The Perfect Location for Business near The Woodlands

Peace and Quiet
combined with
Profitable Business...

Is it even Possible???

I am pleased to announce that the answer is a resounding YES!!!

Recently, I was given the task of marketing an incredible unrestricted property just south of The Woodlands, in the Greater Houston area.  It is located on the busy (and getting busier every day) Gosling Road - at the crossroad of Rayford - and in the middle of a whirlwind of residential growth.  You can see some of our beginning marketing efforts on http://www.har.com/, MLS #9005219 or simply click on this link. 

We will soon have additional information and photos on commercial sites and other web media.  I will keep you informed.  In the meantime, let me know if you have anyone who is seeking this rare sanctuary in the midst of a fast-paced world.

Imagine a real estate buyer developing a medical complex...corporate retreat...multifamily housing...or some other business with the view of this lake as part of the amenities???  The possibilities are endless.


BONUS FEATURE:  There is currently an Ag-Exemption for the growing tree farm on the property.  Not only will this open the possibility of very low taxes....it will also give a sound buffer for maintaining the tranquility.

It couldn't get any better than this!

Wall Street Journal Video on Real Estate Market

Today's real estate market (particularly the market for Houston unrestricted property) is more hyper-local than ever before. Although it is interesting to hear what the "experts" say on the national level - those of us who are "in the local trenches" can produce statistics useful to you and your particular property.

Let me know if you need an update on the market where you live.

A Star is Born - What About YOU!

How is a star born?

What does that have to do with YOU?

Furthermore, what does it have to do with a blog focused on the

HIGHEST and Best?

Bear with me for just a moment while I try to pull these seemingly disparate concepts together.

First, let's consider how a star is born.  For those of you who want a scientific explantion, you should read the Scientific American blog post by Richard Brill.  (The image to the right is from the Hubble telescope and from that blog post.)  Allow me to explain it in simple, much less educated terms, this is what I understand:

Cosmic rubbish from older stars and clouds of gas come together until gravitational pull attracts more particles.  The gas and particles build - the temperature rises - the material collapes into itself - and when the temperature and pressue is great enough - A STAR IS BORN!!!

With the new camera recently installed by NASA, witnessing this incredible event is much easier than ever before.  The Science Daily has a wonderful images in their article published on November 8, 2009. 

It is fascinating to immerse ourselves in this marvelous scientic data.  We can see all the really amazing things happening "out there" and apart from our every day life.  But I am going to take a chance by sharing some of my personal philosophy with you.

First, as Jesse Jennings shared with his audience at Creative Life, it seems to me that we capable of transforming our "cosmic rubbish" into something just as incredible.  In fact, in one of the training programs you'll find this statement, "The Mind that made a Star is the same Mind the You use."  I believe that each of us can tap into that source of power and create something very useful to the world too.

Now, to the 3rd question.  "What does it have to do with a blog focused on the HIGHEST and Best?

I will quote a friend of mine, Mike Logan, who says "The largest resource that is wasted in our world is the waste of Human Potential." 

If this blog is about the "HIGHEST and Best"...isn't it fitting to talk about how the highest and best use of our time (and our own personal "cosmic rubbish") is to attract the resources into our lives that will magnetize the life we want?

Look around you and imagine that everything you see is available to your "highest and best".  In fact, Albert Einstien is quoted as saying, "The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or hostile universe." 

For me, knowing the universe is a friendly place gives me a great deal of joy and satisfaction.  I know that when something seems to not work out right, it is not done.  There is always another choice to be made that will lead me to something judged as success.

My real estate clients benefit from my optimism because I am always in search of the best way to serve their needs.  I try to never get caught up in the many problems that crop up in the course of my day and focus on getting the highest and best outcome for those that trust me in their real estate transactions.

Get the Maximum $$$ by Deciding on Highest and Best Use

You cannot have great results in your garden until you decide what you want to plant. AND, likewise - You can't sell unrestricted property at the highest and best price and terms unless you first determine the highest and best use of the property.

This analogy may sound a bit facetious when it comes to marketing and pricing real estate - but I believe it rings quite true. Let me see if I can give you a few examples that may drive my point.

