Home Sales are IMPROVING!!

Just a brief note..... In May, home sales in The Woodlands were down the monstrous amount of 17.94% compared to the year before, and inventory was up 7.22%.

In JUNE, home sales were only down 7.2% compared to the year before, and inventory was up 5.6%.

We project a strengthening real estate market in The Woodlands as this year progresses.

And that's GREAT NEWS for EVERYONE!!

Audacious Artichoke Appetizer!!

Mix:

1 6-ounce jar marinated artichoke hearts (drained and chopped)

1/2 cup grated Romano cheese

1/3 cup finely chopped red onion

5 Tbsp. mayonnaise

Serve with Frito Scoops.

This "Audacious Artichoke Appetizer" delicious and SOOOOOO easy!! Give it a try!!

Buying a home? Accurate numbers are vital!!

The days of changing the sales price, loan terms, certain borrower fees, or even your mortgage company shortly before or at the closing of a home purchase are history after July 30th!

The Federal Reserve is implementing major rule changes to the Truth-in-Lending disclosure. These new rules add time restrictions that will hold up a closing if there are any financial changes (amount of the loan, closing costs, rates) that cause the Annual Percentage Rate (APR) or the finance charge to change! In addition, if a borrower is having difficulties closing with a particular lender and wants to switch to another mortgage company, the ability to transfer a loan from a lender one day and close with another lender the next day is gone. Contracts for homes closing in a week's time cannot be written. These new rules apply to any financed home purchase (including refinancing and home equity loans.) They do not apply to non-occupied properties.

What does this mean to YOU? Be sure your lock is adequately long, and (most important!) that you choose a lender who is very experienced and detail-oriented. Need help finding such a lender? Your Realtors, Mike and Jean, are here to help you!! (Above information provided by Allan Atkinson, Vice President, Cornerstone Mortgage Company)

You want TOMATOES in THIS heat??

Whew! It's hot-hot-hot everywhere, particularly in The Woodlands, and your tomato plants think so too! They yearn for cooler nights -- below 70 degrees! -- in order to "set" and produce fruit. Alas, spring is well over by June here, and so are the cooler nights.

Turn the soil and fertilize (egg shells are good!) in November or December. Plant your tomatoes in mid-February (try a 9-foot x 9-foot raised bed), water them well, protect them with netting from the birds, and you will have your first tomatoes three months later in mid-May! (A little tip from a reader of the Houston Chronicle)

What's that bird with the SUNGLASSES?!

It’s the Egyptian Goose! (Well... it's not really a goose, but a member of the shelduck family which are classified as being a cross between a goose and a duck.) If you think they have a slightly familiar look, you may have seen them in Egyptian artwork, as they were considered sacred by the ancient Egyptians. (Remember: it's EgyptIAN Goose, but Canada - NOT Canadian - Goose! Why? Beats me!!)

Egyptian Geese are abundant in the Nile Valley and south of the Sahara. They have also been introduced to other areas. Great Britain, the Netherlands and Germany have self-sustaining feral populations. They arrived in the United States from Great Britain as exotics, to beautify estates of wealthy landowners. They promptly escaped, and by golly, here they are thriving in The Woodlands, Texas!!

This is a largely land-loving bird, happy to perch in trees or on buildings. It swims well, but when it flies, it looks more like a goose than a duck (hence the name). Egyptian geese typically eat seeds, leaves, grasses, and plant stems.

These handsome large geese have patches of chestnut-colored feathers around each eye, which give them a spectacled appearance. Some of them have gray-brown upper parts; others are red-brown. They have black tails and yellow eyes; their bills, legs and feet are pink. Sexes are alike, but the females are somewhat smaller. Though Egyptian geese are not very vocal, during times of stress or aggressive behavior it's easy to distinguish males and females by their sound. The males have a raspy hiss, while females produce a loud cackling sound. Although very quarrelsome and bad-tempered by nature, they form strong pair bonds and are excellent parents.

The next time you spot these birds near the lake, stop to take a look.
They're not only gorgeous, but they have an ancient and noble history!!

My home sold -- but it didn't APPRAISE!

There are some big changes in the Appraisal World.

If you are selling your home or refinancing,

these changes will affect YOU!

In the past, there have been occasions in which a lender or loan officer has "encouraged" the appraiser to make sure a home "hit" a certain value. If the appraiser didn't do this, the mortgage company hinted that it might stop doing business with that appraiser.

By the same token, there have been occasions when a Relocation Company has requested that the appraisal be as low as possible, and again, the appraiser often did so in order to maintain his profitable business with that company.

NEW: Appraisers for conventional (conforming and non-conforming) loans are no longer allowed to communicate directly with anyone involved with the loan. (This does not apply to FHA or VA loans). That should be the good news. However, in order to comply with this:

• Lenders are now ordering their appraisals through appraisal management companies, which charge a fee to the lender and then pay an outside appraiser a portion of that fee.
• The appraisers are appraising homes in an areas with which they are totally unfamiliar.
• Often, they can only use sales no older that 90 days.

(With all of the above in mind, it seems strange that the new code does allow the fully executed purchase agreement to be provided to the appraiser as part of the appraisal assignment!)

