Ron Wickes

This Sunday, March 8th, I will be hosting an open house at 2505 Amy Lee Dr. in Conroe. This wonderful home is located in the Canyon Creek subdivision located off Longmire Rd. between North Loop 336 and FM 3083.

MLS number 39913947 at www.har.com

This home features unrivaled versatility with the retreat area and floor plan this home offers. With high ceilings, an open floorplan, tile, carpet, metal accented travertine backsplash this home offers elegance in a family friendly home. The island kitchen will serve as the center piece for this entertainment friendly abode. The retreat area would serve a couple working from home couple great. This truly is the perfect home for all!

So please when your are out and about this Sunday stop buy and say "HI".

Have a great day!!

Ron

For these next four blogs I am going to show you data for each of the four MLS areas that make up Montgomery County. The data will cover 2007 and 2008. It will let you see the progression of the market over the last to years. I think you will find it interesting.

Please note that the hotness ratio is pending sales as a percentage of active listings at the end of the month. It may be viewed as a perdicter of sales to come. SFR is single family residence.

If you have any questions please send me an email.

The numbers below are for MLS area 15 from the Houston Association of Realtors MLS system. It basically covers The Woodlands and its' environs west to the county line. A map of this MLS area may be viewed at www.har.com. Here's the data.

Have a great day and if you have any questions please send me an email!

Ron

Normally I try and keep my blog posts restricted to real estate and credit related subjects. However today I just cannot do that. I believe we as a society have some of our leisure time priorities wrong. I am talking about sports. Now do not get me wrong I like sports. I have coached soccer, basketball and baseball. Golf and scuba diving are my two favorite sports and leisure time activities. Watching football and baseball are at times enjoying to me. However this year I think I am going to stop watching professional sports and attending some games. Why you ask. Well let me recite some numbers.

400+ million

100 million

200 million

45 million

54 million

And the list goes on and on and on..... What are these numbers?

Well first of all they are all dollars; U.S. dollars. They are not the Thai baht that is worth less than three U.S. cents. These are real U.S. dollars currently being written about in our sports pages. You probably thought I was talking about the recently passed stimulus bill.

The NY Yankees committed over $400,000,000.00 (that is a lot of zeros) to three, yes only three, free agent players this past winter. The Washington Redskins just agreed to pay one man, yes only one, $100,000,000.00 (still more zeros). The National Basketball Association just borrowed $200,000,000.00 to give to teams that needed some extra cash. $45,000,000.00 is what Big Manny wants from the LA Dodgers for two years. $54,000,000.00 is what the Washington Redskins will shell out to one man.

Now I am not a socialist and I do not begrudge anyone all of the money they can earn. Well maybe right now I begrudge even one penny to those Wall Street Warren Buffet wannabes who want to lose hundreds of billions of dollars and still get huge bonuses. But normally I am a get-all-you-can type guy. I had better add to that get-all-you-can as long as it is legal and doesn't hurt anyone except maybe the opposing quarterback.

I'm sorry but something is wrong when we use these numbers to talk sports and not education or other worthwhile pursuits. And guess what? That is your money. Yep, your money and my money that these leagues and people get from you via television, game attendance, shirt purchases, sneaker purchases etc etc etc. We are the ones paying those salaries and making those loans.

Maybe it is time to stop and rethink our priorities. Maybe it is time to explain to our kids or in my case grandson, why we will not be going to a major league baseball game this summer. Maybe it is time to spend that $200 we would spend at the ballpark on can goods for the local food pantry that is currently hurting for food. Maybe I will spend more time with my grandson fishing and talking about doing for others. Maybe it is time to change my own priorities. Maybe it is time for this nation to change its' priorities.

Have a great day!! I promise back to real estate on Monday..

"Go west young man"

"Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country"

"Walk softly but carry a big stick"

These phrases have all been famous at some point in our country's history. Now we have a new famous catch phrase that may with us for a while. What is the new phrase you ask.

620 or BUST!

That is correect. 620 or bust. 620 is now the lowest credit score that will be accepted for FHA loans. That is what we have been told. No more 580 and up. Those days are apparently gone. The new threshold is now 620. And remember if you want the best interest rate you had better be at 721 or above.

Is it now worth it to spend between $995 and $1,495 in order to get your credit cleaned up and get the lowest interest rate and if you qualify as a first time home buyer get an $8,000 tax credit? Only you can decide that but it doesn't sound like much of a decision to me.

If you have questions about repairing your credit, the tax credit or real estate please send me an email.

Have a great day and remember go west young person but go only with a 620 or better!

Ron

Did you see the article in the business section of the Houston Chronicle on Wednesday entitled More Credit, but not for all? The author of the article was interviewing Nariman Behravesh, the chief economist of IHS Global Insight. IHS is a Lexington, Ma. based research firm.

When asked if the current tight credit conditions would be easing Mr. Behravesh said yes he thought they would. However Mr. Behravesh was quick to point while that he felt mortgages, auto loans and other loans would become easier to get it would only be for those whose credit score is good. If your credit score is not good he was quick to say that credit will probably still not be available.

What is a good credit score? I wish I could get a definitive answer to that question. We know that to get the best conventional mortgage interest rates you need to be above 720. I have no idea what it takes to get an auto loan. What I do know though is that in order to get good mortgage rates, credit card rates, etc. your score needs to be high, as high as you can get it. Think about all of the money of the money you are wasting because of your mediocre to low credit scores. Think about not qualifying for your dream home mortgage. Think that money and those dreams going down the drain and then think about getting your credit score restored and your dreams restored. Fix your credit yourself or get it fixed for you. That in my opinion is today's reality.

Have a great day!!

Ron