Ken Brand's - Random Thought Particles From The Woodlands TX / Paradox. Real Estate. 411. Surprise. Ah-Ha & Ha-Ha. Irony. Flubs. ELB's. Observation. Shares.s

What’s up with GG?

Prudential Gary Greene, REALTORS® is going Wayne Gretsky!  We’re skating to where the puck will be, not where it was.

Opportunities are rich and ridiculous for the foreseeable future.  We’re remodeling, retooling, reinventing and stretching for the stars.

Bold and imaginative actions will win biggest and gain the most.  We plan to help our team members and our clients win bigger and better than ever.  We aim to dent the real estate universe.

We’re remodeling our Research Forest Office to welcome our Portofino Office brothers and sisters.  Our luminescent team of agent icons will number one hundred strong. We’ll be settled and surging by the end of June.  Fun times.

We’re already killing it for our clients, together our future results will only grow stronger. Success breeds even more success.

I heard Gary Greene sold out?

Prudential Real Estate sold to Brookfield Real Estate Services on December 6th, 2011.

Gary Greene ownership, leadership, culture, vision and commitment to excellence in support of our clients and agents did not sell and is not for sale.  The heart, soul and all-about-results DNA of Gary Greene team members remains whole, vibrant, focused and sorta giddy about the future.

Coincidently our franchise agreement with Prudential Real Estate ends in June.  This means we have complete freedom to evaluate every possible alternative and choose the very best strategic path for our clients and Gary Greene team members.  We enjoy complete flexibility and wide open opportunity.  As one of the top brokers in the country we can choose to:

• Re-up with Brookfield Real Estate Services.
• Launch fierce and independent.
• Partner our regional powerhouse team with a new national powerhouse brand and partner.

Options have been thoughtfully weighed and meticulously measured.  Our choice is crystal clear.

Organizing, planning and tending to the big and tiny details is in full swing.  As I write and you read, small armies work behind the scenes preparing for launch and lift-off.

Reinvention married to a culture of care, fused with experience and savvy.  Keen new tools.  Way-way more corporate relocation.  Even more qualified buyers and sellers.  Fresh marketing.   Modern mindset.  Relevance.

More of everything sellers, buyers and service minded real estate agents love.

More Mojo.

As our immediate action plans bump to a boil, we’ll dial up more mojo and open two new service centers.  Each oasis designed to support twenty icon agent residents and provide all Gary Greene team members with a convenient and jazzy place to stop in and meet with clients or pause to refresh and catch breath after and between blasting from one end of The Woodlands to other, and beyond.

One launch pad will be situated in FM2978/FM 1488 intersection area.  The other strategically positioned along Kuykendahl Road, just past Carlton Woods Creekside, but before you leave The Woodlands.

Exciting-Times iswhat in the world is going on with Gary Greene, REALTORS®.  If you’d like to be a part of it, ping me – Ken Brand 832-797-1779.

Wide Eyes

It’s a Seller’s Market.  Sales continue to impress with record totals.  Lack of listing inventory is the only problem. Well, lack of salable inventory and low appraisals as result of bidding wars and sale comps from 6 to 2 months old.  Recent closings and the rush of soon to close properties will support higher prices and hopefully the low appraisal challenges will shrink. Plenty of home are selling for cash.

Homes that show well and are priced fairly are selling quickly!  Quickly as in hours or day one.  We anticipate the market to remain heated for the foreseeable future.

Take a look at theses. . .

Homes Sales Month to Month

Impressive eh?

Unsold Listing Inventory

Help! Buyers are begging for new salable inventory.

Shameless Plug – If You’re Thinking Of Selling?

Yes the market is hot.  Maximize your profits.

What’s The Average Sold Price?

Prices have been steady for years.  We anticipate an a steady upward lift.  Not wild and crazy, steady.

How Many Months Supply Of Inventory Is There?

4.2 months!  That’s how long it would take at todays sales pace to sell every home on the market if nothing was new listed.  Did I say, “Help!”.  Qualified buyers need fresh inventory.  Economists say that six months of inventory represents a balanced real estate market.  4.2 months is a very glaring Seller’s Market.  Here’s what the Wall Street Journal thinks.

