Tanger Outlet Center Opens in Texas City

As most everone knows, the new outlet center in Texas City, just south of Dickinson, recently opened.

The 350,000-sf retail project was a combined effort between Simon and Tanger, a first for the two companies, which are normally competitors. The retail building was 97 percent leased at delivery with 80 featured retailers and has the potential for a 50,000-sf expansion in the future.

Read more at the Galveston Daily News and CoStar Group.

For more on the Texas City, see NewsTalk Texas.

NEW FHA LOAN REQUIREMENTS

NEW FHA MORTGAGE RULES TAKE EFFECT

New Federal Housing Administration (FHA) rules will effect many first-time homebuyers as well as many current homeowners. 

One rule, which took effect yesterday, disqualifies first-time homebuyers with more than $1,000 in medical or other collections from getting an FHA-backed loan. To qualify for the loan, the buyer must pay off the debt or show that three months of payments have been made.

Meanwhile, all homeowners who have FHA loans will have to pay more in mortgage insurance starting next Monday.

What does this mean for someone that is interested in buying a home? They need a great loan officer that can help them understand how this affects their ability to buy a home. If you are thinking of buying a home, contact me (Robert M. Bragg) at 832.256.8589. I'll help connect you with our lender, and together as a team, we can establish a plan to help you move past any challenges.

View the Full Article Here

HAR ANNOUNCES - 8 MONTHS OF INCREASED HOME SALES

THE NEW YEAR BEGINS ON A POSITIVE NOTE FOR THE HOUSTON REAL ESTATE MARKET

January marks the eighth consecutive month of increased home sales

HOUSTON – (February 21, 2012) — The Houston housing market held to positive territory as 2012 began, with January marking the eighth consecutive month of increased home sales. The year also opened with a continued decline in active property listings and growth in pending sales—a combination that signals a healthy market with a balanced supply of housing inventory, and that puts Houston on enviable footing compared to many other markets around the U.S. that are slowly recovering from the housing downturn.

January sales of single-family homes climbed 9.2 percent versus one year earlier, according to the latest monthly data prepared by the Houston Association of REALTORS® (HAR). All segments of the housing market grew except the luxury segment—those homes priced from $500,000 and above—whose decline flattened the overall average price.

"The January report shows continued strength in the Houston housing market that we began seeing in the latter part of 2011, and it gives us cause for optimism as we look ahead to the typically active spring and summer buying months," said Wayne A. Stroman, HAR chairman and CEO of Stroman Realty. "We have also seen more jobs being filled locally and you generally don't experience a strong real estate market without healthy employment."

FOR THE FULL ARTICLE AND VIDEO, CLICK HERE.

RESTARTING THE TEXAS BAY AREA BLOG!

With the new school season
in August came new
responsibilities.

It has been some time since I posted here and I was trying to figure out why I lost touch with my Blog. Previously I was trying to post at least twice a month. Looking back, it appears that my last post was on July 29th, just before the new school season started in August. And that's when I found the culprit! The new 2012 school season, and the new change in our home life.

With the new school season, my wife started her full time job with the Dickinson School Distrcit as a 1st grade teacher. Previously, she was working only half days as a pre-school teacher at the same location. Like most families in todays economic times, my wife and I realized that we could no longer keep her at home either full or part time to care for our 3 young children. Instead, we needed her to take on a full time job, and the full time income, so we could keep our family above water. Luckily, we were able to find a great pre-school for our two youngest, and our oldest started attending 1st grade.

My Ipad schedule always
looks full like this.

As a Real Estate Agent, my schedule is "flexible." Well, not really. If you plan to succeed in Real Estate, then basically being a Real Estate Agent is a full time job, with a full time schedule, especially on weekends and after 5:00 pm weekdays when your clients are free to meet. Besides, I don't know many serious buyers or sellers that want a part-time agent. However, my schedule was "flexible" enough to allow us to make the double income family schedule work.

I had to chase down the
bus once since my son
missed it. They won't
let me do that again.

Since my wife typically leaves the house by 7:15 am at the latest, I'm basically pulling kid duty in the mornings. I try to have myself and my 1st grader son almost ready to go by that same time so we can see my wife off to her job. Next I get my 1st grader to the bus stop by 7:30 am...often times with the threat that he is going to miss the bus if he doesn't get moving! In fact, I once chased down the bus to the next stop in my neighborhood since he missed it. Needless to say, the bus driver didn't like that. Once I see him off, its back inside to rouse up the two pre-schoolers, get them fed, dressed, and ready. Its alwasy a challenge to help them feel my sense of urgency as we get ready in the mornings. We try to leave before 8:30 am, as the earliest they can be at school is 8:30 am. Twice a week I'm supposed to be at the Bayou Realtors office at 8:30 am...its hard to be in two places at the same time!

I squeeze in my "Real
Estate Chores" into a
2 hour window each day.

It took some time, but I finally adjusted to this new morning schedule. The afternoons were more difficult! Initially, we were able to recruit my father to assist with picking up the kids twice a week. This was definitely helpful, however, I was still having to pick up kids at 2:00 pm in the afternoon three times a week. Usually, I end up at the office by 9:00 am, and start my "Real Estate Day." After picking up the kids at 2:00 pm, I then have about 2 hours to do some "Real Estate Chores" such as put up signs, take pictures of homes, etc., before I have to be home for my 1st grader to arrive at 4:00 pm. Around 5:00 to 5:30 pm, my wife would get home, and then I could head back out to go on my appointments, just in time for my clients to get off work and be ready for me.

Now my father is covering three days a week for me, and that has made all the difference. Wow...I didn't realize what one more day would mean to me and my business! I am now able to assist in training our new agents at our office, and have more time assisting buyers looking for a home. That one extra day has allowed me to start growing my business, instead of just managing it. I have a lot of thanks to my dad for that. And, in all of this, I have been able to spend more time with my kids...even if its just because I'm moving them from one place to the next.

With the market picking up
we are ready for growth
and expansion! We've added
5 new agents to our office
over the last 6+ months!

This blog post is a little different for me. I don't often open up my personal life on my business blog. However, here it is. What started as just a quick note to say why I've been gone from this blog for 6+ months has become a 7 paragraph dissertation! I never left Real Estate...instead I've been submerged in it. I just haven't looked at my Blog since school started. Anyways...all I can say is that I understand the struggles that everyone is facing, as I face them too. My consistant goal is to take care of my clients, and help them get what they need...whether its selling their house, finding their new dream home, or helping them with some other real estate need. My client's goal is my goal! And I'm thankfull to have the support of my wife and family to help me make that possible for my clients.