8 Good Reasons for Home Ownership

Pride in Owning: Most people buy homes to have control over where they live.  Although investment features are important, the psychological reasons for buying—the satisfaction of owning and the freedom from paying rent—are at least as important. In a recent National Association of Realtors (NAR) survey of 6,000 homeowners and 2,000 renters, 76% of owners and of renters considered pride of ownership an important reason for buying a home.

Dislike Paying Rent: Almost 7 in 10 home owners admit that their dislike of paying rent was an important factor in their decision to buy.  Although renting offers a lifestyle that’s nearly maintenance free, it offers you no equity, no tax benefits, and no protection against regular rent increases.  Writing a rent check is just like watching your hard-earned money slip away.

Good Investment: 76% of owners and 69% of renters said the investment aspect of ownership was important.

Tax Advantages: Property taxes and qualified home interest are deductible on Schedule A for itemized deduction.

Long-Term Appreciation: People consider home ownership a good investment because they view it as a long-term venture.  Historically, home prices have risen at relatively steady rates.  For example, existing home prices rose an average of 4% per year between 1980 and 1992.

Leverage Investment: People borrow a great deal to buy a home, yet they receive the full benefits of price appreciation.  In the long run, investments in homes greatly outpace inflation.

Source of Savings: Home ownership always has and continues to comprise the single largest source of savings for American households. Homeowners build equity and can borrow against it.

Sacrifices Are Worth It: Almost 7 in 10 renters in the NAR home-ownership survey said they planned to buy a home in the future.  More than three-quarters of these people said they were willing to sacrifice to do that.

 

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LA PORTE: BATTLESHIP TEXAS!

Recent news has come out that this national treasure, THE BATTLESHIP TEXAS, will be removed from La Porte soon and there are no indications of when or if it will be coming back.  The ship as of this writing is over 104 years old.  It was renovated into  a pretty neat museum.  We went and checked it out yesterday and it’s a great time for kids and interesting for war history buffs as well.

A few pictures of our visit:

Other relevant links-

Navy Times article click here.

Houston Chronicle article here.

Click for Battleship Texas website here.

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Tim LaBorde is a Realtor and regularly contributing editor for our I Spy Realty Team out of League City.  Find out more about our professional Realtor team here.

Tim LaBorde

What does a typical beautiful home in La Porte look like? Click here.

Are you looking to buy your dream home in La Porte, Texas?

If you are a home buyer, our foremost goal is to provide you with exceptional customer service. Our goals are to help you purchase the right home, make sure you don’t miss out on any homes that meet your needs and make sure you don’t pay too much for your next home. Please utilize our Pearland real estate expertise to make your home search and buying experience as stress-free and rewarding as possible.

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Relocation Information

La Porte is located within the Houston area. If you are thinking about relocating to La Porte, Texas we can help you find the perfect home and make your move as stress-free as possible. We offer valuable insight into the area to help you through your home buying experience. Contact Us at (281) 962-4082.

Are you thinking about buying or selling in La Porte, Texas?

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WOW! Rare Handcrafted Hindu Temple Put Pearland in the National Spotlight

This Hindu temple in Pearland made national headlines today on Yahoo News.  Living in Pearland, I’ve never noticed or heard about this Temple before.  The original video below didn’t really cover that much detail other than showing a few shots of the Temple so I did a little digging to find and learn more about the beauty of the Sri Meenakshi Devasthanam Temple.  It’s located south of Pearland Junior High near Bailey on McLean.  It’s another beautiful feature that makes Pearland unique and I can’t wait to get a closer look at it next time I’m near it.

Click here for the Temple photo search.

Click here for The Sri Meenakshi Devasthanam Temple website.

Click here for original Yahoo News Video.

Click here to head back to our blog.

What does a typical beautiful home in Pearland look like?

Click here for Pearland homes ranging from $300-$350k.

Are you looking to buy your dream home in Pearland, Texas?

If you are a home buyer, our foremost goal is to provide you with exceptional customer service. Our goals are to help you purchase the right home, make sure you don’t miss out on any homes that meet your needs and make sure you don’t pay too much for your next home. Please utilize our Pearland real estate expertise to make your home search and buying experience as stress-free and rewarding as possible.

Learn more about our team here.

Relocation Information

Pearland is located within the Houston area. If you are thinking about relocating to Pearland, Texas we can help you find the perfect home and make your move as stress-free as possible. We offer valuable insight into the area to help you through your home buying experience. Contact Us at (281) 962-4082.

Are you thinking about buying or selling in Pearland, Texas?

We are local experts and are here to help guide you through your home buying or selling experience.

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4 QUESTIONS TO ASK BEFORE HIRING AN INTERIOR DESIGNER

Our favorite lender Jerry Tomlinson with Supreme Lending had some great tips he wanted to share with our clients looking at homes in League City, Pearland, and our surrounding areas.  If you are looking to buy or sell a home in Southeast Houston give us a call at 281-962-4082; we are excited to help you find a perfect home for your family!

