2010 Census Data for Spring Texas
Written by Jill Wente on April 5th, 2011 categories: Discover Spring Texas, Home Buyer Information | views
Almost every client I talk with who is relocating to Spring Texas asks me which neighborhoods should I stay away from or which are the most family friendly but due to Fair Housing Laws I can’t answer those questions. I can only point you to websites that you can use to develop your own opinions.
An excellent resource that I discovered recently is provided by the New York Times. It overlays the 2010 census data onto Google Maps. The data is broken down by state, county, and census tract. I particularly like the census tract data because it gives you a closer look than just data for Spring Texas. You can view maps on home values, monthly rent, same sex couples, racial and ethnic distribution, income and education levels. 
Here’s the link to the map so you can dig deeper into the 2010 Census data yourself.
Over the last 10 years, we have experienced significant real estate development in several Census tracts in Spring Texas. In those instances where the value of the new construction homes were higher than the existing homes in the Census tract, the median home value experienced an artificially inflated increase. The median home value is the value at which 50% of the homes sold for more and 50% sold for less. Thus take the increases or decreases in median home values with a grain of salt.
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Does buying a house “AS IS” mean you can’t do inspections?
Written by Jill Wente on April 2nd, 2011 categories: Home Buyer Information | views
No. Even if the Spring Texas home you are interested in is being advertised “AS IS”, you still have the right to have the home inspected. Homes that are being sold as a short sale or as a foreclosure are typically sold ”AS IS” and it means the owner/seller of the home is selling it in its present condition. Whatever that condition may be.
You are accepting the home with all its faults and deficincies. The phrase “AS IS” is a classic buyer beware situation where the buyer should take the time and spend the money to have the home professionally examined and inspected.
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How important are good photos when selling your house?
Written by Jill Wente on March 30th, 2011 categories: Home Seller Information | views
99% of buyers are searching for Spring Texas homes for sale online. What will online buyers base their first impressions of your home on? It’s photos. If your home’s listing has professional photos and there are numerous photos, your home will create a dynamite first impression.
If it has bad photos (dark lit rooms, partial views of rooms, car in the driveway, photo of the commode with its toilet seat up), buyers will and do say “next house”. When the months of inventory for the Spring Texas real estate market is three months or less, you can get away with bad photos because buyers have less choices. But with our months of inventory sitting at 7+, this is not the time for bad photos … that is if you are serious about getting your house sold.
Real estate is local but the importance of good photography in promoting and selling homes is universal. Watch the video to hear what Christina Lowris-Panos, E.V.P. of Marketing & Advertising at The Corcoran Group , a New York based Real Estate Brokerage has to say about the role photography plays in selling homes.
Read also:
- How to choose a Spring Texas Realtor to sell your house
- A picture is worth a thousand words while a GOOD picture is worth thousands of dollars.
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Houston – best shopping city in the U.S.
Written by Jill Wente on March 25th, 2011 categories: Shopping | views
Houston has been making it onto quite a few lists recently including “Top 10 Budget Travel Destinations for 2011“, “2 Houston Hotels on Travel & Leisure’s list of the 500 World’s Best Hotels“, #2 Best City for Young Adults, and now the “#1 Best Shopping City in the U.S.” according to Forbes.
Forbes compiled their list of best cities for shopping based on “the nation’s largest cities (600,000 to 8 million) and what they have to offer in terms of total number of retail locations and malls, sales tax, consumer price index and Walmarts.”
Just how many shopping venues are there in Houston Texas? There are 16,938 retail locations and 54 shopping centers.
I knew Houston had a smorgasbord of places to go shopping but I certainly wouldn’t have guessed 16,938 locations. Now that explains why I can always find what I am looking for in Houston and sometimes I even find what I didn’t know I was looking for.
