Montrose market area residents continue to enjoy stable property values as reflected in the following data provided by the Houston Association of Realtors. There were 10 single family homes sold in February 2008 with prices ranging from $235,000 to $533,250; averaging $168.62 per square foot. There were 17 town house/condos soldin the Montrose market area during this same period with prices ranging from $72,100 to $475,000 for an average of $143.81 per square foot.Currently sellers are offering 62 active available single family homes for salein Montrose with list prices ranging from $259,000 to $1,300,000. Buyers have 11 properties pending sale.There are 94 active available town house/condos in the Montrose market area with prices ranging from $77,000 to $749,900. It's reported that the... 03/15/2008

The Shell Houston Open will be hosted by the Houston Golf Association from March 31 until April 6th at the Redstone Golf Club.  Volunteers are requested for information booths, walking scorers, golfer assistance, ball measurement, statistics, hospitality, transportation, and crowd and noise control.  Volunteers may be required to purchase a uniform, and must be at least 21 years old.  Learn more at www.shellhoustonopen.com or for more information call 281-454-7000.www.StagingSmartNSold.com provides Houston home staging solutions to facilitate a rapid and profitable house sale for homeowners and Realtors.  The owner is also a volunteer in the Houston Bay Area.  03/15/2008

SPRING BRANCH, TEXAS(Harris County). Spring Branch is in the Memorial Villages area of the western edge of Houston in west central Harris County. It began as a religious community settled by German farmers, many of whom owned dairies. The earliest settler was Karl Kolbe, who arrived from Germany in 1830 and settled on the banks of Spring Branch where it joined Buffalo Bayou, nine miles from Houston. In 1848 farmers cleared the surrounding forestland for farms and built St. Peter's United (Lutheran) Church with lumber set aside from one of three local sawmills on a site donated by the Bauer family, who owned the mill. The Spring Branch school district began with the Spring Branch School Society, sponsored by St. Peter's Church in 1856. The first public school was opened in 1889, and in 1... 03/13/2008

Informes actuales indican que usted puede considerar la compra de una casa, pero las ultimas noticias son alarmantes por lo cual , por lo que están esperando que el mercado mejore. Es posible que este preocupado pensando si encontrará una hipoteca adecuada, pero el año pasado el Foro de la Vivienda de Houston , los prestamistas principales dejaron claro que esos préstamos son de fácil obtener para los compradores que califan. Los reportes indica que usted esta usando mas el Internet para la busca de su casa. En parte, esta dependencia de l Internet es para encontrar el mejor valor. De hecho, la búsqueda de la mejor oferta ha sido el principal objetivo de muchos compradores. Con éstas consideraciones, me dí cuenta de que no se ha hecho mucho en el area de las encuestas de la inspección ... 03/10/2008

Check out this website:  http://www.ofheo.gov/ and this report:  4Q 2007 House Price Index Report  This is produced by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, a HUD entity.The report is long, so skip to page 25.  This shows the price appreciation ranked by state last year.  Texas is #10!  Above it are destinations such as as Wyoming, North Dakota, and Alaska.  Texas is the first "big" state on the list (no offense to Wyoming, ND, or Alaska!)  And California?  51st at negative 6.65%, Florida 49th at -4.69. (No offense to CA or FL, either...)  Also look at the 5 year appreciation and appreciation since 1980.  Texas is severely undervalued!  In the last 5 years, Texas has appreciated 25%.  PA appreciated 48%, IL at 36%, DC at 88%, NY at 51%, and the national average is 41%.  Te... 03/09/2008

The City of Houston has a great deal to offer.  It has the feel of a small city with all the benefits of being one of the 5 largest cities in the United States.  There are wonderful theaters, restuarants, shopping, NASA, museums, one of the best medical centers in the country with over 22,000 people working in it's different facilities, and interesting places to visit.  If you are interested in knowing more about Houston  http://www.houston.org/  or are looking for a realtor, please give FAREL & COMPANY a call.  We are here to help in all your real estate needs.  832-778-6216 03/09/2008

