Team DiMuria Katy Texas Blog: November 2007

Katy High School Football in Region III Semifinals!

Katy High School, the number 1 rated high school football program in the State of Texas will be playing in the region III semifinals on Saturday December 1st. The Tigers will be playing Pasadena Memorial High School. The game will be held at Rice Stadium with a start time of 1pm. Doors will open at 11:30 for the event. The winner of this game will face the winner of the Stratford/Clements game for the region III finals next week!
0 comments • Team DiMuria, Katy Texas Realtors • November 28 2007 02:37PM

How buyers or sellers reach your website

We often get asked how we get so many website hits. Why so many buyer and seller leads choose our website over other websites that offer the same info. The answer is we choose to attract buyers and sellers that we want to hit our website! The reason why many websites are not successful is because they area attracting the wrong potential clients. When we train new agents on how to GET STARTED...the first order of business is to grab a blank piece of paper and write down the phrases that best describe what someone from another state or area would search to find your website. In this case an example of what you would not want to see is "New York City Real Estate" for us this would be far to big a search source. You will want to be much more specific...even down to exact neighborhoods (I would rather be the at the top of the searches for Battery Park City real estate than New York City Real Estate!!!). When buyers are searching specifics they tend to be closer to making a decision and have started to determine the exact area they would like to search and live....this is when we want the client to hit us. So get your blank paper and write down phrases that represent the places YOU want to sell in...this will begin to help attract the clients you want to work with...and they will also be closer to making a decision!

6 comments • Team DiMuria, Katy Texas Realtors • November 28 2007 01:42PM

Katy Home for the Holidays Festival and Tree Lighting at LaCenterra in Cinco Ranch

The 4th annual Home for the Holidays Festival and Tree Lighting will be held this year at LaCenterra Mall in Cinco Ranch on December 1st from 6pm to 9pm. The annual community holiday celebration will feature live music, a teddy bear parade (with children welcome to bring a favorite stuffed animal), lighting of the 35' tree, and a visit from Santa himself! If you would like additional info call the Katy Area Chamber of Commerce (which is now located in LaCenterra) at 281-391-5289.
0 comments • Team DiMuria, Katy Texas Realtors • November 26 2007 12:26PM

Time to plan your strategy for 2008!

It is that time of year to plan your 2008 marketing strategy! For most agents business has slowed...in some areas it has been slow for quite some time! Each year at this time we take stock and see how we can improve on what we are doing to attract future business. We think for most agents this is the time to adopt a comprehensive Internet strategy. We know of no other sales business that can predict with certainty what most clients (85%) will do first (go to the Internet) when they start the home buying or selling process. With this in mind, we suggest if you have not already done so, spend the next 30 days planning and adopting an Internet marketing plan that will begin bringing you a steady flow of clients. We often get asked the question..."How can I get started on the Internet?" The beauty of the Internet is that all questions can be answered by searching Google, Yahoo, Ask.com or any other search engine! It is all available online...you just need to do the work!
4 comments • Team DiMuria, Katy Texas Realtors • November 24 2007 10:32AM

The Katy YMCA Turkey Dash at Cinco Ranch a Huge Success!

The Turkey Dash, the annual 5K run held at the Katy YMCA in Cinco Ranch went off as planned on Thanksgiving morning. It was such a huge success that the organizers had to delay the start 30 minutes to accommodate all the walk up traffic...and donations! The cool temperatures helped runners post some of the fastest times we have seen at the dash.

The Starting LineTurkey Dash MascotMona Almost Finished

1 comment • Team DiMuria, Katy Texas Realtors • November 23 2007 11:52AM

Should I sign up with Realtor.com?

We do quite a bit of business from our website www.katyhomefinder.com but our question to the real estate world is should we sign on with Realtor.com? The price for us would be about $1500 and we are trying to justify the cost. We do see some benefit to our clients (we feel more pictures and VT on the site can only help) but is anyone having luck with realtor.com as a lead generation source? Obviously it is not cheap so before we hook up we would like to see what kind of luck others are having!
8 comments • Team DiMuria, Katy Texas Realtors • November 21 2007 01:53PM

How Can A Pool Rendering Help Sell a Home?

When you are trying to sell your home it comes down to the little things you do better than your competition (every other home that is available in your area that competes with your price point and size range). Making sure you home is painted in neutral colors, de-personalizing the home so the buyer can feel like it is their home, and making sure the potential buyer can see the possibilities. One of these possibilities may be a pool. Many times when we show a home to a potential buyer they as us "can a pool fit in this yard?" It is a question we cant answer...we are not pool builders, and we do not know what may lie beneath the dirt. If the agent representing the seller would take the time to find a pool design company who will do a pool rendering for them...that question would be easily answered with beautiful 3D full color drawings of what the yard would look like with a pool, spa, outdoor kitchen, etc...

