The Woodlands Real Estate

It is not an uncommon site to see runners, walkers, cyclists and the like all around The Woodlands as you drive around. You will notice that they are out at all times of the day as well. If you are one of the people riding a bicycle or jogging/running through the 190 miles of hike and bike trails throughout The Woodlands, you will enjoy this news. The League of American Bicyclists recently recognized The Woodlands Township with the designation of Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC), an award presented to communities that make a commitment to bicycling.

The Woodlands Township, along with 10 other communities nationwide, was awarded a bronze level designation as a first-time BFC.

Alos, led by the efforts of The Woodlands Running Club (TWRC), the Road Runners Club of America honored The Woodlands Township with the designation of Runner Friendly Community®, an award presented to communities whose members work together to promote running as a healthy exercise while ensuring runner’s safety.

The Woodlands contintues to prove to residents and our neighbors that this is a great place to live!

Have you heard the news that Trader Joe’s is coming to The Woodlands? Wonder where it is going to be located?? The news is in! Next to Petco in the Woodlands Crossing Shopping Center at 10868 Kuykendahl Rd., across from the H-E-B market at the intersection of Woodlands Pkwy. It’ll be a 13,500 sq. ft. space and it is rumored that depending on how quickly the workers get it going, it may beat the other Trader Joe’s location inside The Loop. At this point the lot has been cleared and is ready for the foundation to be poured!

We just received The Woodlands population census and we are now over one hundred thousand:

100,212

Thought you might like to know!

Are you thinking about putting your house on the market, but have decide to wait until Spring when the real estate market ‘picks up?” Have you had your house on the market, but because the Summer months are over and you haven’t sold your house yet? Let us share with you the “Salmon Theory.” The salmon swims upstream against the current and so should you as a Seller at this time of year. In other words, don’t take your home off the market over the holidays like everyone else does. Here are four solid reasons for keeping your homes on the market 1
. Everyone else is taking theirs off the market and in December the inventory is at it’s lowest point of the year. therefore, you have less competition and a higher percentage chance of selling.
2. Mid year is the second most popular time of the year for corporations to transfer employees, so their children can transfer schools at mid year. Those Buyers are looking for homes to buy in November and December.
3. When does someone’s home show the best? The holidays are that time of year with a fire in the fireplace and the home beautifully decorated for Christmas.
4. Many Buyers want to buy and close by the end of the year to get the homestead exemption. Surprisingly, December is often one of the biggest months for closed sales of the year for our companies.
If you or someone you know is looking to buy or sell a house, tell them to give us a call today! 281-863-9134

Did you know that The Woodlands is having to cut down 1,500 dead trees a month thanks to the worst drought in Texas history? According to the Lower Colorado River Authority, between October 2010 and April 2011, Texas experienced its driest seventh-month period ever. That lack of rain has been a major contributing factor to thousands of trees either falling on their own or by chain saw.

Chris Nunes, director of parks and recreation for The Woodlands Township, said “We’re seeing a number of trees that are dying off, however, this is for a large part a cyclical nature of a tree’s life. Some of the larger trees are just dying. This drought may have been the last straw for the trees.”

Nunes said weather-related events going back as far as five years ago, such as Hurricane Ike, the 2009 drought and recent hard freezes, are all contributing issues. The township has been removing about 450 trees per month for the past three months, while the Development Company has removed about 1,000 trees over the same period.

The Woodlands prioritizes the removal of dead trees based on the danger they pose to the safety of residents. We look at trees being a priority near a house, a playground, a pathway,” Nunes said.

The Township is responsible for removing trees that need to come down in community areas. If you have trees on your personal property, the responsibility to remove the trees is your own. If you would like help in having the trees removed, please call us today. We can suggest some great local companies to help!

In June, ExxonMobil, the largest oil and gas company in the U.S., announced it would build a campus just south of The Woodlands in Harris County, west of I-45 and south of the Hardy Toll Road. David Eglinton, ExxonMobil spokesperson, said the new campus will consolidate 8,000 employees working in the corporation’s Houston upstream head office and its chemical companies at several different locations throughout Houston.

It is easily assumed that the ExxonMobil campus development under construction will change the face of the North Houston business landscape. It will have an economic impacted estimated in the billions of dollars!

As an estimated 8,000 workers converge on a 385-acre site over the next three to four years, with them is expected an influx of support services, restaurants, entertainment facilities, residential developments and ancillary oil and gas ventures that could quickly shift the energy enterprise away from downtown Houston.

“There are very attractive things [in the North Houston area] that bring companies and employers,” said Jon Lindsay, president of the North Houston Association. “I think this is the premier place to be in Texas.”

The Woodlands already is home to corporate offices to two of the top five energy companies in the U.S., Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Chevron Phillips Chemical Company.

Gil Staley, president of the South Montgomery County Economic Development Partnership, said in the wake of the ExxonMobil move, more are on the way.

“The [oil and gas] industry as a whole is going to be our growth sector, without a doubt,” Staley said. “A number of projects we’re working on are oil and gas related, and more specifically oil and gas exploration.”

So, we have created a personal budget, created a personal savings plan. We are working on paying down our credit cards following the rollover formula and we have discovered our ‘magic number’ to geting our loans paid off sooner. Its easy to put the items down on paper, but the execution can prove much more difficult. Here, then, are some tips to help you stick to your budget:
1. Set 90 day goals
2. Track daily and weekly expenses to know where your money is going
3. Ask for help. Enlist a friend or loved one to help you remain accountable to your budget.
4. Focus on the win! Imagine how you will feel when you’ve paid off your debt and have achieved financial freedom.
5. Use a small portion of the suprlus to reward yourself.

About this time every year we see the same trend of people pulling their houses off the market to wait and re-list again in the springtime. And we always get the question about timing the “perfect window for a sale.” There is a distinct impression that spring is the best time to sell, summer is a close 2nd best, fall falls 3rd in line and winter a distant 4th. But is that really true?

The perception of a dramatic drop off in sales between seasons is, in reality, not so severe. Rather than trying to time the market, let’s discuss what’s happening in your life and make decisions based on timing your personal circumstance instead.

Remember there is more competition in the market in the spring and summer too, so it may not be to your advantage to list then.

If you or someone you know is considering putting their home on the market, please feel free to give us a call for a free market analysis and to answer any other questions you may have! 281-863-9134

According to the US News and World Report the average American with a credit file has over $16,635 in debt, which does NOT include a mortgage!
Most loan payments are calculated using compounding interest, which is interest that is added to the principal of the loan each month that the balance is outstanding, causing you to pay interest on your interest. Although it’s designed to work against you, it is possible to pay off your loan three to four times faster with a minimal cost to you, just by knowing your ‘magic number.’
Your ‘magic number’ is the portion of your monthly payment that goes to pay the principal. To pay your loan off quickly, double, tirple or quadruple your principle, or ‘magic number’ each month.

Dream of being debt free? Well you are certainly not alone. While the american household debt has gone down since 2008 there are still many ways we can work toward financial freedom. First, establish a budget. Second, Save. Third, Eliminate Debt.
The average credit cardholder has 3.5 cards according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. If you have balances on two or more credit cards, use the rollover formula to pay them off.
1. Make a larger payment on the card with the highest interest rate and pay the minimum on the rest.
2. Once this card is paid off, apply the amount of its payment to the minimum amount you were paying on the card with the second highest interest rate.
3. When the second card is paid off, add that amount to the payment of the third card etc, until you have paid off all your credit cards.
At last – a huge congratulations will be in order as you have eliminated your credit card debt. Breathe a huge sigh of relief! Now apply your credit card payments to your monthly savings!