A Practical approach saves money
practical approach to home maintenance, rather than the more common "I'll fix it when it breaks" mentality, 
can help homeowners save money and repair cost. The hard truth is that just about everything in a home requires some sort of maintenance, and it usually makes sense to stay ahead of the foreseeable deterioration.
Homes start aging from the second the last nail in put in and will keep running down and eventually the systems become old and need repair or replacement.
Do it yourself or hire a pro?
Whether the do-it-yourself option is a good alternative for home maintenance depends largely on the home homeowener's situation. For instance, older homeowners may not be enthusiastic enough to climb on the roof and clean out the rain gutters, while younger homeowners may be reluctant to take time away from their careers or family commitment.
For those determined to DIY, simple task such as painting or clearing overgrown brush are a good place to start. Most homeowners shouldn't attempt electrical repairs due to the risk of electrocution. Projects that require special equipment such as cleaning air ducts are also not suggested for the do-it yourself approach.
Few people enjoy house cleaning, but cleanliness can offer important home maintenance benefits, according to the National Association of Home Builders. Removing dirt can prolong the lifespan of major appliances, window treatments, floors, carpets, and many components of a typical home.
If you are considering having hiring any contract please contact me for a my list of qualified contractors. Also, if you are looking to sell or buy a property please visit my website at www.SoldOnCypress.com
Ok, It's time for me to get back on my soap box. I was walking in my subdivision last night and I saw what had to be the worst Real Estate sign that I have ever seen. The frame was made out of PVC pipe and the sign was being held by zip ties. If that wasn't bad enough I pulled out a copy of the listing flyer (Flyer box had to cost more than the sign) and I was once again shock to see that the flyer was just a print out was the buyer's sheet from our MLS. After reviewing it I found about 10 mistakes. The two biggest mistakes were that the listing agent had was the house was zoned to the wrong high school and the HOA dues were completely inaccurate. Instead of being $890 a year they had $890 quartley. With all this going on with the listing I can see why it's been on the market for 252. The sad part is the avg days on Market is 60.
With all of that ranting I feel that we as agents need to do a much better job at being more professional. It's the little things we do that make the biggest impact.
Lookin to move to the NW Houston area? Please visit www.davidLjordan.com
A short sale can be an excellent solution for homeowners who must sell and owe more on their homes than they are worth. Unfortunately, a number of myths about short sales have developed, and it is important to understand the reality of this process should you find it meets your current needs.
Myth #1 - The Bank Would Rather Foreclose than Bother with a Short Sale
This is one of the most common misconceptions. The reality is that banks do not want to foreclose on your property because the foreclosure process is incredibly costly. Banks, investors, and even the federal government have all publicly stated that if a person is qualified for a short sale, the deal needs to be considered. Overwhelmingly, banks receive more on their investment through a short sale than a foreclosure.
The qualifications for a short sale include:
Myth #2 - You Must Be Behind on Your Mortgage to Negotiate a Short Sale
While this may have previously been the case, today lenders are looking for verifiable hardship, monthly cash flow shortfall, or pending shortfall and insolvency.
If you meet these three requirements and believe that you soon may be unable to afford your mortgage, act immediately. Any delay could limit your options. Do not wait until the countdown clock to foreclosure has started and you have even less time left.
Myth #3 - There is Not Enough Time to Negotiate a Short Sale Before My Foreclosure
This is a myth that probably hurts homeowners the most. Many do not realize that foreclosure is a process, and that there is time to make decisions that may result in better outcomes.
The foreclosing party-in most cases a lender-can stall a foreclosure up to the final day of the process. Today, many lenders will stall a foreclosure with as little as a phone call from you explaining that you are trying to sell, and almost all lenders will stall a foreclosure with a legitimate contract. For real estate professionals who understand foreclosures and short sales, there is time available until the foreclosure process is complete.
