Ralph Janisch

This area is a well kept secret. Nestled in the trees of Northwest Houston, homeowners are under strict restrictions to keep up their property. The result is a delightfully well landscaped and beautifully maintained area. For many years Prestonwood Forest has been known for the creative lights at Christmas time. The season is celebrated by many of the homeowners with a sharing of themes. Streets are ablaze with lights and cut outs of beloved characters such as Snoopy and the Disney cartoons. Other streets have done more traditional things such as candy canes and religious icons. Residents compete for a few prizes from the homeowners association.

What most people do not know is that the lawns are also well done all year long. A drive around the neighborhood will net the viewer a lot of pleasure in seeing the creative use of different plants in the landscapes.

Animal lovers can find thrills in their backyards. The area is in a migration path so many birds, such as ducks, doves, several species of woodpeckers, chickadees, mockingbirds, starlings and cardinals are frequent flyers through the neighborhood. We have also enjoyed the antics of raccoons, possums, skunks and squirrels. The most exciting visitor was a Palliated Red headed woodpecker who stopped by very briefly last week.

The towering trees, and larger lot sizes give a feeling of country serenity, yet the neighborhood is easily accessible from Willowbrook Mall and 1960 at 249.

Homes were generally built in the mid 1970s and have spacious rooms and many built ins. Lots of homes have updates such as tile or wood flooring and updated kitchens. Many still have the original charm enjoyed by the owners for many years. There is always a chance to find something that you can put your unique touches on.

If you are interested in finding a home in the low to mid 100s, this could be the place you want to call home.

Many of the subdivisions that we have been active in in Houston and Northwest Houston since 1978 are stable, but not showing any appreciation right now. We had become used to annual inflation factors of up to 15% over the years. While things may not be gaining in value, for the most part they are holding. Houston has an incredible ability to do better than most of the rest of the nation when it comes to upholding home values.

The largest hurdle right now is getting things to appraise for the value asked for by the seller and offered by the buyer. This used to be what was defined as “Market Value.” Things are changing due to new rules by the lenders. Lenders have been hurt by the market collapse of recent years. It was not a total surprise. They had allowed people to purchase properties that they really could not afford and did not qualify for. When the economy got a little soft, these folks could not make the payments and the lenders found themselves holding properties that they did not wish to own. With the failing values, the properties often did not have the value they had when they were first sold to the folks who should not have bought them in the first place. This in a nutshell describes the general market mess.

Things are not as bad as the media would have you think. In fact, compared to the recession of the 1980s, it is not bad at all. It does however have its challenges. The fact that the lenders now are asking appraisers to work for less than they have ever charged for appraisals, is, in my opinion, going to be the root of a brand new evil. Think about it. If you had spent years learning your profession and now you are told what you can charge to do your job, what would you do? It is highly possible that many of the good appraisers, who had worked hard to get the sellers the best value for the properties they were selling, will now change the way they do business, or retire and go into another line of work.

Before all the trouble with the market, lenders hired appraisers that they knew, or that they had heard good things about. No one likes to have to redo the loan process. Agents who had studied the market before listing homes knew about what a subject home should sell for and priced it accordingly. If an appraisal came in below what the agents studies had shown, the agent could share the comparables they had used, and if the appraiser could not find a value close to the sale price, (without knowing what the sales price was) the agent could challenge the report. We did that on many occasions. Now, we are pretty much stuck with the appraisal report, and sellers have to sell for the appraised value, or not at all.

We believe that this is a short term problem that will work itself out as the newer appraisers get more experience and are able to do more complete work. The more experienced appraisers will not all disappear. With the lowest interest rates since the Second World War, there are homes that will sell. The foreclosures will all go away soon, and there will be a shortage of homes. This will drive the prices back up, since all of the market is driven by supply and demand. So, if you do not have to sell till mid August, hang in there. That time of the year is always a good time to sell, and this year the limbo games should be over, or at least much less prevalent.

