West Memorial is a small enclave of homes that borders to the east on Mason Rd, to the North on I-10, to the west and south it bumps up against Governors Place. The homes in West Memorial were built between the late seventies and the late eighties. The price range in West Memorial is from just under $100,000 to around $150,000. Residents of West Memorial love the beautiful amenities of the neighborhood like the large area park, the neighborhood pool, and the large meeting room. Residents also love the two neighborhood schools...located next to each other....West Memorial Elementary and West Memorial Jr High School. The two schools are within walking or biking distance from most of the neighborhood homes. The strong Home Owners Association makes sure that properties within the subdivision look great and that they comply with neighborhood rules and regulations.

We have many reasons why clients choose to purchase in this neighborhood...the major reasons are...great proximity to I-10, shopping, medical facilities, the Westpark Tollway...and of course the Award Winning KISD school district!

In 2007 Earth Hour was first observed and many cities around the world participated including Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix, San Francisco, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa, and many great cities outside North America. It was created by the World Wildlife Foundation in Sydney, Australia.

Here is the Deal:

on March 29th at 8pm (your own local time in your city or town) turn off your lights for 1 hour!

join in with other people from all over the globe...let us show how much we care about the Earth! Give one hour away...turn off the lights, turn off the TV, Turn out for Earth Hour!

Who knows....maybe in nine months we will have a mini baby-boom!

It has come to our attention that many agents around the Country are paying others to get better blog results for their neighborhoods or cities or posts by raising the profile of specific posts, pictures, and areas.

To those Realtors or real estate networking friends....this is a bad practice that distorts what you do...and the only reason you are doing it is because you are too lazy to do the work required yourself!

Social networking, blogging, and group participation is just that...a forum to allow the free flow of ideas between agents, those who participate in our business, and of course buyers and sellers. Those who bypass the system or try to outsmart the system will in the long run fail because while you may get hits...if you have little of value to say you will be clicked off quickly...and potentially hurt the entire network.

So from Team DiMuria...write your own stuff, do your own work, and let those who CHOOSE to read your work do it based on the actual value it has! Save your money and work for your business...it will be much more rewarding...and you may actually make money off it!

The Arts for All! family festival will be held this Saturday, March 29th at the LaCenterra Mall in Cinco Ranch, Katy Texas. The time for the event will be from 10am until 5pm. Admission and all activities will be free to the public. The festival will host more than 50 booths that will include such activities  as face painting, professional artist demos, balloons, games, refreshments, and live music. The festival will also host a professional theatre company and a live magic show.

for more info on the event visit www.kvpac.org

LaCenterra Mall is located on the corner of Cinco Ranch Blvd and The Grand Parkway (Hwy 99) in the Master Planned Community of Cinco Ranch in Katy Texas.

Villagio has a new restaurant and if you like hot wings you may just be in heaven! on March 18th Buffalo Wings & Rings opened at the retail center located on the corner of Westheimer Pkwy and Peek Rd in the master planned community of Cinco Ranch in Katy Texas.

The Menu features soups, salads, chili, wraps, sandwiches, burgers, gyros, and of course chicken wings and chicken tenders! The wings can be served from sweet (like sweet BBQ) to hot (like crazy)! Buffalo Wings & Rings also offers a nice lunch menu and big screen TVs to watch your favorite teams!

here is the website for more info: http://www.buffalowingsandrings.com/

The Cinco Ranch Garage Sale will be held this Saturday, March 29th in the parking lot at Cinco Ranch High School. The event is being hosted by the Cinco Ranch High School PTSA (Parent Teacher Student Association). If you live in Cinco Ranch remember that the community does not allow at home garage sales so this is a great opportunity for you to sell the stuff you have around the house you no longer need!

Spaces for this event can be rented for $25. and the time for picking up a hidden gem is between 8am and 12pm. For info on the event...and to fill out a registration form go to the Cinco Ranch High School PTSA website at http://www.crhsptsa.org/

Cinco Ranch High School is located on the Northwest corner of Cinco Ranch Blvd and the Grand Parkway (hwy 99).

If you are reading this you are either new to the business...or past the stage of failure (although you may be ready to pack it in and you are ready the last blog post of your career). Over the years I have watched many failures in sales of all kinds and the reasons (no matter what you sell...cars, TVs, houses, etc...) are the same.

Here is my breakdown of why, how, and how to overcome this issue:

1. Time Management: Most sales people...real estate agents included have terrible time management skill. If you can not manage your time you will work much harder than you need to. Here are a couple of tips for you...schedule your hours at the beginning of each month...for the entire month. Make sure to show up for each hour scheduled...and work while you are at work. Even if you home office you must schedule your time. Write down what you need to accomplish each day, and also flag it on your computer...this will give you a double check to make sure you are getting everything you need to do-DONE!

