OpeningDoors

Houston Housing Market Proves Strong in April

April MLS statistics reverse the decline that began in March

It was a good Month for Houston in home sales! The market is performing well for both buyers and sellers. Here's an excert from the official press release from Houston Association of Realtors:

HOUSTON — (May 10, 2007) – Single-family home sales in April rose compared to April of last year, reversing the first decline in more than three years. Prices last month also continued to show strength, as both the average and median sales prices increased in line with trends seen during the last few years. Perhaps signaling statistical validation of experts’ suggestions that tighter subprime lending standards will have a negative impact on home sales, the primary price range of homes showing sales weakness has been those homes priced at $140,000 or less, according to statistics released by the Houston ssociation of REALTORS®. At the same time, homes in the $400,000-plus range have seen tremendous strength in sales.

Total property sales for the month registered 7,275, which was a 2.7 percent increase over April 2006. Properties sold during the month reached a total of more than $1.4 billion, an 8.5 percent increase compared to last year’s more than $1.3 billion in April sales. Additionally, the median home price for a single-family home reached a monthly record for April of $150,000, and the average single-family home price came in at $205,511, increases from last year of 2.0 and 4.8 percent, respectively.

Click here to read the entire article.

Houston has historically been a very affordable housing market. Subprime changes will affect some buyers' ability to purchase, but the upside of that is it will also help to slow foreclosure rates over time. In general,  As noted in a previous post, our local market is performing well. 

What is a buyer's agent?

Talking with a group of friends yesterday, the subject came up regarding agency relationships in a real estate transaction. I realized many people don't know exactly when they are truly represented and when they're not.  For those of us in the business, I think we often take for granted that our customers and clients understand the laws of agency when in fact, they have no idea.  I felt compelled to post an explanation of the buyer's agent.

When you are deciding to purchase a home, it is in your best interest to select one agent that you can work well with to help you. They should go over with your your needs and wants and find out exactly what you're looking for and when you plan to move. They should follow-up with you and communicate well with you.  There's alot more to being your agent than just unlocking the doors of the houses you want to see. This should be a relationship built on trust, respect, and mutual understanding.

The real key is that they Represent YOU!
Ever gone to a builder who encourages you not to use a Realtor? (maybe the house price is less without a Realtor on contract with you...). Here's why...if you write a contract with a builder and you have no Realtor on the contract, then you have no representation in the transaction. The contractors, sales professional, builders, and other builder employees work for the builder and represent that builders interest first...not yours!
The builder is not the only place you can have a transaction without representation. If you call the listing agent to show you a house and you decide to buy it. That agent becomes the "intermediary", meaning that they carry information back and forth from buyer to seller, and facilitate the transaction, but they are not truly representing your interest FIRST! The agent you have selected to represents you, can show you any house on the market.
Many agents in Texas operate as "sub-agents", meaning they do not have you on a buyer's representation agreement and they are sub agents of the seller.

What does all of these mean and how does it affect you?
You should work with one Realtor, who represents your interest first. By signing a buyer's representation agreement with a Realtor, you have in writing that she/he will put your interest first when showing, negotiating, or closing the transaction. This agency relationship will provide you with the security you need to know that anything you say in confidence stays in confidence, that you have someone looking out for your benefit, and that you have been given all facts to make a sound decision.

Here's a list (brief) of the things your Realtor will do when working as your buyer's agent:

1. Help you get preapproved with a lender
2. Show you any house on the market
3. Review your Good Faith Estimate with you
4. Provide you will comparable sales in the neighborhood before making an offer
5. Guide you through the negotiation process
6. Give you a list of steps to follow from contract to close
7. Support you through each step
8. Guide you through inspections and repairs (or re-negotiating if necessary)
9. Ensure that you have been given Residential Service Contract information on reputable companies
10. Go over your final settlement statement with you and compare it to your good faith
11. attend closing
12. Follow-up after closing

This is not a comprehensive list by any means. One additional thing you need to aware of, in almost every real estate transaction I've ever done, (even when I worked at the title company), there are always unforeseen changes and obstacles. Your agent should be prepared for these and make them as painless as possible for you.

If you'd like a more detailed report on how a buyer's agent can help you. Send me an email to holly@soldonlakeconroe.com and I'll deliver it to you.

Seminar again tomorrow night

Opening Doors Real Estate Seminar Tomorrow Night
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
6-8pm

It's that time again. My monthly Real Estate seminar is tomorrow night at the Montgomery County Central Library in Conroe. It starts at 6pm and will be over around 8pm. This is an opportunity to come and get your questions answered and find out what's going on in Montgomery County. It's open to everyone, it's absolutely FREE...and you don't have to dress up! That makes it easy, right?

Tax Valuations are in the mail!

2007 Tax Valuations are in the mail....now what?

If you haven't gotten your 2007 tax assessment valuation statement from Montgomery County yet...it's in the mail!!
Unfortunately, most of the time when we receive these we either; 1) don't know what to do with it so we ignore it, 2) think it means nothing and throw it away or 3) tell all our friends how much our property value has gone up and pay no further attention to it. The truth is, these tax valuations mean much more than we give them time for in our busy lives.

I recently had the opportunity to listen to a presentation by our Chief Appraiser, Mr. Mark Castleschouldt.  Mark did a great job of explaining how these values are obtained and what we as residents can do to protest. He first explains that the appraisal district uses what is called "mass appraisal techniques". Meaning, they don't have specific sales information in all neighborhoods, and they rely on public records and generalizations to assess these values. He also noted that although these techniques comply with all state laws & regulations & the Appraiser's Board, they are not 100% accurate on all cases. I'm sure you know all of this, but it's the next part that I thought was worth sharing with all of you:
How do they service the product?
Mark points out that developing the product is the least of his challenges. Servicing the product is the really challenging part. Because he openly admits that they make mistakes and they need you to notify them when you don't think you're appraised value's are correct. Most of the time, he doesn't know what you paid for your house, and he doesn't know what you're neighbors house sold for either. They are not 'trying to create a market' if you paid less, have material/structural problems, or have other extreme conditions you have the responsibility to notify the appraisal district. Now is the time to appeal this. Mark assured us that if you make an appointment with the appraisal district, they will review the assessment with you, and make sure you have all exemptions you qualify for.

What does all this mean to you?
Since Montgomery County is one of the fastest growing counties in Texas, of course we are going to have increased property values. But, you have the right and responsibility to make sure it is accurate.

If you have any of the following conditions, you need to contact the Montgomery County Appraisal District:

• You paid less for your house this year than it is being assessed
• You feel the increase is too high (overall %)
• You have foundation or other structural problems
• You are not sure you have been given all exemptions you qualify to receive
• You have termites
• Any other material changes in your neighborhood

Higher property values are a plus when you are selling your home, but not for paying taxes. You owe it to yourself to make sure these are correct.

I encourage you to contact the appraisal district with any questions or concerns. Be informed and uphold your responsibility.

If you want more detailed information on taxes in Texas, I recently ordered the 2007 Taxpayer Rights, Remedies and Responsibilities publication for the state comptroller's office. If you'd like a copy, email me and I'll mail you a copy as soon as they are received.