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Rock Creek - Cypress, Texas Spotlight

photo Steve Castaneda

In 2003 the Rock Creek master planned community built by the Caldwell Watson real estate group began to take shape. Built on 215 acres, Rock Creek offers their residents many amenities to enjoy. These amenities include streams, five connected lakes, jogging paths and an greenbelt system to enjoy. You'll also be pleased to know that the Rock Creek community center has an olympic-size swimming pool, a luxurious clubhouse, and a playground for your children to enjoy.

Rock Creek is located in the Cypress-Fairbanks school district, which is a highly regarded school district in Houston. With recognitions such as a "Recognized" rating on TAAS scores, and the many schools which carry the "Exemplary" rating, your children are in one of the best educational…

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Posted: 1 year ago, Comments: 0, Average Rating: Views: 1873

Net Sheets - Top Producer 7i Makes It Easy

photo Steve Castaneda

I received an offer in on one of my real estate listings yesterday, and I went through the normal routine of asking myself, “How can technology help me present this offer in its best light?”. I jumped into my contact management program, Top Producer 7i, and quickly found my way over to the financial section to work on a seller net sheet. Using this tool is very simple and intuitive, and it helped me create a professional looking net sheet that is presentable in a professional way.

The last thing I want is to scribble down a net sheet on a piece of paper, and that’s exactly why Top Producer’s net sheet calculator shines. It has a nifty built in report function that will print out and summarize the expenses and income of the sale. At the bottom of all the…

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Posted: 1 year ago, Comments: 0, Average Rating: Views: 710

Fairfield - Cypress, Texas Spotlight

photo Steve Castaneda

Beginning in 1988, the Friendswood Development company purchased 3,200 acres of land in Northwest Houston with the intention of housing 5,000 families in a community filled with amenities. Amenities include a basketball court, fitness, special events room, and classroom areas. You will also find a competition size swimming pool, tennis courts, and a lovely baseball park for your family to enjoy. Fairfield is currently homes to eight lakes, six neighborhood parks and pools, and numerous greenbelts and smaller parks.

Since Fairfield is a very large community, homeowners also have their own medical centers, police and fire departments, schools, churches, and shopping to suit all ages. Fairfield is located in the Cypress-Fairbanks school district, which is…

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Posted: 1 year ago, Comments: 0, Average Rating: Views: 1924

Get Pre-Approved Before Buying A Home

photo Steve Castaneda

Beginning your search for your next piece of Houston real estate is a very exciting time of your life. Many families begin this process shortly after graduating a college degree program, having their first child, or getting a much needed raise in income from their employer. The home buying process can be a smooth one as long as you are prepared to make informed and intelligent decisions when you finally find that perfect home. Finding the perfect home isn't easy; being prepared to make a decision with your financial pre-approval in hand will help you make the right decision.


Pre-Qualification and Pre-Approval

There are two types of loan approvals when seeking financing for your home; pre-qualified and pre-approved. Pre-qualified simply means that you…

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Posted: 1 year ago, Comments: 0, Average Rating: Views: 428

Flying Cars - Changing Commercial Real Estate Forever?

photo Steve Castaneda

On the way home today, I was stuck in traffic and started to let my mind wonder.  My mind tip toed across the futuristic highway, one filled with flying vehicles passing the lowly land based vehicles down below.

We all know that commercial real estate is mostly valued based on location.  Locations are declared to be higher in value in areas with high traffic, higher average median income of local population, and so forth.  It dawn on me that if there were flying vehicles in the future, would there really be traffic?  Would there even be "popular" high traffic corners?  If there are no more high traffic areas due to the vehicles taking to the sky, what happens to the value of commercial real estate?

I'll admit it; I've stop at McDonalds on an impulse… Read Full Post

Posted: 1 year ago, Comments: 0, Average Rating: Views: 455

Initial Expenses With Buying A Home

photo Steve Castaneda

Happy Buyers In our opinion when buying Houston real estate, there is some major confusion surrounding the term, "No Money Down", that I feel needs to be explained.  Using the services of one of our consultants to buy a Houston home is absolutely free for you, yet there are four sets of necessary expenses that one must consider before choosing to walk down the path to owning a home.

In regards to owning such a large Houston real estate investment, the necessary costs appear to be minimal.  However, I still have clients that are caught by surprise when I explain to them the necessary costs that are associated to submitting a contract on their chosen home.  Have you ever been confused by terms such as closing costs, prepaids, down payment, or earnest money?

If so,…

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Posted: 1 year ago, Comments: 0, Average Rating: Views: 712

Inspections On New Construction - New Homes Are Not Perfect

photo Steve Castaneda

It is a common belief that new homes are fault free. The truth is that all types of new construction should have third party inspections performed to ensure that your home is being built with quality standards.

Most major cities in the United States enforce a required number of inspections at different stages of the process. Many builders of residential real estate will cite these inspections as being the reason why inspections aren't necessary.

Time and time again, regardless of the number of city inspections, real estate consumers purchasing new construction commonly find problems after moving into their homes with 5 years. Many times, these problems can be attributed to a defect during the build process of their home. Unfortunately, consumers are…

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Posted: 1 year ago, Comments: 0, Average Rating: Views: 448

Business Just Stops

photo Steve Castaneda

It never ceases to amaze me on how much I rely on technology.  Gmail hosts my email services using a service called, "Hosted for your Domain".  The service is down right now and now I can't return emails! Read Full Post

Posted: 1 year ago, Comments: 4, Average Rating: Views: 484
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Steve Castaneda

Steve Castaneda Thank you for visiting and reading my blog! I enjoy writing what I am passionate about and my goal is to ensure this is present through all of my writings online. My Focus As a local Houston real estate consultant, my main focus is to help my clients make the most informed, intelligent decisions possible. Read More

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