The Brownstone Group's Blog

A great store and just in time for Christmas this year!   Location will be great especially when they redo the building and make it a more obvious location.   It will be located on the mall road of The Woodlands  Mall across from Macy’s women’s shoes entrance  in the old Circuit City building.   More about the opening of the Container store opening

According to The Institute for Luxury Home Marketing (ILHM)  ”on October 1st Fannie, Freddie, and the Feds will be lowering the maximum amount the government will guarantee on Jumbo loans. The new limits will vary by region. Under the new rules, the maximum eligible loan will fall from $729,750 to $625,500.”

If you are a home buyer and  ”on the fence,” now’s a good time to reconsider your options and long-term plan.        

ILHM as do I  believe  the “effects on the housing market in general, the jury’s still out.   Some folks are predicting that banks will step in and fill the gap by lowering lending requirements and rates in the hopes of capturing a bigger slice of the jumbo pie.” Stay tuned for  updates.  

Home buying activity remains brisk in The Woodlands and Houston Metropolitan  area. Call today if you are considering buying or selling.

The first named storm of the season currently in the Gulf happened very quickly and it may effect any closings you have scheduled for today or tomorrow. Once there is a named storm in the Gulf of Mexico, insurance companies will not issue a policy. Advise any clients that are currently purchasing, selling, or refinancing their homes to be sure that they have already obtained insurance for the properties that are pending, if they have not done so, they may not be closing. They must pay for the premium before the storm becomes a named storm in the Gulf. The only way an insurance company can issue a policy is if it is paid for, as insurance companies stop issuing policies once the named storm is in the Gulf. If the policy is issued, clients may close. Once the storm makes landfall, policies will again be issued.

Additional information on The Woodlands 2011 demographics

Here are the results for The Woodlands area (location 107 on MLS) comparing May this year to last year.   Average home sale price of $363,201 is up 16.7% and # homes sold are up from last year same time period!   This is great news for home investment in The Woodlands area.   This trend continues from the beginning of the year as the average home sale in The Woodlands are Year to date is $360,031 up 18% along with # home sales up 6%.   May is also trending the same way as year to date with # of days on the market which is up from last year.   May average days were 69 days up 19% and year to date days on the market is 82 up 15%.   May cumulative days on market were 94 up 5.6% and year to date days on the market is 128 up 20%.   Cumulative days are important to report as it shows the true # of days a home has been on the market including if a listing expires, terminates or changes Realtors which may change the MLS number. When listing a home, be sure to be aware of the true days on the market in your comparable area.

Scroll down to see the months of inventory by price band in The Woodlands and Magnolia.   You will see in The Woodlands that the  months of supply  is 7 and 6, homes with pool and without pools respectively. This continues to be good news for The Woodlands and sellers who are contemplating selling their home.   The reason for this as anything under a 7 months of supply is considered a sellers market and above a buyers market.   Homes are turning quickly in the price point below $700,000.   In Magnolia, the price that is turning the fastest is under $200,000 without pools.

JACOBS RESERVE – D.R. HORTON

Beautiful home just sold in Jacobs Reserve located on FM 1488 at the west end of 242/College Park.   Homes built by D.R. Horton and students attend The Woodlands schools.   Neighborhood has its own pool and parks.   Stop by and take a look.   This home was just sold and the new owners love it!   351 Arbor Trail

This is an amazing race to have here in Texas and better yet The Woodlands! I helped in checking in the athletes and was truly amazed at the age, build, attitude and athleticism in these people.   All ages from 18 to 80! and the number of times they had raced in an Ironman.   The most times of someone I registered was 27 times.   The athletes have come from 48 states and 30 countries – 2800 of them.   The athletes from Texas may be OK today, but the others may find it difficult in our 92 degree weather today. 2.5 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 marathon race at the end. Remarkable! It is a qualifier for the BIG Ironman race that takes place in Kona, Hawaii on October 8th, 2011.

Houston Heat Could Be Too Much for Ironman Athletes: MyFoxHOUSTON.com

Leases go  quickly in The Woodlands! If you know of anyone looking for a charming, bright/cheery  3BR/2.5BA wood floors, no carpeting and Woodlands schools home – they need to see this one for $1795/mo Meticulously kept home.

63 Winter Wheat Photos

http://63winterwheat.info/           Property Website