Katy Real Estate News - Woodcreek Reserve is perfect for Houston Relocation By Katy Realtor, Broker and Author Tim Sojka 713-822-2152 Just moments for 1-10 and a short drive from the Westpark Tollway, Woodcreek Reserve is perfect for people relocating to Houston or Katy. Woodcreek Reserve is a beautiful community with a bubbling stream, walking trails and grand oak trees.  Yes the community has tennis courts, pools, play areas and walking trails.  Yes the community has stunning custom built estate homes from a half a million to over a million dollars and gorgeous homes from $300,000 to $500,000 by distinguished area builders. To add to the community feel all schools are in walking or biking distance of the Woodcreek Reserve.  However, one of the most undersold facts is that the communit... 03/26/2008

Katy Real Estate News - Houston Area Leads Nation's Housing Market and Job Market.  Now is the time to relocate to Houston. By Katy Realtor, Broker and Author Tim Sojka 713-822-2152 There has never been a better time to relocate to the Houston Metroplex.  According to a January 2008 Metro Study Report while the real estate bubble has burst elsewhere, Texas has become the top ranked state in both single family starts, home sales and the national leader in job growth. The Houston Metroplex led the nation in Single family housing permits.  Dallas, San Antonio and Austin all ranked in the top 20.  However, even though Houston led the nation in new home starts, builder inventory was trimmed significantly as it was through the rest of the country.  Further adjustments to inventory are expecte... 03/26/2008

2007 A Year To Remember. With so much news about the mortgage industry here in Katy and all over United States,looking back can be frustrating for some and a relief for others.It was bad if you were pre-approved for a mortgage only to face the loan requirements increased suddenly and see your dream come to an a end. It was also a bad year if your house payment increased due to taking out an ARM and not being able to refinance your mortgage. Even worse if you lost your home due to forclosure in 2007.On the bright side, many home buyers enjoyed the abundance of homes in the market. Many were able to get a low mortgage payment on a great home due to the price being lower than expected and being able to buy bigger houses than they could have in previous years. low interest rates and FHA hel... 03/26/2008

 Say Something Nice To Someone Today My wonderful cousin, Tommy Wolfe from Savanna TN, who sends me those beautiful Sunday cards and messages each week just sent me this, and I wanted to share it with you.  This is a true story of a 92 year old woman coming out of a store, after getting into her car a man jumped in the passenger side with the intent to rob her, instead he got a big surprise.  Her story was aired on a local Memphis TN news station. It's an inspiring story about how this lady saying Jesus was always with her and ministering to the would be robber, turned a potential harmful situation into helping the person instead.  Whoever this man is I hope this changed his life, I can't imagine how it would not have made a profound impact on him.  We can all learn something from this ... 03/25/2008

Katy Real Estate News - Lakeforest of Kelliwood continues to thrive as one of Katy's Real Estate Jewels By Katy Realtor, Broker and Author Tim Sojka 713-822-2152 Lakeforest of Kelliwoood, a community that is growing under the guidance of builder Kickerillo is not only a beautiful jewel of West Houston Real Estate, featuring sparking Lakes, stunning Mediterranean style homes on gorgeous estate style lots, the community also seems to be a sound real estate investment. In 2006, the average home sold for $1,172,068 (or about $192 per square foot).  In 2007 the average home sold over $1,216,320 (or about $195 per square foot).  This represents a solid increase in 2007 (a bad year for real estate nationally - but a solid year for West Houston and Katy Real Estate). Lakeforest at Kelliwoood is... 03/24/2008

 The Texas Real Estate groups Top Ten Roundup, by Liz Carter  Howdy great Texas Real Estate group...Marchel and I have saddled up again to ride around our groups last two weeks of post in search of the best of the best.  As always it was a tough decision picking from this groups posts.  I sincerely mean it that in my humble opinion we have some of the most talented group of writers/blogers on Active Rain!  Do your self a favor and click on the links below to find our some very interesting information and awesome pictures about everything Texas from Chocolates to wine, and flowers to skunks!  Did I mention we were also a creative bunch too.  You still have time to get your vote in for the name of our handsome mascot, and also a few days left to get your post in for the best old church in... 03/24/2008