2. Hours: Most salespeople and real estate agents are no exception have absolutely no idea how many hours it takes to do this job properly. I can not tell you how many times I have been told the reason someone got into the business was "...because of the flexible hours!"  This could not be further from the truth...especially when you are getting started. The hours are long and the work is hard...the benefits are down the road...but you need to stick with it.

3. Run out of money: This is a big reason salespeople drop like rocks! It takes time to get started and learn your craft. If you are in real estate you must learn what your special niche will be...and find ways to get the message out. Solution if you are new: Go into to this with a specific budget to spend each month on advertising, spend your time wisely visiting competitive homes, new builders, learning the neighborhoods (all this should be scheduled of course...please see #1 above) and finding out our technology that can help you drive leads to your specific area of expertise. Make sure you have enough money set aside to pay the bills for a year (if you are going to be counted on to provide for the family). If you do not have the money to get started you will very likely fail!

4. Your attitude is your altitude: You will only go as far as your personal attitude will carry you. If you are negative about everything going on at your office ( I always here...the training is bad, the people are not friendly, the manager is never around, the buyers are liars, etc...) you will not go far...my suggestion...GO DRIVE A TRUCK...OR MAYBE TEACH HIGH SCHOOL...you will not make it in real estate!

Prudential Real Estate has struck a deal with OpenHouse.com to list all Prudential open house listings on their nationwide open house site. This will give added exposure to the homes we hold open and allow clients to view all the open houses from the Prudential Real Estate Network by price, date and time, location, and number of bedrooms. The homes will be automatically uploaded to OpenHouse.com on a daily basis.

Another benefit to our clients is the fact that OpenHouse.com will not allow any advertising on its site. The leads will go directly to the agent or brokerage...so clients who wish to see the specific home listed will not be switched to another home that a competing agent may have listed.

At Team DiMuria Mona and I make sure we make available the option to our clients to hold the home they have listed open as many times as needed to sell! The agreement is an added tool to help our clients sell homes faster...and for the highest possible net to them!

When you first enter Windsor Park Lakes you notice a very different feel from the rest of the Katy area (Windsor Park Lakes actually has a West Houston mailing address...but is in the Katy ISD schools). This subdivision is a tropical oasis in the center of all the brick and stone homes that dot the Katy area. The beautiful entrance into the multi-lake community leads you through the tropical setting that is more reminiscent of California or Florida than the Houston area. All the homes in Windsor Park lakes will have a similar tropical feel right up to the tile roofs. The sidewalks are brick laid (a nice touch) and palm trees are in abundance throughout the community. Windsor Park Lakes also allows electric power boating through the lakes...and many of the homes have private docks. the lakes are also stocked with fish through the year so the kids can have fun catch and releasing all year long. The community has a very nice amenity package which includes tennis, basketball, and a beautiful pool and clubhouse...only for Windsor Park Lakes residents. The KISD school district is among the finest in the State of Texas and the tree schools the community feeds (Pattison, McMeans, and Taylor) are all very highly rated. The location of Windsor Park Lakes also makes the community stand out...it is the eastern most subdivision in the Katy area...this put it closest to the Houston Energy Corridor...for a very short commute! Windsor Park Lakes is close to I-10, Shopping, the wonderful Christus St Catherine Hospital, and many medical facilities and churches.

I went into my office tonight at about 9pm for a quick fax and I could not believe it...all the lights in the entire office had been left on...all the A/C units had been left on 69 degrees (we had a record high of 89 degrees today)...and not a single fax, computer, or copier had been turned off.

After taking care of business I spent the next ten minutes turning off all the electric guzzlers. This is obviously a colossal waste of energy and I can not think of a single reason all this stuff should have been left on. So I got to thinking: What if we could get in touch with all the Activerainers out in blogland and get them to turn off the energy

HOW MUCH ENERGY COULD WE SAVE?

HOW MUCH POLUTION COULD WE AVOID?

We could make a difference if we all just turn off the electric, gas, etc... THINK ABOUT IT!

I just looked at our points and stats and noticed we are at 199 posts. As I write this post I realize we are talking for the 200th time....WOW!

We often write about subjects like our many and varied subdivisions and Master Planned communities in Katy Texas. We might write about advice on how to follow up using Outlook, or how you might attract more clients to your website...or the best and most effective ways to advertise without spending money!

Our posts have delved into what is right and wrong with our chosen profession...and sometimes we have talked about our favorite sport...Baseball!

We have made many great friends along the way...they give us good advice and are always giving us great feedback on the issues of the day!