Myth #4 - Listing My Home as a Short Sale is an Embarrassment
It is understandable to have reservations about letting the world know that you owe more on your home than it is worth. However, according to recent estimates, more than one out of eight homeowners in the U.S. is in the same situation. You are to be congratulated for admitting you need help, taking action, and finding a professional who can work with you toward a solution.
With recent estimates showing 40-60% of U.S. sales will be short sales or foreclosures, you are not alone.
Myth #5 - Short Sales are Impossible and Never Get Approved
This is a complete falsehood. Are short sales more difficult to execute? Yes. Do you, as a homeowner, need to learn about a new process? Yes. Are they impossible? Absolutely not.
For example, agents with the Certified Distressed Property Expert® (CDPE) Designation receive thousands of short sale approvals on a monthly basis. These professionals have undergone extensive training in methods to help homeowners in distress and process short sales. While there are no guarantees in any transaction, more and more short sales are being approved regularly. This is far from an impossible process.
Myth #6 - Banks are Waiting on a Bailout and Not Accepting Short Sales
You may have heard this, but the reality is that banks (and the U.S. government) are trying to do anything they can, within reason, to avoid foreclosing on properties. It is preposterous to believe they would deny a short sale in hopes that some future legislation would pass and pay them for losses.
Today, more banks are aggressively pursuing short sales and working with agents who understand how to process them. Freddie Mac recently hosted a national training Webinar for real estate agents where they expressly stated the organizational goal of "eliminating distressed assets through modification or short sale."
Myth #7 - Buyers are Not Interested in Short Sale Properties
This is a myth that potential sellers hear all the time. Thankfully, this is just not true. In fact, many agents are getting calls from buyers who say they only want to look at foreclosure and short sales.
For buyers, short sales and foreclosures have become synonymous with "good deals." More specifically, international buyers are targeting these properties. Listing with an experienced agent who is educated in the short sale process will provide you with a great chance of quickly seeing a contract on your property.
In conclusion, our team are trained in all aspects of the short sale process, and know how to deal with the parties involved in foreclosures. Please call us to find out if you qualify for a Short sale.
If you would like more information about how I can help you with your short Sale please visit www.davidLjordan.com
Real estate experts often refer to the impact and strategies of "motivated sellers," but the needs of another group are sometimes overlooked: motivated buyers. Home buyers can have many motivations for wanting to buy quickly: a desire to take advantage of low interest rates, the need to address their housing situation before starting a new job or school, or to prepare for the arrival of a new family member. Whatever your individual reason, smart planning is the trick if you're in the position of buying on a tight schedule.
Establish Your "Short List" of Priority Features 
Every buyer has some vision of what they want in their next home. Buyers form a list (literal or subconscious) of the required elements and desired features that comprise their ideal house. Some items on that list may be seen as crucial; such as the number of bedrooms or size of the backyard. Other elements of that vision may be less essential but still highly sought after; such as hardwood floors or a two-car garage.
Every home buying adventure requires the buyer to weight the items on that list against each other. If you're trying to buy fast, identifying the most core home requirements is absolutely vital. Adaptability is the name of the game when you don't have the luxury of comparing months and months of homes on the market.
Before you ever start the housing hunt, write out a list of features you need and want in a home. Next, rank them from most important to least important. You may even want to separate them into two categories: "necessities" and "wants." The least critical items on your list (particularly if in a "wants/desires" category) should be those on which you are most willing to compromise.
Log Some Time Online
There is no substitute for touring homes in-person or getting to know neighborhoods firsthand (either on your own or with agent guidance). Yet home showings are typically limited to reasonable hours (no one wants to host buyers at midnight), and face-to-face visits can be time consuming. If you are on a short timeline, prolonged in-person home tours should be reserved for only those homes most likely to meet your needs.
Online home searches are the perfect way to fast-track the home search process. The easy-to use property search tools on the website allow you to browse through thousands of homes, filtering by core home elements such as price and number of bedrooms/bathrooms as well as detailed home features in the advanced criteria. Searching within the Google map view allows you to quickly compare the available homes on the market in different neighborhoods and areas.