Houston Tx St Patrick's Day ParadesIt has been said that Houston Tx has one of the lowest Irish populations in the country living here, but there is no shortage in the amount of Irish Pubs.  So even though we may not have a vast amount of Irish citizens, the amount of adopted Irish is huge.  There are two parades going on in Houston.St Patrick's Day 30th Anniversary "1960" Parade:The 1960 St. Patrick's Day Parade is Sunday, March 16th, 2008 at 2pm. The parade benefits Cypress Creek EMS Public Education Programs like car seat inspections, bike rodeos and ambulance tours for children. The parade has raised more than $100,000 over just the last 5 years. Entries must be received by March 10, 2008.The 1960 parade begins at 2pm and proceeds down FM 1960 from Champion Forest Drive to Kuykendah... 03/09/2008

The Avon Walk For Breast Cancer will take place in April, for the 12th through the 13th.  Saturday the walk will be 26.2 miles, and 13.1 miles on Sunday.  The Avon walks are non-competitive and each participant is required to raise at least $1,800's in donations and months of training to be prepared.  Saturday night walkers will be able to stay at the "Wellness Village, featuring a two-person sleeping tent, hot showers, prepared meals and support services.  In 2007 the Foundation awarded a total of nearly 50 grants from $100,000 to over $6 million to leading cancer centers, research and community-based organizations.Everyone has be touched in some way by a person with cancer, lets reach for the goal in finding a cure.For more information or to register visit www.avonwalk.org or call 1-8... 03/08/2008

The Nessler Center will be hosting an Orchid Show and Sale on March 15-16.  Orchid vendors from all over the country and South America will be selling orchids and educating the public about them.  Beautiful displays for everyone to enjoy.  A raffle will be conducted every hour on the hour.  For more information and times call 281-286-1471. Please visit www.redesignetc.com Houston's Home Staging & Redesign Specialist Staging Your House To Sell! 03/08/2008

The Houston Arboretum and Nature Center will be hosting a Spring Break Native Plant Sale.  March is now upon us and it is time to plant your flowers, trees, shrubs, and grass.  Native plants will be available for sale, as well as organic-based Nature's Way products, including screened compost and native mulch.  The plant sale will be March 15, Saturday, from 12:00p.m. to 4:30 p.m. with an Arboretum discount preview for members from 9:00a.m. to 12:00 p.m.  For more information visit www.HoustonArboretum.org Please Visit www.redesignetc.com Houston's Home Staging & Redesign Specialist Staging Your House To Sell! 03/08/2008

Crestwater Going home to your own private resort each day By Timothy Sojka, Realtor ® / Broker 713-822-2152 - shop for a home on-line at www.search-katy-homes.com Crestwater is truly a thing of beauty the lucky residents of the neighborhood.  This gated community features less than 200 homes, most backing to one of the neighborhoods man made lakes.  The homes were built to offer the homeowner resort style living. Each evening homeowners can watch ducks and swans glide across the community's lakes, meander on a beautiful walk through the community or take advantage of their backyard piers and many available outdoor activities. Crestwater is perfect for the downtown or medical center worker as it is located right off of Westpark Tollway and Highway 6.  What makes Crestwater even more desi... 03/07/2008

CrestwaterGoing home to your own private resort each dayBy Timothy Sojka, Realtor ® / Broker 713-822-2152 www.seetimsell.comCrestwater is truly a thing of beauty the lucky residents of the neighborhood.  This gated community features less than 200 homes, most backing to one of the neighborhoods man made lakes.  The homes were built to offer the home owner resort style living.Each evening home owners can watch ducks and swans glide across the community's lakes, meander on a beautiful walk through the community or take advantage of their backyard piers and many available outdoor activities.Crestwater is perfect for the downtown or medical center worker as it is located right off of Westpark Tollway and Highway 6.  What makes Crestwater even more desirable is the neighborhoods affordabilit... 03/07/2008