Seven Meadows is located in the 77494 zip code of Katy Texas. Children in Seven Meadows attend Katy ISD schools:  Griffin Elementary,  Beckendorf Junior High School and Seven Lakes High School.  Seven Lakes High School was just recently realigned to a 5A size school.There are currently 69 homes for sale in the Seven Meadows Subdivision in Katy Texas ranging in price from $174,990 to $697,900 and you can view all homes for sale in Seven Meadows by  clicking here: Seven Meadows, Active Market Report, Katy Texas, 77494.If you live in Seven Meadows, Katy Tx and have any news or notes you would like to share (school events, garage sales, announcements, etc) and would like to post it to this blog,  I would be glad to do so.  Just email me and I will prepare a blog post with your announcement ... 03/24/2008

Written By Stephanie Lazcano, Realtor ® How to Choose a Katy Texas Realtor  Buying and Selling a home is one of the biggest transaction that you will ever make in your life.  With so many Real Estate Agents available, how do you know which agent to choose?  Simple, Follow these guidelines in determining who should represent you in your Real estate transaction.  By following these guidelines, not only will you save time and money but you will avoid the frustration and headaches that come from choosing the wrong Realtor. All agents Cost the same, you can either hire a really good one or a Mediocre one, Which one will it be?   Guidelines For Chossing the Right Agent Katy Texas Area Specialist It's very important that the Realtor you are choosing  specializes in the Katy Texas Area and is k... 03/24/2008

Katy Texas Home ValuesLooking to find out what your Katy Texas Home is Worth? You have found the right place. How Realtors Determine Your Katy Home's Value  When Realtors Places a home for sale in the multiple Listing Service, they first must determine a list price.  This is done by what we call a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis). There are Three main Factors that we look at that each are very critical in determining the value of your home. They are Sold listings, Expired Listings, and Active Listings.  Sold Listings-----------------------------------------------------------  In Order to price your home right, we must compare your property to recent home sales in your subdivision.  This is done by going back six months and comparing the price per square foot in the different homes tha... 03/24/2008

Grand Lakes Community Community Amenities - Community Pools- Community Tennis Courts- Putting Green - Splash pad fun park- Cul-de-sac lots - Waterfront lots- On-site Elementary School Contact InfoChristi Borden Main 281-646-1136 Cell 832-372-7470 Dir 281-492-5984 Email | Website 03/23/2008

If you are reading this you are either new to the business...or past the stage of failure (although you may be ready to pack it in and you are ready the last blog post of your career). Over the years I have watched many failures in sales of all kinds and the reasons (no matter what you sell...cars, TVs, houses, etc...) are the same. Here is my breakdown of why, how, and how to overcome this issue: 1. Time Management: Most sales people...real estate agents included have terrible time management skill. If you can not manage your time you will work much harder than you need to. Here are a couple of tips for you...schedule your hours at the beginning of each month...for the entire month. Make sure to show up for each hour scheduled...and work while you are at work. Even if you home office y... 03/23/2008

Prudential Real Estate has struck a deal with OpenHouse.com to list all Prudential open house listings on their nationwide open house site. This will give added exposure to the homes we hold open and allow clients to view all the open houses from the Prudential Real Estate Network by price, date and time, location, and number of bedrooms. The homes will be automatically uploaded to OpenHouse.com on a daily basis. Another benefit to our clients is the fact that OpenHouse.com will not allow any advertising on its site. The leads will go directly to the agent or brokerage...so clients who wish to see the specific home listed will not be switched to another home that a competing agent may have listed. At Team DiMuria Mona and I make sure we make available the option to our clients to hold t... 03/22/2008

We just took a quick trip to SeaWorld from Katy Texas (SeaWorld in San Antonio...about 2.5 hours west on I-10). We have many wonderful day trips and overnighters available from the Katy area. San Antonio is one of our favorites because we stay at the world famous San Antonio Riverwalk (an entertainment and eating frenzy) and go to sights like the Alamo...all within walking distance. A short drive to SeaWorld or Six Flags Fiesta Texas (a ton of great rides and attractions). We had a great time and made a bunch of wonderful Texas sized memories with our six year old Anthony. This is a great time of year to go because the blue bonnets are in bloom...as well as many other wildflowers all along I-10 between Katy and San Antonio! SeaWorld Six Flags Fiesta Texas 03/21/2008

