Beloved Greenway Village in Cinco Ranch is one of the most popular sections of Katy’s grand master-planned community. This weekend, August 21 and 22, I will be hosting two open houses in Greenway Village. Please come by and tour these remarkable homes; if you can’t make it, just contact me for a private showing.
Saturday, August 21, 2 to 4 p.m. at 23211 Fallmist Court: Fantastic location in beloved Greenway Village. Lowest priced 4/3.5/3 in Cinco Ranch! Greenbelt culdesac location! Open back gate to 10 acres of contiguous play area including school playground, gazebo park, greenbelt! Walk to school, pool, park out front door OR back! Recent roof, double pane windows, covered back patio, garden deck area, wood laminate floors, study w/French doors & private access to master! All Cinco amenities, low tax rate, highly acclaimed exemplary Fielder El/Cinco HS! $244,000.
Sunday, August 22, 12:30 to 3:30 at 23203 Winding Knoll Drive: Charming traditional in tranquil parklike setting on quiet culdesac street in beloved Greenway Village Cinco Ranch. Walk to school/pool/park, nature trails, lakes! 2nd BR down option w/full bath, 20 inch porcelain tile floors all wet areas! H2O htr, roof, upstairs HVAC all replaced! New fence 06/10! Stunning 2 story brick FP & 18 ft ceiling in gorgeous den, usable 3-car detached gar! Peaceful private backyard w/small pond, flagstone, garden. Low tax rate & zoned to triple exemplary school track! $219,000.
Spoken by Julie Q. Fuelling |
Unique tax benefits apply only to homeownership; mortgage interest and property taxes are deductible. Moreover, for married couples, profits of up to $500,000 on the sale of a principal residence are exempt from capital gains taxes. For single taxpayers, $250,000 is excluded from tax on capital gains.
When buyers purchase a home, they receive the full benefit of homeownership via a cash down payment that is only a fraction of the total purchase price. This is called “leveraging”. It makes the rate of return on a home purchase greater than on other purchases with the same value, such as stocks, where the buyer must put up the entire money.
For most Americans, their home is a primary source of net worth; this is an important step in accumulating personal financial assets over the long term. Home equity represents the largest Read the rest of this entry »
Spoken by Julie Q. Fuelling |
Home ownership is an important and defining part of the Katy lifestyle. Now that the tax credits for first-time and repeat homebuyers have expired, many people are wondering if this is a good time to buy a Katy home. The answer is yes!
Even without the tax credits, there are many opportunitites in today’s Katy housing market including affordable prices and low mortgage rates. Market conditions may change and these opportunities may not be around for long, so homebuyers shouldn’t wait.
Plentiful Katy real estate inventory provides a great choice of homes in all prices, styles, locations and ages, including new construction. Many existing home owners who postponed trading up, downsizing or relocating due to market conditions are now ready to sell. Houses in Katy, both south and north of I-10, go on the market daily with many of these being more affordable than they were in the recent past. Foreclosures still exist, too.
Like Katy inventory and pricing, mortgage rates are at very favorable levels; some weeks Read the rest of this entry »
Spoken by Julie Q. Fuelling |
Closings of properties purchased through the federal homebuyer tax credit combined with the seasonal spring-summer uptick in consumer activity kept Houston-area single-family home sales in positive territory for a fourth straight month in June. However, expiration of the homebuyer tax credit slowed the brisk pace of sales volume that the market enjoyed in recent months.
Congress extended the time necessary to close on homes purchased with the tax credit by three months to September 30, provided the property was under contract by April 30. The May and June decline in pending sales—property listings that are expected to close within the next 30 to 60 days—was expected, as homebuyers rushed to take advantage of the tax credit and is considered an indicator that sales volume will slow in July.
According to the latest monthly data compiled by the Houston Association of Realtors® (HAR), June sales of single-family homes throughout the Houston market rose 2.9 percent compared to June 2009. That follows increases of 11.3 percent in March, 27.8 percent in April and 18.2 percent in May. Sales volume showed gains in all single-family home pricing segments except the $150,000 to $250,000 market. The largest increase took place among homes priced from $500,000 and above. Sales of all property types combined climbed 4.1 percent in June on a year-over-year basis.
