Random Thought Particles from a Real Estate Sales Manager in The Woodlands, Texas – Ken Brand, Prudential Gary Greene, Realtors

More magnificence from The Woodlands Development Company. Thanks.

Seven New Homebuilders Contract to Purchase 293 Lots in The Woodlands In the first half of 2009, seven new homebuilders began building programs in The Woodlands and have contracted to purchase a total of 293 lots, according to Buck Driggers, vice president of residential sales & development for The Woodlands Development Company. The builders include D.R. Horton, which currently has 112 lots under contract; Partners in Building, 45 lots under contract; Pulte Homes, 42 lots under contract; Beazer Homes, 41 lots; Ryland, 32 lots; Toll Brothers (pictured), 49 lots; and J. Patrick Homes, 17 lots. 92 of the lots under contract have closed, and Partners in Building and J. Patrick Homes have already completed model homes. “We have seen a real uptick in activity, with new homebuilders purchasing lots in the Villages of Creekside Park and Sterling Ridge,” Driggers said. “All of these builders have outstanding product they will be putting on the ground, and are well respected in the industry.” D.R. Horton will be building in the new 400-acre area of May Valley in the Village of Sterling Ridge. Partners in Building and Toll Brothers are building in the neighborhood of Tupelo Woods in the Village of Creekside Park and in Player Vista in the Village of Sterling Ridge. In the Village of Creekside Park, J. Patrick Homes is offering new homes in the neighborhood of Tupelo Green, Pulte Homes and Beazer Homes are building in the neighborhood of Timarron and Ryland will be building in the neighborhood of Tupelo Glen. The seven new builders will be offering homes priced from the $160’s to more than $1 million. The Woodlands has one of the widest selections of new homes in the Houston area with 22 regional and national homebuilders and more than 20 independent custom homebuilders. New home prices in The Woodlands range from the $140’s to more than $3 million. To search for new homes online, visit www.thewoodlands.com. Custom Homes Open House This Weekend The Woodlands Custom Homes will host an open house this weekend. Two homes in the Village of Sterling Ridgewill be open for touring. One home in East Shore, the “Garden District” of The Woodlands Town Center, bordering 200-acre Lake Woodlands, will also be open. Village of Sterling Ridge: 55 W. Double Green George Weaver, Inc. 5,425 square feet $998,500 Open Saturday and Sunday, July 11-12, 10 am -2 pm 31 E. Black Knight Keith Morgan Custom Homes 5,512 square feet $1,019,000 Open July 11, 1-4 East Shore: 6 Georgian Row John Post Homes, LLC 9,000 square feet $2,695,000 Overlooking Lake Woodlands Open July 12, 1 – 4 pm For more information, call Robyn Brand @  The Woodlands Custom Homes at 281-367-4550 or visitwww.thewoodlandscustomhomesonline.com. Raymond Management Purchases Land for Hotel and Restaurant Raymond Management Company, Inc. has purchased a 5-acre parcel of land near I-45 on College Park Drive (SH 242) fronting College Park Shopping Center for construction of a Spring Hill Suites by Marriott hotel and a free-standing restaurant, according to Greg Jordan, director of commercial sales for The Woodlands Development Company. Construction is expected to begin in late 2009 on the approximately 135-room hotel. Spring Hill Suites by Marriott is a Marriott product, featuring all suites that are 25 percent larger than comparably priced hotel rooms, according to Barry Perkel, director of real estate for Raymond Management Company. Other features of each suite include a microwave, mini-refrigerator and coffee maker; comfortable bedding with piles of pillows, as well as pull-out sofa beds; ergonomic workspaces with free Internet, phone lines with data ports and voice mail; Cable TV and I-Pod docks. The hotel will feature contemporary décor with a bar in the lobby and free WiFi, complimentary hot breakfast, pool, fitness center and The Market, offering fresh food on-site. The Woodlands High School Wins Top Program in the Nation & Lone Star Cup ESPN.com has named The Woodlands High School (TWHS) as the top high school athletic program in the United States.  ESPN awarded TWHS Highlanders the overall ESPN RISE FAB 50 title for its outstanding multi-sport season for 2008-2009. The Woodlands is the only school in the nation with FAB 50-ranked teams in five different sports, according to ESPN.com.  The Highlanders had: top 10 finishes in boy’s cross country and boys’ track; top 25 rankings for the girls’ track and girls’ cross country teams; and the top 40 for the girls’ soccer squad. The Highlanders took state titles home for the boys’ and girls’ cross country teams and the girls’ swimming and diving team. The Highlanders won district championships for the football, volleyball and boys’ swimming teams. TWHS also captured the University Interscholastic League (UIL) Texas Class 5A Lone Star Cup, marking the third time in the past four years.  TWHS was awarded this honor for the best overall academic and athletic programs in the state of Texas. For more information on TWHS, visitwww.conroeisd.net. The Star-Spangled Salute Concert a Patriotic Success Approximately 11,500 concertgoers enjoyed the 20th Annual Star-Spangled Salute concert, a free Independence Eve spectacular featuring the Houston Symphony in a selection of patriotic favorites, held at The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion.  Principal pops conductor Michael Krajewski led the Symphony. Along with the Symphony, the July 3rd event featured pre-concert activities (top photograph), cannons fired from atop the hill and the grand finale of fireworks (middle photograph) to celebrate The Pavilion’s 20th anniversary season. The Woodlands Development Company (TWDC) has sponsored the “Star-Spangled Salute” concert since its inception in 1990. In the bottom photograph, Alex Sutton (left) and Tim Welbes (right), co-presidents of TWDC recently presented a $60,000 contribution on behalf of the company to Jerry MacDonald (second from left), president and CEO of The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion and Christine Scully (second from the right), director of development for The Pavilion.  For more information on The Pavilion, visit www.woodlandscenter.org. Fourth of July – From Festivities & Fireworks to Parade Winners Residents and guests participated in the Fourth of July festivities in The Woodlands from the Independence Eve “Star-Spangled Salute” concert at The Pavilion, theSouth County 4th of July Parade (top photograph), Splash Days, The Great Red, White & Blue Duck Race, the Red, Hot & Blue Festival (middle photograph), Free Concert in Northshore Park to the Fireworks finale (bottom photograph), the second largest in the Greater Houston area. The theme for the 4th of July parade was “Traveling the USA”. Over 140 entries participated in the parade.  There were 10 award categories in which winners were announced: Most Beautiful – Ryan’s Rainbow Best Use of Theme – St. Luke’s The Woodlands Hospital Best Musical – Class Act Productions Most Patriotic – Woodforest National Bank Best Military – Camp Anderson Military Museum Community Award – Indian Springs Village Association Youth Entry – Boy Scouts Tall Timbers District Participation Award – North Houston Chinese Association Best Professionally Built Commercial Float – The Woodlands Development Company President’s Award – Cho’s Taekwondo

