Don and Jennifer Loved That We Never Gave Up!

Tell us about your experience working with the Mike Gray Home Selling Team?

We had wonderful results working with Mike. He helped us through every stage of selling our home. He was knowledgeable and resposive and always provided great feedback during our discussions. After we finally found the home that was perfect for us, and made a concerted effort to negotiate a deal, we almost walked away. We came to an agreement with the seller only to realize there was a significant misunderstanding on the seller's part. We didn't have an agreement and we didn't expect to reach one. Mike didn't give up though. He followed up with a seller independently and he pushed them to reach an agreement with terms that we could all accept. It was completely unexpected when we heard from Mike that he had done that and that we were ready to move forward with buying our home.

To contact Mike Gray, call 832-428-6453 or email Mike@homesfromhouston.com.

Peter Appreciated the Guidance We Were Able to Provide

Tell me about your experience working with the Mike Gray Home Selling Team of Heritage Texas Properties.

"He helped us purchase a home. Our whole process was pretty long, maybe over a year, year and a half. It took a long time for us to find a home, but he was great helping us through the whole process.

We were in a market where things were being sold on day one and everything was over listing price. He really helped guide us through the transaction. One of the big things that happened is one of our sellers backed out after signing a contract. He guided us through that process to resolve the situation."

To contact Mike Gray, call 832-428-6453 or email Mike@homesfromhouston.com.

Todd Loved That We Were Always Available!

Tell me about your experience working with the Mike Gray Home Selling Team of Heritage Texas Properties.

"Mike was extremely professional. He was always willing to take our call regardless of the time of day. That was probably the most refreshing aspect of working with Mike. He was always available. Buying and selling a house are very stressful, and Mike was more than accommodating regardless of the time of day. I would text him at 6:30 in the morning or 11:30 at night, and get a response minutes later. Mike was great and his knowledge of the area of Bel Air was unmatched. We looked around at several different brokers, and Mike was clearly the most personable as well as the most knowledgeable in the area. That's why we chose Mike. With respect to the inspection report we got, I was really nervous. Mike assured me that there was nothing to get too nervous about and he went back to the buyers of the home and basically negotiated on our behalf in a very favorable capacity that resulted in a quick and profitable sale for all parties. It was his experience working with buyers in the past and inspectors that really calmed our nerves and made us feel a lot more comfortable in the situation."

To contact Mike Gray, call 832-428-6453 or email Mike@homesfromhouston.com

Carol Felt Like She Was Our Only Client

Tell us about your experience working with the Mike Gray home selling team.

"We got the house in the neighborhood we wanted and we love our home. It's interesting -- I was speaking to my husband about that and we really feel that Mike was always going above and beyond for us. We felt like, not that we were his only clients, but almost. He was always available, always willing to entertain any questions we had and do things again and again with us. He never rushed us to make a decision. When we first met him we really like his integrity. He's very personable. He's very warm and easy to work with. You can ask him anything. If he doesn't know the answer he'll find it for you. Anytime we wanted to meet with him he would make time for us. We have nothing but good things to say about working with him. I think even though he's in sales, which doesn't always bring the best picture to mind, he's very good at what he does. He personable and warm and doesn't do the hard sell. He does the research, works with you, is patient, he's really terrific. We feel very fortunate to have worked with him and we're really happy with our house!"

To contact Mike Gray of the Mike Gray Home Selling Team, you can reach him by phone at 832-428-6453 or by email at Mike@homesfromhouston.com.

December Market Report for the Houston Metro

There are many great Houston area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at 832-428-6453 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

We're in a shifting market here in Houston due to the fluctuations in oil prices. Some of this is seasonal, but we're definitely starting to enter a new landscape. Let's discuss what happened this December.

Overall we're seeing a drop in year-over-year sales, and this is the first time since 2012 that this has happened. The biggest drops in sales are in the low price brackets and the highest price brackets. Home sales under $150K dropped by 25%, and homes valued higher than $500K saw a 22% decrease in sales. This is extremely significant.

Home prices fell 3.7% since last year, and this is also the first time this has happened since 2012. This shouldn't come as a surprise since our market has been so hot lately.

Inventory has increased, and we have nearly 3.5 months of supply. However, this is still well below the national average.

The Fed are meeting this month, and all the reports that we have seen are indicating an increase in interest rates. Mortgage interest rates really cannot get any lower, so if you've been thinking about buying a home, I suggest that you do so now before rates get too high. Every day that you wait, you're losing buying power.

If you have any questions about these developments, please don't hesitate to contact me. I look forward to speaking with you.

Happy Holidays!

3 Tips to Prepare Your Home for Guests this Holiday Season

There are many great Houston area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at 832-428-6453 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Today, Claudia Sundin from CS Designs joins us to offer some advice on preparing your home for guests this holiday season.

