About Katy's Remington Trails

I opened up my e-mail tonight and had mail from Justin Smith Mr. Tomato on Active Rain, and

this is what he had to say, which might be the understatement of the year;

Hey Liz,
Just wanted to show you an updated ranking report on some keywords for Katy. The shorter the bar on the graph, the better your ranking... so, you can see how your ranking has improved tremendously from January.

Hey Justin, that might be the understatement of the year! Below is the chart he sent me

I did some further research, since this is kind of Greek to me, and what did my did wondering eyes behold;

•1. For Katy Texas Real Estate I was #2 on page one of Google

•2. For Katy Texas Realtor I was #1 on page one of Google

•3. For Katy Real Estate I was #2 on page one of Google

•4. For Katy homes for sale I was #1 on page two of Google

•5. For Katy Realtor I was #5 on page one of Google

•6. For Katy Real Estate Agents I was #! on page one of Google

•7. For Real estate agents in Katy I was #1 on page one of Google

Now if all this was not good enough new for one night, I found that Active Rain's Localism (which has tons of my stuff on it of course) ranked on 1) Localism was #9 on page 1,on 3) Localism was #10 page 1,5) Localism was #3 page 2, 6) Active Rain Localism out-ranked my site and was #4 on page 1,and for 7) Localism was #10 on page 1.!

I then did just a couple of more searches, after all I was on Google right? For Top Realtor Katy my web site was ranked #3 on page 1, for Top Real Estate Agent Katy I was #2 on page 1, and for Best agent Katy I was #3 on page 1. Active Rain Localism ranked on page one of all of those searches too. Also a lot of my blogs and listings were on pages 1-2 of Google, so I was EVERYWHERE...but who's keeping a watchful eye out for web site rankings? All I can say is THANKS JUSTIN and ACTIVE RAIN, this stuff does work, and the better I get at bloging, the more time Justin has to keep doing cool stuff on my SEO, and the more time Active Rain keeps improving and adding things for us, FOR FREE, the better it will get!

This is not only good news for me but also for my clients, who after all is why I'm doing it. If 82-85% of the people are now starting their search for a home on the Internet, those of us that are on Active Rain and paying attention to our placement will be far ahead of the game, with tons more qualified buyers to bring to our sellers. That's what it's all about, list a saleable home, get it sold and tell the world as I stated in my post entitled; The Three Basic Things You Need To Do TO Be Successful In Real Estate Sales. If it sounds so simple why does the average Realtor in Texas only sell 2-3 homes a year? The answer is there is more to being a Realtor than most people know. You have to be highly skilled, committed, willing to put in the effort, hours and do what the unsuccessful Realtors will not do.

I'm dedicated, highly skilled and committed to myself and my clients and have the disciple to follow a strict schedule and prospect daily for buyers instead of waiting for the phone to ring. I am also now committed to Active Rain, and bloging to improve my search engine rankings. After all I only want to be #1 on page 1 of the entire search engines for all the searches you can imagine...that's not asking too much, is it?

See you in the Rain, the very Active Rain! Liz Carter, Broker/Owner Liz Carter & Team Realty, Katy Texas. 281-392-SOLD (7653) or visit my web site, http://www.lizcarter.com/.

PS, if any of my friends here on AR need to send someone to the greater Houston, Katy or Sugar Land Texas area, I promise to take very special care of them. Most people don't know where Katy TX is...it is a suburb of Houston Texas approx. 28 miles due West of downtown Houston, Texas, and most people who live in Katy commute to Houston. We have the top rated KISD school district, and great prices, which is what brings most families to Katy and Sugar Land. Sugar Land was rated as the top 3rd small town in the US to live in. Thanks, Liz

The wonderful details of Remington Trails

By Tim Sojka

There is a very well known dining establishment in Houston called the Taste of Texas that features fantastic steaks. When a homeowner wants a taste of Texas, there are few communities that meet the demand better than Remington Trails. As the Houston Rodeo approaches each year, the community longs for old Houston traditions. Located west of Katy Mills Mall and north of I-10, Remington Trails is the ideal community for someone who desires those traditions, while living in a luxurious home. Wide open spaces allow you to raise animals or just have a great place for your children to play. Many of the residents raise horses, breed champion dogs, and a few even raise cattle.