July is National Parks and Recreation month.  The Woodlands Parks and Recreation Department encourages residents to enjoy the 110 parks and 180 miles of hike and bike trails in The Woodlands. The South Montgomery County YMCA has announced that people interested in participating in the 2009 GE Run Thru the Woods, held on Thanksgiving Day in The Woodlands, can register at the 2008 prices, now through September 30, when they register online at www.runthruthewoods.org. The Montgomery County Association of Business Women (MCABW) will hold their monthly mixer at Margaritas and Peppers restaurant in Conroe from 5 to 7 pm on Monday, July 13.  For more information about MCABW, call Carol Gooch at 713-256-8002 or visit www.MCABW.org.

Wanna Price Your House To Sell? Here’s the simple truth. from Ken Brand on Vimeo.

Here’s my story about Picking A Sales Price.

Qualified Home Buyers comparison shop.

Typically, they will define a price range and an area or areas that they are interested in and they go shopping, looking at pre-owned homes and New Homes.

After viewing all of the available homes that meet their criteria, a buyer will narrow their choices down to a short list of one or two homes.

In this day and age of Buyer Representation, the buyer’s representative will prepare a Competitive Market Analysis (CMA) to assist the buyer in the decision making process and determining an offering price.

At this point the buyer…having viewed all of the available homes (competition) will want to know what similar homes have actually SOLD for, average number of Days on Market, Price Per Square Foot and List Price to Sales Price ratio.

This research is used to help determine their offering price and ultimately their own limits to what they feel a home should sell for relative to it’s competition.

Armed with this market data and personal shopping experience, the buyer submits an offer.

Once the Buyer and Seller agree on a price and the buyer’s mortgage is being processed, the lender will send an appraiser out and they conduct the same research.

If the property appraises, everyone skips to closing and a happy ending.

When we prepare our Market Analysis for a seller, we include research on homes that a buyer interested in viewing the subject property may also consider and data the appraiser will also look at.

By reviewing this market data we can select a price that will position the property competitively in the market place and meet the sellers goals for timing and maximizing their property value.

Hope this bit of information and insight is helpful. If there is anything else we can do for you, give me a call: Ken Brand – 832-797-1779

This Message is sent from WoodlandsAlert, a service of the Community Associations of The Woodlands.

Environmental Services- +West Nile Mosquito

Texas Department of Human Health Services has confirmed that mosquitoes in the South Montgomery County/Woodlands area have tested positive for West Nile Virus. Response protocols are being implemented, including additional surveillance, targeted spraying by Montgomery County Pct. 3 and follow-up testing.

