• before the home mortgage interest rates increase
• before the FHA minimum loan down payment increases on January 1st, 2009
• before the first-time home buyers tax credit disappears on July 1, 2009

According to the recently released 2008 National Association of Realtors Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 87% of buyers used the Internet in searching for homes which is no small number.

The survey also revealed where buyers first learned about the home they purchased. With 34% of the buyers saying real estate agent, 32% the Internet, 15% yard signs, 7% saying from friend, relative, or neighbor, 7% from home builders, 3% from a print or newspaper ad, 2% directly from the seller, and 1% saying a home book or magazine.

No real surprise in the survey as to where buyers are searching for homes. Buyers are on the Internet. And due to the large number of real estate websites, buyers are searching for homes not on one but several real estate websites. 

A strong online marketing presence is crucial to exposing your home to potential buyers.  Because the days of placing a sign in the yard, taking a few photos, and sticking the listing in the local MLS are gone. They are antiquated methods and NOT effective in selling homes.  

If you are interested in having your Spring Texas home’s listing where the buyers are, give me a call at 281.804.8626. I will be happy to share with you my marketing strategy which includes having your home’s listing on a smorgasbord of real estate websites.

Including the real estate sites of Realtor.com, Yahoo.com, MSN.com, AOL.com, Zillow.com, Trulia.com, Homes.com, Move.com, HAR.com, Homescapes.com, Google Base, Frontdoor.com, Roost.com, Hotpads.com, Vast.com, Geebo.com, OLX.com, Craigslist.com, Oodle.com, Frontdoor.com, Houston.org, Homestore.com, Prudentialproperties.com, Prudential.com, Activerain.com, Localism.com, Garygreene.com and other real estate sites. 

You probably have not heard of the majority of these websites, but the buyers have. And when you are selling your home you need to be where the buyers are.  

Read also:

• More photos = more money when selling Spring Texas homes
• All real estate sites have the same listings - True or False?

How’s the Spring TX real estate market fairing?  Is it getting better or is it getting worse? In a word “BETTER”.

Our months of inventory has decreased and is creeping closer to a balanced market at 6.2 months. According to the National Association of Realtors, nationally the real estate market has 10 months of inventory.

Our Spring Texas real estate market has out-performed the national real estate market through out all of 2008 and it continues to do so.

•  Sales ↓  -  12% decrease with 201 October 2007 sales versus 189 October 2008 sales. The percentage decrease in sales was smaller in October versus recent months. With the majority of the damage caused by Hurricane Ike repaired and the national election now behind us, the buyers are starting to find their way back out into the Spring Texas real estate market. 

• Active Listings ↓ -  23% decrease in active listings on the market from 1,772 in October 2007 to 1,365 in October 2008.  Less active listings and less qualified buyers combine for a balanced market.

• Months of Inventory ↓ -  7% decrease in months of inventory to 6.2 months. With the months of inventory now hovering closer to 6 months, a more balanced market between buyers and sellers has returned.  Buyers your best chance to get a good deal on a Spring Texas home is right NOW. As Sellers are experiencing less showings due to the Holidays and are more willing to deal.

Read More »

As only our third entry in our new series “Spring Texas Neighborhoods”, we are just getting started. Each week we provide a snapshot of a new neighborhood. Hopefully providing you with a “feel” for what it is like to call a particular neighborhood or subdivision “Home”.

By the end of the weekly series, we will have doubled our quantity of profiled Spring Texas Neighborhoods. Don’t worry if you miss a week because the full profile (not just the snapshot) with additional photos of the Neighborhood will be located in the Neighborhoods section of our blogsite for you to view at anytime.

This week, we take a look at the Spring Creek Forest subdivision and find out what makes it a great Spring Texas neighborhood to call “Home”.

If you desire a little breathing room between you and your next door neighbor, then you will want to consider the heavily wooded, established subdivision of Spring Creek Forest. Known for its large lots ranging in size from 10,000 to 30,000 square feet with the median lot size totaling 15,000 square feet, you are sure to find the extra space you crave.

There are a variety of architectural styles from which to choose including Colonial, Tudor, Contemporary and English Cottage. The majority of the homes were built in the 1970s and home prices range from $140,000 to $220,000. The higher priced homes have seen some renovation over the years. While the lower priced homes showcase the “in” styles of 1970s. 