What does this mean to you? No longer can a seller "test the market" to get a better price than a neighbor got 6 months ago. Even if you were to have multiple offers at that price, your buyer might not be able to get a loan, because the appraisal would be strictly based on very recent past sales.

The appraiser CAN still confer with your Realtor, however, so if you are planning to sell your home, be certain that you use a Realtor who has an excellent understanding of the local market, particularly in complex areas like The Woodlands, and who is able to provide the appraiser with the information to confirm your home's value.

Hiring a knowledgable Realtor has always been important. Now it is vital!!

Restaurant Review - "Dosey Doe"

Have you noticed the old restaurant along the feeder road of I-45 (between Woodlands Pkwy and Sawdust) called "Dosey Doe"? This restaurant (a 150-year-old barn brought from Kentucky and reconstructed) is one of the best music venues for musicians and groups such as Clint Black, Lee Roy Parnell, Larry Gatlin, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Paul Overstreet and more!

We had dinner there Saturday night with some friends. They had made reservations (not needed, really, because we planned to eat before the show). The atmosphere, as you might expect in an old barn, was very relaxed and casual. Our dinners were as beautiful as any fine restaurant could present, and delicious!! Everything is cooked from scratch (they warn that you might wait a little longer because of that), but with early pre-show 6:30 reservations, the food came quickly. We ordered "Goat Cheese Chicken Roulade", two had the "Ginormous Chicken Fried Steak", and another ordered the "Black Angus Filet Mignon Medallions". The dinners were all wonderful!! Their coffee is some of the best. We didn't reserve for the wonderful dinner show, as we were there to eat and chat.

You can see a full menu, view the upcoming shows (and prices), and make reservations by going to http://doseydoecoffeeshop.com . It'll be well worth it!!

If you like a superlative dinner and great musical entertainment,
this is THE place!!

Welcome those Mosquito-loving SWALLOWS!

Not long ago we received this e-mail from Gary Clark* : "I thought you might be interested to know that a large colony of Cliff Swallows is nesting under the Lake Woodlands Drive bridge ... Historically, Barn Swallows have dominated the bridge, but they seem to have been crowded out by Cliff Swallows. I think this represents an interesting eastward expansion of Cliff Swallows, which normally nest a bit farther west around Hempstead, Brenham, and beyond."

Which swallows are which?? Stop to take a look at those tiny birds that swoop over the lake near Woodlands Parkway - these are the Barn Swallows (see little photo on the left). They have a forked tail. Like all swallows, their streamlined body and long pointed wings make them very adapted for swooping and grabbing insects on the wing. And just look at that mouth! Wide enough to catch a bunch of bugs, for sure!!

Now head to the northern end of the lake and look under Lake Woodlands Drive Bridge (from Northshore Park). Those birds have a tail that is NOT forked! Its tip is square across. These are the Cliff Swallows that Gary Clark mentioned. The bridge provides a protective overhang and a nearby mud source. If you look at the photo at the top, each mud nest is made up of about a thousand small, mud pellets. Each mating pair in the colony shapes its home piece by piece into a bottle-necked nest which they then line it with grasses and feathers.

Welcome them all. They're our friends. They eat our mosquitoes!!

* Gary Clark writes the weekly nature column for the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express News. Be sure to look for his article every Saturday in those newspapers!!

I really LOVE this house! ... What else do you have?

Strangely enough, buyers often want to continue to look, even after finding their "perfect" home. Why do they do that?

A "better buy" might be just around the corner! This might be possible (theoretically then, you should never buy, keep looking!), but chances are better that while you are looking, someone else will purchase the home that was right for you.

It’s hard to make a decision. To improve your confidence (1) be sure this property has the basic features that you need or want, (2) ask your Realtors, Mike and Jean Drummond, to provide examples of similar homes that have sold recently, and (3) use your "Option Period" for obtaining a satisfactory home inspection from a qualified home inspector.

After taking the three steps above, buy with your heart. If you are going to invest your hard-earned money on this house, you should want to come home to this place! When you find the right property, you will feel it. Listen to your instincts. You know yourself and your tastes better than anyone else!

Let's Grab a Bite to Eat!

The Waterway Square District of The Woodlands is bubbling over with colorful fountains, great shopping --- and now,
special restaurant discounts!!

This summer, seven restaurants (Américas, Baker Street Pub & Grill, Crush Wine Lounge, The Goose’s Acre, Hubbell & Hudson, Rio24 Cigars & Premier Bar and Which Wich) have teamed up to offer a special discount program that will last until mid-September!

High school students will be distributing "Summer of Savings" discount cards at concerts at The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion and throughout The Waterway Square District,

BUT easier than that, you can just log onto www.thewoodlands.net to register for all the discounts! (Look for the large icon on the right.) Once you register, you will receive an e-mail each week with a surprise discount offer. Print out the e-mail and take it with you to participating Waterway Square restaurants. This is a fabulous place to live, work ...... and dine!!

You've gotta' love those .... SNAKES ?!?