For individual listings, online photo galleries and virtual tours (when available) give you a peek inside each property from the comfort of your own home. Registering for a free account gives you the ability to save individual favorites (which can then be organized and rated) or entire property searches. Email updates allow you to stay up to date on individual properties or particular saved searches. Many of these search tools are also now available on your web-enabled mobile device, allowing you to find and save homes while on the go.
Using the web to efficiently search will save time and more effectively narrow down your options. Online tools also offer night owls and early birds a great way to advance their home buying strategy while competing buyers sleep!
Get Pre-Approved for a Home Loan
Even highly motivated buyers should still make sure to secure financing before plunging headfirst into the house hunting stage. Obtaining loan preapproval gives you the flexibility to make a qualified offer as soon as you find a home in which you're interested. While you can shop for home loans after finding a desired home, many sellers won't take buyers seriously if they don't have preapproval in hand. In fast moving markets, waiting a day or two for preapproval can put you at risk of losing the home to (or entering a bidding war with) a more qualified buyer.
The preapproval process involves the lender verifying your income, assets, debts, and credit history before issuing you a letter stating that you are approved for a mortgage up to a specific amount within a certain timeframe. Remember that prequalification and preapproval are not synonymous. Prequalification can serve as a good indication to sellers of your overall creditworthiness, but is nonbinding to the lender.
In addition to making you more attractive to sellers, having preapproval further helps you establish your price range (because the maximum approved amount is stated in the letter) and saves you time at closing (the lender will have already completed the necessary qualifying and underwriting steps).
Try to Find Motivated Sellers
Receptive sellers are always a buyer's best friend, but are even more so when the buyer also wants to streamline the transaction. Ways to look for motivated sellers:
Price reductions: In some cases, price reductions may simply indicate misjudgments made in the original pricing of the home relative to the market conditions. But sellers who reduce the listing price once or multiple times may be looking to attract buyers in a hurry and speed the sale along.
By the same token, a home with an original asking price that is below the market for comparable homes may indicate the seller's desire to unload their property sooner rather than later.
Vacant homes: If a property is vacant, there is a good chance that the seller is currently carrying both the listed home's mortgage as well as one on their new home. At the very least, they may be paying rent at their current residence on top of the listed mortgage. Sellers in either situation are more likely to be motivated to sell quickly and with fewer concessions. Also working to your benefit is the fact that vacant homes translate to a faster move-in.
"Stagnant" Listings: Check for homes that have been on the market for six months or more (or listings whose "days on market" number is far higher than for comparable homes). The sellers of these homes may be more inclined to sell with a somewhat quicker negotiating and closing process.
Other upgrades offered by sellers include allowances for kitchen facelifts, bathroom remodels and new landscaping.
Listings in Saturated Markets: If the local market for homes in your range is flush with far more listings than qualified buyers, sellers might forgo a drawn-out closing in exchange for the assurance that their home doesn't have to continue competing with dozens of other area properties any longer.