There are a few things you can do that don't require a lot of work. For example, add fresh flowers for the table. For Thanksgiving, consider holiday colors when choosing your flowers. Get furniture reupholstered. Switch out your rugs to set up a new color scheme in your home. These are things you can do in a quick time frame, and you don't have to spend a lot of money because you use furniture you already own.

If you want to update your home, paint! A couple of years ago, everyone painted their homes in beige or camel colors. Now, gray is the latest trend. Be careful when picking out your gray; different shades of gray come with tinges of green, blue, or purple.

Now that your house is all updated, how can you keep guests from congregating in the kitchen? Spread out the food and beverages. Don't just have one food and beverage station. The way your furniture is set up also affects the flow of the room, but having different food and beverage stations will definitely encourage people to keep moving throughout the party.

If you have any questions for us, give us a call or send us an email. Happy holidays! We look forward to hearing from you!

It's Still a Seller's Market in Houston

There are many great Houston area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at 832-428-6453 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Today I'm in Virginia but I'm going to give you a market update for the Houston real estate market. We're still in correction mode in Houston with a very slow September and an October market that picked up a little more steam.

In October our number of listings rose by 15% and the number of sales dropped by 15%, which shows a slowing market, but the number of pending homes means that the market will be set for a small rebound in the near future.

As we said at the beginning of the year, it looks like this market will be down by 10% this year, and it looks as if that's where we're trending right now. We're seeing price reductions, but homes that have their prices reduced are selling awfully quick. However, homes are still selling for full price on the first day.

Interest rates are still historically low, so that's just one more reason for buyers to get involved with this real estate market. You have the chance to save thousands of dollars over the lifetime of your loan, so don't hesitate if you've been wanting to buy a home.

Stay tuned for more great Houston real estate information!

How Can You Avoid Winter Weather Damage to Your Home?

There are many great Houston area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at 832-428-6453 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Today, I want to briefly discuss three things you need to do when preparing your home for winter. John Onofrey of Top 2 Bottom Inspections joins us today to share his top tips:

1. Check plumbing lines: You need to make sure your plumbing lines are protected and insulated from freezing temperatures. This includes your outside water supply and any exposed pipes in your attic.

2. Service your furnace and drain your water heater: This is a great time of year to do it. Doing it sooner rather than later is a good idea!

3. Seal up excessive gaps and crevices outside your home: This will keep cold winds from drafting into the home.

These aren't the only things you should do when getting your home ready for the winter. If you want additional tips to help get your home ready for the colder weather, you can reach John at (281) 565-4677 or http://www.texasinspectors.net/.

As always, if you need real estate assistance of any kind, we're also always available to help. We would love to hear from you!

What Does Market Uncertainty in Houston Mean for You?

There are many great Houston area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at 832-428-6453 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

The big news lately is that the Fed's September 17 meeting ended without any big news. Interest rates will remain low for the foreseeable future. This is obviously fantastic news for buyers and sellers in the Houston area.

The good news doesn't stop there: the numbers are in, and it turns out last August had the best sales ever for that month, and the eighth biggest month ever! However, despite a great August, things are starting to slow down a bit as the fall approaches. Additionally, there are some unknowns in the oil industry and global economies, which is having an effect here in Houston.

The Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston isn't feeling too confident about market conditions moving forward, especially as far as the oil economy is concerned. However, the Urban Land Institution says that despite a recent downturn in the energy industry, Houston can expect continued growth. In fact, they're projecting that in 2018 we're going to see another double-digit return in real estate. We're going to keep an eye on both of these forecasts and will keep you updated on where the market ultimately goes.

As of now, homes are sitting on the market a little longer and inventory is a bit higher than it's been recently, but we're still seeing a competitive market that favors sellers. If you have questions about conditions in your neighborhood, or if you need real estate assistance of any kind, please don't hesitate to reach out. We would love to hear from you!

How Will TILA-RESPA Changes Affect You?

There are many great Houston area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at 832-428-6453 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Starting on October 3rd of this year, the real estate market will be seeing some big changes. Why is this?

It's because of changes coming to the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID), and this will affect everyone involved in real estate, from consumers to Realtors to lenders. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a final rule amending regulations to the "The Truth in Lending Act" as well as "The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act."

So, what does this mean for you? The TILA-RESPA rule consolidates four disclosures for closed and credit transactions secured by real property into two different forms.

One of these forms is a loan estimate that must be delivered or placed in the mail no later than the 3rd business day after receiving the consumer's application. A closing disclosure must be provided to the consumer at least three business days prior to consummation.