This will help the buyer decide if a home will fit their needs, as well as make the seller's home more appealing, and may help it sell faster! That is a positive development for both buyer and seller...a win-win!

We always recommend to people to find a realtor who does everything they can to cover all the bases to help them get the best results. If your real estate agent puts out a lock box and a sign...and you never here from them or get any worthwhile advice...FIND ANOTHER AGENT!

0 comments • Team DiMuria, Katy Texas Realtors • November 17 2007 11:09AM

You should use automatic e-mail notification!

We do quite a bit of business on the web....most of our deals in fact. One of the best tools available to us is automatic e-mail notification. It allows clients to set up a notification for all properties that fit their needs...and they will receive them the day they come on the market. It allows your Internet buyers to get constant follow up from you...without you doing a thing!!! It also allows them to see what they can get for their money, this helps them narrow down choices so you will be showing less when the time comes to take them out. You need to put this on your website front page, it is a call to action (see out call to actions on our home page by going to the website) www.katyhomefinder.com it is important that the buyer has the option to click into this when they are ready to give you info!
4 comments • Team DiMuria, Katy Texas Realtors • November 17 2007 10:22AM

Single Story For Sale in Cinco Ranch Fieldstone

• 1,972 sq. ft., 2 bath, 4 bdrm single story - MLS® $190,000

Cinco Ranch Fieldstone, Fieldstone  -  Fabulous one story home in Cinco Ranch, tiled floors, open floor plan, prewired for surround sound,sprinklers front and back, built on an oversized lot with backyard oasis complete with pool w/ waterfall, spa, arbor, covered patio with outdoor speakers,beautiful landscaping, and storage shed as well! Great for empty nester or a family, enjoy Cinco amenities, award winning KISD schools, close to LaCenterra Mall, I-10, Grand pkwy, Westpark. Move-in condition, hurry, this one won't last!

0 comments • Team DiMuria, Katy Texas Realtors • November 16 2007 11:23AM

The New "Enclave at Green Trails" Under Construction

Construction has started on the final section in Trendmaker's Green Trails subdivision. The section, called The Enclave at Green Trails, will be a gated and boast 23 homesites. Trendmaker has developed and is building all the homes in this section. The prices will start in the $500,000's. Many larger lots will be available...some with lot premiums. Because of its location on the corner of Kingsland Blvd and Baker Rd this section will be in a low tax area (this section has a low mud tax) and is located in the Award Winning KISD School District.
0 comments • Team DiMuria, Katy Texas Realtors • November 14 2007 12:06PM

For Sale in Grand Lakes

• 3,293 sq. ft., 5 bath, 5 bdrm two story - $350,000

Grand Lakes, Katy  -  Beautiful 2 Story 5 Bedroom 4 1/2 Bath Executive home in the Master Planned Community of Grand Lakes! This Trendmaker built home features a Gourmet Island Kitchen with Granite Countertops, Formal Dining Room, 2nd Floor Gameroom, a private Study/Formal Living Room, 1st floor Master Suite, Hidden Storage area, and a large Yard large enough for a pool! Close to the Westpark Tollway, I-10, and the Grand Parkway! This home is in the Award Winning KISD School District!

0 comments • Team DiMuria, Katy Texas Realtors • November 13 2007 03:56PM

LaCenterra Mall to Add Kirkland's

The LaCenterra Mall in Cinco Ranch, Katy has announced the addition of Kirkland's to list of tenants. The home decor retailer should be opened for the Christmas Holidays, it is planning a December 2007 opening for its 6500sqft showroom. Kirkland's operates over 350 stores nationwide and can be found on the web at http://www.kirklands.com/

This is a wonderful addition to the LaCenterra lineup! The nice range of items Kirkland's offers including lamps, candles, picture frames, accent rugs, garden accessories, and holiday merchandise will be a big draw for the mall.

0 comments • Team DiMuria, Katy Texas Realtors • November 13 2007 03:52PM

Villagio Cinco Ranch Book Store Now Open!

A long awaited book store has now opened in Katy South of I-10! The Bookworm, located in the Villagio Retail Center is not only selling books, they are offering many services to the community! The owner, Sandi Petty, is a former Katy ISD employee and offers many programs designed to help students in the district. Reading level assessments for preschoolers and elementary students, reading tutoring, and parent education classes will be held. Other services will include; trade-in on previously read books, monthly newsletters, author signings, book study groups, senior citizen days, parent/child activities, and gift wrapping. Comfortable reading areas and an available meeting room are also offered. The Villagio Retail Center is located on the corner of Westheimer Parkway and Peek Road in Cinco Ranch.
0 comments • Team DiMuria, Katy Texas Realtors • November 13 2007 01:06PM

Kingsland Blvd Construction Extension Begins!