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Spring Texas Real Estate: Market Report February 2011
Written by Jill Wente on March 23rd, 2011 categories: Spring Texas Real Estate Market Reports | views
What’s going on with the Spring Texas Real Estate Market? It can be summed up by saying “What one month giveth, the next month taketh away”. February home sales were down by 16% over the previous year. The decrease in home sales was enough to wipe out January’s increase resulting in a YTD decrease in home sales of 7%.
Comparing month over month or YTD sales for the Spring Texas real estate market are going to be misleading for the entire year of 2011. Due to the demand pushed forward by last year’s home buyer tax credits. This year the health of the Spring Texas real estate market needs to be evaluated based upon the months of inventory.
If the months of inventory increases, home prices will drop. If the months of inventory decrease, home prices will increase. The Spring Texas real estate market is starting off the year with 7.3 months of inventory which puts us in a buyers market.
Six months of inventory is considered a balanced market. More than 6 months of inventory is considered a buyers market and less than 6 months of inventory is considered a sellers market.
The advice I have for buyers is get out there now especially if you are getting a FHA loan. The interest rates for 30 year loans are still hovering a hair below 5% and if you have a house in contract before April 18th, you can avoid an increase in the monthly cost of FHA loans.
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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Mercer’s 2011 March Mart scheduled for March 25 and 26
Written by Jill Wente on March 21st, 2011 categories: Events and Activities | views
On March 25 and 26, the grounds of the Mercer Botanical Gardens will be filled with gardeners loading their squeaky red wagons with the 1,200 species of plants available for sale.
In its 37th year, Mercer’s March Mart is one of the largest plant sales in the state of Texas with attendance numbers totaling over 4,000. The annual plant sale is made possible by the help of over 150 volunteers many of whom are certified Master Gardeners.
The 2011 March Mart is a FREE event scheduled for 8 am – 4 pm on Friday, March 25th and Saturday, March 26th. As with any sale, if you want to get the best selection, you will want to go on the first day of the sale.
Mercer Aboretum and Botanical Gardens is located at 22306 Aldine Westfield Humble Texas 77338.
Learn more about Mercer Arboretum and Botanical Gardens
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Is a part-time Realtor the best person to represent you?
Written by Jill Wente on March 19th, 2011 categories: Home Buyer Information | views
Recently while at a family gathering, you told an aunt you and your husband were thinking about buying a house in Spring Texas. Your aunt’s response was “You need to call your cousin, Joe. He’s a Realtor®”. Cousin Joe’s a Realtor? When did this happen? Last you heard he was working at Home Depot. Your aunt’s response was “Yes, Joe does still work at Home Depot. That’s his full-time job but he sells real estate part-time”.
Before you dial cousin Joe’s number, ask yourself is a part-time Realtor® the best person to represent you?
1) Will Joe be able to show you homes when it fits into your schedule? Or will you lose the house of your dreams to another buyer because you have to schedule around Joe’s full-time job?
2) How much real estate experience does Joe have? How much of a disadvantage does his real estate experience put you at? Is his real estate experience equivalent to 50%, 33%, or 25% of a full-time Realtor®?
3) As a part-time Realtor®, is Joe aware of the latest rezoning of Klein schools and of new construction projects? Things that can and do impact the future resale value of your Spring Texas home.
4) Is Joe up to date on the recent changes made to the residential real estate contract? If not, you are in a weaker negotiating position.
When deciding upon which Spring Texas Realtor to hire, ask yourself who is going to do the best job at helping you with your largest financial purchase? Is that person someone who practices his craft on a daily basis and does it for a living? Or is it someone who sells real estate for supplemental income?
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Best place to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day
Written by Jill Wente on March 15th, 2011 categories: Dining and Entertainment | views
St. Patrick’s Day when everyone gets to be from Ireland and wear “Kiss Me. I’m Irish” buttons. So where’s the best place in the Spring Texas area to drink green beer and celebrate St. Patrick’s Day? Our choice is the Goose’s Acre on the Woodlands Waterway.