The Entire Collection Of Home Sales Reports

If you click on the picture below you can view the entire collection of reports.  If you CLICK HERE you can download the collection in .PDF format.

Thanks for reading, if I can be helpful let me know – Ken Brand 832-797-1779.

Here’s the short version for The Woodlands.  You can look at a collection of impressive report by clicking HERE.

Here’s the detailed version for Houston.  All in all, it’s awesome.

A windy and somewhat rainy March did not curtail Houston home sales from rising, yet again, for the 10th consecutive month.

Houston Real Estate Information Services [MLS]                                                                                                  March  2012 vs. March 2011
Metric	March   2012	%  change from 2011	March YTD2012	%   changefrom  2011
# of sales	4,996	8%	11,811	10%
Dollar volume	$1,135,440,920	14%	$2,484,255,289	11%
Average sales price	$227,270	6%	$210,334	1%
Median sales price	$161,750	8%	$150,000	2%
Contracts written	3,492	-1%	8,982	5%
# of active listings	25,497	-21%	25,548	-19%

As can be noted, a consecutive 10-month rise in single-family home sales has decreased inventory by double-digits.  In our March blog last year, we stated, “Interest rates are still low, homes are well-priced and inventory is plentiful.  These assets never stay the same for long.”  Indeed they do not.  For this March, we have a new scenario.  Interest rates are still low, and in most cases, homes are well-priced; yet the supply is declining with every month that passes.  If this trend continues, home prices will rise.  We are not about to predict what will happen to interest rates but since they are hovering at an all-time low, it is certain interest rates won’t remain low forever.

The Price Class Spectrum

 Below is a table of sales by price class in Houston year-to-date.  The top ten selling price classes have not changed dramatically over all the months this blog has been written.  What has changed is the months of inventory by price class.  In the past few years, these price classes have seen “Months of Inventory” above 6 months, which symbolizes a buyers’ market.  Today, as you can see below, very few price classes are in a buyers’ market and most are in a normal market with a few price classes sporting sellers’ market statuses.  We predict these price classes will transform to a predominantly sellers’ market status by the end of the summer.

Top Ten Selling Price Classes in Houston, March YTD 2012
Price Class	Sales Year to Date	Active Listings	Months of Inventory
1. $200,000-$249,999	1,201	2,657	5.8
2  $300,000-$399,999	908	2,294	6.3
3. $250,000-$299,999	837	2,118	6.3
4. $120,000-$129,999	596	1,236	5.6
5. $80,000-$89,999	557	933	4.6
6. $130,000-$139,999	551	1,166	5.4
7. $90,000-$99,999	545	956	4.9
8. $110,000-$119,999	492	1,154	5.7
9. $140,000-$149,999	485	1,026	5.3
10.  $70,000-$79,999	476	855	4.8

The Houston overall market is so large that it rarely reflects the same trends as submarket areas located within its boundaries.  Some areas are experiencing a far more robust market than the overall market depicts and of course, there are areas that are not as stellar as the overall.  For a breakdown of Houston activity by area with a map, CLICK HERE

To see the hottest selling geographical areas in Houston, CLICK HERE.

To search for homes by price range, map and/or even foreclosures, CLICK HERE.

Data provided by the Houston Association of Realtors® Multiple Listing Service, and The Real Estate Center for Texas A&M and written by Toni Nelson, Director of Strategic Initiatives for Prudential Gary Greene, Realtors®

If we can be helpful, let me know – Ken Brand 832-797-1779.

It’s No Joke!  The real estate market is HOT!  Are you participating or paddling in place?

If you’re busy, happy and you know it – congratulations and all the best.

If you’re eager to participate, motivated to make good things happen and all you need is savvy support, personal attention and a can’t lose plan of action, maybe we can help each other.

Let’s meet and talk about the bright future, call me (Ken Brand 832-797-1779) or shoot me an email and we’ll set something up.

