Carratala Group Real Estate Video Blog

Should you rent your home out or sell it? Both can be good options, depending on your situation.Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a home? Search all homes for saleI recently met with a former client who asked me if they are better off renting their home out as an investment property or simply selling it. It really depends on your individual circumstances and goals, but there are advantages to each method.If you’re looking to build wealth, you can use one investment property to get you to the point where you have four or five of these properties bringing in passive income each month. If this is your goal, it’s important that you meet with an agent who is looking out for your best interests.Most people need to sell in order to buy.However, most people need to sell their home in order to buy another property or they simply want to cash out on the equity they already have. In cases like these, selling makes much more sense. Renting is more of a long-term investment.If you have any questions for us or need help selling your home, give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you.

Today I wanted to give you a bit of an update on the Houston real estate market.Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a home? Search all homes for saleIt is hot, and we’re not just talking about the weather. The Houston real estate market is on fire. We had some wonderful gains these past few months. The highest gains took place among homes priced $750,000 and above where we saw 8,500 homes sell. This is an almost 10% increase from this time last year.The average sales price increase 1.5% to just over $300,000. That is a hot market. Even the lease market has increased, with single family home leases up 17% and townhomes and condos up almost 21%.We’ve seen some wonderful gains these past few months.So, between strong employment numbers and a healthy housing inventory, we can expect a great end to the summer and a wonderful start to the fall season.If you have any other questions or you’re looking to buy or sell a home, please give me a call. I’d be happy to help!

If you want to buy a home inside the 610 loop this summer during the busy buying season, follow these four tips.Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a home? Search all homes for saleIf you want to buy a home inside the 610 loop during the spring and summer buying season, follow these four tips:1. Drive around the area to really discover what works best for you: Since there are so many different neighborhoods within the loop, drive through to get an idea of them all. If you have pets like us and you want to live close to a dog park, for example, do your research to find dog parks and trails. 2. Get a home inspection: We recommend this for both resale and new construction homes. You’ll want to examine things like stucco, which was very popular after 2000. You also want to be sure the home’s flashing is done right so that there is no moisture behind the stucco. 3. Get a survey: This will establish the property lines. Sellers might actually have this done, but you want to get your own just in case. The current homeowner might have installed a fence off the property line or had a patio that wasn’t included. 4. Check out the new flood maps: They just changed as of January 2017, so check the updated flood map to be sure you have the right flood coverage.Flood maps changed this year, so you need to know how it would affect your coverage.We also wanted to quickly remind you that we’re having our vacation giveaway this year! If you buy or sell a home with us in 2017, you’ll be entered to win. If you have any questions or you're ready to buy or sell a home, give us a call or send us an email soon. We look forward to helping you!

Handling homeownership and mortgage obligations during a divorce can be difficult. I'm joined by divorce attorney Candace Demary to help me explain how to make this process go as smoothly as possible.Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a home? Search all homes for saleIt's an unfortunate fact that 50% of marriages end in divorce. If that happens, what happens to your home and mortgage? To help me explain, I'm joined by Candace Demary, a family law attorney of 15 years. Once you've decided to file for divorce, the first decision should be whether one of the parties wants to keep the house and whether they can afford it. If neither party wants the house or can afford to keep it on their own, you can sell the house and divide the proceeds.If one person wants to keep it, refinancing is an option. You'll need to have the house appraised and then negotiate a buyout of the equity of the house from the other spouse. Judges typically don't order a mortgage to be refinanced, but Candace says she often negotiates it as it's better to completely change the title over the to spouse keeping the house. It also frees up the other spouse to buy another house down the road.If one person wants to keep the house, refinancing is an option.If one spouse owned the home prior to the marriage, it would be considered their separate property. The other spouse doesn't have a claim to the house other than possible reimbursement for mortgage payments made during the marriage.Of course, each situation is complex and merits its own set of questions. If you'd like to ask Candace any questions, you can call her at (713) 682-4210.If you have any questions about the market or you're thinking of buying or selling a home, give us a call or send us an email soon. We're always here to help.