The Goose’s Acre Irish Pub was originally located on Main Street in Middleton, County Cork, Ireland. In 2005, the pub closed its doors to make way for new development. Brian Young and Colm O’Neil purchased the pub’s contents, shipped it across the Atlantic Ocean and recreated the pub in the Woodlands.
The Goose’s Acre will be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day with live music starting at 11 am that will continue until the wee hours of the morning, shot block, bag-pipers, Irish dancers and with plenty of corned beef and green beer.
The only thing missing will be the green water. If they can dye the Chicago river green to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, then why not dye the Woodlands Waterway green.
Read also:
- Best patios for outdoor dining
- Where’s the best pizza?
- Who has the best Mexican food in Spring Texas?
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How many excuses does a lender have for not closing on time?
Written by Jill Wente on March 11th, 2011 categories: Home Buyer Information, Home Seller Information | views
When you are buying or selling a Spring Texas house, your life evolves around the closing date. For weeks you have been coordinating schedules. You set a date for the movers. You lined up a babysitter for the kids. You scheduled time off from work. You called the utility companies to establish service. You are ready to go. You are just waiting on the closing date to arrive.
Then BOOM out of nowhere and just three days before the closing date, your lender says “your loan has not met all of the final loan conditions and we can’t give your loan the clear to close until it does”. Translation - we will not be closing your loan on time. But why is your loan not closing on time? You gave the lender every document he requested as soon as you possibly could. And last week your lender told you everything was on schedule.
As a Spring Texas Realtor, I have heard more excuses from lenders than the kid who forgot his homework. Heck, some of the kid’s excuses are more believable than the ones I receive from the lenders. Lenders will tell you they will do their best to meet your closing date but they will not guarantee it.
So what happens, when due to no fault of your own, you can’t meet the closing date? In Spring Texas, the sellers can either agree to extend the real estate contract’s closing date, sue for specific performance, or terminate the contract and receive your earnest money as liquidated damages. The best option for you would be for the sellers to extend the closing date but the sellers do not have to extend the closing date. They may be fed up with your lender’s lame excuses and decide to take your earnest money and put their house back on the Spring Texas real estate market.
How many excuses does a lender have for not closing on time? An infinite number – a quantity without end.
Read also:
- Loan pre-approval does not guarantee you a loan
- Who decides the closing date?
- What’s a sellers leaseback and should you get one?
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Credit Do’s and Don’ts
Written by Jill Wente on March 9th, 2011 categories: Home Buyer Information | views
Did you know your lender is required to pull your credit score right before closing? That’s right and a drop in your credit score could stop you from getting full loan approval. And without full loan approval you will not be closing and you will not be moving into that fabulous house in Spring Texas.
During the loan process follow these Credit Do’s and Don’ts:
Do’s:
Do call your loan officer before making any decisions regarding your credit. What sounds like a logical financial move to you could negatively impact your credit score. Don’t take unnecessary risks. Call your lender first.- Do continue to use your credit as normal. If it appears you are changing your patterns, it could create a red flag and your score could go down.
Don’ts:
- Don’t apply for new credit. New house means new furniture, new fridge, new washer & dryer, and new credit. Every time you have your credit pulled your score can go down. Wait until after you close on your Spring Texas house before applying for any new credit.
- Don’t close credit card accounts. Closing a credit card account makes it appear that your debit ratio has increased and it impacts your credit history.
- Don’t max out your credit cards. Keep your credit cards at below 80% of your credit limit. If you are paying down cards, do so across the board.
- Don’t consolidate your debt. When you consolidate your debt onto one or two credit cards it appears you are “maxed out” on that credit card and down your score goes.
If you need the name of a good local Spring Texas lender, give us a call at 281.804.8626 or 281.300.3141. We would be happy to refer you to a couple of lenders with aggressive rates and who close their loans on time.
Read also:
- How do damage points affect your FICO credit score
- Stop! Don’t buy that fridge for your new house yet!
- Don’t flush your credit down the drain
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