Cheers – Ken

This is what a blazing real estate market looks like. See for yourself:-)

Home Sales and Listing Inventory Report for The Woodlands TX / Prudential Gary Greene Realtors / April 2012

View more presentations from Ken Brand

If we can be helpful, let me know > Ken Brand 832-797-1779

This is what a blazing real estate market looks like. See for yourself:-)

Home Sales and Listing Inventory Report for The Woodlands TX / Prudential Gary Greene Realtors / April 2012

View more presentations from Ken Brand

If we can be helpful, let me know > Ken Brand 832-797-1779

Basically sales are way-way UP.  Listing inventory is way-way down.

For Buyers:  Steals and deals of the desperate seller, foreclosure and short-sale variety are a pipe dream.  It’s a seller’s market in The Woodlands TX.  Sales in February were up 30% compared to 2011.  March sales will rise in the 14% to 20% range and sales velocity is picking up.  Meanwhile, unsold listing inventory is as thin as Twiggy.  Half of all the homes sold in March were listed in March.  Properties priced fairly, staged sexily and marketed aggressively are attracting scads of showings and multiple offers.  Some times with hours or a few turns of the sun. When you find THE property, make your move or you’ll lose out.  Keep in mind that at today insanely low mortgage rates the principal and interest payment per $1,000 borrowed is just under $5.  If you’d like to avoid losing out on the home of your dreams, offering more to secure your choice has never cost less.  Offering another $5,000 will cost less than $1 a day.

For Sellers:  Inventory is at the lowest point in five years and sales are the highest in five years, congratulations, it’s a Seller’s Market.  The key to attracting Top Dollar and a Fast Sale is fair pricing and supremely smart marketing – which includes staging and merchandising.  So far this month, half the homes going under contract were listed this month.  That means that qualified buyers are ignoring aged inventory that shows crappily (think cosmetically unkempt or dated compared to the competition) or is perceived by the buyer to be priced unfairly when considering the floor-plan, condition or location.

If your property has been on the market for more than sixty days without and offer I would recommend refreshing the cosmetic appeal of the interior and exterior and/or repositioning the price to account for condition, floor-plan or location. Tweak your positioning and presentation and you’ll get sold.

If you’re thinking of selling, choose a supremely savvy Realtor to help you position your property competitively (aggressive pricing is possible for unique properties) and prepare to move.

See what I’m talking about. . .

Click HERE to download the Unsold Listing Inventory .PDF

Click HERE to download the Under Contract .PDF

Let us know if we can be helpful > Ken Brand 832-797-1779

Cheers.

The Woodlands Real Estate Sales Report - March 26th, 2012

It’s almost scary how busy the real estate market is.  Last month (February 2012) the number of properties that went under contract were up over 30% compared to February 2011.  A trend upward is establishing a strong Seller’s Market.  At the current velocity of sales, properties going under contract in March sales will crest 270, a 15+% increase over the 236 sales of last March.  Historically sales are there best through the end of August.  Last year the best month on record was June with 272 sales.  We’ll most likely see some months crest the 300 sales mark.  There is one factor that could hold the real estate market in check.  Lack of inventory could constrain sales.

Here’s the thing, so far this month there have been 213 properties placed Under Contract, 105 of the properties pended for sale were new listings taken in March!  While The Woodlands is experiencing record breaking sales success, the Unsold Listing Inventory is at a historical low.  Last year at this time there were 1001 properties for sale.  Today there are only 702.   One of the biggest challenges in our rebounding real estate market is that hard-working real estate agents have qualified buyers poised to buy the moment something matching their criteria hits the market.  We’re most definitely in a seller’s market now.  I’ll share more in-depth market analysis at the end of the month.  In the mean time, if I can be helpful > Ken Brand 832-797-1779.

Contracts Written All Brokers – The Woodlands TX

March 2012 – 270(Projected UP 15%)

March 2011 – 236

March 2010 – 224

March 2009 – 172

March 2008 – 201

 

Unsold Listing Inventory

March 2012 –   710

March 2011 – 1,001

March 2010 –   837

March 2009 –   819

March 2008 –   675

 

Average List Price = $612,667

Average Days On Market – 101 days

Median List Price = $329,900

 

Average Days On Market for February Sold Properties =  63 Days