The subdivision amenities include a baseball field, lighted tennis courts, playground area, Olympic sized swimming pool and a clubhouse which is available to rent exclusively by the residents of Spring Creek Forest.

View the complete profile of the Spring Creek Forest subdivision, additional photos and its homes for sale.

Read also:

• the first in the Spring Texas Neighborhoods “Weekly Series” - Stone Forest
• the second in the Spring Texas Neighborhoods - “Weekly Series” - The Thicket

$10,000 discount on selected homes, $15,000 decorator allowance, $10,000 towards closing costs, $2,000 gift card  … all of these are forms of incentives Spring Texas home builders are offering to attract buyers. But does a big discount equal a good deal on a home?

The builders certainly want you to think so. And home buyers, you want to think you got a good deal too. Because nobody wants to overpay for a home. And after all, if the home builder tells you its a good deal it has to be a good deal. Right???

WRONG!!!! Here’s some food for thought. Maybe the builder is offering BIG discounts on his remaining Spring Texas homes because nobody else wanted them. Maybe the reason they have not sold is because the homes are over-priced in comparison to other homes available on the real estate market.

Or maybe the home is in a less than desirable location (such as backing to a busy road, backing to commercial, close to a railroad track, or close to an airport). Maybe the homes have not sold because of its lot characteristics (such as power lines in the back yard or the size of the back yard is small.)

Maybe the builder is offering a BIG discount because the selections in the homes are customized. But not customized in a good way. They have been personalized to the extreme (such as green carpet or a red tile backsplash when the other houses in the neighborhood have tan carpet and beige tile backsplash).

All of these are reasons why BIG DISCOUNT DOES NOT EQUAL GOOD DEAL. Because they all affect the future resale value of the homes.

There is only one way to know for sure if you are getting a good deal on the purchase of your Spring Texas home. Get a knowledgeable Realtor to represent you in the purchase. He/she will be able to advise you as to how the home’s location, amenities, color selections, and lot characteristics will affect the home’s future resale value. By analyzing the prices of recently SOLD comparable homes, your Realtor will negotiate a good deal for you and not just a good deal for the builder.

Read also:

• How to get the best deal on your Spring Texas home purchase

It seems like every couple of days I hear about the government bailing out this company or giving this other company a loan. I am to a point that I want to know what I have to do to get a government loan.  Because after all if the government is giving out money …. I want some too.

You probably have not heard that you may qualify to receive an INTEREST FREE LOAN from the government. Why?  Because bad news SELLS and GOOD news well it is just not as exciting.

Now, I don’t qualify for the interest free loan since I am not considered a “first-time home buyer”. So I am still going to be waiting for my money.  But if you DO meet the government’s definition of a first-time home buyer, you can get a 15 year interest free loan up to $7,500. I know its not as good as FREE money since the money has to be paid back. Although, it is still a sweet deal.

The interest free loan is called the “first-time home buyer tax credit” and it is part of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. The Recovery Act was designed to give housing a shot in the arm and a reason for buyers to purchase a home.

Read More »

The second entry in our new series on “Spring Texas Neighborhoods” in which each week we will provide a snapshot of a new neighborhood. Hopefully providing you with a “feel” for what it is like to call a particular neighborhood or subdivision “Home”.

By the end of the weekly series, we will have doubled our quantity of profiled Spring Texas Neighborhoods. Now don’t worry if you miss a week because the full profile (not just the snapshot) with additional photos of the Neighborhood will be located in the Neighborhoods section of our blogsite for you to view at anytime.

Since everything is better with a little fanfare ……  Drum roll, please ……. Introducing The Thicket, a small secluded neighborhood in Spring Texas. Located off of what looks to be an old country road is the main entrance to this tucked away neighborhood. The home buyers lucky enough to have found the Thicket love the quiet setting provided by its seclusion. Tucked away does not mean “far away” as it is located only 2.5 miles from I45.

The small subdivision contains 253 “custom built” homes with the majority being constructed by Partners in Building and Norwood Homes.  Built between 1991 - 2001 with an average size of 3,400 square feet. The Thicket’s homes would be characterized as “Executive” with a traditional architectural style. The homes typical amenities include detached garages with porte chocheres and long driveways, master bedrooms on the first floors, studies, and both formals. 

View the complete profile of the Thicket subdivision, additional photos and its homes for sale.

Read also:

• the first in the Spring Texas Neighborhoods “Weekly Series” - Stone Forest