Construction on Kingsland Blvd from the Grand Parkway to the Katy Mills Mall has begun. When completed the extension will help alleviate traffic from the neighborhoods on the northern part of Falcon Ranch and Falcon Rock. This project will also help traffic patterns on the feeder roads of the Grand Parkway (presently commuters going from the mall to Kingsland east of the Grand Parkway must go south on the feeder road and loop under the Grand Parkway north to get to Kingsland). The city of Katy is also working with Fort Bend County to extend Kingsland west of the Katy Mills Mall to WoodCreek Reserve near FM 1463.
0 comments • Team DiMuria, Katy Texas Realtors • November 12 2007 11:03AM

Why Realtors Will Never Starve!

It never ceases to amaze us how many free lunches and dinners we are offered as Realtors. Every new development invites us for a free meal and prizes. We have invites every day to broker open houses with free lunches offered as enticement. We are offered lunch tickets to bring our clients by new homes. Based on all the free food we are offered we need to go to the gym three times a week just to keep are heads...and weight above water and below maximum density!

Add to this our Tuesday morning sales meeting...complete with donuts, sausage biscuits, and an assortment of fattening foods that could choke a dinosaur!

We need to stop the insanity...bring fruit in the morning, grilled chicken at lunch...or even a gas card instead of food...We could use that!

5 comments • Team DiMuria, Katy Texas Realtors • November 09 2007 02:42PM

Update on Shops at Bella Terra

The new Shops at Bella Terra on the southwest corner of The Grand Parkway and Westpark Tollway is set to open in April of 2008. Super Wal-Mart and Kohl's are the anchor stores that will initially open. Others who have signed on to do business at the shops are; Petsmart, Ross, Famous Footwear, Wachovia Bank, Taco Bell, and Whataburger. The Shops at Bella Terra when completed will be one of the largest mixed use retail sites south of I-10.
1 comment • Team DiMuria, Katy Texas Realtors • November 09 2007 02:27PM

Schedule for Katy ISD Zoning Meetings

Here is a schedule for the Middle School (WoodCreek and Greenhouse) zoning meetings. They had been missing from the katyisd.org site so we called an got the school board to e-mail us a copy. This meeting is not to be missed by anyone who is zoned to Beck Jr High School. The November 8th meeting will be held at the ESC/Boardroom by the Merrill Center.

 

2007 Rezoning Committees' Meeting Schedules

Junior High 11 (Greenhouse) and Junior High 12 (WoodCreek Reserve)

 

Thursday, November 8, 2007                                              ESC/Board Room

Thursday, November 15, 2007                                            ESC/Board Room

Tuesday, November 20, 2007                                             ESC/1200 BCG

Thursday, November 29, 2007                                            ESC/Board Room

Tuesday, December 4, 2007                                               ESC/Board Room (only if needed)

 

All meetings will be held from 6:30-8:30 p.m.

All meetings are open to the public.

0 comments • Team DiMuria, Katy Texas Realtors • November 05 2007 12:33PM

Cinco Ranch Amenities Key Prices Going Up

If you need new or additional keys to the Cinco Ranch pools or parks you may want to buy them now. The price per key will be going up to $20 each on January 1st 2008. If you need additional keys or need to replace the keys you have, go to the Cinco Ranch HOA building on Mason Rd just south of Westheimer (in the trailer). You will need to bring proof of ownership in Cinco Ranch. If you are a new resident of Cinco Ranch you can bring a copy of your HUD 1 form (that is the closing document with the breakdown fees and payments).
0 comments • Team DiMuria, Katy Texas Realtors • November 05 2007 12:07PM

Farmer's Market opens at La Centerra in Cinco Ranch!

La Centerra Mall in Cinco Ranch has opened a Saturday farmer's market from 8am to 12pm. Items available for sale at the market this week will be: Okra, baby greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, strawberries, broccoli, citrus, fresh baked breads, free range eggs, all natural pet products, grass fed beef, fresh cut flowers, and much, much more! go to http://www.katyfarmersmarket.com/ or call 281-579-1644 for more info. La Centerra Mall is located on the corner of Cinco Ranch Blvd and The Grand Parkway (hwy 99).
0 comments • Team DiMuria, Katy Texas Realtors • November 02 2007 04:34PM