How can you successfully sell your home this spring or summer? For starters, avoid these four major selling mistakes.Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a home? Search all homes for saleNow is a great time to sell your home, so we have four tips to help you have a successful sale this spring and summer.1. Price your home correctly. A lot of sellers think that they can price their home high and just negotiate with the buyer down the road. However, homes that are priced at market value get the most attention, the most showings, and the best offers. 2. Don’t overimprove your home. Some sellers put so much money into their home thinking they will get $10 back for every dollar they spend, only to end up getting 10 cents on the dollar. Don’t invest too much money in home improvements. 3. Don’t limit the showings. Showings can be hard to deal with, but it’s really important that you allow people to come in and actually look at your home. If you limit showings, you risk working with a smaller pool of buyers. Make sure your home is available for showings.4. Don’t sell your property by yourself. 85% of For Sale By Owner properties end up hiring a listing agent to get their home sold. After all, we know what we’re doing. If you need any advice on selling your home, or if you are interested in a free copy of our book, "The Ultimate Guide to Selling Your House", give us a call or send us an email. Don’t forget, anyone who buys or sells a home with us this year will be entered to win a vacation in 2018. We are always here to help. We look forward to speaking with you!

We want to thank you for your business, so we are giving away a free vacation to one lucky client. Find out how to enter today. Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a home? Search all homes for saleThank you for making 2016 such a great year! We appreciate your business and your referrals. To fully express our appreciation, we will send one of you on vacation. In December of 2017, we will have a drawing and a lucky winner will get a free vacation. All you have to do to enter is buy or sell a home with us before December 1, 2017. Where will you go? It’s up to you—you might get to visit my hometown, Havana, or you might get to check out the Carribbean Islands. No matter where you go, it will be tropical, fun, and relaxing. All you have to do is buy or sell a house with us before December!Buy or sell a house with us in 2017 and you and your loved one will get a chance to win a free vacation. If you have any other questions about how this giveaway works or if you want to get started with the home buying or selling process, give us a call. We would be happy to help you!

Now that 2016 is over, we wanted to give you a quick rundown on what to expect from our 2017 market. Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a home? Search all homes for saleThe end of 2016 brought on a lot of uncertainty in the real estate market. There are some positive things that happened in our area, like home sales being up 3%, the luxury market starting to surge, and inventory starting to rise. However, 2017 is going to be the year of the millennial generation, as millennials will make up 35% of all home buyers. Many millennials who might have been waiting to jump into the market see that interest rates are on the rise. It’s possible interest rates will get up to 4.75% by the end of the year, so first-time home buyers will act fast before that happens. Because of this, there will be some great options for financing for first-time home buyers, so keep an eye out for those. 2017 is the year of the millennial generation.We will also see quite a bit of growth in 2017, and we are sure it will be an exciting year for our market. If you have any questions, please give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help!

Joining me today is Brenda Boral, a social media marketing expert who has four tips on how to grow your business via social media. Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a home? Search all homes for saleToday I’m joined by Brenda Boral, the owner of Boral Branders, an online marketing firm specializing in social media and search engine optimization. The reason I brought Brenda in today is that a lot of people, including our friends, family, and some past clients, are asking us if social media advertising is working for our real estate team. They’re noticing our ads on Facebook and YouTube and wondering how they can do the same thing with their own businesses.Brenda is here to help answer that question by offering four tips about how to grow your business via social media: Get on Facebook. Why should you be on Facebook? Because everybody else is. This includes both your competitors and clients. Facebook isn’t going anywhere, and people are putting their entire lives on it. That’s a lot of information to take advantage of. Analyze your competitors before implementing any strategies or campaigns on social media. See what they’re posting. How many times are they posting it? Why are they posting it? If whatever content they’re using is working, model your own strategy after it. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel. Know your target market. Analyze your target market by looking at your own client database. Who do you work with? What are their demographics? What are their interests? This information is crucial to understanding your clients and being able to reach out to them. Know your target market.Know the difference between boosting a post and creating an ad. When you boost a post, you’re helping other businesses that already have tons of likes. If you want to grow your own business, you must create and ad that involves a call to action for your target market. The great thing about an ad is that you can send it only to your target audience.  These ads can cost as little as $5 a day. If you need any more expert advice from Brenda on social media marketing strategies, she would love to give you a free consultation and offer some tips. Just give her a call at (832) 215-9471 or send her an email at brenda@boralbranders.comIf you have any more questions for me, feel free to give me a call or shoot me an email as well. I look forward to hearing from you!

