Real Estate Information

The wildfires continue to spread and devastate so many lives.  I was at a home closing today and the gentleman buying his new home stated that he had moved his parents out of their home because they have been evacuated and then they were told they could move back home only to be evacuated again today.  The fire is only 2 miles from their home.

Firemen are working around the clock to try and get the fires contained.  They are in need of donations and there are a couple of sites I have found very helpful in keeping in touch with what's going on with the fires.  This site is a Texas A&M forestry site that has some very helpful information:

http://texashelp.tamu.edu/004-natural/fires.php

There is another site that is providing up to the minute information on the wildfires and many people that are in need of help.  This site is on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/Montgomerycountyfireinfo

There is a great need for donation items and this site will tell you what is needed and where you can drop it off.  I am going to be collecting items and dropping them off, so contact me if you want me to take donation items for you.  Let's keep all the people and their pets in our prayers.

I would like to share something that I was recently introduced to in The Woodlands.  The Woodlands Township has an "Alert" system in place that will email you with any alerts or notices so that you can be kept informed as to what is going on.  Many people have asked me how we get our news in The Woodlands and aside from The Villager newspaper that comes out once a week, we don't have an up to the minute news service keeping us informed.  Well, now we do.  If you go to this link, you can register yourself to receive alerts as they are posted.

  http://www.woodlandsalert.org/selectalert/login.aspx

Since I joined, I have only received one alert but it was important and was related to the Texas Wildfires and I can tell you that this one post is the reason I feel so compelled to let others know about it.  I would like to know how others feel about this system and is it a sufficient way to keep the residents of The Woodlands informed?  

There has been a lot of talk lately about the flyover connector for IH-45 to SH-242 or College Park Drive as many of us refer to it.  I wasn't aware of the hearing that was recently held in The Woodlands but would have liked to attend to hear the updates.  If you're like me, you may be interested to read the summary report of the meeting.  I have copied the report below for everyone to see.  I find it interesting that the flyover will be a toll road with a cost that has not yet been decided but will be in the range of $.50 to $1.50.  I suppose it will be an overhead toll like the Sam Houston Pkwy toll road east of I-45 to I-10 absent of any manned toll booths.  It has been funded for the west side so construction should be starting soon.  The IH-45 northbound flyover to SH-242 has not been funded but as we all know, but turning east from the northbound feeder road has not been a problem.

TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

STATE HIGHWAY 242 AT INTERSTATE HIGHWAY 45 TOLLED DIRECT CONNECTORS PROJECT PUBLIC

HEARING

On August 18, 2011 the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) held a public hearing to receive

comment on the State Highway 242 at Interstate Highway 45 Tolled Direct Connectors Project. TxDOT

reviewed three options for the Direct Connectors and the preferred alternative, along with findings of

the Environmental Assessment (EA) that was required as a part of the project. No environmental

impacts, including noise increases, were identified in the EA that would require remediation in order to

build the Direct Connectors.

Three individuals offered oral comments at the hearing. Representatives of Sen. Tommy Williams and

Montgomery county Precinct 3 Commissioner Ed Chance spoke in support of the project. Mr. Bob Bagley

expressed concern regarding the ability of ambulances to access St. Luke’s Hospital with the selected

Direct Connector alignment.

TxDOT was not allowed to comment during the hearing, but did address concerns after the hearing

closed.

The three proposed Direct Connectors will be tolled via electronic overhead gantry as used on the Hardy

Toll road. The toll amount has not been set, but will vary depending on traffic demand. Tolls ranging

from 50 cents to $1.50 would be similar to those found for similar traffic situations in the Houston metro

area.

The estimated construction cost is $49.2 million for the IH 45 Northbound to SN 242 Westbound, and SH

242 Eastbound to IH 45 Southbound connectors. The two connectors have been funded. Estimated

contract let is fall/winter 2011.

Funding is not available for the IH 45 Northbound to SH 242 Eastbound connector at this time. It is

estimated that the construction cost for this connector will be $12.7 million.

The public has until September 1, 2011 to submit comments to TxDOT via email or U.S. mail. Written

comments must be received or postmarked on or before September 1, 2011 to be included in the

official public hearing record.

Comments for the public hearing record must be submitted to the attention of the Director of Project

Development, Texas Department of Transportation, P.O. Box 1386, Houston, Texas 77251-1386 or emailed

to –

This is an article Texas is very proud to see published.  With all the talk about the debt ceiling and the Nation's credit rating, it's nice to know that Texas earns the highest ratings when it comes to school-finance debt.

Houston Business Journal - by James Aldridge, San Antonio Business Journal

Wall Street bond rating agencies have assigned their highest possible rating to Texas’ $9.8 billion in short-term debt.