Houston Association of REALTORS� Regional Sales and Price Activity
| Houston Association of REALTORS� | Median Price | Percent Change in Price from Prior Month | Percent Change in Price from Prior Year | Total # Units | Percent Change in Sales from Prior Month | Percent Change in Sales from Prior Year |
| Jun-10 | May-10 | Jun-09 | Jun-10 | May-10 | Jun-09 | |
| MLS Wide | ||||||
| HAR (Single Family) | $160,000 | 3.3% | -3.0% | 5,237 | -6.6% | -2.8% |
| HAR (Condo) | $141,000 | 4.1% | -4.7% | 563 | -6.2% | -0.9% |
| HRIS Region Cities | ||||||
| Single Family Only | ||||||
| Alvin | $108,750 | -15.7% | -13.0% | 20 | -4.8% | -46.0% |
| Baytown | $110,000 | -10.2% | -6.0% | 71 | -26.0% | 9.2% |
| Bellaire | $740,000 | 52.6% | -2.0% | 29 | 93.3% | 16.0% |
| Channelview | $87,469 | 6.7% | 14.3% | 17 | 88.9% | 30.8% |
| Cleveland | $127,250 | 77.7% | 21.2% | 6 | -40.0% | -33.3% |
| Conroe | $143,500 | -0.2% | 2.0% | 102 | -19.1% | 10.9% |
| Crosby | $121,118 | -0.5% | -9.2% | 29 | 31.8% | 20.8% |
| Cypress | $195,000 | 18.4% | -1.0% | 226 | -15.0% | -4.6% |
| Deer Park | $142,500 | 3.7% | 8.4% | 23 | -45.2% | -14.8% |
| Dickinson | $135,000 | -2.2% | -3.7% | 37 | 19.4% | 15.6% |
| Fresno | $125,000 | 8.7% | 4.2% | 19 | -17.4% | -29.6% |
| Friendswood | $165,000 | -2.9% | -18.7% | 63 | -18.2% | -3.1% |
| Galveston | $195,000 | 5.4% | 9.1% | 37 | -37.3% | -24.5% |
| Houston | $139,000 | -0.7% | -5.4% | 1,760 | -6.9% | -2.4% |
| Humble | $119,990 | -10.1% | -17.3% | 159 | -16.3% | -25.4% |
| Huntsville | $135,000 | 5.5% | 1.5% | 14 | -36.4% | -44.0% |
| Katy | $193,925 | 14.7% | 4.8% | 386 | -10.7% | -7.0% |
| Kingwood | $193,750 | 1.5% | -1.9% | 74 | 23.3% | -14.0% |
| La Marque | $83,400 | -24.2% | -24.7% | 13 | 44.4% | 30.0% |
| La Porte | $114,900 | -4.3% | 3.1% | 28 | -24.3% | -22.2% |
| League City | $211,487 | 18.4% | 3.2% | 114 | -6.6% | -19.1% |
| Livingston | $136,000 | 16.8% | 23.6% | 14 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| Magnolia | $221,500 | -5.8% | 5.5% | 48 | -33.3% | -21.3% |
| Manvel | $179,500 | -10.2% | -0.3% | 26 | 52.9% | 52.9% |
| Missouri City | $177,450 | 5.2% | -0.3% | 106 | -19.7% | 9.3% |
| Montgomery | $202,000 | 1.0% | -2.8% | 76 | 10.1% | 15.2% |
| Pasadena | $84,500 | -15.4% | -29.6% | 61 | -18.7% | -7.6% |
| Pearland | $182,175 | 1.3% | -1.8% | 142 | -9.6% | -17.0% |
| Piney Point | $0 | 0 | -100.0% | |||
| Porter | $167,022 | 12.1% | 31.0% | 28 | 64.7% | 115.4% |
| Richmond | $179,000 | 5.3% | -0.6% | 125 | -11.3% | -21.4% |
| Rosenberg | $146,500 | 0.4% | 2.0% | 27 | -18.2% | -22.9% |
| Rosharon | $145,000 | -4.9% | 5.1% | 13 | -31.6% | 0.0% |
| Santa Fe | $166,250 | 39.4% | 18.8% | 14 | 16.7% | 7.7% |
| Seabrook | $168,129 | -7.9% | -6.6% | 13 | -13.3% | -43.5% |
| Spring | $156,375 | 1.7% | -0.2% | 414 | 6.2% | 13.1% |
| Sugar Land | $254,000 | 12.6% | 3.7% | 157 | -15.6% | -11.8% |
| Texas City | $92,000 | 4.5% | -7.8% | 37 | 42.3% | -2.6% |
| The Woodlands | $325,000 | 10.4% | 4.8% | 153 | 17.7% | -7.8% |
| Tomball | $152,000 | 4.8% | -5.3% | 113 | 0.9% | 10.8% |
Working on behalf of Short Sale clients throughout the Houston area has provided the opportunity to assist remarkable people facing real-world financial challenges and foreclosure.
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