Now, on to Jerry! –

Whether you’re styling a new room, renovating an existing one, or simply hoping to bring some fresh style to your home, putting together an aesthetically pleasing space can be a challenge. That’s when some people will start to consider hiring a professional to help them out. If you’re looking at working with an interior designer, here are four questions to ask yourself first to make sure it’s the right decision for you.

What’s your style? Do you want a Scandinavian style? Industrial? Shabby chic? Mid-century modern? Your interior designer can provide guidance if you’re not sure what kind of look you’re going for, but knowing what styles you like and dislike can offer some important guidelines to make sure you end up with a finished product you’re happy with. Here are 10 interior design style quizzes to help you narrow down what you like!

What do you need help with? You can do it yourself or you can hire a full-service interior designer who will handle every step from concept to execution, but most people need something in between. Each designer has their strengths and specialties, so it’s important to know what skills you’ll need before choosing the designer. Check out these questions before you hire a designer to make sure they are the best fit for you and your project.

Are you ready to give input? It might sound appealing to hand off a room or a home to a designer and then come back to a finished space, but in actuality, you will be answering a lot of questions and making a lot of decisions. If you aren’t ready to be decisive, it might be better to DIY your decor, so you have as much time as you need to experiment.

What’s your budget? Interior designers, like most professionals, can tailor their offering to your budget — as long as you know what it is. Make sure you’re prepared with a number or range, because many designers ask for the amount in a lump sum. Need some tips on how to determine your budget? Here’s a guide that will walk you through how to maximize your decorating budget, and tips on how to stick to it.

If you’ve answered all these questions, you probably have a good idea not just of whether or not you should hire an interior designer, but of what sort of designer you should be looking for. No matter which direction you take, best of luck putting together a home or room with a look you love!

Are you interested in financing a home purchase, or refinancing for home improvements? Please text, email, or call us. We’re here to help!

Financing a home purchase, or refinancing for a lower rate or improvements? Please text, email, or call us. Have a great day!

Jerry L. Tomlinson
Senior Loan Officer
NMLS# 188931

14841 N. Dallas Pkwy Suite 250
Dallas, TX 75254

Office: 972-447-5748
Mobile: 972-922-3742

Back to the Blog here.

A fun home walkthrough with Stephanie in League City:

More Organizing Tips with Stephanie:

Thinking about selling your home and want a free home listing consultation with Stephanie and The I Spy Realty Team?  Call our office to make an appointment: (281) 962-4082.

Interior Design in the Headlines

Relocation Information

Texas City and La Marque are located within the Houston area. If you are thinking about relocating, we can help you find the perfect home and make your move as stress-free as possible. We offer valuable insight into the area to help you through your home buying experience. Contact Us at (281) 962-4082.

Are you thinking about buying or selling?

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Credit Score Repair and Tips for Home Buyers

A credit repairman can be a home buyer’s best friend and saving grace.  As professional full-time Realtors on The I Spy Realty Team, we see our clients lean on credit repair all the time.  Let’s face it; credit scores can be confusing.  It’s a very common (and incorrect!) assumption for clients to think that there is just no way that they will ever be a homeowner due to low/no credit.  The first piece of advice that a Realtor should give a client who’s unsure about their financial situation is to reach out to a preferred lender if they don’t already have one.  A good lender can easily tell you where you stand with credit and how it can affect your ability to purchase as well as the cost of your monthly payments.  If your lender tells you that your credit does need to be improved to be able to buy a home, speak with a credit repair company that has a great reputation.  We reached out to our friend, Justin Mirche with Creative Credit Solutions, for some great info about credit repair.

He was kind enough to share a few insights with this guest blog contribution… (Thanks Creative Credit Solutions!)

Ways To Raise Your Credit Score From 500 to 700

A poor credit score can not only be a hurdle, but it can also be damaging to your goals and plans, particularly when applying for a mortgage or buying a new car. FICO credit scores range generally from 300-850. As we’re all aware the higher your score is, the less of a risk you are to lenders and hence the better interest rate you’ll receive.

If your credit score below 620, you’ve probably run into financial difficulties and are ready to get back on track. Late payments, charge-offs and collections all play into low credit scores. However, the good news is, no matter where you are score-wise there are always steps you can take for improvement.

So, what do you do to get started? Let’s take a look at some ways you can begin to move your credit score in your favor.

Understanding How FICO is Determined

35% of your credit score is your payment history, 30% is credit utilization, 15% is length of credit history, 10% is new credit and 10% is credit mix.

