Ron's Blog Conroe/Woodlands/Lake Conroe

Do you have thoughts about selling your home and buying another one or possibly moving out of your apartment into a home? Is the lack of information about your subdivision or the subdivision you would like to move into keeping you from making the decision? Well look no further. Information on most individual subdivisions in Montgomery County is available. All you have to do is ask me and you will have it. I can tell you the price range, number of sales, price per square foot, average annual change etc. for most of the subdivisions in our county.
So please send me an email and get what you need. And yes I would love to list your home for sale and/or help you buy a new one.
Thanks and have a great day.
Ron

Prior to the release of the April sales numbers I thought it might be interesting to take a look at more of the numbers and see if people are still moving and to try and see if the market really has dropped or because of the credit crunch has the market just shifted a little. Here is what I found in looking at the first quarter of 2008 vs the same period 2007. These numbers are for Montgomery County.
Total unit sales of single family residences and townhomes/condos for the first three months of 2008 vs 2007 were down 18.5%. Big number right? Not so fast. Single family residence and townhomes/condo rentals for the same period were up 8.5% At this point we are left with a year-to-year decline of about 10%. But, and I do not have access to these numbers, rumor has it that apartment rentals are up at least that much if not more. And let's remember that the foreclosure rate in Texas is up only about 11% from the previous year and not 65% as advertised so blatantly on CNN today.
Conclusion? That the demand for housing in some form is still present. Is home ownership a problem for those with less than stellar credit? Yes. Can this problem be fixed? In many cases yes. More on that at a later date. Is real estate still a good year to year investment? Yes especially if you are an investor and thinking of purchasing homes for rental income.
Once again I have to tell you please do not believe all that you read in the national media. Montgomery County, Texas is still a great market. It is still a vibrant market with a ton of opportunities available. It is a good time to sell and buy.
See you later.
Ron

The Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University in its' recently released quarterly LIRA (Leading Indicator for Remodeling Activity) report predicts that homeowner remodeling activity will continue to fall through the remainder of 2008 at an annual rate of about 4.8%. When I read this I thought okay what if I am going to buck the trend and remodel or renovate my home for future sale. Where is the best place to put my money in order to recover my investment? What are the six best home renovation improvements I can make? After doing some research here is what the experts say.
1 - The number one improvement you can make is replacing or improving your siding. Curb appeal. Exactly what we realtors preach. That first impression....you only get one chance at it. Unless you have an all brick home replace what siding is there. Take at look at your soffits, porch ceiling and the second floor exterior walls. What shape are those in? PLEASE if you have a brick masonry home DO NOT paint the brick. Nothing in my opinion looks worse than painted brick. In five years it is going to look like badly painted brick. There are ways to restore brick and make it look great again. Estimates of your cost recovery rate on this improvement are about 88%.
2 - Build a deck. You gain living and entertainment space with this improvement. Remember to keep it proportional with your back yard. A future buyer may have small kids and want that swing set in there somewhere. Your cost recovery rate on this improvement can be about 80%.
3 - Spruce up your kitchen. Fresh paint, new drawer and cabinet handles do not cost that much. Think about a new cook top. A friend of mine just bought a new electric one for under $1,000. All of these improvements can be relatively inexpensive. Please avoid the gaudy wallpaper borders. Remember you are fixing the kitchen up for the next buyer. Cost recovery for this area of your home can be about 80%.
4 - Replace your windows with energy-efficient windows. The future buyers of your home will not only look at the home itself but will also take into consideration the cost of living in that home. Buying good windows can lower your utility bills and improve the value and salability of your home. Please make sure you look for the proper certification of your new windows. You do not want to just buy any old window. Your cost recovery rate here can be about 80% plus lower utility bills.
5 - Finally the bathroom. This is where you put on your best outfits. Do you want to do that in a dirty dingy room? Of course not. Take a look around at your faucets, showerhead, paint, countertops, toilet and bathtub. Most of those items are not that expensive. If you are going to replace that faucet please remember to turn off the water supply first. You will probably recoup about 78% of your investment in this area.
6 - Adding crown molding to almost any room will really dress it up. This is really a simple and inexpensive improvement. Almost any DIY'er can undertake this project. Remember I said almost not all DIY'ers. This simple fix can add elegance to almost any room.
Please remember to plan carefully when deciding on which projects to undertake. Almost any realtor will be more than happy to discuss with you what improvements will help your home sell. Just remember that the realtor you check with should be the one to get the listing.
Why don't you start a project for Mother's Day?
I hope you have a great weekend!
Ron

Okay I missed last Friday. Sorry about that but I hope you will forgive me when I tell you I got rear ended in an auto accident the previous and was trying to find a new car. By the way he got the ticket.
Today let's talk about submitting a contract to buy a home. It is not, as most people think just about the price. There are three basic elements to making an offer on a home. Those three elements are price, time and terms. Price is all that most people think about because it is all about the money. However time and terms can play a major roll in trying to get a better price. Time of course involves when you close the transaction. Do you need to close on the home in two weeks and move in or can you afford to wait three months until the end of the school year so the buyer's kids can finish the term? That decision can play a major roll in the price.
Terms involves everything from who pays for the one year home warranty, escrow costs, title insurance, survey, seller lease backs, on and on and on. All of these can play a vital roll in getting the deal you want.
Please do not expect to make a "low ball" offer and get all of the time and terms you want. It does take two sides to make a deal. I have a buyer who has a wonderful home priced below the market because she has to move. She recently received an offer that was 22% below her asking price. Needless to say she rejected the offer and told the buyer to go away. You should not pay more than a home is worth in the current market but please do not expect to pay a whole lot less either. You can possibly however with a good agent use the time and terms element to your advantage.
Ron

