Register Real Estate Advisors

Innovation, job growth and immigration put this Lone Star city ahead of New York and Boston. This is an interesting article by Joel Kotkin

DO CITIES HAVE A FUTURE?
Pessimists point to industrial-era holdovers like Detroit and Cleveland. Urban boosters point to dense, expensive cities like New York, Boston and San Francisco. Yet if you want to see successful 21st-century urbanism, hop on down to Houston and the Lone Star State.

You won’t be alone: Last year Houston added 141,000 residents, more than any region in the U.S. save the city’s similarly sprawling rival, Dallas-Fort Worth. Over the past decade Houston’s population has grown by 24% – five times the rate of San Francisco, Boston and New York. In that time it has attracted 244,000 new residents from other parts of the U.S., while older cities experienced high rates of out-migration. It is even catching up on foreign immigration, enjoying a rate comparable with New York’s and roughly 50% higher than that of Boston or Chicago.

So what does Houston have that these other cities lack? Opportunity. Between 2000 and 2009 Houston’s employment grew by 260,000. Greater New York City – with nearly three times the population of Houston – has added only 96,000 jobs. The Chicago area has lost 258,000 jobs, San Francisco 217,000, Los Angeles 168,000 and Boston 100,004.

Politicians in big cities talk about jobs, but by keeping taxes, fees and regulatory barriers high they discourage the creation of jobs, at least in the private sector. A business in San Francisco or Los Angeles never knows what bizarre new cost will be imposed by city hall. In New York or Boston you can thrive as a nonprofit executive, high-end consultant or financier, but if you are the owner of a business that wants to grow you’re out of luck.

Houston, however, has kept the cost of government low while investing in ports, airports, roads, transit and schools. A person or business moving there gets an immediate raise through lower taxes and cheaper real estate. Houston just works better at nurturing jobs.

It’s not just smug coastal places getting smoked by Texas. Since the collapse of the Houston bubble Houston has outperformed Sunbelt counterparts like Phoenix, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. A big factor has been that manufacturing, professional services, international trade and technology industries have been the primary drivers of the city’s economic growth – rather than construction and speculation. Ironically, this has increased home value. Since 2007 prices of homes in Houston have ticked slightly higher, while those in Las Vegas, Phoenix, Los Angeles and the Bay Area each are down by more than 35%.

Some traditional urbanists will concede these facts but then try to shift the focus to “qualitative” factors: the best-educated residents, the highest salaries, the most expensive real estate. Although it also attracts a large number of low-skill migrants, Houston has considerably expanded its white-collar workforce. According to the Praxis Strategy Group, Houston’s ranks of college-educated residents grew 13% between 2005 and 2008. That’s about on par with “creative class” capital Portland, Ore. And well more than twice the rate for New York, San Francisco or Los Angeles.

But Houston’s biggest advantage cannot be reduced to numbers. Ultimately it is ambition, not style, that sets Houston apart. Texas urbanites are busy constructing new suburban town centers, reviving inner-city neighborhoods and expanding museums, recreational areas and other amenities. In contrast with recession-battered places like Phoenix, Houston remains remarkably open to migrants from the rest of America and abroad.

Houston, perhaps more than any city in the advanced industrial world, epitomizes the Rene Descartes ideal – applied to the 17th-century entrepreneurial hotbed of Amsterdam – of a great city offering “an inventory of the possible” to longtime residents and newcomers alike. This, more than promises to give Houstonites the future.

Joel Kotkin is a distinguished presidential fellow in urban futures at Chapman University, adjunct fellow at the Legatum Institute and executive editor of Newgeography.com. His latest book, The Next Hundred Million: American in 2050, was published in February by Penguin Press

Why is Now a Great Time to Buy?

1. You can get a good deal. Prices are down 30 percent on average. They’re at a level that makes sense for people’s income.
2. Mortgages are cheap. At 4.3 percent on average for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, your costs to own are down by a fifth from two years ago.
3. You can save on taxes. When you add up the deductions for mortgage interest and others, the cost of owning can drop below renting for a comparable place.
4. It’ll be yours. The one benefit to owning that never changes is that you can paint your walls orange if you want (generally speaking; there might be some community restrictions). How many landlords will let you do that?
5. You can get a better home. In some markets, it’s simply the case that the nicest places are for-sale homes and condos.
6. It offers some inflation protection. Historically, appreciation over time outpaces inflation.
7. It’s risk capital. If the economy picks up, you stand to benefit from that, even if you’re goal is just to have a nice place to live.
8. It’s forced savings. A part of our payment each month goes to equity.
9. There is a lot to choose from. There are some 4 million homes available today, about a year’s supply. Now’s the time to find something you like and get it.
10. Sooner or later the market will clear. The U.S. is expected to grow by another 100 million people in 40 years. They have to live somewhere. Demand will eventually outpace supply.

 This article first appeared in The HOUSTONREALTOR® Magazine by  Brett Arends.

DALLAS (Dallas Morning News) – North Texas home builders posted more conservative home start numbers in 2009 than in previous years, but some still fared well.  Overall, builders started about 13,500 homes in the area last year, a more than 70 percent decrease from the market’s peak in 2006.  The 20 largest builders built 17 percent fewer homes in 2009 than in 2008.  Fort Worth–based D.R. Horton Inc. increased its starts by 20 percent between 2008 and 2009, building about 2,289 homes last year, according to Residential Strategies Inc. However, this was less than half the number of homes the builder started in 2006.  The next three largest builders — Pulte-Centex, Highland-Huntington and Meritage-Legacy — reduced their starts in the DFW area in 2009.