The Community Associations of The Woodlands, Environmental Services Department urges residents to take precautions to protect their families from the risk of mosquito-borne disease.

• Wear mosquito repellent, according to product directions. Avoid being out of doors from dusk to dawn when Culex mosquitoes are active. If you must go out, wear long, light, loose clothing.
• Eliminate standing water that creates breeding sites. Check landscape, plant saucers, toys, bird baths, meter boxes and other items that hold water.
• Treat water that can not be eliminated with larvicide, such as mosquito dunks.

For more information on mosquito abatement, please visit www.thewoodlandsassociations.org and click Environmental Services. To schedule a mosquito presentation for your neighborhood, please call 281.210.3900.

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Ugggg.  Be Careful.

The Woodlands Real Estate Report

Months Supply Of “For Sale” Listing Inventory – July 7^th, 2009

Numbers Are Tricky.

They can tell you a lot and they can fool you too.  For example, you read articles, watch TV news bobble heads and listen to people talk about falling National Average Sales Prices, Housing Starts, Big City Foreclosure Reports, etc.  The relevant reality is, real estate is hyper local.  It doesn’t matter what is happening in Los Angeles, Phoenix or South Beach, what matters is what is happening in your neighborhood. Period.

This late afternoon, 5:22pm, I ran statistical Months Supply Of “For Sale” Listing Inventory reports using our Houston Association Of Realtors, Multiple Listing Service.  This data is for single-family homes in The Woodlands TX.  The Months Supply Of “For Sale” Listing Inventory for all price ranges is 6.5 months.

Here’s the by price range breakdown.  Keep in mind; while this Polaroid  provides a refined by-price-range picture, what’s happening in your neighborhood could be different. (Months Supply Of For Sale Inventory is how long it would take for the current For Sale inventory to sell if no new inventory came on the market and the velocity of sales remained the same.)

July 7^th, 2009 – Months Supply Of For Sale Listing Inventory – The Woodlands TX

Price Range.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  Months Supply Of Inventory

$000,000 – $200,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3.8

$200,001 – $300,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5.6

$300,001 – $400,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.4

$400,001 – $500,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.4

$500,001 – $600,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.0

$600,001 – $700,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7.6

$700,001 – $800,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   14.8

$800,001 – $900,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9.9

$900,001 – $1,000,000 . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17.3

$1,000,001+ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.4

What’s It Mean?

According to real estate economists, 6 months supply represents a balanced market.  A higher number means it’s leaning towards a buyers market, less of course would be a sellers market.  Things that affect salability and competitive positioning of the property include, marketing, merchandising/staging/presentation and pricing. Tweak and amplify those three factors and you’ll be one of the successful sellers attracting a qualified buyer.   Ignore one; two or three of the salability factors and the property will languish.

As I shared earlier, to understand what your specific situation is, give us a call @ 281-367-3531

Here’s what we talked about.  I’m so blessed to be a part of this world-class team of real estate icons.  Woot.

We publish this thrice yearly luxury homes magazine for our High-End sellers. We’re talking, Waterfront Homes, Lake Homes, Estate Properties, Sweet Custom Homes, Beach Homes and Ultra Cool Homes.

If you’d like more information or a tour, just ping me or give me a call: Ken Brand 832-797-1779

Enjoy.

PS.  The preso is hard to read scaled down for the blog box, to get a better view, click “full” on the bottom menu bar.

Strength Isn’t Relevant.  Age Is A Number.  Height & Weight Are Worthless.

Thanks ICONS for all you Wonder Woman and Superman efforts.  We took a ton of listings.  Here’s the final tally.  We’ll be announcing our Rock, Paper, Scissors Throw Down and Breakfast Chow-Down soon.  Thanks again for all you do.

Listing success rules and requires action, speed, quick thinking, flexibility, courage and a dash of serendipitous luck. The same traits that lead to victory in the pursuit of listing success are positive factors in the game called Rock. Paper. Scissors. (RPS). This is the name of game we will play to determine our “Winner Take All The Cash” Listing Campaign.

To jam pack your purse pockets with cash…wads of cash you can use to fund a romantic getaway with your loved one, splurge on an extravagant gift for yourself, donate to your favorite heartfelt charity, take that long overdue trip to visit a long lost friend, save for a rainy day or maybe you’ll do something saintly, sinful or wistful; take lots of listings and practice your RPS technique and strategy. It only takes one listing to go all the way…but why tempt fate, take many, play many and win BIG.

Details on how our “Rock. Paper. Scissors.” Listing Campaign will one, two, three, throw and roll:

Our Listing Campaign will last three months – April 14th – Midnight June 30th, 2009.

