About Harris County, TX

What would you do with an acre and a quarter of land close to town? Suppose it came with three homes, one of which was mobile, and a 1800 sq ft cinder lock building which was once a convenience store?

Suppose this place was located close to a major road and had lots of industrial and commercial buildings all around on similar pieces of acreage?

If the land had a natural low spot, would you dig a small pond and stock it? Would you utilize one of the houses and rent the other two?

Do you like to barbeque? You could make large quantities and sell it from the little store building that comes with the property. You could also make any number of delicious fast foods or stock the shelves and freezer with breads and beverages to return the store to its previous use.

You could change your lifestyle completely and live and work on the same property. The savings in gasoline would be one terrific extra!

Tomball Business and Professional Women's 3rd Annual Garden Party and Style Show!

Sunday, April 15th from 2:00 pm - 5:00 pm at 30331 Winfro Drive, Tomball, Texas 77375.

Proceeds from this event will help to provide scholarships to local youth, and, one scholarship will be given to a woman in our community in need of continuing education.

Ticket cost is $35.00. Along with the benefit of the proceeds going to help local scholarships the event itself will be a showcase of current fashions from local Tomball retailers. These retailers include; Dahlia's Boutique, Foxworthy's, Mas Boutique, Clean by Troy Garza & Aidan Grace Boutique.

Lunch and desserts will be provided by Nona's Italian Grill and It's Yummy will provide desserts. The complimentary Mimosa fountain can't be missed.

In addition to everything mentioned, there will also be a Chinese and Live Auction and a Kentucky Derby Style Hat Contest.

If you would like to buy a ticket or get more information give me a call at 832-721-8332.

For all your Spring/Tomball/Magnolia TX Real Estate needs, contact me today!
Marchel Peterson
Results Realty
Cell: 832-721-8332

Comcast in Katy Texas opens a new store

I am not writing this article as an advertisement or endorsement for Comcast. We use their services at my home and right now and we have virtually everything bundled. Supposedly this saves you money but also makes changing service providers much more difficult. Our situation was more an outgrowth of time as opposed to our picking this service provider. In addition Comcast bought out Time Warner in the Houston area several years ago. I am posting this blog to let folks in Katy know that the old Comcast Store just off Mason Road and Kingsland is now closed and a new XFINITYTM Store has replaced it.

Comcast celebrated ribbon cutting on their new Katy store on January 31, 2012. Many local dignitaries and City of Katy Council member plus Comcast employees were in attendance at the grand opening. This store is the first of its kind in all of the United States. Katy was picked due to its large future growth potential. The new location occupies 3,200 sq. ft. of space. The important part is that it is located on Mason Road in the Kroger Center maze of shopping strip stores. If you know where the Wings store is located then keep going towards the back of the strip towards the Alamo Drafthouse. The actual address is 517 S. Mason Road Katy, Texas. I found it a few weeks ago by accident and I was not sure if the old store was still functional.

The new facility supposedly has all of these special features to assist customers with picking the appropriate services. I will believe that when I see it. If you use Comcast and need to obtain a new TV converter box or obtain or exchange anything else with Comcast then you will need to go to this new facility. Based on the size of this store and the services they claim to provide, I would guess Comcast had to hire some new employees for this first of its kind facility here in Katy. If true then this is excellent news to me.

The store hours are Monday thru Friday 9:00 A.M. until 6:00 P.M. and on Saturday 9:00 A.M. until 5:00 P.M. My comment is simply every time I went to old facility I always had to wait in this huge line and the Comcast employees working the counter were not very nice or easy to deal with. Unfortunately they usually acted like they had a chip on their shoulder.

After several months in which home sales figures were skewed by the effects of the 2010 homebuyer tax credit, the Houston real estate market concluded 2011 solidy in the black. December marked the seventh straight month of increased homes sales and the month contained a host of indicators suggesting a healthy start to the new year. Prices of single-family homes across Greater Houston for the full-year of 2011 were up slightly from 2010. The median price reached an all-time high for a December in Houston and months inventory hit its lowest level in two years.

According to the lastest monthly data compiled by the Houston Association of Realtors (HAR), December sales of single-family homes throughout the Houston marktet climbed 7.2% when compared to December of 2010. Positive sales activity was recorded in every segment of the housing market except the luxury segment-those homes priced from $500,000 and above-which was unchanged year-over-year.

The average price of a single-family home was statistically flat at $219,791 compared to December 2010 while the December single-family home median price-the figure at which half of the homes sold for more and half sold for less-rose 1.9% from one year earlier to $160,000.

Foreclosure property sales reported in the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) increased 6.1% in December compared to December 2010. Foreclosures comprised 20.5% of all property sales, remaining consistent with the levels they maintained for much of 2011. December's median price of foreclosures held steady on a year-over-year basis at $82,550.

December sales of all property types in Houston totaled 5,460, up 6.6% compared to December 2010. Total dollar volume for properties sold during the month increased 7.5% year-over-year to $1.16 billion. On an annualized basis, sales of all property types were up 4.3 percent compared to 2010 levels while total dollar volume rose 5.2% to $13 billion.

"2011 ended on a very promising note," said Wayne A. Stroman, HAR chairman and President/CEO of Stroman Realty. "We spent a good part of the year struggling to accurately gauge the market because we were comparing to accelerated sales in 2010 that resulted from the homebuyer tax credit. Once we distanced ourselves from that period, we saw clear indications of a healthy market with a balanced supply of housing inventory and strong pricing-conditions that put Houston in an enviable position compared to many housing markets around the country. The key to sustaining that positive momentum in 2012 will be continued improvement in Houston's employment numbers."

The Houston houseing market concluded calendar year 2011 with noteworthy gains in sales volume along with strong pricing. Single-family homes sales rose 4.0% for the year while sales of all property types increased 4.3%. On a year-to-date basis, the average price rose 0.9% to $213,723 while the median price ticked up 0.7% to $155,000. Total dollar volume for full-year 2011 climbed 5.2% to $13 billion compared to full-year 2010.

Source: Houston Association of Realtors

Unfortunately, many homeowners get misinformation or very incorrect and misleading information regarding short sales from their friends, on the web or even other agents.

Here is the most common questions our clients have asked:

Q: I hear short sales are a huge hassle and seldom work.

A: I work on short sales with my clients every day. They felt like the paperwork and extra effort involved might not be worth it. But they found that once we had successful closings, it was worth the hassle and better than losing their homes to foreclosure.

Q: I can’t afford to pay my mortgage, how can I afford to pay you?

A: The downturn in the economy has affected us all. Many of my clients felt the same way you do. But they found that in a short sale situation, the lender typically pays for the closing costs including realtor fees, in order to sell the property, enabling you to hire me with no bottom line cost to you.

Q: I want to wait and see what happens, my situation isn’t that bad because I’m still current.

A: Many of my clients were still current when they began working with me. They felt their savings would last long enough to hold off the inevitable or until the market shifts. But they found the reality is if you can’t pay your mortgage or there’s no shift in the market it’s better to be proactive with the lender than continue to waste their resources on a lost cause.

Q: I’m going into foreclosure in a few months or weeks, I don’t have time for a short sale.

A: I’ve had clients in the same situation you’re in right now. They felt there was no time to sell their home, either. But they found that if we communicated with the lender, there is a good chance they would grant an extension and were able to postpone foreclosure and sell the house.

Q: I hear short sales affect your credit the same as foreclosure

Many of my clients have heard the same thing. They felt that if the damage to their credit was going to be the same it wasn’t worth the trouble. But they found after a successful closing that the credit consequences of a short sale don’t last nearly as long as foreclosure.