As a home buyer, there a few simple things to remember when it comes to keeping your credit in good shape and avoiding any setbacks. Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a home? Search all homes for saleToday I’m joined by Joe Mahlow of ASAP Credit Repair to answer some common questions we get from first-time home buyers about maintaining a good credit score and how credit impacts their ability to buy a home. What can you do to make sure your credit is in good shape? A good idea would be to pull your credit report three to four times a year. This way, you can see what types of things are on your credit report and a credit repair company like Joe’s can evaluate it and let you know what they can do for you. What can negatively affect a credit score? A High credit card balance is one thing that can always affect your credit score. Joe always recommends keeping your balance at 30% or less than your limit. He also recommends not having too much credit. Typically, having three to five open installments or revolving accounts is great, but anything more than that can also hurt your credit.Always keep your balance at 30% or less than your limit.Do first-time home buyers have enough credit to buy a home? If you have limited credit, Joe recommends that you open a secure credit card and keep the balance at 30% or less than the limit. If you have credit established, a lot of lenders look for a 620 middle score. Every loan program is different, though, so it’s always good to get your score up as high as you possibly can and not have too many accounts open at one time. If you have any questions for Joe, you can reach him by phone at (281) 545-5001, or you can email him at joe@asapcreditrepairusa.com. As always, if you have any questions for me, please feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to helping you!

Most people think spring and summer are the best times to sell a home. In reality, selling in the fall comes with many advantages.Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a home? Search all homes for saleSometimes it pays to go against the crowd. That sentiment is very true if you are looking at selling your home in the fall. When most people think about selling, they think about the springtime, which is usually when they put their homes on the market. Summer is actually the season where the most homes sell, but there are some very powerful reasons as to why fall is a better time to sell than spring or summer.By fall, the properties that were listed on the market in the spring and summer are no longer there. Most of them have either been sold, expired, or taken off the market altogether. When your home comes on the market during the fall, it stands out a lot more. It’s a new listing, has fewer days on market, and pops up high on a lot of different home searches. Another reason to sell during the fall is because of the buyers in the market. The buyers looking during this time of year are serious. They may have been looking for months in some cases, and they want to get a deal done. When you put those two things together, you see that homes sold during the fall not only sell quicker, but for more money as well. Homes stand out more in the fall.If you are thinking about selling your home this fall, there are a few things you should do differently when preparing your home. First, make sure your HVAC system is working right and the filters have been changed. You also want the house to be inviting, warm, and fresh-smelling.Finally, make sure you price your home so that it will sell quickly. A market analysis will help you uncover what your home is worth. Once your home’s value is determined, we can figure out where to price it. In a shorter season like this, you may not have time to adjust the price, so you want to make sure that the home is priced aggressively to sell from the start.If you have any questions for us or are thinking about selling in the fall, give us a call or send us an email. We would love to hear from you.