Recently I started getting the prettiest birds in my birdfeeder and was so excited about this.  Soon, they told all their friends and I had so many pretty birds that they were lining up and some were waiting in the tree outside my window and the bougainvillea right next to my kitchen window for their turn to eat.  I had so many birds I am now filling the bird feeder up every other day!  I told my friend Shellee up the street about my gloriously happy little birds and that I could not find out what special breed they are!  I had searched the internet and looked at most of the unique birds and didn't see my happy birds.  She listened to me explain about my new family of birds and said she had a bird on her feeder right now.  I asked her to take a photo and email it to me, which she quickl... 03/07/2008

 Note: Due to the large volume of homes sold, I usually need two months to compile data. So in March, I'll be using January data which I obtained from the Houston Association of Realtors.At the present time the mortgage company and loan problems you have been reading about have affected Houston housing much less than most other areas of the country. The year 2007 was the second best year in Houston on record based on the HAR statistics. Total property sales were lower than 2006, but the total dollar volume was a record high which is greatly appreciated by home sellers. So in a nutshell, there were less homes sold in Houston, Texas, but the ones that did sell sold for more money.However, January 2008 sales declined 17.2 % from January 2007, to the lowest level in three years. January is ... 03/07/2008

The most dramatic year-over-year sales activity was observed in Houston's low- and high-end single-family home markets, with increases of 32.5 percent among homes priced below $80,000 and 30.3 percent among homes priced above $500,000. 03/07/2008

The house had a Supra box on it, so I obtain the key to go inside. I had already been walking around the property, and I had walked the roof. Several neighbors watched my antics with mild curiosity. As I enter the house, a loud alarm breaks forth. I am the center of attention. I grin broadly and wave ecstatically at the neighbors. I walk over to the service panel (breaker box) to trip the circuit for the alarm. You want find anything to steal in there honey; it's a foreclosure! Says an elderly resident. I am just inspecting the property, I call. Oh, no need to inspect it; you won't want it. I will look at it any way, thanks. Why, that's alright; glad to be of help. The real problem was that this panel was on the front outside of the home, with no lock on it. I put this into my report. ... 03/05/2008

March 28-29 Ladco Design Center is having its annual cleaning out the closet garage sale. Their 80,000 square foot showroom will be open to designers and the public for a sale that can't be missed. Furniture and accessories will be discounted between 60%-80%. I attended this event last year and found car loads of bargins that I could not pass up. For more information visit their website at www.ladcodesigncenter.com 03/05/2008

A new "Super" Outlet mall is opening March 27th in Northwest Houston. The massive complex is off of Highway 290 and Mason Road. It will feature over 120 designer an name brand stores with a savings of 25%-65%. Be sure to set aside a day to browse through the numerous deals and bargains that await you. 03/05/2008

This can be considered a throw away post, but I thought someone might find it useful. On Saturday, I had an inspection for a Vietnamese client. After we had finished going over the report, I said thank you in Vietnamese, and she smiled broadly. How did you know to say that?! She exclaimed. My son and I will always ask people how to say thank you in their native tongue, and we try to remember it then. We are not always successful (Turkish has two forms for our thank you, and I still do not remember either one), but it is a simple way to let a person know that you appreciated them. After having to deliver an inspection report in Spanish today, my thoughts were directed once more to making a connection with my clients. Houston has a quite a few different ethnic groups, and I would not be ... 03/03/2008

 An increasing number of astute borrowers are using the internet to shop for the best mortgage rates.  Unfortunately, it is easy to forget that the rates reflected on the rate monitor web sites are advertisements, specifically designed to generate leads for the companies who pay fortunes to have their rates listed.The other day, while the most competitive local mortgage companies were quoting 30 year fixed rates at around 5.875% with no points.  I received a call from a valued client who had just come to us for mortgage financing for the third time.  Although she had always been a very loyal client she expressed some concern that the zero point rates she found on the internet were around 5.125%.What's the deal Jason?After all these years, and all the customers I've referred to you,why a... 03/02/2008