Does your home’s listing have Web appeal?
July 10th, 2009 categories: Home Seller Information | views
If not, it could explain why your Spring Texas home is not selling. According to a recent ABC News article, Spencer Rascoff, the CEO of Zillow.com says “Sellers used to have to worry about curb appeal: How does the grass look, etc. Now a seller needs to worry about Web appeal: When a buyer is browsing on the Web, what is their first impression.”
How important is web appeal in getting your home sold? It is crucial. Without enticing web appeal your home is missing out on capturing the eyes and attention of the 87% of home buyers who use the web in their search for homes.
To grab the attention of potential buyers your home’s listing needs to have more than just a few bad photos. Your home’s listing needs:
- Numerous top quality photos.
- Enticing advertising descriptions. I do mean enticing and not boring descriptions of “kitchen” or “another view of kitchen”.
- A virtual tour. Did you know real estate listing web sites allow buyers to filter their searches based upon homes with virtual tours? If your home’s listing does not have a virtual tour it will be returned at the bottom of the search results.
- A virtual flyer. Flyers can be distributed to numerous real estate sites for more exposure of your home’s listing.
- Blog posts. With over 27.9 million U.S. bloggers and 96.6 million U.S. blog readers the power of blogs and their ability to reach potential buyers can not be denied.
- Distribution to numerous real estate web sites. On average home buyers search for homes on 7 different web sites. Your home needs to be listed on more than just the top couple of web sites because if its not your chances of getting it sold decrease significantly.
Whether you like it or not, web appeal IS the new curb appeal and to get your Spring Texas home sold you need a Realtor® who understands and embraces it.
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Where to take your dog for a walk
July 8th, 2009 categories: Parks and Recreation | views
Did you know that 39% of households own a dog? I certainly didn’t. But the large number explains why I have been finding that more and more of my home buyers are dog owners.
I have also discovered dog owners have different house hunting criteria than non-dog owners. Dog owners want a home’s flooring to be either tile or wood or both, want a decent size backyard preferably with some shade, and want to be close to a park to take their dog for a walk.
Meeting the needs of dog owners is not a difficult task as we have numerous Spring Texas homes matching their criteria. We also have several great public parks for dog owners to walk their dogs in the area. But dog owners are disappointed when they discover the closet public off-leash dog park is around Interstate 10 which is a good distance from Spring Texas.
For all the dog lovers I have compiled a list of the public and private and off-leash and on-leash parks in the Spring Texas area for you and man’s best friend to explore.
Public parks: Meyer Park, a 286 acre facility known for its 26 soccer fields, has numerous paved trails and nature trails for you and your dog to explore. Burroughs Park, a 320 acre facility, has winding paved trails and 8 miles of nature trails. Burroughs Park tends to be a little less crowed than Meyer Park which is probably due to its less convenient location. Both Meyer and Burroughs Parks do require dogs to be on their leash at all times.
Private off-leash dog parks: Gleannloch Farms, the Woodlands, and The Falls at Imperial Oaks have facilities inside their respective subdivisions available for the exclusive use of their residents dogs. Located in the Huntwick subdivision is a private off-leash dog park available to the residents of Harris County WCID # 116.
Public off-leash dog park: Officially opened on May 2, 2007, the Bill Archer Park located North of Interstate 10 and Highway 6 North has 17 acres for dogs of all sizes to enjoy off-leash freedom. The large dogs get the run of 14 acres while the small dogs are left with 3 acres. After a long run the dogs can use the shower facilities to cool off before heading home.
Click on the Map for a closer look at where the dog parks in Spring Texas are located.
Readers speak out and let us know your favorite park to take your dog for a walk.
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Who has lower real estate taxes Montgomery County or Harris County?
July 6th, 2009 categories: Home Buyer Information, Property Taxes | views
If I was to do a telephone survey to Montgomery county homeowners to find out the answer to “Who has lower real estate taxes Montgomery county or Harris county?” I would predict 80% of the survey respondents would say Montgomery county. And they would be partially right.