We are going to keep reading all the wonderful info that keeps coming are way through this great network...please keep giving us feedback on our site. We really feel the great agents around the Country that use this network will be responsible for changing the way our industry does business!

KEEP FIGHTING....AND WRITING!

Katy Texas Market Conditions have been posted by HAR (the Houston Association of Realtor) for the month of February. The Katy area south of I-10 (known as area 36 by the HAR) has again ranked as number one within the 80+ areas that are monitored by HAR.

The Houston market for real estate has shown signs of slowing down in the last three months, but the Katy area...especially the area of Katy south of I-10 has remained quite strong. The area shows a 3.7 total month supply of homes available for sale.

NAR (the National Association of Realtors) considers a six month supply of homes as a level market. Any more than six months is considered a buyers market....any less than six months is a sellers market. Katy is firmly within the sellers market rating. Prices in the area continue to rise at a steady pace as well.

With the low available interest rates, nice supply of homes, and great schools and medical facilities...buyers may never find a better time to call Katy home!

if you have any questions go to our www.KatyHomeFinder.com website...or e-mail us at jeffreydimuria@garygreene.com

We have a real estate team in our area that sells many homes. They list homes for zero commission if you buy with them, they carry large inventories...many new homes from new construction builders who give them leads, they deal in volume.

I always have some questions;

If you carry 300 listings how much time are you devoting to each listing. Lets say you spent 10 minutes per listing per week (we spend hours per week per listing). 300 x 10 minutes would not give you any time to do anything else...would it? Or do they hire someone at minimum wage to do their bidding?

It appears to us they give a sign, a lock box, and MLS input....then they will call you if another Realtor happens on the property and sells it. Does this limited service relationship really work for clients...or is it that they just do not know better?

We always feel sorry for the client....they sign a locked in listing agreement, they get Zero service, they finally sell their home for whatever they can get (remember since the listing agent has no vested interest in selling for a higher dollar figure...how hard do you think they fight)...and then to get the benefit of the agreement they must buy the new home with this agent...based on that arrangement how hard will these agents work on the buy side? They work on a credit back system...so if you do not use them...they get their money anyway!

We limit the number of listings we carry at any one time to 10! We give full service...and only full service! We work hard to get our clients every dollar we can...and the more we get them the more we make...a nice arrangement for both!

We feel strongly that agents should be required to either provide an agreed upon level of service to call themselves full service...or be required to disclose that they are limited service brokers and provide minimal service for a low price. Both options can work for clients...as long as they understand what they are getting!

Westheimer Lakes North and its sister community Westheimer lakes are located west of the Grand Parkway on either side of FM1093. The difference between the two is that Westheimer Lakes North is located within the boundaries of the Katy Independent School District....while Westheimer Lakes is part of the Lamar CISD. The homes within Westheimer Lakes North are also located at the southernmost boundary of the South Katy area.

As one of the newer subdivisions in the Katy area Westheimer Lakes North still has plenty of room...and many new homes are still available. A new pool and splash pad are being built in the North side to coincide with the impressive amenities already located to the south. The Katy ISD schools that are fed by Westheimer Lakes North are all highly rated award winning schools and the location of Westheimer Lakes is ideal for those traveling to the Houston Med Center (located off the new commuter only Westpark Tollway) or the Houston Energy Corridor (located off the minutes away I-10).

Hospitals, medical facilities of all kinds, shopping, malls, and a large number of restaurants are all located within a short drive of this very well priced community. Both new construction and re-sale homes are available in Westheimer Lakes North priced from under $140,000 to over $300,000. The reasonable prices and great location make this a wonderful family or empty nest option for many!

go to our http://www.katyhomefinder.com/ website or e-mail us at jeffreydimuria@garygreene.com with any questions!

Memorial Parkway is a medium sized subdivision in the Katy area south of I-10. It is located between Kingsland Blvd, Mason Rd, and surrounds Highland Knolls and Westgreen. This subdivision is noted for having a variety of styles, quiet streets, lots of trees, and wonderful KISD schools. The prices for this subdivision run from about $100,000 to about $200,000. Amenities for Memorial Parking include an area pool, parks, proximity to shopping and restaurants.

The homes in Memorial Parkway were built predominately in the 1980's and many of the original residents still live in the community. Many of the residents are first time home buyers that love the great value...as well as many seniors and families with small children.

One of the many benefits of Memorial Parkway is its location. The subdivision is close to I-10, The Grand Parkway (which will be the next loop around the City of Houston) and the new Westpark Tollway. It is in close driving distance to the Katy Mills Mall, the LaCenterra Mall, and the yet to be completed Grand Promenade.