As a lot of you know the annual NFL college draft was last weekend. Prior to the draft almost all sports writers published a mock draft. In some cases they published several versions changing them on an almost daily basis. From the mock drafts I read and the actual draft results I saw, few if any of the writers were correct in their guesses. It will probably be the same with this blog today. I am going to "mock draft" the April single family residence sales numbers for Montgomery County, Texas about three weeks before they actually come out. I can't figure out if I am being brave or just not so smart in doing this. Drop me an email and let me know what you think. Here we go.
I think the bottom has been hit. Yes we will probably be down from the sales numbers of April, 2007 but I also believe that at least two of the MLS areas in the county will be up over March, 2008, one area will come close to the March, 2008 numbers and that the fourth will still be down some but not hugely. I think that the average sales price will be somewhat stagnant as compared to the increases we have seen in the past. This price stagnation is not bad or indicative of a major trend in my opinion but only reflects the current market situation.
With the school year approaching its' end, our warm lake water weather here and interest rates still very low I think we will see our sales numbers improving. Okay, please remember this is a "mock draft" only. When the final April numbers are published in about three weeks I will grade myself just as the sports writers grade the NFL teams. Hopefully I will do better than the "C" one well known Houston sports writer gave our beloved Houston Texans.
I hope you are having a great week.
Ron

I learned my first lesson on blogging. Never promise to do a blog three times a week and then get sick. Sorry but I was down and out with a cold/flu. A real bummer with this great spring weather.
We were going to talk about the price volatility index and the price appreciation index. I could give you the long technical explanation but I really do not want to put you to sleep. Believe me it would. If you want the technical explanation drop me an email and I will send it to you. Suffice to say that they are indexes calculated from recent data (from two previous quarters to five years) to predict how prices will react in the near term future (two years out). The predictions for the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown MSA are good. They show no disasters on the horizon. Price acceleration shows some signs of slowing but the good news is that price volatility is very close to stable. No wild downward price crashes similar to what has happened in Florida, California and Arizona are expected.
So what is keeping people from buying? They only thing I can think of is gas prices, the news media, fear itself and of course credit scores below 620. Interest rates are experiencing the normal weekly up and down swings but are still very low. FHA is offering some great programs for buyers with minimal down payments. They are very good deals with low interest rates. And if you have a credit score below 620 those problems can be addressed also. Just drop me an email if you would like to know more about that.
Now that I am well again and have experienced my once-a-year illness I will be getting these out three times a week.
Have a great day.
Ron

Have you gotten a copy of your free credit report? You are allowed one once a year. See the link.

Free Credit Report

How did real estate sales in Montgomery County do in 2007 vs 2006? Not as bad as the rest of the country. For the purposes of this blog I will concentrate on single family residential unit sales. Yes, unit sales for this segment of the real estate industry were down in Montgomery County in 2007 vs 2006. County wide sales were down 4.15%. All four MLS areas comprising Montgomery were down. MLS area 39 was down the most, suffering a decline of 5.52%. MLS area 40 was down the least with a decline of only about one-third of one percent. Yet even with this decline, sales for 2007 were the second best on record. They were better than 2005.
How did average sales prices do? They went up. Even with a decline in sales the average sales price in each MLS area increased. And, get this, the average days on the market decreased also.
Amazing....sales decrease yet prices increase and days on the market decrease. Not exactly what is being portrayed by the national media.
Please remember that all real estate is local. What is happening in another part of the country is not necessarily happening here. In fact if you take a look at the top fifty markets in the US the Houston-Sugarland-Baytown MSA has a Risk Rank of 5 (the best ranking) and a Risk Index of <1 as published by PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. (More on what these mean next week.) These are great numbers for this areas real estate market.
Remember that Winston Churchill said "All we have to fear is fear itself". Is fear keeping you out of the real estate market right now? When you look at the numbers presented above is that fear really justified? Please make your decision based on local facts and not what the "bad news networks" are saying.
If you would like more information please send me an email. The weather looks great for this weekend so please have a great one. Cruise some neighborhoods, look at some homes and give me a call.
Ron

Okay here we go. My first shot at blogging and providing you with good information about real estate through this media. Who knows maybe the great American novel will be next. I will be covering the Lake Conroe, Conroe and Montgomery County, Texas areas. For those of you who don't know those areas they are just north of Houston. I will be attempting to provide you with up-to-date information on what is going on in the real estate market in these areas.
I will probably start with some basic information and education on the value of your home and what you might expect in the future. This may take a few days but I think will be well worth the effort.
My first piece of advice is if you are considering buying waterfront property on Lake Conroe do not wait long to make an offer. Properly priced property on the lake is moving very fast. Most of these listings are only lasting a few days. Give me a call and we will go take a look!
Interest rates? Low! Imagine 30 years at today's low interest rates. You can't beat'em.
If you have any questions or subjects on which you might like information please send me an email. My contact information is displayed lower on the page.
Have a great day and see you tomorrow.
Ron