The Woodlands Homes

Eagle Ford Shale coming to The Woodlands

Amy — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 03:09:23 +0000

There has been lots of hoopla around this company leasing office space in The Woodlands right on the heels of the announcement of Exxon/Mobil campus being built here!!! When I say hoopla, it is great for The Woodlands being #1 Master-Planned Community in Texas for years to have well-known coroporations coming here to establish their place of businesses. With the move of Exxon/Mobil and Eagle Ford Shale it will create jobs, growth in local economy, and movement of real estate. The last is what I want to talk about….

With this news on the table, there is feeling among Sellers that they can get more for their house that is currently on the market right now. I personally believe that Sellers are inflating their prices due to these big moves coming. So here is the dilema….you have buyers that have been looking at houses for the past few months and they have felt they may have been in a buyers market. They may have been him-hawing around trying to make a decision. Now they are ready to make an offer on a house (yippee) thinking that they can put in a low ball offer and steal it. Or you have the buyer that wants top quality with little money, called the “Champagne tastes and beer pocketbook syndrome”. Instead they are encountering a couple of Seller mindsets-1)Seller overvaluing house due to future moves of the “big company moves” 2)The Seller with no equity issues or the last seller type, 3)”The multiple-offer” Seller that heard about other houses selling with multiple offers on them, so therefore “I will wait it out”.

These mindsets are such polar opposites right now, it is more difficult than ever to get to that “meeting of the minds” point between Sellers and Buyers. Since January 2012, we have seen a major increase in showings on homes for sale or lease. So here is a little “Amy” advice to Seller’s- Put your ego aside about your house, talk to your listing agent about the pulse on the market for your area & issues with appraisals. Sellers-remember, the first offer is normally the best offer! Buyer’s – submit a reasonable offer that reflects market conditions in the area, understand you may not get your first house you put an offer in on and lastly, listen to your competent buyer’s agent.

The Woodlands is very excited about upcoming moves to have new families reside here. Keep in mind some of the tips from above and happy house hunting!

Amy — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 20:36:47 +0000

If you are lookibg for a great trip for the family

What’s new in The Woodlands?

Amy — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 01:45:31 +0000

Lo and behold we have a Panera Bread, The Container Store and a Dairy Queen coming to The Woodlands!!! The frenzy of people that live here are excited about these companies opening their doors in The Woodlands. Plan on going to The Container Store’s Grand Opening, November 19th and 20th.

Well not so new is some of the traditional The Woodlands events!
Run through the Woods
November 2th, 2011

or the beautiful Lighting of the Doves 29th Annual Saturday, November 19th from 3-9pm with fun festivies at Town Green Park.

Or and favorite of the kiddies, but “not-so-favorite” of the parent’s muscles is the The Woodlands Ice Rink. It opens daily from November 19, 2011 and closes January 16, 2012.

Enjoy life in The Woodlands! Catch me on foursquare.com, twitter.com/woodlandsliving, or Facebook!

September 2011 Market Report for The Woodlands

Amy — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 01:44:18 +0000

Houston Association of REALTORS Market Update for September 2011After living in The Woodlands for 17 years, we have seen our share of market fluctations. We have seen a rise in lease market in the past 6 months. Some of the factors that attribute to this are homeowners in over their head in debt as well as the tightening of lender requirements to get a loan. My quick “Amy pulse” on the market….1) a lot of homeowners bought when lending restrictions were a lot looser, so they may have put 0-5% down. Now 3-5 years later they needs to sell for various reasons. Some have realized that they are up to their eyeballs in debt & feel like they are drowning with no life preserver in site. Then they look into doing a short-sale, letting the house go to foreclosure, tightening the “budget” belt, or leasing their home and moving in with family. Or they want to move up to the next house but they are not realistic with today’s mortgage & real estate market because of prior experience. Sellers want to sell their home, but they don’t have equity in the house like they thought they did when they deduct closing costs and real estate commissions. Then if they do put it on the market and get a buyer, in the state of Texas, they have to go through an Option Period. This allows the buyers for a certain amount of dollars to give the sellers the “option” to back out or negotiate repairs with sellers. What we are seeing is the sellers have already given on the price on “Stage 1″ of negotiation so they have no room to negotiate repairs during the option period, so they either have to cave in because they have their hearts & money sunk into another house or they take their home off the market. It is a frustrating time for both buyers and sellers.

