Jack Maxwell

Urgent! Please let your voice be heard by Governor Rick Perry. If House Bill 3646 is passed the Cy-Fair Independent School District will receive less money per student than other school districts resulting in a major budget short fall which will in turn result in the repeal of Cy-Fair ISDs homestead exemption and a 20% tax hike.

I am told that according to House Bill 3646, Cy-Fair will receive $4,200 per child whereas other districts will receive approximately $5,800 per child even though their districts are contracting and Cy-Fair is expanding. Houston ISD is facing the same problem, but they have a much larger tax base that is largely commercial property. Cy-Fair is primarily residential.

Our low tax rates in Cy-Fair are a big reason why the area is so attractive to young families looking to move into the suburbs. The loss of the homestead exemption could drive property values down if home buyers feel Cy-Fair taxes are out of line with other areas of Houston.

Please tell Governor Perry to veto the bill until this inequality can be remedied. Tell your friends to do the same.

Bridgeland is a very large master planned community located in Northwest Harris County in Cypress, Texas just Northwest of Houston. The development is a very large one covering almost the same land mass as the inside of Houston's 610 inner loop.

Recently, it was learned that General Growth Properties Inc., the developer, was filing for bankruptcy protection. I was curious about what that meant for the development itself. General Growth Properties is one of the largest retail shopping mall developers and owners in the country and residential development was only a small piece of their holdings.

I talked with an employee of Bridgeland who assured me that they were well funded for the next year and although a few of their builders have struggled of late, they still have a strong builder core and are still building in the sections they have already started. No new sections will likely be opened this year. I was also informed that two buyers had made offers to purchase the development from General Growth Properties and that one offer had been accepted. They are now in the due diligence period of the contract.

Although, he didn't give me a name, the employee said the buyer was already a well established developer in the area. It has now been reported by the Houston Business Journal that Caldwell Companies who is the developer of the nearby developments of Towne Lake and Rock Creek. The Houston Business Journal is also reporting that a Japanese firm, Sumitomo Corp., will have a large stake in the project.

For now, Bridgeland is still on track to ultimately build 20,000 homes for an estimated 65,000 residents. The project features many wonderful amenities such as nature trails, a large park with disc golf course, lakes for non-powered boating, and activity centers with pools, splash pads and tennis courts. The project will also ultimately have commercial retail property along the proposed Grand Parkway expansion.

To see pictures of the community, visit: http://www.bridgeland-cypress-tx.com/

Northwest Harris County is seeing explosive population growth due mostly to affordable housing prices and the development of large master planned communities in the area. Houston already enjoys some of the lowest housing prices in the nation as far as major metropolitan areas. Many new residents from the East and West coasts find they can purchase homes double or triple the size of the homes they left in other parts of the country for basically the same money.

Within the Greater Houston Area, Northwest Harris County is very competitive with other areas of the metropolitan statistical area. Homes in Northwest Harris County often sell for $5.00 to $10.00 or more per square foot less for the same homes in other more well know areas such as The Woodlands, Sugarland, Katy and Kingwood.

Master planned communities have become very popular with young families as they offer a higher quality of life. Many of these communities such as Bridgeland, Towne Lake, Coles Crossing, Stone Gate, Canyon Lakes at Stonegate, Longwood Village and Fairfield include: large homes, better schools, plenty of green space, community parks, playgrounds, children's splash pads, ball fields, scenic lakes, golf courses, disc golf courses and activity centers with community pools, tennis courts, and banquet facilities. With amenities like these it is easy to see why master planned communities are becoming so popular. To view pictures of these communities, you can visit www.LoneStarHomes.org.

One downside to master planned communities is they are usually pretty far from where people actually work which is causing increasing congestion on Houston's freeways. Commutes that once took 45 minutes are now in the hour and a half to two hour range. Fall Creek is the exception as it is the only master planned community located within Houston's Sam Houston Tollway or second freeway loop making for easy access to downtown.

Aside from the commute, master planned communities are a great value and quality of life.

For people who are sitting on the fence right now, I have some good news for you. Now is a pretty good time to buy, especially in the Houston area.

Houston has been growing in population by over 2% per year for the last 10 years and our local economy remains strong despite what is going on around the rest of the country. These people all need places to live. (We recently had an event called Ike that put a damper on things for a few weeks, but Houston is resilient and is bouncing back quickly. Most areas are back to normal except for the hard hit areas along the coastline. It may take years for those areas to rebound.)

Interest rates are still at historically low levels and despite what the media is saying, money for mortgages is still available.

Low downpayment loans are still available and you can still purchase a home using a FHA loan with as little as 3% down. However, come January 1, 2009, the minimum down payment will go up to 3.5%. Purchasing in 2009 means you will have to bring more money to the table.

Furthermore, if you purchase before the end of the year, you will qualify for a Homestead Exemption on your primary residence for 2009 saving you approximately 15% of your annual property taxes overall.

Most financial pundits project that we should be out of any recession we are in within the next two years. If you purchase now, you should be sitting pretty 5 to 7 years from now when you are ready to sell.

In addition, right now there are fewer buyers in the market competing for the available homes so you get your pick. Usually after an election, people and businesses start making plans for the future and jump back into the market once they have an idea of which way things are going to go. Why not jump in now and beat them to the punch?

Builders have excess inventory and are discounting heavily to avoid paying interest on construction loans.

So, if you are thinking of purchasing a home, jump on in, the water's fine.