Each year, Texas sells Tax and Revenue Anticipation Notes (TRANs) to provide funding to public schools at the beginning of the school year. The TRANs will be sold on Aug. 23 and are rated SP-1+ by Standard & Poor’s Standard & Poor’s Latest from The Business Journals Fitch says U.S. debt is AAATexas earns highest ratings on school-finance debtTexas earns highest ratings on school-finance debt Follow this company , MIG 1 by Moody’s Investors Service Moody’s Investors Service Latest from The Business Journals Texas earns highest ratings on school-finance debtTexas earns highest ratings on school-finance debtMoody’s may cut defense contractor ratings Follow this company and F1+ by Fitch Inc. Fitch Inc. Latest from The Business Journals Fitch affirms U.S. AAA ratingFitch affirms AAA credit rating for U.S.Fitch affirms U.S. AAA rating Follow this company The debt will be paid back later in the school year once tax revenues come in. The notes should be repaid in full on Aug. 31, 2012.

“These ratings reflect confidence in Texas’ economic resilience and conservative fiscal management,” says Texas Comptroller Susan Combs. “Texas has outperformed the nation as both economies recover from the recession. The state has regained 88 percent of the jobs that were lost during the recession, while the nation has recovered 22 percent. However, we will also continue to monitor factors such as the housing market where new home construction and existing home sales remain slow.”

Texas has used short-term TRAN notes to fund public schools and meet other cash flow needs since 1987.

July sales of single-family homes in Houston totaled 5,034, up 16.7 percent from July 2010. This marks the third increase of the year after an 8.4 percent gain in January and 0.5 percent bump in June. The July number represents the second highest sales volume month of the year. June was higher with 5,570 homes sold.

On a year-to-date basis, sales are down 2.2 percent. When compared to July of 2009, a year in which there were no unusual real estate market influences such as Hurricane Ike in 2008 and the 2010 home buyer tax credit, single-family home sales were down 12.2 percent.

Broken out by segment, July sales of homes priced below $80,000 rose 15.8 percent; sales of homes in the $80,000-$150,000 range climbed 17.7 percent; sales of homes between $150,000 and $250,000 increased 18.5 percent; sales of homes ranging from $250,000-$500,000 advanced 13.7 percent; and sales of homes that make up the luxury market—priced from $500,000 and up—soared 25.7 percent.

I thought a lot of people might like to see the renderings for the new ExxonMobil campus near The Woodlands, TX.  This is going to be an amazing facility.  Here is a link to the page on Swamplot with interesting information.

http://swamplot.com/welcome-to-the-land-of-exxonmobil-a-tour-of-the-companys-new-north-houston-campus/2011-06-07/

After much speculation about whether or not Exxon Mobil would be building a large campus near The Woodlands, the suspense is finally over.  It has been confirmed that they have acquired 385 acres of land near I-45 and the Hardy Toll Road.  So what does that mean for The Woodlands real estate market.  It will make a major impact on home sales in our area.  It's no secret that The Woodlands is a wonderful place to call home.  The schools are excellent, there are many activities in and around The Woodlands, wonderful restaurants and it's a beautiful place to live with the absence of signage and instead tall trees that buffer the homes and businesses.

If Exxon Mobil employs 8,000 at this facility and you the employees average 3 persons per household, that means 24,000 people will be added to the area by 2015.  Granted some employees and their families may commute from the Houston area and not make the move to The Woodlands area, but the only reason many people in the past have told me they can't make the move to The Woodlands is because of the distance they would have to drive to work.  Given the opportunity to work near The Woodlands, I am betting that most employees will jump at the chance to move.

Along with the building of the Exxon Mobil campus, the construction of the Grand Parkway will begin.  Many of us native Houstonians can remember when we would drive the 610 loop and think about how far it was to drive all around the city.  Then the Sam Houston Tollway was added and many of us marveled at the extreme usage of a road that was so many miles outside the "loop."  Now we have a Grand Parkway being constructed and once again we're surprised at the need of a road more miles outside the current toll road, but already we're realizing how much we want and need it and before long we'll wonder how we ever lived without it.

I am very excited about Exxon Mobil moving to the area and I would like to thank them for the positive changes they are helping to make in The Woodlands.

Even though we are many miles away from the catastrophe that occurred in Japan, we need to keep all of the people in our thoughts and prayers.  Here is a link that has been posted on Google that offers updates and information on the latest news from Japan. 

 http://www.google.com/crisisresponse/japanquake2011.html

I must be asked this question at least twice a week. The news continues to circulate that Exxon Mobil is building an office on the west side of I-45 just south of the Hardy Toll Road but it hasn't been officially announced.  I was surfing the net trying to find out what I can about Exxon Mobil's "plans," and this is the latest information I have read on the subject.  This is an article that was posted in the Houston Real Estate Observer on February 25, 2011.  The fact that a neighborhood called Springwood Villages is being developed in the nearby area leads one to speculate that someone definitely knows something.  Be sure to click on the "Houston Tomorrow" link below to read even more information regarding how the Grand Parkway is key to the plans for Exxon Mobil building their North American Headquarters near The Woodlands. 

