Shopping in Spring Texas
August 30th, 2010 categories: Shopping | views
One of the many things I like about living in Spring Texas is the variety of available shopping options. Located within a 20 minute drive of my house are the regional malls of Willowbrook Mall and the Woodlands Mall, the shopping centers of Champions Village, Champion Forest Plaza, and Market Street and the speciality stores at Old Town Spring .
If you are relocating to Spring Texas and want to learn more about our shopping, watch the video below.
Watch also:
- A shopping tour of HEB Vintage Market at Vintage Park
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The best time to trade up
August 27th, 2010 categories: Home Seller Information | views
Have you out grown your Spring Texas house? Do you want to trade up but the economy keeps holding you back? If you are financially secure and are comfortable with the status of your job, then now is a great time to trade up.
The buy-low, sell-high approach works for the stock market and for the Spring Texas real estate market. The best time to buy is when inventories are high and the best time to sell is when inventories are low. Our current listing inventory is 32% higher than last year making it the time to buy.
The disadvantage of selling your Spring Texas house in a down market is you are not going to sell it for as much money as you would like. But you will make up for it by getting a better deal on the higher priced home you are going to purchase. Homes in the $400,000+ range have been taken a beating and there are some really good deals available.
With record low interest rates, that more expensive house will cost you less now than if you wait for the economy to fully recover. When the economy begins to show life and upward movement again, mortgage interest rates will be following right behind and moving upward.
Trading up in a down economy is not right for everyone. But if your job status is stable, trading up in a down economy is a smart financial move.
Read also:
- How to choose a listing agent to sell your house
- How to increase your list price and attract more buyers
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Klein School District releases new design of Klein High School
August 25th, 2010 categories: Schools | views
At its last monthly board meeting, the Klein school district approved the new design for Klein High School. Klein High School with an average enrollment of 3,300+ students is one of four high schools in the Klein school district.
The new Klein High School will be four stories and will be located at the corner of Louetta and Stuebner Airline in Spring Texas. The entrance to the new Klein High School will be off of Stuebner Airline and will include a drop off loop.
The first floor of the high school will house the administration offices, auditorium, fine arts, media center, cafeteria, kitchen and a courtyard facing Stuebner Airline. Gymnasiums will be located on the second floor with classrooms being located on the second, third, and fourth floor.
Construction of the new Klein High School is slated to begin in early 2011 and has an estimated completion date of July 2013.
The photo to the left is of the current Klein High School. Floor plans, exterior and interior renderings of the new Klein High School are available for viewing by accessing … Klein High School design renderings.
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Is your Facebook page sabotaging the sale of your house?
August 23rd, 2010 categories: Home Seller Information | views
There’s a good chance that when your put your house on the Spring Texas real estate market, you shared this information with your friends on facebook. You might have even pasted a link to your home’s listing or to its virtual tour on your facebook page. Your friends probably gave you encouragement and wrote on your wall “Great house! I am sure it will sell quickly!”.
Three months have gone by and your house still has not sold and you have become discouraged. In hopes of getting some encouragement from your facebook friends, you write on your wall ”Tired of making two house payments. We should have sold our house in Spring TX before buying a home in Chicago. We are almost ready to give it away just to get rid of it.” Your friends responded immediately responded with “Hang in there! I am sure the right buyer will come along soon.” You got the encouragement you wanted but what you also gave potential buyers your reason for selling your home and your current financial situation.
Sharing your home’s listing with all your facebook friends is a great idea. As your listing as the potential to go viral and be found by the right buyer. If your house isn’t moving, seek encouragement from your friends in person and not online because otherwise you may indirectly be sharing information with the buyer.
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Do you have to attend the closing?
August 21st, 2010 categories: Home Buyer Information, Home Seller Information | views
In Spring Texas the closing on a real estate transaction is held at a title company. Since the closing is scheduled in advance, the majority of buyers and sellers are able to arrange their schedules and do attend the closing on their house.
Sometimes a buyer’s or seller’s schedule does not permit them to physcially attend the closing. In these circumstances, the closing can still occur on the scheduled closing date by the title company doing an advance “mail-out” or through the use of a POA (Power of Attorney).
Mail-out closings are common when the sellers have already moved from Spring Texas and are now living in another state making it unpractical for them to travel back to attend the closing. The title company will mail out the documents for the sellers signatures and the sellers will arrange to have the documents returned by the closing date.
POA’s are frequently utilized when there is more than one buyer or seller. The buyer or seller who is unable to attend the closing will give a POA to the other buyer or seller to sign the documents on his or her behalf.
Read also:
- Who decides the closing date?
- Who repairs the nail holes?
- What stays and what goes when you buy a Spring Texas home?
- What to expect on closing day?
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Spring Texas Real Estate: Market Report July 2010
August 19th, 2010 categories: Spring Texas Real Estate Market Reports | views
What’s going on with the Spring Texas Real Estate Market? The market looks a lot like last year in terms of YTD sales. As YTD home sales are down only 4% compared to 2009. Home prices are remaining stable with minimal changes. Minor decreases in sales activity and stable home prices usually means good news to home sellers. But not this year as there are 32% more sellers wanting to sell their Spring Texas homes than last year. The increased competition will push the sellers who really want to sell to be realistic on terms and sales price.
Homes in the $200,000 or less category are seeing the highest buyer activity. While homes at $500,000+ are still languishing on the real estate market.
We are seeing some builders get creative in their efforts to stimulate demand in hopes of moving their completed inventory homes by holding week-end only sales. While other builders try to stimulate demand by offering huge BTSAs to Realtors.
If you are a buyer, it continues to be a good time to buy. As interest rates for 30-year loans are in the low to mid 4% range and are at 50 year lows. The increase in Spring Texas homes for sale gives buyers the upper hand in negotiating terms and sales price with sellers.