The average price of a single-family home edged up 0.9 percent from June 2009 to $222,767, Read the rest of this entry »
Spoken by Julie Q. Fuelling |
By: G. M. Filisko, Guest Author
After finding a buyer, all you have to do to make it to closing is to avoid these five traps.
Finding a buyer for your home is just the first step on the home selling path. Tread carefully in the weeks ahead because if you make one of these common seller mistakes, your deal may not close.
Mistake #1: Ignore contingencies
If your contract requires you to do something before the sale, do it. If the buyers make the sale contingent on certain repairs, don’t do cheap patch-jobs and expect the buyers not to notice the fixes weren’t done properly.
Mistake #2: Don’t bother to fix things that break
The last thing any seller needs is for the buyers to notice on the pre-closing walk-through that the home isn’t in the same condition as when they made their offer. When things fall apart in a home about to be purchased, sellers must make the repairs. If the furnace fails, get a professional to fix it, and inform the buyers that the work was done. When you fail to maintain Read the rest of this entry »
Spoken by Julie Q. Fuelling |
According to Drew Meyers, Zillow Business Development Manager, “When agents try to differentiate their listings from others or make the homes they represent really pop, home staging has gone from “nice-to-have” to a “must-have” strategy in the selling process.”
I couldn’t agree more! To separate my listings from the competition, I pay for my sellers to have a free two-hour consultation with a professional stager. Recently, a well-staged listing sold to the very first couple to tour the home. While I can’t promise these results, I can guarantee that professional staging is now an important part of the marketing process.
Ready to sell your home? To take advantage of my staging program, contact me. I have sold Katy and West Houston real estate since 1989. Experience does matter!
Spoken by Julie Q. Fuelling |
I’ve had the busiest spring of my 21-year real estate career!s As the April 30th deadline to qualify for the tax credits, $8,000 for first-time home buyers and $6,500 for existing home owners, loomed, home sales got really crazy.
It was not unusual for brand new listings to have multiple offers. Bidding wars ensued. Here in Katy, particularly on the southside of I-10, it was impossible to believe that a real estate recession exists.
Nationwide, the tax credit bills created a strong upswing in home sales. To read the rest of this story, see OnlyKaty.com.
Spoken by Julie Q. Fuelling |
A short sale is a transaction in which the lender, or lenders, agree to accept less than the mortgage amount owed by the current homeowner.
Recently, I earned the nationally recognized Short Sales and Foreclosure Resource certification. The National Association of REALTORS® offers the SFR certification to REALTORS® who want to help both buyers and sellers navigate these complicated transactions, as demand for professional expertise with distressed sales grows.
REALTORS® who have earned the SFR certification know how to help sellers maneuver the complexities of short sales as well as help buyers pursue short sale and foreclosure opportunities.
“As leading advocates for homeownership, REALTORS® believe that any family that loses its Read the rest of this entry »
Spoken by Julie Q. Fuelling |
It’s no secret that the northside of Katy Freeway has taken a beating in the real estate market over the last two years. Dominated by foreclosures and short sales, a pre-foreclosure property, prices have plummeted while inventory has soared. Thankfully, statistics are starting to show movement towards some level of recovery.
Let’s look at the last six months of statistics. Below, see pricing. While, it does not show a truly positive change, it is moving upward from its recent low. Today, the average price is approximately $122,000.
Another dominant factor is days on the market, see below. How long does it take a home to sell? What is the average? As plotted below, the average days on the market in 77449 is 155. This is a decline from July’s high of 160. Some of these quicker sales represent foreclosures and short sales that do not remain on the market for long but conventional sales are doing better, too.
What’s the current status of inventory? Increasing or decreasing? Decreasing is far better for sellers. Guess what! The number of houses on the market in 77449 is going down. For a more detailed explanation of how inventory affects the market, read my earlier article on absorption rates. See the details of the inventory decline below.
To obtain detailed data on Zip Code 77450, see OnlyKaty.com.
For information about Katy area homes, you can search the entire Houston MLS from this blog. For questions or to tour any area homes, contact me directly at 713-818-2404 or via email. I have specialized in Katy real estate for over 20 years. Experience does count!
Spoken by Julie Q. Fuelling |
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