For those of us with families, home security is of the utmost importance. Today I’m joined by Sean Collins of ADT to discuss some easy ways to keep your home safe.Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a home? Search all homes for saleToday I’m joined by Sean Collins with ADT Home Security to discuss a few tips and tricks for keeping your home safe and secure. Security is of the utmost importance when it comes to our families, so here are three tips to keep your home protected from intruders: 1.    Secure your doors. Your doors are one of the primary points of entry, so changing your locks is important for this reason, and Sean recommends using bump-proof locks. Strike plates with 3.5” screws are a great way to reinforce the doors as well.2.    Protect your windows. One of the biggest draws for criminals today is the master bathroom window, which is usually located downstairs. One easy fix to close this area off to intruders is to plant a rose bush or some sago palms outside in front of the window to make it more difficult for anyone to gain access to it.3.    Get a Ring Doorbell. The Ring Doorbell is essentially a doorbell with a built-in camera that allows you to see and communicate with anyone near your front door, whether you’re home or not. Sean highly recommends this, especially for families with kids who have to spend time alone in the house.Your alarm system should be your last resort.These are some easy and relatively cost-effective ways to protect your home. Sean encourages all homeowners to use their alarm system only as a last resort when it comes to security. If you have other questions for Sean, even if you’re not necessarily interested in installing a home alarm system, give him a call at (713) 382-9363 or email him at swcollins@adt.com. In the meantime, if you have any questions about home security or anything else related to real estate, feel free to reach out to me by phone or email as well. I’d be happy to help you!

Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a home? Search all homes for saleI am excited to be joined today by Mr. Mosher, principal of WoodCreek elementary here in the Katy ISD. He is the leader of a school full of passionate educators, and we help lots of families move from the city into places like Katy and we have been impressed by what Mr. Mosher and his school have to offer. We wanted to talk to him a little bit about what makes Katy ISD such a great district and what makes WoodCreek Elementary its crown jewel.The Katy Independent School District has a population from all over the world. Many people come here to work in the energy sector, and parents do their research about the nearby districts. The Katy ISD has a universal curriculum, and it’s a place where many of these relocation buyers come to live. Mr. Mosher sends his own kids to the Katy ISD.Mr. Mosher’s school, WoodCreek Elementary, is known for how much they care about their students. They want to be known for how much they love their students and parents because when you love someone, you will do whatever it takes for them. This is more than just a job to the educators at WoodCreek Elementary. It is their passion.WoodCreek Elementary is known for how much they care about their students.WoodCreek provides lots of opportunities for parents as well. No matter your situation, there are opportunities for you to become involved with your child’s schooling. Many people in the PTA leadership work full-time, but they have maintained a very healthy engagement with parents. Research shows that kids who have parents involved with their schooling do much better in school. They want to set their kids up for as much success as possible, so part of that is getting parents involved in meaningful ways, too.If you have any questions for Mr. Mosher about WoodCreek or the Katy ISD, you can find his information over on his fantastic YouTube page here. If you have any questions for us, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you.

Houston is one of the top cities in America for break-ins, but there are some things you can do to keep you and your family safe.Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a home? Search all homes for saleToday I have a strange guest who requested to be here himself — Rob claims to be the president of the Houston Burglary Association, and he wants to share a few tips about his recent success in our area. Houston is one of the top cities in America for break-ins and home invasions, which Rob and his fellow robbers are thrilled about. His targets — or clients — make his job easy by leaving doors unlocked while they are away at work. Most robberies or home invasions take place between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., so make sure that your doors are locked. People who live in the suburbs often get lulled into a false sense of security and start to leave garage doors open or doors unlocked. Many homeowners do invest in security systems but neglect to set up sensors around the master bathroom window, which is a focal point for Rob and his colleagues.Don’t post about your vacations on social media.The good news is that Sean Collins from ADT Security makes business difficult for Rob the robber. Sean empowers his clients by providing knowledge and tips to help you prevent home break-ins or robberies. Unlike Rob, Sean works hard to keep you and your family safe. You don’t have to get in touch with Rob — just announce on Facebook that you are on vacation and he will be in touch with you. If you would like to stop Rob and other members of the Burglary Association from targeting your home, call Sean Collins at 713-382-9363 or email him at swcollins@adt.com. As always, if you have any real estate questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. If anyone sees Rob the robber out and about, give me a call — I think he has my purse!