These new disclosures must be provided by a creditor or mortgage banker that receives an application from a consumer for a closed-end credit transaction. However, creditors will still be required to use the current Good Faith Estimate, HUD 1 and Truth in Lending forms for applications received prior to August 1, 2015. After that date, these forms will no longer be used.

The TILA-RESPA rule includes some new restrictions on certain activity prior to consumers receiving the loan estimate. These restrictions took effect on August 1, 2015 regardless of whether an application was received on that date. These restrictions include imposing fees on a consumer before the consumer has received the loan estimate, or requiring submission of documents verifying information related to the consumer's application before providing the loan estimate.

What does this mean to you and the entire closing process? Well, it's going to get longer. At a minimum, it will take 45 days to close. The other important thing to take away is to stay in close contact with your agent and your lender.

There's a lot of changes up ahead, and I'm sure you have some questions. Please feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I'd be happy to help you.

What Do You Need to Know About Houston Real Estate?

There are many great Houston area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at 832-428-6453 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

We've seen strong sales here in Houston with the exception of May. We're finding ourselves right where we thought we would be in August.

One notable occurrence in our market is the overall lack of inventory that we're seeing. This means that sellers have a chance to profit off of a home sale because demand is high and supply is low.

We're also heading more towards a normal market, and we expect sales to decline by nearly 10% as we head into the slower fall market. We do expect prices to increase by 4-5%, so now is a good time to buy to gain some equity.

We still expect interest rates to increase, because it's difficult to imagine them getting any lower. We think they'll probably increase by a point by next fall. Homes are extremely affordable with current rates, so please don't hesitate to purchase if you have been thinking of doing so.

If you have any further questions about the market in Houston, or if you would like an update that is geared specifically for your neighborhood, please don't hesitate to contact me.

How to Organize Your Home Before a Showing

There are many great Houston area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at (713) 341-1763 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

I recently found a good video on HGTV that I thought would be helpful to you if you're preparing to sell your home. It's essential that when you show your home to buyers, it's clean, organized, and decluttered. You'll want to empty out your closets, or at the very least, get them organized.

One thing you can do to get organized is put up shoe hangers in your doors, and store everyday items inside them such as cleaning supplies, utensils, or anything else that you can fit in them.

Another way to cut down on clutter is to use labels, or pick up storage bins to keep items like cords or wires in.

A tip for organizing your closet is to divide your clothes into four different sections: hang, sell, donate, keep, and fold. Once you have something marked out for every category, you can then organize your closet in any way you see fit. Here's an extra tip: you can use belt hangers to hang your necklaces and other jewelry.

I just thought this video would be useful for organizing your home, whether you're selling or if you just want to tidy up a bit.

If you need any assistance with staging, decluttering, or selling, please don't hesitate to contact me!

Staging Doesn't Have to be Expensive and Complex

There are many great Houston area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at 832-428-6453 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

If you are looking to sell your home, your goal is to get the most money possible in the shortest amount of time. One of the best ways to add value and appeal to your home is through home staging. You have a lot of options for how you want to go about it. You could hire a professional staging company, but that comes with a hefty price tag. Most of the time, a few simple fixes is all it takes to transform a living room. 

Today we are going to go through some of our most favorite, inexpensive home staging tips or you. We hope these will help you save both time and money when it comes time to sell your home.

A fresh coat of paint is always a good idea. Neutral, warm colors work best for highlighting the natural light in your home. This will make it easier to punch up the room with some colorful accessories and pull everything together.

A common design problem facing many homeowners is that they have no real entry way, as their front door opens up to the living room. To fix this, you can add a table, some lighting, and a rug to "fake a foyer" and make it feel like the living room and entryway are two different spaces.

A patterned rug, some pillows, or bright curtains add a ton of texture and an eclectic layer to the space, which is essential to a well-designed room.

In some cases, a "make-under" is just what you need. In the case of most fireplaces, taking some accessories and clutter away enhances the look and feel of the room greatly.

You could spend well over a few thousand dollars with a staging company, or you could do these fixes yourself for around $500. That's a small investment considering the value that you add to your home by adding those pieces.

If you have any questions for us about staging your home or anything else real estate related, give us a call or send over a quick email. We are always here to help, and would love to hear from you!

Important Service Update

There are many great Houston area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at 832-428-6453 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Hello, my name is Mike Gray and I'm proud to announce that I've formed an agreement with Jeffery Kuchar that will make me your primary resource for real estate.

I am taking over Jeffery's database, so if you are his friend or client, you will now be hearing from me. I am very honored to be in this position, and I wish Jeffery all the best in his retirement.

I have a full staff to help out with any and all of your needs. You can also expect bi-weekly videos from me that will be educational in nature and are meant to help you navigate through the Houston real estate market. 

I look forward to speaking with you in the future!

Where Is the Houston Market Heading?