1.  RPS Winner Take All The Cash” Tournament Prize = $1,000.

2. Each qualified listing taken will earn “One Life” in the “RPS Winner Take All The Cash” Tournament.

3. At the conclusion of the Listing Campaign, our “Rock. Paper. Scissors.” Tournament party-playoff will be held at a location, time and date to be announced.  Entrants will be divided into seeded playoff brackets.  Winners of each match will be determined by 2 our of three  throws.   Match winners advance to the next round.  The final winner is awarded the total cash prize and crowned 2009 RPS Champ of The Woodlands.

4. Play will be guided by the Official rules of the RPS Society.  Ken Brand will preside as official Tournament director, judge, and interpreter of the rules*.  Linda Sawyers will be the Official Score Keeper and Vice Tournament Director.

Let the campaign begin, the “RPS Winner Take All The Cash” prize pool grow and last but not least, best of success to you.

*Qualified Listings = A new residential listings (house, condo, townhome)

Unqualified Listings = Relisted properties, corporate assigned listings, lots, commercial, Industrial, leases, personal property, live stock, pink slips, AIG stock certificates, small children, lazy husbands.

Team Lives will be earned by number of listings taken divided by team members – for example  two team members take two listings = 1 Life, four team members take 4 listings = 1 Life.

Final Score Card – LIVES

SWEATMAN           5                                    FIELDS          1

MAY                           1                                    ESCALON      1

RIGGINS                  5                                    EZELL           1

CARLSON         7

HALL                  1

FLORY                 2

TIERNAN                  2

OTREY                  1

BELL                  2

UPP                           4

FRANK             4

STARTZ                  1

LANE                  2

MCGINNIS         1

DAVILA                  1

AUBREY                  2

YOUR WOODLANDS TOWNSHIP TEAM   1

MALONE                   3

HAYNES                  1

KERN                  1

ROLTSCH         2

DAVIS               2

DENEVE          1

JONES              1

DEGNAN         .5

ACOSTA            1

WERNER          1

COOPER           2

REINSMITH    1

JOHNSON        2

PRIDEMORE  3

GOINS                 2

It’s not real estate heaven, but the real estate market in The Woodlands TX is an oasis. Don’t take my word for it, study these statistics yourself and see if you go, ah-ha, ut-oh or um-hum.

There is a 3.8 months Supply Of For Sale Listing Inventory in The Woodlands. Real estate economist believe that 6 months of inventory represents a balanced market.  3.8 is excellent.  But, before we get all giddy, let’s remember that the Months Supply Of Inventory will vary dramatically by price range.  By Wednesday, I’ll have a blog post up that breaks it down by price range.

The Average Number Of Days On The Market for active listings is 95 Days. Keep in mind, this is the overall number for The Woodlands market.  Real estate is hyper local in nature,  the relevant number will most likely be different for your specific property, in your specific neighborhood, in your specific price range.

The Average Sold Price for closed sales in June 2009 was $343,129. In June 2007 it was $$347,674.   The June 09′ Median Sold Price was $270,000. In June 07″ it was $257,100.  Generally speaking home prices are stable.  Included in the report below is a month-by-month, two year study of Average Sold Prices.  Again, prices are stable, the number of sales is weaker than last years.

Average Days On The Market for Sold properties in June 2009 = 72 Days.  In June 08′ it was 62 days.  Remember, the Average Number Of Days On The Market for current active listings is 95 days.  If you’re a seller and your home has been on the market for longer than 70 days, you might want to adjust something; the marketing, the merchandising or the price.

Average List Price To Sold Price % for the time period – April l 1st – July 5th  = 94.7%.  I’m proud to report that our Prudential Gary Greene agent icons achieved an Average List Price To Sold Price % of 97.9. That means our marketing generated an average of 3% more for our seller clients.  At an average sold price of $343,129, that would be over $10,000.  That’s a bid deal for sellers, right?  Choose us, net more…sweet.

Here’s a picture of what The Woodlands monthly active listing inventory and contracts written look like.  What we are experiencing is positive.  Listing Inventory is not growing wildly and the velocity of sales is improving month over month.  We are supremely lucky to live in The Woodlands.

Foreclosures and Short Sales in The Woodlands? While the nation wide news about foreclosures remains grim, it’s the opposite in The Woodlands. Out of the 973 Active Listings in our Multiple Listing Service, only 11 are Foreclosure, a scant 1%.  Same thing with Short Sales, only 10.

The last thing I want to leave you with, remember, Real Estate Market conditions are hyper-local in nature.  These numbers are big-pie averages.  What’s happening in your specific neighborhood is what really matters.  If you’d like specific information for your property and your neighborhood, give me a call:  Ken Brand 832-797-1779

And now the last-last thing.  If you’re the person who likes to delve into the data, take a swan-dive into this collection of data.

Thank you Missy Caulk for sharing.  These guys knew what was what.  It’s not perfect, but would you really want to live in any other country?  Amen.