According to homeowners, Cindy Haag and Linda Merz, the neighborhood was originally founded by a few friends from a local church who wanted to live next to each other but also have the space to raise animals. Some of Houston's premier builders came in to finish out the neighborhood. There are a few home sites still being developed but the neighborhood is almost completed. Most homes are located on between one and ten acres.

Most homes are of traditional, western or rustic design. Take a peek inside and you will see features of granite or Corian countertops, libraries, media rooms, and complete outdoor kitchens. An interesting dichotomy can be witnessed as visitors of these mini estates might see a child jumping horses along side a rustic barn, and mom or dad swimming in a sparkling pool complete with a waterfall all within their line of vision.

Homes range from the high two hundred to over a half a million depending on acreage and features. As mentioned earlier, horses are welcomed throughout the community. Some sections of the community even welcome cows. Pigs, goats and a few other animals that make less attractive neighbors are not currently allowed.

The neighborhood features several retention lakes and horse trails in addition to the standard amentias of most upscale neighborhoods. Ms. Haag mentioned that she can ride through the neighborhood for hours without seeing the same view. The views are indeed beautiful, from the gorgeous homes, to the beautiful prairie, to the wildlife.

For those who love wildlife, the neighborhood is bordered by the Katy Prairie Conservancy, a land trust, charged with ensuring the protection of the land and wildlife of the Katy Prairie. Each year hundreds of species of birds can be seen at the Conservancy. Wildlife still make an appearance for neighbors to enjoy.

Although the neighborhood has many amenities, probably the best feature of the neighborhood is the neighbors themselves.

The neighbors make the neighborhood

Each neighbor has their own reason for moving to Remington Trails. The Haag family, who relocated from Oklahoma, looked at several neighborhoods but kept coming back to Remington Trails. Ms. Haag added "Where else can you ride your horse for a few minutes and see a beautiful bird sanctuary." For the Merz family, her husband had taken over their Nottingham Country garage with his hobby. Moving to Remington Trails allowed him to build his own workshop. For the Randerman family, who own four horses and raise golden retrievers, one that will soon be competing at Madison Square Garden, it was a chance for their children to get to enjoy the special thrill of raising and maintaining horses.

Remington Trails truly does have a feel of a simpler time and place. Ms. Merz told a story that a few very young entrepreneurs in the neighborhood showed up at her door selling fresh picked dewberries. Another group of very young entrepreneurs showed up at Ms. Haag's house offering to work for $1 an hour (for the record she did pay a much fairer wage).

Many of the neighbors have extensive gardens and happily share the fruit (and vegetables) of their labor. According to Ms. Merz and Ms. Haag everyone just kind of takes care of each other.

With the completing of 99, the widening of I-10 and the West Park Tollway most commutes are now less than 40 minutes. However, due to a terrible car accident, Ms. Merz husband had a very long commute home. Surprisingly, when he arrived in the neighborhood, he faced a traffic problem of a much more pleasant sort. Several young ducklings were walking across the road. Ms. Merz said her husband felt the stress of the day just wash away as he watched the ducks complete their march.

One wonders how much each of us could use children delivering dewberries to our home, hayrides for the kids in the fall and ducklings crossing the street to make our life a little less stressful.

For more information on the Katy Conservancy go to http://www.katyprairie.org.

A special thanks to the contributions of Cindy Haag , Linda Merz and Brandye Randerman. Pictured is the beautiful horse Justin Time and trainer Karen Trout.

For more information this beautiful community call realtor Timothy Sojka at 713-822-2152. To find out the value of your property go to www.seetimsell.com and click on free neighborhood info.