There are many great Houston area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at 832-428-6453 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

I want to wish everyone who was hit hard by the recent storms the best of luck in your cleanup. A lot of areas around town were really hit hard, so we want to let you know you're in our thoughts!

Now, I want to give a quick overview of the housing market in the Houston area. At the beginning of the year, analysts predicted a slowdown due to rapidly falling oil prices, but we haven't quite seen that. According to Ted Jones, a chief economist at Stewart Title, there are several things to keep an eye on here in the Houston area. 

If we look at where we are this year, we've only seen a slight slowdown due to oil prices. In some areas, there hasn't been a dip at all! When looking at the year over year numbers, we've only seen one month of negative numbers so far in 2015. In fact, we've seen an appreciation rate of a little over 8%; if we forecast that into the future, we're expecting to see that trim down to closer to 5% by January of next year.

We're expecting the number of sales in Houston to decrease by about 10% from what we're seeing now. When looking at the job growth predictions, at the end of December last year we were at 3.8%, whereas the expectation this year is only 2.2%. What this means is we're expecting a more normalized, neutral market. Conditions have heavily favored sellers as of late, but it's looking like the playing field is going to be leveled here shortly. 

On another note, as the summer settles in and the market returns to a more normal state, I want to say congratulations to all the recent graduates out there! It's an exciting time to be a student and a parent, and I want to wish you all the best of luck! 

As always, if you have any questions about the Houston area, or if you need real estate assistance of any kind, don't hesitate to reach out to me. I would love to hear from you!

Does Location Really Matter for Houston Properties?

There are many great Houston area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at 832-428-6453 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Hey folks, I am finally back. After a month off of posts due to the flu, I'm back today with a great tip for you about something that has been happening consistently in our market over the last few months. 

Recently, the importance of location has come to the forefront. With a shortage of homes and lots available, people are willing to give up a little bit on the price to get the location they want.

What I tell my buyers is that if you get a great discount on a home, the one thing you can't change is its location. When they buy the property, they have to know that they will have to sell it at a discount as well, due to the location. 

The Houston market is setting up to be great for sellers. One thing I try to tell all my buyers is that you need to think about selling your home before you even buy it. If you can add  value to the property, you'll get the money back in the sale, guaranteed. 

If you have any questions for us, or are thinking about buying or selling in Houston in the near future, give us a call or send us an email, and we'll talk to you soon!

What Real Estate Trends Are Taking Hold in Houston?

There are many great Houston area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at 832-428-6453 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Hey everyone, thanks again for joining us for another market update. The spring market, one of the busiest times of the year, is nearly upon us. Today we are going to go through some of the current numbers for the Houston real estate market, and let you know what the numbers mean for the state of our market.

• Single-family home sales are up about 6%, and home sales are up 2.5% overall. 
• Our dollar volume is up slightly from last year.
• The average days on market is currently at 57.
• Inventory is still low in some areas, but is steadily creeping up.
• We expect home appreciation to remain steady in 2015, at around 4-6%.

We are currently in a seller's market, but things are starting to even back out. Builders will be catching up with demand, and the disparity between buyers and sellers will probably even out sooner rather than later. There have been a lot of rumblings lately about oil prices, but as far as we can tell, they haven't had an immediate effect on the housing market. We will keep an eye on this as the year progresses.

If you have any questions for us at all about the market, we would be glad to help you out. We want to be your #1 resource for real estate news and information, and we are always just a phone call or email away!

Are You Getting the Tax Breaks You Deserve?

There are many great Houston area homes for sale. Click here to perform a full home search, or if you're thinking of selling your home, click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation so you know what buyers will pay for your home in today's market. You may also call me at 832-428-6453 for a FREE home buying or selling consultation to answer any of your real estate questions.

Today I wanted to share some tips with you to save you some money in 2015. I can't believe it's already February, because we've been very busy already this year, which is a great sign for the Houston real estate market.

The first thing that we should talk about is the Homestead exemption. If you lived on your property through January 1st and it's your primary residence, you're going to be eligible for a Homestead, which will save you a considerable amount when you pay taxes. If you bought a home last year, make sure to document it and get that exemption in place. If you already have a Homestead exemption, you can go to www.HCAD.org and check to make sure your Homestead exemption is in place.

The other thing we need to speak about is insurance. The costs of construction have risen sharply in the last few years, so if you file an insurance claim and need to rebuild something, you need to make sure you're covered for the increased costs of building. Be sure to speak with your insurance agent if you have not done so in a while, so that when you file a claim, you'll be covered.

In the next couple of weeks, I'll be updating you on the real estate market here in Houston. Stay tuned, because we're expecting big things here in Houston for 2015.

As always, reach out to us if you need any assistance. We're always happy to help!