Partially right because Montgomery county real estate taxes are lower than Harris county real estate taxes if you DO NOT take into consideration the 20% residential homestead exemption available to Harris county homeowners.
Montgomery county on the other hand does not offer its homeowners a residential homestead exemption.
Maybe the question should be reworded to ”Who has lower real estate taxes 
Montgomery county or Harris county after the homestead exemption?”
The answer and bragging rights would go to Harris county. After the homestead exemption the difference between the two counties real estate taxes is a minuscule difference. A difference not significant enough to base an entire home purchase decision on but a difference none the less.
There are lots of things to base your home purchase decision on such as commute time to work, community amenities, school district, floor plan, and overall tax rate. As a homebuyer don’t limit your home search to only homes in Montgomery county because a co-worker told you Montgomery county real estate taxes are less. Although your co-worker had good intentions, he was only partially right.
If you click on the charts, you will receive a larger more eye friendly version of the charts.
Read also:
- How to file for the homestead exemption and reduce your Spring Texas real estate taxes
- Why are Texas real estate taxes so high?
The Harris County real estate taxes chart is for homes located in the Windrose subdivision while the Montgomery County real estate taxes chart is for homes located in the Spring Trails subdivision.
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Air conditioners should be neither seen nor heard
July 4th, 2009 categories: Home Buyer Information | views
When I was out previewing new construction homes in Spring Texas for a buyer, I saw something I had never seen before. Located in the backyard, right outside the home’s breakfast room window were two big air conditioners.
I have seen air conditioners before but not air conditioners located in a home’s backyard. So I wondered what could have possibly possessed the builder to place the air conditioners in what seems like such an illogical place to me?
Drainage was the answer I received. Due to the small amount of space between homes, the side yards were not properly draining. The builder decided the least expensive way to resolve the drainage problem was to relocate the air conditioners from the side yard to the backyard.
I am not a home builder just a home owner but I can think of other ways to resolve drainage issues because in my opinion air conditioners should be neither seen nor heard. If you are a light sleeper or don’t want a view of air conditioners, check to see where the home’s air conditioners are located before you enter into a real estate contract on a home.
Read also: Top 10 Mistakes homebuyers make
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10 tips for Spring Texas home sellers
July 2nd, 2009 categories: Home Seller Information | views
Thanks to Lani Rosales from Agent Genius for this entertaining video on the 10 biggest mistakes for Spring Texas home sellers to avoid.
These are great tips but I do not entirely agree on the tip on pricing. While pricing your home at $199,900 is more attractive than pricing your home at $205,000, the $199,900 price is “old school” and does not consider how buyers find Spring Texas homes. Buyers search for homes at one if not several of the numerous real estate listing sites. The real estate listing sites allow buyers to search for homes in price ranges such as $150,000 to $200,000 and $200,000 to $225,000. Pricing your home at $199,900 only exposes your home to those buyers searching for homes under $200,000 and not to the buyers searching for homes at $200,000 and more.
For more home selling tips: Read – 30 things to do before putting your home on the real estate market
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Can Real Estate agents show the homes listed by brokers other than their own?
June 29th, 2009 categories: Home Buyer Information | views
A term most buyers are not familiar with is broker reciprocity. What broker reciprocity means is that as a Spring Texas real estate agent I can show you any real estate company’s listings. ReMax, Coldwell Banker, Prudential Gary Greene, or some other real estate company it does not matter whose name is on the “For Sale” sign in the yard because I can show all homes.
I show buyers the homes they want to view and not just the homes listed with my broker, Prudential Gary Greene, Realtors. Why? Because my job as a buyer’s agent is not to find buyers a Prudential Gary Greene, Realtors listing to buy. My job is to help buyers find the ”the right home” for them irregardless of which real estate company has the home listed.
