Steve Castaneda's Blog: All Categories

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…

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

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,…

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…

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

Beginning in the early 70's, Lakewood Forest started to grow into one of the most well known communities in the Northwest side of Houston. Lakewood Forest has grown to over 2,500 residents and 18 sections, with the latest construction dated back as recent as 2003. This prestigious community is still growing, and property values continue to increase as the Northwest part of Houston becomes with each growing year a more desirable place to live. It's large mature trees and well maintained area attract many new residents each and every year.

Lakewood Forest Sales History

I keep track of Lakewood Forest so you don't have to. Below, you will find the sold history for Lakewood Forest for recent years. As you can see, the average days on market for homes for…