Here are some statistics for our MLS area 15 that encompasses The Woodlands area.

MLS Area 15 Only Sep-10 Sep-11 Percent Change

Closed Sales 248 282 13.7%
Median Price $233,820 $205,000 -12.3%
Average Price $302,084 $313,981 3.9%
Active Listings 1,910 1,559 -18.4%
Pending Sales 164 135 -17.7%

The good news is the Months of Inventory for The Woodlands has decreased from February stats of 5.7 months to now 3.8 months of inventory in the price point of $300,000-$400,000. The lease market in The Woodlands under $1500/month is 1.2 months. The lease market is anticipated to last 3-5 years per National Association of REALTORS statistics.

Cute listing in Spring with pool under $200k

Amy — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 20:00:47 +0000

Halloween in The Woodlands

Amy — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:20:06 +0000

Woodlands Halloween
Experience what The Woodlands has to offer! Visit www.thewoodlandstownship-tx.govand check out our Fall Action Guide!
The Haunting at Bear Branch Presents – Forest of Fear Where Your Nightmares Come to Life
On October 21, 22, 28 and 29, 2011, don’t miss your opportunity to experience The Woodlands own haunted trail! This event is located behind The Woodlands Township Recreation Center, 5310 Research Forest Drive, and is recommended for ages 9 and older. The trail is open from 8 to 10 p.m.; last tickets are sold at 9:30 p.m. Admission is $8/person; save $1 on admission with the gift of a canned food item (maximum $3). All food donations will benefit the Interfaith Food Pantry.

Or you could experience lots of other cool events-
-October 28, 2011 @ 7:30 PM

- Oct. 29, 2011 @8pm at Genuwine Wine Tasting Room

Or you could experience a new type of Halloween fun this weekend at the

Beautiful listing in Kingwood

Amy — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 20:20:16 +0000

Amy Smythe Harris | Realty Associates | (713) 503-2529

2335 Crimson Valley Ct, Kingwood, TX

Awesome Village Montreal with 4 bedrooms & flex room (could be 5th bedroom w/out closet) & gameroom. Tons of curb appeal

4BR/3+1BA Single Family House

offered at $315,000

Year Built	1998
Sq Footage	3,704
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	3 full, 1 partial
Floors	2
Parking	3 Car garage
Lot Size	10,758 sqft
HOA/Maint	$60 per month

see additional photos below

PROPERTY FEATURES

- Central A/C	- Central heat	- Fireplace
- High/Vaulted ceiling	- Walk-in closet	- Hardwood floor
- Tile floor	- Family room	- Office/Den
- Dining room	- Breakfast nook	- Dishwasher
- Stove/Oven	- Microwave	- Attic
- Laundry area – inside

COMMUNITY FEATURES

- Garage parking

ADDITIONAL PHOTOS

Photo 1	Photo 2
Photo 3	Photo 4
Photo 5	Photo 6
Photo 7	Photo 8
Photo 9	Photo 10
Photo 11	Photo 12
Photo 13	Photo 14
Photo 15

Contact info:

Amy Smythe Harris

Realty Associates

(713) 503-2529

For sale by agent/broker

Equal Opportunity Housing

Posted: Oct 9, 2011, 10:56am PDT

Feeling a little fluffy?

Amy — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 08:02:15 +0000

Then seek out this wonderful place run by Sherry Summers-Ball and her excellent staff at Body Benefits Inc. I was struggling to get my trouble spots under control and didn’t desire doing lipo at the time. I decided to try out the Zerona treatments after spending time researching it on the web. I felt comfortable using Sherry after using her endermologie services 9 years ago and was glad she was still around. Not only was she around, she had grown her business with her great customer service but also with her skills.

It’s a very relaxing treatment for those that can lay there on a table for 40 minutes and listen to the soothing music. Unfortunately, I used that time to catch up on work with my Ipad but that is just my nature. You feel very welcomed when you arrive and the whole experience was a plus. My clothes started fitting better and I have so far been extremely satisfied. I will go back and try one of their other services.

What’s happening in Houston Real Estate?- MLS Market update June 2011

Amy — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 14:45:33 +0000

First time home buyer tax credit from last year possibly skewing the numbers for this year!!! Rental market is onfire with an average of less than one months of inventory in the rental market throughtout most of Houston!

Watch this video for more information!

The Woodlands Market Update

Amy — Wed, 04 May 2011 04:21:42 +0000

Coming Soon