As a homebuyer, you are not restricted to only being able to work with a real estate agent from the company whose sign is in the yard of the home you want to buy. You have the freedom to independently choose a buyer’s agent because broker reciprocity allows agents to show the listings of other brokers.
Choose your real estate agent and then your home because your buyer’s agent can show you any and all homes. Any home in the State of Texas, that is.
Can Real Estate agents show the homes listed by brokers other than their own? YES!
Read also: Top 5 benefits of having a Spring Texas buyer’s agent
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Tips on navigating our local roads
June 27th, 2009 categories: Discover Spring Texas | views
One of the toughest things about moving to a new area has to be figuring out how to get around. A GPS can certainly help you find your way but there are some things that the GPS does not know. These are the things that only the locals who travel the Spring Texas roads day in and day out know.
To help you find your way, I am going to share with you my tips on navigating our roads. Hopefully they will make your transition to the Spring Texas area just a little easier.
1. Not all roads go through. Ella and T.C. Jester, two main North – South routes, stop at various points and then pick up again. Ella stops South of Cypress Creek and picks up again North of Cypress Creek. T.C. Jester stops South of Spring Cypress and picks up again North of Spring Cypress.
2. The shortest distance between two points is not always the fastest. If you are wanting to get from FM 1960 and I45 to FM 1960 and 290 a map would indicate the shortest distance would be to travel west across FM1960. Is it the shortest distance? Yes. Is it the quickest route? No.
The drive across FM 1960 is filled with stop light after stop light. A quicker route is to drive I45 South to the Beltway, take the Beltway West to 290, and then take 290 North to FM 1960.
3. Avoid delays get an EZ Tag. Some day you will want to travel on one of the area toll roads. Before that day arrives do yourself a favor and get an EZ Tag. The EZ Tag gives you the power to go whizzing by while avoiding the long wait in line to pay the toll. Plus with the toll charge being less for EZ Tag users, the EZ Tag will save you time and money.
4. Highways have more than one name. Adding to the confusion of navigating around the area is same road or highway having numerous names. Such as the outermost loop around downtown Houston is known as the Beltway, Beltway 8, Sam Houston toll way, and the Sam Houston Parkway. I45 North is also known as the North Freeway. U.S. 290 is known as the Northwest Freeway. The innermost loop around downtown Houston is known as the Loop or the 610 Loop.
5. Learn the major East – West and North – South thoroughfares. The major North – South roads are I45, Kuykendahl, Stuebner Airline/Veterans Memorial, Champion Forest, and 249. The major East – West routes are FM 1960, Cypresswood, Louetta, Spring Cypress, and FM 2920.
What’s the FM in FM 1960 and FM 2920 stand for? The FM is an abbreviation for Farm-to-Market. These were the roads the farmers traveled to deliver their goods to market.
Read also: Moving to Spring Texas? 10 Things you need to know
Click here or on the image of the map of Spring Texas for a closer look at our area roads.
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Who has the lowest prices on groceries?
June 25th, 2009 categories: Shopping | views
One of the things I like about living in Spring Texas is the convenience. In this case, it is the convenience of having numerous grocery stores nearby. Located within 15 minutes of my home are a Walmart Supercenter, Kroger, HEB, Randalls, and a Super Target. A great selection of stores to choose from to do my grocery shopping.
But with so many choices which grocery store has the lowest prices on groceries? To answer this question, I decided to do a cost comparison of grocery items that on a regular basis wind up in my cart. Below are the five items I decided to compare prices from the three grocery stores I frequently shop at.
On some of the items such as the Vinaigrette salad dressing there was not a significant difference in price. But look at the price difference in the Lipton Green Tea. Kroger’s price was 43% higher and HEB’s price was 31% higher than Walmart’s price.