With this model in mind, one of the first and most obvious things you can do to help boost your credit score is ensuring you are making all of your payments on time. Setting up automatic payments can really help you accomplish this. Because this is such a major factor of your credit score, you want to do whatever you can not to have any late payments.

Late Payments, Charge-Offs, Collections, Foreclosures, Bankruptcy and Judgements

While there is no quick magical way to get these marks off of your credit profile, the most effective way to start is by contracting Creative Credit Solutions to work on your behalf.  The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) mandates that everything on your credit reports must be 100% accurate, completely verifiable, and timely or it must be deleted.

Keep Your Credit Utilization Ratio Low

When you’re in the rebuilding process with your credit, you want to be sure to take note of your credit utilization ratio. Your ratio is determined by your total credit card balances divided by your total credit limit. Keeping your utilization below 29.99% makes you a more attractive borrower and gives creditors the comfort in knowing that you’re not high risk. Think about it, someone who has lots of money they COULD spend but CHOOSE not to spend is quite obviously lower risk and lower risk = higher credit score!

Length of Credit

This can be a difficult one because you can only have history for as long as you’ve had it and there’s no way for you to extend that time frame. You can however, add yourself as an authorized user to someone else’s seasoned account if you have that option available. The best accounts for consideration are long term ones, with low balances where timely payments have been made.

Another option is to request that an existing long-term utility account under your name that is in good standing begin reporting to on your credit.

Paying Down Existing Debt

This one may seem obvious, but getting your debt paid down is certainly a good move when trying to raise your credit score.

Diversify Your Debt

If all of your credit is coming from store cards, that doesn’t reflect well on your credit report. It’s best that you have a good mix of credit which can include credit cards, installment loans, retail accounts and a mortgage.

Create A Budget…And Stick To It

Although it’s probably not on your top ten list of fun things to do, let’s be honest, more than likely it’s not on your top twenty either, creating a budget is a vital tool in rebuilding your credit. You have to know your numbers so you can plan as you move toward your financial goals. Budgets also help you actively contribute to savings accounts and emergency funds, which assist in not having sudden financial downturns in the future such as repairs and medical expenses.

For more info about Creative Credit Solutions, you can connect with Justin Mirche here: 972-603-6776

Or the Creative Credit Solutions website here: https://www.creativecreditsolutions.net/index.php

Check out some of the beautiful new listings just hitting the market in League City!

Relocation Information

League City is located within the Houston area. If you are thinking about relocating, we can help you find the perfect home and make your move as stress-free as possible. We offer valuable insight into the area to help you through your home buying experience. Contact Us at (281) 962-4082.

Are you thinking about buying or selling?

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Successful Real Estate Agents in League City, TX

League City Realtor

Are you getting your real estate license and interested in becoming a great agent?  Our brokerage is in League City which is about 30 minutes southeast from Houston.  We are always looking to create more success for our agents and many times there are either misconceptions or a lack of knowledge on how to get the ball rolling properly to become a great agent for your clients.  Here are a few tips to ensuring success and longevity as a real estate agent that will allow you to serve your clients better:

Take the time to find the right brokerage for YOU.

A quick online search shows there are over twenty five thousand Realtors in the Houston market.  Granted, many of them are not very active but that’s still a lot of people no matter how you cut it.  In economic terms, the barrier to entry into the profession is low, meaning it’s not terribly difficult to get a license.  With that many Realtors in the market, there are so many different types of brokerages to choose from and they are not created equally.  Spend the time to make sure that the brokerage you are joining is the right fit for you in terms of personality/vibe, support, location, fees, and teams versus lone wolf agents.

a) Personality and Vibe – Do you feel comfortable with the tempo of the office and how do you feel about your coworkers? When you are not with clients, you will be spending the majority of your time around your broker and fellow agents.  There are plenty of brokerage options out where you don’t have to feel trapped in a toxic work environment.  Your broker helps to set the tone for the office vibe by bringing on agents that are a good match with work ethic, ethics, and personality matching.  If you’re surrounded by too many “Negative Nancy” types, seek greener pastures.

b) Support – Are you getting the right amount of hand-holding and coaching for your experience level?  If you are light on experience, a good mentor in the office can make or break you and you should also ensure that the leadership has a friendly and supportive attitude, i.e. they are happy to help and engaged in your success.

c) Location – When you join an office, you want to make sure that they are reasonably close to you to cut down on commute.  Houston is spread out geographically and a long commute can be a drag on both your happiness and productivity.

d) Fees – Beyond the HAR and TREC fees that all Realtors pay to keep their license active and compliant, I’m referring to the different types of fees that vary and are broker-specific like 1) Training Fees and 2) “Desk” Fees you will owe the broker for your office space.  These fees vary wildly between brokerages and you want to know what charges you’re going to get hit with before you ever earn your first dollar in commissions and there can be recurring fees that you may be responsible every single month whether you’re a producing agent or not.  You’ll want to compare those fees on every brokerage you look at joining.  If you’re being charged an arm and a leg up front for training and desk fees, how likely is it that your broker cares whether you’re successful or not when they’ve already collected a lot of money off of you?  If you’re just getting your license, that may be the most important paragraph you’ll ever read.  Take note!