Want more numbers? Check out past Spring Texas real estate market reports.
The data represented is from the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University and the Houston Association of Realtors MLS for single family existing homes in Area 13. Area 13 covers the geographic boundaries of East – I45 to West – Hwy 249 to South – Beltway 8 to North – Spring Cypress. A good portion of the houses in MLS area 13 have a Spring Texas mailing address
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It’s back to school for Spring Texas area schools
August 17th, 2010 categories: Schools | views
If you still read the newspaper like I do, you know Spring Texas area schools will be starting soon. I know this not because of a newspaper article I read but because of the abundance of “back to school” advertisements. Advertisements for “back to school” clothes, supplies, book bags, and even food for the lunch boxes. 
This year the tax free weekend for back to school shopping for Spring Texas is August 20-22nd. During this weekend, most school supplies, backpacks, clothes, and shoes under $100 are tax free. Our regional malls, Willowbrook Mall and the Woodlands Mall are extending their hours during the tax free weekend to give parents more time to shop. On August 20th and 21st, the malls will be open from 9 am to 10 pm and on August 22nd from 11 am to 7 pm.
After the shopping’s done, you may want to check out the bus schedules. You don’t want your child to be late on August 23rd, their first day of school. You can access the bus schedules for the various school districts in the Spring Texas area through these links: Conroe School District bus schedule, Klein School District bus schedule, and Spring School District bus schedule.
School districts in the Spring Texas area have been busy over the summer vacation as both the Conroe School District and the Spring School District have freshen up their websites with a new look.
Enjoy your last weekend of summer vacation because next week it’s time to get back to the books.
Read also:
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Is your Real Estate Agent pushy?
August 15th, 2010 categories: Home Buyer Information | views
Here’s a fun YouTube video on pushy real estate agents.
Rick and I are not pushy real estate agents. As buyers agents, we will show you any house on the Spring Texas real estate market you would like to view. We work hard to help you find and purchase the right house for your lifestyle and your finances.
A thank you goes out to Missy Caulk, a Ann Arbor Realtor. I discovered the YouTube video on her website of www.annarborrealestatetalk.com
Read also:
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Will paying cash get you a discount on real estate?
August 13th, 2010 categories: Home Buyer Information, Home Seller Information | views
The majority of the time if you pay cash for Spring Texas real estate you will get a discount. The real question is not will you get a discount but how big of a discount. The answer depends on how big of an advantage cash is to the seller.
The biggest discounts for cash will be on properties that are not available to be financed. Properties unavailable for financing are typically foreclosure properties that are in terrible condition. The owners (banks) of these properties know they need to provide significant discounts to attract the cash buyers.
The discount will depend upon the overall condition of the property, how long the property has been on the bank’s books, and how motivated the bank is to dump the property. In the Spring Texas area, I have seen lenders sell cash only properties at 10% to 20% lower than market value.
The value of cash to a seller (bank or individual owner) is much less if the house can be financed. Why? From the seller’s perspective he wants to sell his home to whomever will pay him the most for it. Whether the money comes from the buyer directly or whether it comes from the buyer’s lender doesn’t matter to the seller. Its all cash to the seller.
A cash buyer does offer the seller some advantages including a quicker close, the elimination of potential appraisal issues, and an assurance the transaction will not fall through due to a buyer’s inability to secure financing. In situations where the seller has two buyers both offering him the same price for his Spring Texas house and one buyer has cash and other buyer requires financing, the seller will choose the cash buyer.
If the seller has only one offer and it is from a cash buyer, the seller is going to consider the advantages the cash buyer offers in conjunction with the market value of his house. Sellers will give a cash buyer a discount but the discount is usually in the 1% to 5% range.
Read also:
- If the house doesn’t appraise for the sales price, are you stuck buying the house?
- Are you overpaying if you pay the home’s list price?
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Accepting property in its present condition doesn’t mean you can’t ask for repairs
August 11th, 2010 categories: Home Buyer Information, Home Seller Information | views
In section 7 of our Spring Texas real estate contract the touchy subject of property condition is addressed. Buyers, sellers, and Realtors seem to generally understand the majority of the items in this section. That is until they reach 7.D. ACCEPTANCE OF PROPERTY CONDITION which is where confusion takes over.
In section 7.D., Spring Texas home buyers have to either check box (1) they are accepting the property in its present condition or box (2) they accept the property in its present condition, provided Seller, at Seller’s expense, shall complete the following repairs and treatments.
On the majority of offers I receive, the buyers have checked box (2) and have written in “all deficiences listed on the inspection report”. This causes my sellers immediate heartburn because it commits them to correct every single deficiency listed on the inspection report. If the sellers agreed to (2), they would be writing a blank check to cover every item identified on the report. Whether the repair could be handled with a $5 tube of caulk or the repair was to bring an item up to today’s building codes, it wouldn’t matter because the seller would have agreed to fix them all.
The true purpose of section 7.D. is to list any items the buyers are making their offer contingent upon the sellers repairing. As a buyer a specific repair you may want to make your offer contingent upon is the sellers installing a new roof or a water heater or replacing a broken window.
If you are not requiring the sellers to make any repairs at this time, you should check box (1). If you have purchased a termination option in Section 23 of the real estate contract which I highly recommend you do, you still have the right to inspect the house and request the sellers to make repairs. If the sellers agree to the repairs, the contract will be amended detailing the repairs to be made. If you and the sellers can not come to terms on the repairs, you still have the right to terminate the real estate contract during the option period.
As a buyer the main thing to remember is when you accept the property in its present condition, you are NOT forfeiting any of your rights to request the sellers to make repairs based upon your inspection of the house.
Read also:
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