First, I must proclaim that I am NOT an Attorney and in no way am I attempting to give legal advice.  My question is, "how SAFE is it to owner finance in Texas?"   I received a call from a friend yesterday and she was asking me about the potential of OWNER FINANCING her Texas home. She explained that a couple had viewed it and said their credit was not up to par and would the Seller consider holding the note. This answer was a no-brainer. It was a big fat "NO".  Their home is still mortgaged which caused the obvious problem.  ARMS LENGTH MORTGAGES ARE ILLEGAL IN TEXAS. In fact, if you go into a contract stating you will finance the home for them and you consider it a sale, it is my understanding that your note holder will call your note due and payable immediately!!!  If you've sold the... 03/01/2012

CLOSED: Lease Home on Lake Conroe! The above photo shows the beautiful view that now greets my client Anna each day as she relaxes on her back patio or in her living room at 854 Lake View Dr.! A lease home on Lake Conroe is an exciting residence for those who love the open water- and there lovely homes available for under $2,000/month. Anna and I met recently at my church following her relocation to the Houston area from Hawaii. Hawaii is difficult to leave behind, she tells me, and water views were something she didn’t want to be without. We began searching for lake front homes for lease on Lake Conroe and visited several, but none could compare with the amenities and gorgeous view at 854 Lake View Dr., a listing held by a local Lake Conroe real estate broker. After negotiating a sati... 01/27/2012

Take Charge of Your Attitude and Sell More Real Estate! IMHO... Our attitudes, as well as our thoughts, actions and the love we choose to give are all CHOICES. If you want a better attitude....make better choices.   Be grateful there is work to be done. Boredom kills and challenges keep you "thinking". Quit grumbling and count your blessings. We all have them. Thank our Nation for giving us the right and the choice to vote. Thank our customers for being loyal. Offer to help a friend, colleague, or client with no expectations. Remind your clients that you will be there for them when they need you.   Allow yourself only two kinds of days....good and great. It's your choice. Your answer to, "how is business" should be "GREAT." (would you want to do business with a whiney, gripey, naysayer?... 01/25/2012

Home is where the heart is...As Professionals we have the drill down now don't we? We question, we qualify, we place, but are we actually doing the best for our clients? Are we finding out where their hearts are? Couples, singles, families, all have their specifications of their perfect "living ideals".   Maybe you have a woman that works full time and her only relax time is in the den?         Maybe you have a full time home maker that spends 40% of her time in the kitchen or maybe her idea is to make the perfect home for her husband? Do you ask the right questions? Yes, I'm sure you ask questions....that's a given. But, are you "breaking the ice enough to find out the true motivation" of your buyer? Sometimes, the best of sales is to just listen to your buyers. Just listen. They may n... 11/03/2011

This one won't be coming up on Google you know. No such word. I first heard this from  Jason Crouch.  Yes, the famous, or is it the infamous Jason Crouch? He's off making bookoos of money for his family as we speak. We are all trying to do the same. What is it you ask? This word?  Halloween, Thanksgiving and of course, Christmas or Hanakkuh depending on your choice! They are all beginning to blend together. Help keep the "commercialism" from our Holidays! WooHoo! We are in the season of celebrating.   The word "celebrating" almost brings to mind the word "cerebral" meaning "that of the brain" and I guess we are "thinking" of celebrations! I walk into almost any store now and I can see blinking lights on trees and Santa Claus and forget about Turkeys as they are almost ready to ditch to ... 10/30/2011

It is a daily guarantee. Nothing we do, nothing we know, and no one we know will remain the same. Philosophy is one of deep thought, "educational concepts" that haunt each of us even if we never had formal education. Whether you realize it or not, it will haunt you.EXAMINE ALL POSSIBILITIESChange. What does it mean? As humans it means we have yet another mountain to climb. We have yet another problem to solve. We have yet another heart to heal and yet another dilemma to dissolve. We can do it. We were placed upon this earth to absorb, then rationalize and to then react. Our inclinations are to revert to primal thinking. This would mean thinking of one's self first and foremost. But, as civilized man, we are much more progressive than that. We, as civilized and educated man, instead of p... 10/25/2011

Thinking back a few years ago I remember the attitude of..."It's my listing...don't touch it!"  I had progressed into the new millennium like a comet hitting earth for an old fart like me. It all seems to me to be a normal understandable thing to do! Zillow, Realtor.com and so many others scrape our listings anyway. Why not allow a competitor to show your listing on their web sites? Why not?Our standard rules are to show the listing company and simply place your name and contact information for the showings and "BUYER'S REPRESENTATIVE". We should all have the simple "DO IT RIGHT AND HAVE AT IT!" attitude. It is our Fiduciary responsibility to do everything we can to represent the seller when we take a listing. Placing that very listing on other sites is also a responsibility to give the... 10/16/2011