Who has the lowest prices on groceries in Spring Texas? For my shopping items, the answer is Walmart. These days grocery shopping requires a strategy and this is mine for everyday items I shop at Walmart because on a consistent basis their grocery prices are lower. I still grocery shop at HEB and Kroger but for different things and different reasons.
If I have to get in and out of the grocery store quickly I go to HEB and not Walmart. Walmart has some of the longest lines especially on Saturdays and Sundays. For fresh produce I shop at HEB and Krogers. If neither store has the produce I want as an advertised weekly special, I shop at HEB because I have found their produce to be the freshest. I also shop at HEB and Krogers for their weekly special items because these items are usually cheaper than at Walmart.
If you want to know the locations of the Spring Texas grocery stores, you can access the Google Map I made.
Read also:
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When should you show your home?
June 23rd, 2009 categories: Home Seller Information | views
The movie, “The Godfather” proves itself once again as having the answer to yet another real estate question. This time the question is when should Spring Texas home sellers accept showings on their homes?
The answer: “Maunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday, Saturday”. Any day of the week, any time of the day is a good time for a showing of your home. Potential home buyers want to view homes on their time schedules not just when its convenient for the you to show your home. Never decline a showing because the showing you declined could have been the ”right buyer” for your Spring Texas home.
Read also: What Spring Texas home sellers can learn about negotiating from “The Godfather”
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Top 5 benefits of having a Spring Texas buyer’s agent
June 21st, 2009 categories: Home Buyer Information | views
Before 1994, buyer’s agency did not exist in Texas. All real estate agents worked for the seller as either the listing agent or the seller’s subagent. Nobody in the real estate transaction was representing and watching out for the best interests of the homebuyer.
Fast forward 15 years and buyer’s agency still is not available in all states which is a shame. Without buyer’s agency a homebuyer does not have anyone they can truly trust.
The Top 5 Benefits of having a Spring Texas Buyer’s Agent are:
1. Someone working for you. The listing agent (the agent whose name is on the yard sign) represents the seller. His job is to find a buyer for that home. The builder’s rep. represents the builder. His job is to find a buyer for that builders homes. Neither the listing agent nor the builder representative’s job is to work for and represent you, the homebuyer. Yes, I would agree the majority of listing agents and builder representatives are nice people. Nice people whose job it is protect the interests of the seller or the builder, NOT the interests of the homebuyer.
Who works for the homebuyer? A buyer’s agent does. While the listing agent and the builder’s rep. are trying to sell a specific home, the job of a buyer’s agent is not to sell a specific home but instead help you find the “right home”.
2. Works for FREE. A buyer’s agent does not exactly work for freebut in Spring Texas the builder or the seller pays for the services of the buyer’s agent. The builder and seller have agreed upon in advance to bear the cost of the buyer’s agent and it is considered an ordinary cost of the real estate transaction. The homebuyer receives the benefit of having someone working solely for him and at no cost to him.
3. Can show you any and all homes. A builder’s rep. can show you only the homes of the builder he works for. He can not show you the homes of another builder. A buyer’s agent can show you all Spring Texas new construction homes regardless of which builder constructed the home.
Your buyer’s agent can also show you all of the resale homes on the market. It does not matter which broker the home is listed with nor whose name is on the yard sign. Your buyer’s agent can show you all available Spring Texas homes for sale.
4. Identifies how the home’s features will impact future resale value. A buyer’s agent knows which of the home’s features are in demand by buyers and will positively impact tomorrow’s resale value. A listing agent nor a builder’s rep. is going to point out the fact that the home backs to commercial and it will negatively impact the home’s resale value. Why? Because their job is to sell that specific home with its warts and all.
5. Negotiating on your behalf. A buyer’s agent can effectively negotiate on the homebuyer’s behalf with the listing agent or the builder’s rep. The listing agent can’t negotiate with the seller for you because the listing agent has already agreed to represent the seller in the negotiations. The builder’s rep. can’t negotiate with the builder on your behalf because he’s an employee of the builder and paid to represent the builder.
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