OK. Let's start the week and the summer homebuying season off on the right foot. That way you'll be a happier person and feel good about yourself. When you call a Broker or Agent please be considerate of them and they will be considerate to you. Brokers and Agents are working for a living just like you do. They have kids and grandkids, homes, cars, houses and everything else just like you. And, sometimes they are not making "All that Money." The pie gets cut into many pieces and many times the broker or agent only gets a very small piece which he/she has worked hours for. But, I digress.... here's the real point of this post... If you have a relationship with a agent and that agent is busy when you want to see a home don't just call up another agent and expect the other agent to just run out and open up a few doors for you and show you the property and then you go back and have the agent you have a relationship with write up and negotiate an offer for you. You have just cheated the second agent who did the work of showing you the property. How would you feel if you were at work and did a nice job on a project and the guy or gal in the next cube/office got the credit and or money that you deserved? I think you might be a little peeved wouldn't you. So next time you want to look at a home and maybe buy it, think first and be courteous, work within your relationship and do the right thing. That way everyone wins! Oh, one more thing! When you are beginning to look at homes and call a Broker or Agent and schedule an appointment..... Show Up!! If you are not going to make it to the appointment, call back and cancel it. Don't be RUDE and just not show up. Your momma taught you better than that.... and if she didn't she should have.

If you're thinking about buying or selling real estate here in Houston or Northwest Houston let's talk.

With all the advances in the information highway, it is just a matter of time before most people will not need a Realtor to sell their homes. We thought it would be fun to take a practical look at the whole process.

The most important thing is to establish a price. That is absolutely crucial. Unfortunately it is not just a matter of deciding what you would like for the property to sell for. You may have added a lot of special extras to your home, such as a swimming pool, spa, fancy upgraded kitchen, luxury wall treatments, etc. These things are wonderful for your enjoyment while you own the home, however, you may not get that money back when you sell. The reason is fairly simple, yet is often misunderstood.

Your house will not sell for any more than someone can borrow from a bank or mortgage company. What someone can borrow is governed by an APPRAISAL. Every lending institution requires an appraisal on the property they finance. This is to insure that they can get their money back out in case the buyer does not make the payments and they have to foreclose. Appraisers can not always give you extra value for the lovely extras in your home in some cases. They are concerned with quality and amenities up to a point, but mostly base their opinion of value on the amount of air conditioned square footage in the house. The neighborhood and general condition of the property also factor into the equation, but nothing else weighs as much as the actual size of the house.

Now that we have established that the price is crucial, lets talk about how to arrive at the right one. It is not an exact science, but it does have to be based upon facts. One of the ways to establish a correct price is to gather data about how much the houses in your neighborhood have sold for. Appraisers do not like to use data that is any more than six months old nor outside the neighborhood, so be sure that the information is recent and correct. In order to avoid frustration down the line, please be sure that you get recent information, and that it is correct. What you heard that a neighbor got for his house last year may not be correct, and it is too old to use. Time spent in preparation will help you to get the highest possible price for your home in the shortest possible time. You also need to understand that sometimes you will have a property that just will take a while to sell. This may be due to location, price range or because it is considerably larger than those around you.

Older homes are also a price setting challenge all of their own. Appraisers want to find similar homes to use for their evaluation. Similar in terms of building materials used,key map quadrants and of course size.

Setting a price does not necessarily mean that it is what you will ultimately net from the property. Even with all the information available, you are only establishing a price that you hope will attract a potential buyer. The definition of Market Value is “What a willing buyer will pay a willing seller when there is no duress on either side.”

If you still have questions about this or any other aspect of Real Estate, Please feel free to call us or leave a message on this website. We love to put our 50+ years of experience to work for people.

Well, if you live in Houston and Northwest Houston you need to give a little thought to the infamous Hurricane season which is now upon us. Nothing to be afraid of if you do a little thinking and advance planning especially if you live up here in Northwest Houston. Yes, we got hit last year but generally speaking we only get one of these things every few years. But, it's better to think out your options so you're not so stressed if it comes our way again any time soon. Like most folks are saying you need to think about how you can evacuate most effectively. The best idea is that if it looks like it's going to be really bad leave town early and go further inland. If you're going to stay make sure you have a few days food and water and medical supplies and all the batteries and radios you need. After the storm blows through you can probably get out in a day or two and you might have to drive a little far to find extra food and water so make sure you have your fuel tank full. If your power goes off... be patient.... remember, even though you are the most important person you know you are not suffering alone and the "powers that be" are doing what they can to restore services. Yes, it's inconvenient but you will get through it with a little planning. Then you can get to work getting your life back to normal. If you need to ask questions of someone who's been there many times before.... just ask!

And, remember the Northwest area of Houston is a good place to buy a home and live. We're far enough from the coast that the winds are not as intense and even though some areas get a little flooding it's pretty safe from storms....