e) Teams Versus the Lone Wolf Agent – Many agents enjoy the collaborative approach to working within teams.  You receive more assistance with the deals you’re working on and can also enjoy not having to feel like you’re trying to figure out everything on your own.  A real estate agent is a small business owner and responsible for accounting, compliance, fiduciary responsibility to clients, transaction coordination, supplies, marketing, lead generation, and on and on.  It is easier to be a part of a team that can assist you with the different aspects of the transactions and business instead of being overwhelmed and feeling responsible for everything.  As the old saying goes, “Many hands make light work.”  The lone wolf real estate agent will generally not be prepared for all the different types of skills required for the business that a team can fulfill much more easily and the lone wolf will usually fail and quit because of that which explains why the majority of real estate agents in any market do not last more than 3 years on average!

If you take the time to assess these items on the front-end before you join a brokerage, it can help increase your probability of success dramatically.   If I can help make an introduction for you to interview our outstanding real estate team, give us a call!

713-965-4561 Tim LaBorde

Local New Construction: Click Here.

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Beautiful New Crystal Lagoon in Lago Mar, Texas City

Our team member Stephanie has been a resident of Lago Mar in Texas City since June 2018 and has witnessed first-hand the development phases of the beautiful new oasis being constructed in Lago Mar.  I also have family members living in the neighborhood and it has been exciting to check out the development regularly and watch quality builders come in and construct new homes while simultaneously developing the oasis.  The Lagoon will include actual white sand beaches, a “Float-opia” obstacle course, water activities, shopping, and other amenities… and residents of the subdivision have exclusive access to parts of it!  Per the following article, “The first phase of construction is expected to be complete by 2020.”  Our team specializes in this neighborhood and we’re excited to share our local knowledge with you; give us a call! (281) 962-4082

For more research articles about Lago Mar and the Lagoon, click here, here, and here.

A fun home walkthrough with Stephanie:

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Relocation Information

Texas City is located within the Houston area. If you are thinking about relocating, we can help you find the perfect home and make your move as stress-free as possible. We offer valuable insight into the area to help you through your home buying experience. Contact Us at (281) 962-4082.

Are you thinking about buying or selling?

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Top 10 Breaking News Articles for Houston Real Estate

Click here for a quick list of Pearland homes.

Relocation Information

Pearland is located within the Houston area. If you are thinking about relocating to Pearland , Texas we can help you find the perfect home and make your move as stress-free as possible. We offer valuable insight into the area to help you through your home buying experience. Contact Us at (281) 962-4082.

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Top Ways to Convert Real Estate Leads

Building a huge list of warm or qualified leads is a fantastic and very worthwhile pursuit for any Realtor’s business. If you can do this effectively, then you can build a massive list of people who have shown an interest in your business and who are presumably likely to buy from you.

But this is only going to get you so far. Eventually you’re going to need to think about how you can convert those leads and turn them into buyers and sellers. So how do you take this step and what can you do to convert your leads? Here are some methods…

Sending Out Special Offers

If you are correctly handling your leads, then you should have some kind of lead management software / CRM set up and this should automatically be tracking the behavior of your leads. Those leads are people who have come to your website, shown some kind of interest in your business, and eventually signed up for your email blasts.

They should be showing engagement and the fact that they’re reading your content at all suggests that they trust your brand. That means they’re ready to buy and all that is left is for you to get them to take the plunge. You now need to do something that is going to help them take action and become your customer.

Using CRM software, you can automatically email only those leads that are showing lots of engagement, even ones that have been looking at your site. From there, you can then make them some kind of special offer. This special offer should be time limited and quantity limited. This then creates scarcity and urgency – the reader has to act quickly to take advantage of the deal.

They already liked your brand, they’re interested in your product – now you’re just giving them that final incentive to take action right now.

More Strategies

There are more things you can do to convert leads too. One example is to remove any risk that might be involved in the purchase. People are naturally risk averse, so try to remove any perceived danger by offering by explaining the risks (and how to mitigate them) versus the rewards of buying or selling real estate.

Another technique is to offer your leads a value that they can’t do on their own and that other realtors cannot / will not do for them.

Finally, remove any ‘buyers’ remorse’ by explaining how making a decision today is more beneficial to them than waiting for the future, as in act right now!  Anyone following the market knows that home values are increasing with inflation, home ownership can protect from inflation, and locking in low home prices and low interest rates right now is hedging them from inflation in the future.  Be able to talk through these ideas and show the client how their decisiveness can benefit them.

 

 

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