There is a piece of real estate currently on the market that I would love to get the opportunity to sell. It is listed by another agent so I cannot share specific information about this property. But it could be a dozen other properties that suffer from the same predicament. This listing has been on the market for more than a year - with two listing agents doing what they feel is right to sell the property.

Location is excellent because it is less than a mile from a highly restricted and highly desired community. It does not have frontage on a major road, but for the appropriate buyer that would be an advantage. It has more than 15 acres of unrestricted land with 5 acres of it a tranquil, scenic pond. The home was built more than 3 decades ago, so many prospective buyers would eventually pull down the house because it does not serve their purpose. The 6 rental units (mostly mobile homes) are very limited in value to most prospective buyers.

OK - I might get myself into trouble here, but I am going to say it...
These listing agents have done it all WRONG!

The way this listing has been presented to the market is only slightly different than it would be marketed if it were in a remote location, poor neighborhood with bad access issues. The descriptions describe the residential and current cash flow benefits of the property. Yet the price is far above the range that would justify purely residential use. The method they are using is like planting green bean seeds and hoping that someone will pay them the price of endive.

I remember 14 years ago when I was learning commercial real estate around the conference table with some of Montgomery County's greatest commercial agents. One of the basic principles that was repeated over and over again is that you cannot establish a price or a marketing strategy until you have determined the "highest and best use" of the property.

I invite you to share your opinions about what the highest and best use would be for this property. I am thinking corporate training center, spiritual retreat, holistic healing community. The most likely buyer will be someone that wants the peaceful surroundings, yet places a high value on the fact that it is very near the face paced lifestyle of the nearby community.

What do you think?

BTW: If you might need a property like this, I can represent you as a buyer. If you own an unrestricted property in the Greater Houston area, contact me for a comprehensive Highest and Best Use Analysis.

Highest and Best...

It is a concept used in the real estate industry in many ways. As a residential specialist, it is most often used in relationship to a competing offer. Even in today's relatively tough market, we deal with competing offers on a regular basis.

When a listing agent (the one representing the seller) gets notification that more than one offer is being submitted, they will usually tell each of the buyer's agents to get the "highest and best offer". That way the seller knows that each of the prospective buyers have been given the opportunity to express the degree of interest in the property and give it their best shot.

A good agent develops a protocol for handling multiple offers that maximizes the benefit to their client. Whether you are a buyer or a seller, you better hope that you have a strong negotiator working on your behalf if you find yourself faced with a competing offer. An uninformed decision about how to handle mulitple offers can lead to dissappointment and even the failure of the sale. (I could write pages in this blog sharing case studies of what works and what does not...and all the nuances where you have to simply take a chance. But that is not what I am posting today. Maybe sometime in the future. Let me know if you would like to see me share those case studies.)

These competing offer situations happen primarilly in two scenarios:


* Foreclosures: When an asset manager places a residential property on the market, if it is priced right it will often have more than one person attempting to purchase it within a week or two.

Please Note: I am speaking about the real estate market in the Greater Houston area...specifically The Woodlands and Spring. If you would like to learn more about what is happening in your market, simply let me know and I will connect you with an expert for your neighborhood.

* Smart Sellers: Many homeowners simply cannot grasp the extreme importance of preparing their home for the market. They look to the agent to obtain a buyer at "the highest possible price, in the shortest amount of time, and with the least hassle." I make that statement in quotes because it is a common promise that agents make to prospective sellers.

When markets were hot, the agents did not always have to share the cold hard fact that the seller has a huge role in whether a house sells or not - AND - how much money they will make in the sale. When markets soften...buyers are able to become extremely picky.

Today's buyers are well informed with all the internet data available. They know a good buy when they see one. They also recognize that the BEST ones seem to sell very quickly, so they have learned to monitor the market and move quickly when something well priced, well staged and well marketed shows up.

It creates two markets for the available inventory. The first market is full of "Smart Sellers." This group of properties often sell in less than two weeks and it is not unusual for there to be competing offers. The second market is the ones that are not snatched off the market by the well-informed and ready buyers. Unfortunately, those properties often linger on the market for months and months. (The statistics are easily gathered to see how the market is working in each community, so don't hesitate to ask for the data.)

This is only one of many areas of real estate where we use the term "highest and best". Keep coming back to this blog to learn about a range of other uses of this phrase. Don't hesitate to call or email me with your questions.