You live in The Woodlands, but your mailing address says Spring.

Woodlands villages are in Montgomery County, except for one, which is in Harris County.

Woodlands schools are in Conroe ISD, except for one, which is Tomball ISD.

My mailing address says Tomball, but I tell people I live in Spring, and the kids go to Klein ISD schools.

I call this the grey zone.

But I digress. My point is, it can be confusing.

So, people are wondering …who, where, when, why, how and what is going on in these here woods?

What’s with all the mowed-down trees, bulldozers and bare tracts of land?

A parcel of land recently cleared at the northeast corner of Augusta Pines and Kuykendahl has led to speculation of further homebuilding in the area, but it turns out that’s not the case.

There will be room for just one home here – a house of worship.

Maybe.

“The Woodlands Development Company is doing pre-development work on a 5.5-acre commercial/church site,” said Susan Vreeland-Wendt, director of marketing for TWDC. “But there are no immediate plans or details for the site.”

It’s a busy corner of town, as Kuykendahl continues to undergo major road-widening. That’s good news for Tomball ISD, as it gears up to build a second elementary school in The Woodlands, slated to open August 2012.

Creekside Village, The Woodlands Township

The Woodlands, a master-planned community in Montgomery County that dates back to the early 1970′s, is home to several villages including Grogan’s Mill, Alden Bridge, Sterling Ridge, Cochran’s Crossing, Indian Springs, College Park and Panther Creek.

These things matter to house hunters, because it decides things like tax rates, school zone boundaries, and who will be responding to your address in case of emergency.

Meanwhile, an 1800-acre tract of land west of I-45 and north of the Hardy Toll Road in Harris County will soon become the “nature-inspired, mixed-use” community of Springwoods Village.

The mailing address will be Spring, but what’s attracting the attention of builders now seems to have something to do with rumors of Exxon moving its headquarters a few miles up the road in…you got it…The Woodlands, Montgomery County.

Exxon has not confirmed any of this, but really, it’s the worst-kept secret, according to this blog in the Houston Business Journal.

And here’s the latest, courtesy of Houston Tomorrow.

Springwoods Village developer CDC Houston is hesitant to comment about Exxon, but loves the progress of the Grand Parkway.

“We really can’t comment on Exxon at this point,” said Simon, senior VP and director of development for CDC Houston, a subsidiary of Conventry Development Corporation. “We happen to think the time is right for Springwoods Village now anyway, given the progress of the Grand Parkway and other things coming up in this area.”

Simon said the company has owned the land for nearly 50 years.

“Now is the time,” Simon said. “Our market research shows residential growth has been in excess of 35 percent in the northwest side of Houston. Over the next five to 10 years, projected demand is for more than 100,000 new homes in this area.”

Simon said they will soon award $80 million worth of public infrastructure construction projects, followed by discussions with a variety of homebuilders.

“We typically like to have a range of product types, from apartments to townhomes to single-detached, at price points of $100,000 – $400,000,” Simon said. “We want fairly small neighborhoods within Springwoods Village so we have a finer grain to the community. And frankly, with the economy these days, it’s less of a financial commitment for homebuilders to develop a community of 50 homes instead of 200 homes.”

CDC Houston is researching different builders they think would best fit their objectives, including “very good quality and a strong eye towards building in sustainable, green kinds of ways” in order to complement the 33-mile Spring Creek Greenway preservation.

When all is said and done, 4,500 – 5,000 homes are expected to be built in Springwoods Village, along with more than 8-million square feet of commercial office space and 1.2-million square feet of retail space.

The entire build-out is expected to take at least 15 years.

I've had a lot of clients and friends ask me about how the real estate market is this year in The Woodlands, Texas and surrounding areas.  So far, we have seen an increase in sales since the first of 2011 and it seems to be steadily increasing each day.

The difference I see in the real estate market this year compared to years past is that Buyers are getting more and more particular about the homes they are purchasing.  If a buyer is going to pay top dollar for a property, he/she expects the home to be in turn-key condition and completely updated.  If a home needs repairs and updating, the buyers seem to only be interested if they can get the home at a very good price. 

I have also noticed that buyers seem to be offering 10% less than list price when they make an offer on a home.  I think many consumers are thinking that sellers may be desperate to sell.  Because many of the news programs report declining sales in other parts of the country, buyers hear this news and assume we are in the same situation as other areas.  If a buyer is moving to our area from another state, they may have had to take a loss on the home they sold and therefore expect the same sort of discount on their purchase.

It's very important to keep your home well maintained and updated as much as possible.  Homes that show well will usually be the first homes to sell and as the competition of listings increase in the upcoming months, you need to make sure your home stands out from the rest.

Your real estate agent can advise you and give you tips on things you can do to help show your home.  Simple staging, a little paint and de-cluttering will go a long way in helping your home sell.