Governors Place is located in the 77450 zip code of Katy Texas. Children in Governors Place attend Katy ISD schools: West Memorial Elementary Or West Memorial Junior High or Katy High School.There are currently 7 homes for sale in the Governors Place Subdivision ranging in price from $159,000 to $239,900 and you can view all homes for sale in Governors Place by  clicking here: Governors Place subdivision, Katy Texas, 77450. Property values have gradually increased over the years in Governors Place.  Governors Place is a great place to own a home or to own a rental property as the neighbohood is quiet and safe!If you live in Governors Place, Katy Tx and have any news or notes you would like to share (school events, garage sales, announcements, etc) and would like to post it to this blog,... 03/21/2008

Cimarron is located in the 77450 zip code of Katy Texas. Children in Cimarron attend Cimarron Elementary School: Cimarron Elementary School Or West Memorial Junior High or Katy High School.There are currently 28 homes for sale in the Cimarron Subdivision ranging in price from $93,500 to $167,000 and you can view all homes for sale in Cimarron by clicking here: Cimarron Subdivision, Katy Tx, 77450Property values have gradually increased over the years in Cimarron.  Cimarron is a great place to own a home or to own a rental property as the neighbohood is quiet and safe!If you live in Cimarron, Katy Tx and have any news or notes you would like to share (school events, garage sales, announcements, etc) and would like to post it to this blog, my website and to KatyRealEstateGuy.com,  I would... 03/21/2008

These are true stories that happened to me.  The first happened about a year ago and it's one of the driving forces in my head that keep me in the real estate business.I had a woman contact me a while back and ask for some advice on selling her home.  She wanted to do a For Sale By Owner, also known as an Unrepresented Seller.  I helped her along the way, but of course I wasn't actually selling her home for her. As time passed, I got to know this woman and her circumstances and the short version of it was that she was about to lose her home to foreclosure for many reasons.  I tried to explain to her that it would be to her benefit to hire me to sell the house for her and that there were many things that could be done with experienced representation to avoid a foreclosure.  She did not w... 03/21/2008

If you haven't heard of Cinco Charities, you probably soon will be.  It's been the vision of the Keller Williams Katy Office to give back to the community that we live in and love!Katy is beginning to grow at a phenomenal rate and with that, we'll soon see massive expansions in the medical field here.  New hospitals and especially the Children's Hospital are creating a center of activity in Katy that will draw people in for the incredible health care we have here and we soon will have more of. Cinco Charities was founded with the idea that these people coming here for treatments of critical illnesses needed a place to stay during treatment. The Cinco Charity vision is:To provide temporary housing in our community with a warm, safe environment for individuals and their families who are h... 03/21/2008

Where to spend your advertising/marketing money to get the biggest bang for your buck? How to say THANK YOU TO PAST CLIENTS, other REALTORS,  or anyone for those referlas WITHOUT BREAKING THE BANK or going brook...great ideas for under $10 That is the ago old question of Realtors, sales persons, and we are in sales.  I think you should spend it were you get the most return on your money...past clients.  Yes I prospect for expireds and fsbo and they amount to approximately 20% of my business, with 80% coming from past clients, past clients referrals.  I have some great ideals and have done some fun,  lavish campaigns' for my past clients, the life blood of my business, like past client parties, etc. but we are only allowed one ideal for this contest.  I have looked for years for an inexp... 03/18/2008

Once again, the Katy Team of Prudential Gary Greene and many local sponsors are bringing you the 2nd Annual Katy Sunshine Fest, to be held Thursday, March 27th from 4:00 to 8:30 PM at our Katy office location. Last year, we managed to raise over $ 10,000 and we hope to double that amount this year. The Sunshine Kids Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to children with cancer.  Established in 1982 the Foundation is committed to providing quality group activities and emotional support for Kids who are receiving cancer treatment in hospitals across North America. Please visit http://www.sunshinekids.org/ for more information about this incredible organization, which is the primary charity for Prudential Real Estate Affiliates nationwide. We expect over 700 guests to enjoy thi... 03/18/2008

Once again, the Katy Team of Prudential Gary Greene and many local sponsors are bringing you the 2nd Annual Katy Sunshine Fest, to be held Thursday, March 27th from 4:00 to 8:30 PM at our Katy office location. Last year, we managed to raise over $ 10,000 and we hope to double that amount this year. The Sunshine Kids Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to children with cancer.  Established in 1982 the Foundation is committed to providing quality group activities and emotional support for Kids who are receiving cancer treatment in hospitals across North America. Please visit www.Sunshinekids.org for more information about this incredible organization, which is the primary charity for Prudential Real Estate Affiliates nationwide. We expect over 700 guests to enjoy this year's... 03/18/2008