Team DiMuria Katy Texas Blog: June 2008

The Master Planned Community of Seven Meadows in Katy Texas has announced its summer movie schedule. Movies are set for Monday's at 2pm and are held at the Central Park Residents Club.

The Schedule is as follows:

June 30th: Toy Story 2 (rated G)

July 7th: Lady and the Tramp (rated G)

July 14th: The Aristocats  (rated G) My Favorite!!!

July 21st: The Rescuers (rated G)

July 28th: The Little Mermaid (rated G)

Here is the big question for all new agents...and many seasoned agents who seemed to have lost their way in the past couple of years. First a couple of things:

Part 1. Although business in most areas is not as good as it was a couple of years ago...you must recognize that if you are doing the same things as you did in the past (or if you are new you follow what others in your office are doing) you will likely remain on a downward trend.

Part 2. The system you choose is less important then the fact that most agents do not follow a system.

Part 3. How you get the word out about yourself or your team will determine how many chances you get to implement your system!

Part 1: We can almost all agree that business is down over previous years...but if you examine the stats the fact that business is down is offset to a large degree by the fact that the number of agents in almost every area of the Country is down as well. If you are in an area that is off 25%...but you have 15% fewer agents...the effect of the drop is diminished.  The real key is what you as an agent is doing to combat the changing real estate landscape. Have you embraced technology? The latest statistics show 90% of all buyers go to the Internet first before buying...what are you doing to attract them to you?

Part 2: About once a month a real estate guru comes into our office to tell us about the latest system that will allow you to retire rich! I truly believe most agent go to these seminars because they feel if they can just find the right system...they will be able to do exactly what they are doing now...employ the system...and the income they are making will double...triple...quadruple...etc.. Here is a secret for you-It is not the system you employ...it is the system you follow that will make you rich! If you follow your system each and every day your business will snowball. You do not need to pay money to a guru, you don't need expensive follow up tools (we use outlook because it is free), you just need to do it every day. We live by this rule...follow the system and do not go home until everything is done for the day! When you have nothing to do don't take the day off...work that much harder to create new business.

Part 3: Once you have decided to follow your system no matter what, it is time to figure out what the best way to get the word out. Here are some good rules- do not advertise to anyone how great you are, they only care about what you can do for them. Forget about real estate books, they make all agents look the same...your goal should be to stand out. Most important...learn everything you can about the web...it is the future!

Cimarron is a small subdivision in Katy Texas south of I-10. It fits nicely between Cinco Ranch to the south and Governor's Place to the north. The first thing that will strike you when viewing similar neighborhoods to Cimarron is the quiet location the subdivision's location affords it. Other fine neighborhoods that offer homes in the same price range tend to be bordered by main highways, or lots of commercial buildings. They might have a bunch of large or main roads running through them with increased traffic issues. Not Cimarron. The location is ideal...and the lack of issues bordering the neighborhood make it a perfect place for first time home buyers or empty nest buyers.

Homes in Cimarron run from just below $100,000 for a home that may need some updating, to around $150,000. The majority of the homes are one story homes between 1300 and 2000 square feet. Nice tree lined streets and a strong Home Owner's Association have kept Cimarron looking go through out all of it's many sections. Because of the location, great KISD schools, and nice level of amenities (Parks, pools, etc...) Cimarron is also a big hit with investors and those moving here from out of State.

All who are interested in a nice neighborhood at a reasonable price in a great location...near everything...should put Cimarron high on their list.

We love the Katy Texas. We have warm temps year round (a little hot right now I must admit), a great job market, lots of restaurants, parks and recreation galore, some of the best schools you will find, and great area subdivisions that are full of amenities.

We do need to change ONE thing however. Most of the subdivisions within the Katy area do not allow solar panels on the roof of homes. It is against the deed restrictions in many of our neighborhoods. I do not know if the reason is because the units tend to be large and somewhat unattractive. I do not know if the reasons lie in the fact that largest employers have names like Shell, BP, Conocophillips, etc..., or maybe we just have not taken the time to think about the environment as much as we should...it is time!!!

Solar panels could not only help us cut our electric bills for things like running our appliances, A/C units, hot water, etc.. It could also help reduce our dependence on foreign oil from the Middle East. Solar panels can also reduce the burden of hot summer days that cause brown outs. These occur because we have a shortage of energy during peek times.

We live in Kids Town USA here in Katy. I think it is time to think about leaving our children with a better World and begin using the Sun...after all we have no shortage of it in Katy Texas!!!

Saturday, June 14th will mark the annual Cinco Ranch Father's Day Fishing Tournament! This is a special event held by the Cinco Ranch POA and is open only to Cinco Ranch residents and their guests. You can pre-register for the tournament by providing the name and age of each fisherman as well as the lake you choose to fish in and e-mail them to special.events@cincoranchconnects.com or fax it to the POA at 281-599-0478. log on to www.cincoranchpoa.com for more details.

This is really a question. Do you think high gas prices will have middle class Americans moving back to the inner city? Are we seeing an end to the migration to a better life in the burbs???

Here are a couple of things...the aging of America would tend to feed back to the inner cities if gas was not $4 a gallon.

Highway congestion is at the point that people are looking back anyway.

Young people tend to care more about the environment and mass transportation is always a better choice.

What do you think?

Houston was rated the number 1 city in the USA to live, work, and play by Kiplinger's. They based the decision to rate Houston tops because of the wonderful business climate, affordable housing, low taxes, entertainment options, and medical facilities.

We fell Katy is the best of the best in the Houston Metro area. Here are our reasons:

1. Award winning schools...the KISD school district is as good as it gets!

2. Great medical facilities...soon to be 5 big name area hospitals

3. No State Tax in Texas (that includes Katy!)

4. Housing cost are very reasonable

5. World class subdivisions with amenities like waterparks, work out facilities, golf courses, boating, etc...

6. Lots of shopping options

7. Near the Gulf of Mexico, the Texas Hill Country, and all the city of Houston has to offer!

8. Year round warm temps averaging mid 60's in the Winter!

9. Near two large Airports!

Katy is a great place to live, work, and play!