Sometimes when people are in the process of buying a property, they send us a pre-qualification letter instead of a pre-approval letter because they don’t know the difference between the two. Today, we’re joined by Ty Smith from Envoy Mortgage to help clear the air regarding these two terms.  The basic difference is that a pre-qualification involves you filling out an application and the lender looking at a credit report. Whatever information you give the mortgage lender over the phone or online is what they use to pre-qualify you.  If you were to go out and start looking at properties, you would want to get pre-approved instead of pre-qualified because the pre-qualification process can have unintended complications. A person might include on their pay information, for example, that they work 20 hours of overtime a month, and then use their most recent paycheck as proof of that on their application. If you’re a buyer, pre-approval is the better option.Lenders, however, average overtime pay over a period of two years, so that person’s average overtime may only amount to five hours per month. If that person were to then write a contract and give the lender their pay information, it could decrease their income by 5% to 10%. This could not only disqualify them, but they also wouldn’t be reimbursed for things they’ve already paid for, like the inspection fee. A pre-approval allows lenders to look at your income and assets. Mortgage loans today are underwritten with very strict guidelines, and there is a lot of compliance that goes into it. There is some income that a lender won’t be able to use, so it’s important that they get an opportunity to look at that information up front so they can address the issue before you go under contract or make an offer. That will shorten the time you spend in underwriting and make your offer stronger. A pre-approval also says on it that the lender has reviewed your income, assets, and credit. A pre-approval is clearly the better option. If you can’t get pre-approved, however, at least get the pre-qualification letter. That way a lender has already looked at the credit and you can start the buying process.

What is MI? What is PMI? What’s the difference? What does it mean for you as a buyer? Ty Smith from Envoy Mortgage joins us today to answer those questions. MI simply stands for mortgage insurance. MI is government-funded for FHA loans and insures the loan against defaulting for the lender. You’re basically paying for insurance to pay the lender back in case you default on the loan. A lot of folks don’t want to pay mortgage insurance, and we understand that. Like any insurance, it’s not fun to pay. However, it’s there so lenders can lend money when you have less than 20% to put down. PMI stands for private mortgage insurance. PMI is for conventional loans and is issued by a private company. PMI is a tax deduction at the end of the year. If they didn’t have these programs, most of the population couldn’t buy a property.Mortgage insurance on an FHA loan pays lenders back the entire amount of the loan so they can wipe their hands clean of it and HUD can take that home back, put it on the market, and try to sell it. That allows lenders to lend money at 3.5% down, with higher debt ratios and lower credit scores. Private mortgage insurance, on the other hand, only insures the top 35% of the loan. The lender is still responsible for the home being sold on the market in case of a foreclosure. In this case, the more you put down, the lower your premium will be.It can sound convoluted, but if they didn’t have these programs, most of the population could not buy a property.If you have any other questions, please feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you!

Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a home? Search all homes for saleThe steady growth of inventory during May and June has definitely helped the current Houston market. We’re seeing normal conditions for this time of year, and that is a direct result of more inventory for the buyers. The last couple of years, the supply of homes has been at a historic low. With the buyer demand, that has actually pushed home prices up. Now with more inventory and freedom of choice for buyers, selling prices have eased. We’re definitely looking forward to a healthy real estate market the next couple months. We’ve seen a rise in single-family homes sales of about 10% compared to last year. A bulk of these sales occurred in homes priced between $150,000 and $500,000. In single-family averages, price actually declined 1%, but the median for single-family homes stayed firm at $225,000. We’ve seen the supply of homes increase from three months to four, which is pretty normal for this time of year. The demand for single-family and townhome rentals has also increased. In summation, the Houston market is still doing extremely well. Don’t listen to everything you see in the media. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out us by phone or email.

Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a home? Search all homes for saleHurricane season is upon us, so we wanted to offer some reminders to keep you ready for anything Mother Nature might throw at us.Stay tuned to the local weather station. They will keep you updated on critical info from the National Weather Service.Check your disaster supply. Your supply kit should be ready to go with a gallon of water per person, non-perishable food for three days, flashlights, batteries, and candles.Tie down things in the yard. Make sure things like patio furniture are stowed away or secured so they can't blow away in the wind.Inventory of the property. We don't have a ton of hurricanes here in Houston, but we are susceptible to flooding. Take pictures and do a walkthrough, and write down everything. That way, if you ever have a flood insurance claim to make, you have something to fall back on.Turn the fridge and freezer all the way down. Setting the fridge and freezer to the coldest setting will help you keep it cool if the power goes out, and your food will stay fresh longer. Keep the doors closed as long as possible if you lose power.Turn off the gas. If you have propane or other small appliances, make sure they're turned off.Keep your gas tank full. If there's flooding and you need to get out of town, be prepared with a full tank.Have an evacuation plan in place. This way everyone in your family will know what to do and you won't be scrambling at the last minute.If you're close to buying a property, remember that insurance companies will stop writing policies if there is a named hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico. If you see one forming, get your policies ready before it's too late.As always, if you have any more questions, don't hesitate to reach out to us. If you're thinking about buying or selling a home, we'd love to work with you!

Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a home? Search all homes for saleThere are plenty of reasons why sellers in Texas reject offers, but three stand out among the rest. We wanted to share them with you so you don’t ever make these mistakes when searching for a home you love.1. Price is too low. If a property just hit the market, it’s important to submit an offer at a realistic price, especially if it’s a hot listing in a hot price range where there will be multiple offers. If it’s early, a seller will likely wait before countering. In Texas, if a seller doesn’t like your offer, they don’t even have to reply. They might even be too upset to counter if an offer is too low.2. Selling agent is a jerk. We sell a lot of properties, and when it comes to multiple-offer situations, some agents can get pretty aggressive when it comes to submitting an offer. They might scream at the agent, be demeaning or give ultimatums for offers. Make sure your agent is professional and polite. 3. Buyer doesn’t meet the seller’s needs. This is a huge one. A seller might need a bit longer to close, so you could offer to do a leaseback. Maybe the seller wants more earnest money, so offer more earnest money. If a selling agent puts in the financing terms that it’s a conventional or cash property, don’t submit an FHA contract! We just had a property with 35 showings in the first week on the market and 12 offers. We had nothing on there about FHA financing and yet, five of the offers were FHA. These are the top three reasons your offer may not be accepted. If you’d like to hear more reasons or have any questions we can answer, please don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email!

Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value reportWant to buy a home? Search all homes for saleToday, we’ll cover four important tips to prepare your home for the Houston real estate market. With the buying season upon us, it’s important for your property to stand out from the rest of the competition. Here’s how you do that.Seek a pre-inspection. Sellers usually wait for buyers to obtain an inspection. However, if a seller pursues one first, you’ll know what repairs and issues to address ahead of time. This reduces time as well.Reduce clutter and depersonalize your home. Take down items you won’t need in your home until after your move, such as family portraits. Pack them away. Buyers shouldn’t be paying attention to your knick-knacks.Have your home professionally cleaned. You want the first impression to be fantastic. Dust the baseboards. Clean the windows. Pay attention to detail to avoid buyers thinking your home is dirty.Don’t forget your curb appeal. Many sellers forget the curb is where the buyers first see your home when they visit. Cut the grass. Add new mulch and seasonal flowers. Power wash your driveway, sidewalks, and the front of the house. First impressions are lasting impressions! Make it count.If you’re thinking about buying or selling a home in the surrounding Houston area, give us a call or send us an email. We’d be delighted to help you and provide you with additional tips!