Bill Edge, A. David Schwarz, and Ed Wolff were among members of the Houston Association of Realtors who spoke out at Tuesday April 3rd City Council’s meeting about changes to Houston’s Chapter 19 Floodplain ordinance. The Houston City Council was debating how you determine which homes should be allowed to be repaired after Hurricane Harvey and changes to new home construction in flood zones. A big problem is in defining flood risk for a home in Houston where according to the Harris County Flood Control … [Read more...]
Hurricane Harvey was a game changer
Houston will see new building regulations and a change in consumer behavior as a direct result of Hurricane Harvey. Housing will never be the same for Houstonians who experienced the effects of Hurricane Harvey. Things will not return back to normal as they did after the Tax Day Flood, Hurricane Ike, Tropical Storm Allison and the numerous 100 and 500 year floods we have on a regular basis. Home buyers are going to start asking real questions about the flooding of neighborhoods and whether the home they are … [Read more...]
Why do Houston Realtors wear Black in the Summer?
I have always wondered why some agents and companies wear black suits and dresses in Houston’s summer heat. Houston is famous for high temperatures and a humidity which causes normal people to sweat like pigs. I recently attended a funeral where the pall bearers sat out in the heat as the funeral services took place at the graveside. I watched one of the pall bearer first pull off his jacket then unbutton and take for his shirt. Another of the pall bears spent the night in the hospital for heat exhaustion. … [Read more...]
Houston is The friendly City
As it was in the beginning…. And still is! A succinct history of Houston is given in the 17 books written by George Fuerman the feature editor for the Houston Post. “Houston took on the personality of the rodeo crowd, the oil crowd, by men and women known as the Big Rich. The name itself Houston has become a symbol of Southern Hospitality.” George Fuerman wrote these words 35 years ago. Nothing has changed since he wrote these words about our city’s personality. It is still a place where millionaires … [Read more...]
Texas Windstorm Revision will benefit the Gulf Coast Area
Representative Larry Taylor was the main speaker at a March 5, 2012 luncheon for the Houston Real Estate Association. He is the author of House Bill 4409 otherwise known as The Texas Windstorm Insurance Association (TWIA) reform legislation. Representative Taylor currently serves as the board’s House Co-Chairman alongside Senate Co-Chairman John Corona (R-Dallas). Rep. Taylor told the group that for 35 years everything worked fine. Then we started having five hurricanes a year in Florida. Finally Hurricanes … [Read more...]
Charting Buffalo works to solve Houston Flooding
The Harris County Flood Control District hosted the first of four community meetings at the Tracy Gee Center, Wednesday, February 8, 2012. Anticipated attendance for the well-organized community meeting was expected to be around 200 people. The actual number attending was more like 500. Those of us who did not show up early had to wait outside for an hour while the first 300 were allowed in. WHAT IS CHARTING BUFFALO Charting Buffalo is a study that covers 32 miles of Buffalo Bayou from the Barker Reservoir to … [Read more...]
USDA Map Shows What to Plant in Houston
All of the Houston area falls into zones 8b (15-20 degrees) or 9a (20-25 degrees), with zone 9b (25–30 degrees) along the coast. Global warming is hitting not just home but garden for much of the country. The color-coded map of planting zones often seen on the back of seed packets is being updated by the government, illustrating a hotter 21st century. It is the first time since 1990 that the U.S. department of Agriculture has revised the official guide for the nation’s 80 million gardeners, and much has … [Read more...]
Houston’s Founding Fathers
The Allen brothers: To the snide, the sweaty, the curmudgeonly disgruntled, .they were the pair of slick New York land speculators who, hot on the heels of the 1836 victory at San Jacinto, trumped up a godforsaken, pestilential swamp into the Texian promised land. No place in the new republic was healthier than Houston, they crowed, “having an abundance of excellent spring water and enjoying the sea breeze in all its freshness. ... It is handsome and beautifully elevated, salubrious and well-watered.” You can … [Read more...]
Houston Annexation Thru the Years
Houston has grown through the use of General Purpose Annexation. This type of annexation is the most commonly known. All of Houston’s historically significant annexations have occurred in this manner. For general-purpose annexation, a city must meet a strenuous public notification requirement. Upon annexation, all affected property becomes part of the general-purpose boundaries and is effectively subject to all regulations, taxes and services provided by the City. Residents within this property are residents of … [Read more...]
Jersey Village strategy: build a transportation center
The US government has given the Texas department of transportation $15,000,000 to study the feasibility of high speed rail in Texas. There is a strong possibility that the route chosen will start with the tracks along highway 290. These tracks are ideal because they go in an east west direction. The railroads main traffic pattern from the Port of Houston is north. This allows for the rails to be used by commuter trains in the morning and afternoon. Freight trains would use the rails at other … [Read more...]