MIAMI (Associated Press) – More people were preparing to buy a home in December than in November, according to the National Association of Realtors’ seasonally adjusted index of sales agreements.  Agreements rose 1 percent between November and December to a reading of 96.6, a bit lower than the 97.1 level analysts expected.  The index has risen nine out of the last ten months.

Watch my video below while you’re reading.

In this tough economy, the real estate game has changed. It is no longer sufficient to have your home listed in the MLS (multiple listing service) database and expect that the right buyers will stumble upon it. The difference between your home being lost in the crowd of homes for sale and standing above the competition is presentation and marketing. My unique approach to real estate leverages technology to multiply our marketing efforts and uses beautiful presentation of your home to convert people who see your home into buyers that buy your home. All of the traditional techniques will still be utilized, but will be supplemented with the latest e marketing innovations.

87% of all buyers begin their home search online. It is imperative that your home not only have a web presence, but be search engine optimized and keyword searchable. Being found is half of the battle. Once your home is found, it must adequately impress the viewer to look further and make arrangements to see the home in person. I offer rich multimedia presentations that convert viewers to buyers.

By leveraging the best of web 2.0 to expose your home to the largest possible pool of qualified buyers, you will truly stand out and be found by the people searching for their new home. Your home will be featured on blog posts that are simulcast to over 6 market leading real estate websites. Your home will blanket the internet on over 40 websites. Open houses will be advertised on over 6 websites. Area real estate agents will receive e-fliers informing them about the home’s features. Your home will take advantage of social media by being featured on sites such as Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Facebook. This is in addition to direct mailings, open houses, broker open houses and other traditional real estate marketing efforts.

As your representative, I offer unparalleled service, accessibility, advise, education, and knowledge of the real estate market to guide you during the negotiation process and through closing. I bring strong negotiation skills and creative solutions to deal breaking problems. I offer a seller services guarantee. See what past clients are saying about their experience.

If you are considering selling your home, please contact me and I would be happy to show you in detail how I can help you maximize the value of your asset. Passion + Technology = SOLD! 

Below are 20 Steps that you will go through in the Home Buying Process. I got this outline from a pamphlet that is distributed by the First American Title Company and then added to it to make it my own. It’s great information whether you are a first time home buyer or buying your retirement home. Some peope buy many homes over a lifetime and are still in the dark about many aspects of the transaction. I like for my clients to be informed so they know what is going on at all times.

1. Find a Realtor to represent you. If you’re buying or selling in my area of expertise, I can help you with the transaction. If you are buying or selling outside of my area, then I would like to refer you to an excellent agent in your area. Don’t just call a company and ask for an agent. Get a good one. Get one that you can trust to represent your needs. Buying and selling a home is a big deal and might be your biggest asset. Do some homework and find a good agent. I am a good agent and only refer out to agents that are well trained and experienced.

2. Get a Pre-Approval from a Lender. Again, be selective about the lender. Do some research or get a good referral. You don’t want to get to the closing day and your deal bust because of your lender. Real Estate agents work with lenders daily. Ask me for a referral. I know many lenders. I’ve used several. I have my favorites that take good care of my clients. I want you to get taken care of. I want you to be able to close on the house that I help you select and negotiate on. I don’t want to have to go back and search for another house any more than you do. I don’t want you to lose your earnest money because your lender can’t get your loan through underwriting on time. I want to refer you to a mortgage lender that I know will take good care of my client. If you know of a good mortgage lender, then you can use them. Regardless, you’re going to need a Pre-Approval so you and I know what price range to look in. Also, when we make an offer, we want the seller to take his house off the market for you to do inspections and he is not going to be willing to do that without your Pre-Approval.
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DALLAS (Dallas Morning News) – Even with new home sales in North Texas continuing to slow, cutbacks in new home construction over the past couple of years could result in a new-home shortage come 2010.
Builders have sold almost 13,000 more houses than they have started over the last two years, causing inventory to drop below 5,000 units, which is about a three-month supply. Compare that with the more than seven-month supply of new homes for sale in the United States as a whole.
“For homebuilders to maintain their current sales pace, they are going to have to start 30 or maybe 40 percent more homes than they are starting today,” said David Brown, who heads the Dallas office of real estate analysis firm Metrostudy Inc.
Dr. Jim Gaines, research economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, said he thinks prospects for builders to get funding for new-home construction are “severely limited, bordering on nonexistent.
“Some of the local regional banks that don’t have significant existing exposure may be willing,” Gaines said, “but what we’re hearing is that most of the major institutions don’t want to do anything.”
Sales of new homes in the DFW area fell 34 percent between third quarter 2008 and the same period in 2009, with 4,163 transactions, housing analyst firm Residential Strategies reported Wednesday.

** UPDATE 12-28-09 **

This post was written when I was affiliated with Coldwell Banker United and Cartus Global Network. I have since moved to RE/MAX and am no longer affiliated with Coldwell Banker United and Cartus Global Network. I still look forward to meeting your relocation and real estate needs. ~Shannon

Are you looking to move to the Houston area?  I am a Realtor specialize in the north side of Houston and would like to help you with your next move to the area.  I relocate families to Houston, Spring, The Woodlands, Humble, Magnolia, Conroe, and Tomball.  As a relocation specialist, I am part of Cartus, the largest global relocating company in Houston.  If you are doing a corporate relocation, as for me by name because I get the job done right!

I am proud to advertise in the Houston Newcomer Guides and will gladly send you a FREE Copy.  If you are thinking about moving to the Houston area, you will want to explore the surrounding areas through the pages of these high quality printed books that lay out the neighborhoods, schools, economy, and employment of the Houston areas.  You can click on Newcomer Guides on my homepage to order or call me directly.  If you are looking to relocate to the Houston area, I want to be your Realtor.  My website offers friendly home searches and I am a relocation specialist.  If you are doing a corporate move, ask for me by name!