When the summer gets hot, so do the snakes, and you just might come home to find one cooling off in the moist mulch of your garden or on your front doorstep (as we did)!

How could you NOT love this garter snake? What a sweet face! This Western Ribbon Snake (also know as a "garden" or "grass" snake) is very common in our area and often seen around homes. They can be found just about anywhere that they can find a bit of dark, moist soil (your beautiful mulched landscaping, for instance). If you're a gardener, you should encourage these beautiful snakes to stick around, because they love to feed on snails, slugs, insects, and small mice!

How will you recognize the Western Ribbon Snake? It's a very thin snake, although it can be as long as 30 inches. It has a yellow or orange stripe down the center of its back, and two creamy light-yellow stripes on the sides (separated by two wide, black stripes along the back). The head is black with a yellow or orange spot on the top, and it's belly is cream-colored or very pale green. Beautiful!! As with most snakes, this gardener's friend is completely harmless, and will happily slither away!

What if I sell my home "as is" ??

Will Buyers view your Home for Sale
as “Lovable and Livable”
or “a Heck of a Wreck” ??

As a Home Seller you have several options. One is to do relatively little and sell the property “as is.” Another is to invest time, effort and money into fixing up the property before you sell. A third option is a combination of these.

Contrary to what one might think, most buyers want to “move into the home and not do a thing.” Not only will fixing up your home result in a higher sales price, but YOU have control over the improvements - who does them, the timing, and at what cost !

We know that some projects may be just too expensive, and some may not be able to be completed within your time frame. We can help you make those decisions. Our experience and market knowledge can aid you in prioritizing and to making your selling decisions with confidence!

It's time to talk "Money"

Can you get a loan for buying a home these days? Absolutely!

Is it more difficult? You bet.

It's getting a little rough out there!! Lenders are reviewing credit scores more closely, asking for more and more information (sometimes right up to the closing!), and appraisers are following much tighter guidelines. Forewarned is forearmed, as you know, so our blog will give you information as it happens, or tips about stuff that's already changed!

Brand new! If you are getting a "conventional" loan (less than $417,000, and not VA or FHA), and you are putting less than 20% down, you will be required to have Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI). That is not new. What IS new is that one PMI company (and others will follow soon) is requiring a minimum credit score of 680 on all applications received after July 6th. In addition, most PMI companies are limiting the debt-to-income ratio to 41% to 45% (i.e., all of your debts, including your mortgage payment, cannot exceed more than 41-45% of your gross income.) (Information provided by Sue Izard, Woodforest Mortgage Company)

It's important that you know what your credit score is! You can do this for FREE once a year by clicking onto the link provided to the right. Happy House Hunting!!

Park and Picnic!

You don't have to go far in The Woodlands to enjoy the day! A new garden park called The Ellipse been completed in East Shore, the Garden District of The Woodlands Town Center. The Ellipse is the focal point of a new area currently being developed called Mid-Lake. About 1/2 acre in size, the park features an elliptical green bordered by seating and picnic areas around the perimeter. This garden edge is connected by granite walkways shaded by oak trees and colorful perennial flower beds.

So grab your picnic basket and your camera (with azaleas, irises, lantana, Mexican bush sage and more, there are great flower opportunities here), and enjoy! (Information from The Woodlands Development Co.)

Red-cockaded Woodpecker

Whew! We just got this photo in time -- The babies just fledged!

Adjacent to The Woodlands is Jones State Forest, home to the very endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker. This is a very endangered bird (1% of original population remains). We were lucky to get a few photos of this beautiful bird feeding the young just before they left the nest this year.

It's no wonder that they are endangered -- how fussy can you be?! The Red-cockaded Woodpecker makes its home in mature pine forests, preferably longleaf pines. While other woodpeckers bore out cavities in dead trees where the wood is rotten and soft, the Red-cockaded Woodpecker is the only one which excavates cavities exclusively in living pine trees. The older pines often suffer from a red heart rot which attacks the center of the trunk, causing the inner wood, the heartwood, to become soft. Cavities generally take from 1 to 3 years to excavate! The woodpecker drills a number of small holes around the nest, allowing sap to run as a protection against snakes. (The tree can look like a dripping candle! - a great way to spot their nest). These cavities provide homes later for a number of other birds and wildlife.

SO - How's the market in The Woodlands ??

Summer is here. School is out and (traditionally) it's time to move!! So here's a quick update on the market in The Woodlands, Texas, as of the end of May:

Inventory of homes for sale: 931 (up 7.22% from May 2008); Sales: 224 (down 17.94% from May 2008). Here's an interesting thing ... The average sale price in May, 2008, was $353,339; in May, 2009, it was $354,235. That's less that $1000 difference -- a pretty stable market!! Of the 931 homes for sale, only EIGHT are foreclosures.

Our company, Prudential Gary Greene, Realtors, is doing very well. While the average home on MLS sold for 95.1% of the list price, homes in our office sold for 98.1%. Sellers kept 3% more money in their pockets listing with our company! And while most homes that sold stayed on the market for an average of 65 days, homes listed by our office sold in an average of just 34 days. That's great news!! Less stress - a faster move - more money!!