What I LOVE about Huntsville TX Real Estate! I LOVE that feeling when you are a part of helping a first time homebuyer understand how to get started on the journey of first time home ownership.  Explaining pros and cons of newer construction and budgeting for maintenance on older homes, explaining brokerage and agency and the importance of being represented as the home buyer.  You know, I think this has to be my favorite.  I taught for years, and I have to believe that what attracted me to teaching attracts me to helping first time home buyers.     At the beginning of the showing appointment, my client was kind of nervous and apprehensive.  By the end, she realized that in one day, she had accomplished so much--getting approved for a loan, viewing 3 homes, 2 newer and 1 older and getting a clear idea of what she wanted.  And, most of all, she was excited about the process and a whole lot less nervous.  How cool is that? Ahhh...I LOVE real estate.Mari Montgomery Realtor, CRS, GRI, Cyberstar Multi Million Dollar Producer Readers Choice "Best Realtor" in Walker County Texas Home Group Huntsville TX including Elkins Lake/ Lake Conroe/ Lake Livingston Direct:  936-355-8889 Copyright 2009.© East Texas Property Search, Inc.  Mari Montgomery. All Rights Reserved. read full post »

Lake Livingston Real Estate is becoming more and more popular.  More and more people are discovering the beauty of Lake Livingston and the value for the money.  I cannot tell you how many couples and families and single folks that I have worked with to find property in the Lake Livingston area who are relocating from the Texas/Louisiana coast.  Folks have reached their limit in terms of the seemingly constant weather threats to the gulf coast.  I can't say I blame them.  Can you imagine what it must feel like to have memories and so much invested financially and emotionally in a property and every hurricane season be gripped in fear that you could lose everything.  And, so many already have. The stories are heartbreaking. There are also people who live and work in Houston deciding to get away from it all on the weekends in Lake Livingston.  Lake Livingston is gorgeous and huge.  Here's the skinny: --located 80 miles north of Houston and 175... read full post »

 Elkins Lake Snapshot:  Market Snapshot 3rd Quarter 2009: Avg Sales Price per square foot: $84.58 Average square feet: 2210 Newer Properties;  Built 2000-2009 Avg Sales Price per square foot: $101.35 Average square feet: 2178 Here's the most important part.  1 Homeowners Association Fee:  ALL THE GOLF YOU CAN PLAY--no green fees You read this right.  So, say you live in Houston (about an hour away)--buy a weekend place in Elkins Lake--great home values--play golf until you drop.  I'd say that makes a pretty good weekend get-away. Check out www.ElkinsLakePropertySearch.com  Call Mari at ET Property Search--and you'll be teeing off in no time.  BTW, I love it so much, I live here! Mari Montgomery Realtor, CRS, GRI, Cyberstar Multi Million Dollar Producer Readers Choice "Best Realtor" in Walker County Texas Home Group Huntsville TX including Elkins Lake/ Lake Conroe/ Lake Livingston Direct:  936-355-8889 Copyright... read full post »

Okay, say you LOVE golf, but you wish with all your heart it were FREE.  So, let me ask you:  If you could find a great house in a great neighborhood in a great little town a little over an hour from Houston and could play all the golf you wanted--I mean every day and then some--for free, would you be interested? Okay, I'll tell you more.  The place is Elkins Lake in Huntsville TX.  If you have ever driven on I-45 and gotten to a bend in the road about 60 miles from downtown Houston and have seen a giant statue of Sam Houston--That's Huntsville.  You have found us. Elkins Lake Golfing Snapshot: The Elkins Lake Golf Courses THE ELKINS LAKE GOLF COURSES THE HILLS This 3147 yard championship course was renovated in 2005 and opened for play in September 2005.  The renovation was designed by golf course architect Jeffrey D. Blume. It has character from a little sand, a little water, and very challenging greens. The course provides a challenge to... read full post »

Lake Livingston Real Estate is brewing with great deals on great Lakefront properties.  Would you like a waterfront property and still get a great deal and be located less than a couple of hours from Houston?  Lake Livingston real Estate is for you.  Find the right property for you at www.LakeLivingstonPropertySearch.com  If you live in Houston or the surrounding area, chances are you'd like to get away every now and again.  How about a 2300+ sq ft Cape Cod style property   that is waterfront, complete with deer in the yard, located withing 50 yards of the big water for $209K ?!  Did you just fall off your chair?  It's true  Check it out at www.11IndianHarbor.com   Or maybe you don't mind if it's not waterfront, just want to be close and in a manned and gated subdivision for less than $140K (And you can see the water from this one!)  Check out www.13IndianHarbor.com  Here is a pic of a satisfied client's daughter (and... read full post »

Texas Rangers Baseball is winding down.  I am pretty sad about that.  I have really enjoyed the season.  It's a little disappointing that we (Texas Rangers) came in second, but the Rangers have a lot to hold their collective heads up about. Great season, although there was quite the post All-Star break slump--which was the main reason we came in second.  Baseball is so much fun to watch.  You can watch kind of passively.  You can actually have a conversation during a game--unlike watching the NBA Dallas Mavericks (there is a "no-talk during the game rule")  My husband is quite serious about the Dallas Mavericks, and for that matter, so am I. They are our team. I exaggerate a bit about the no-talk rule-lest you think my husband is "one of those."  Trust me he's not.  He's the best, coolest and most wonderful-est.  Now that you're gagging, I'll go on. Watching the Texas Rangers... read full post »

Huntsville TX--My Favorite Mexican Food and People! My Favorite Mexican Restaurant in Huntsville TX--Los Panchitos!  It is good and oh. so reasonable.  Great food, great margaritas, happy hour and great people!  Some of my friends at Los Panchitos make an appearance like Jose.   Notice--I say "here's my favorite waiter" and then ask him his name.  That is funny. When I video record Lupita at the register, all of the sudden the amount of our lunch bill goes up dramatically.  I think it is the "Hollywood Complex." See the outside of the restaurant  (Guess what restaurant it used to be.) We (my husband and I) had fun today tooling around our wonderful town, Huntsville TX.  It's so cute.  I went a little crazy with the "Flip Video" today.  Stay tuned for more fun. Huntsville TX is located in East Texas in the Piney Woods about an hour from Houston directly north on I-45.  It is a reasonable commute to Houston (if you're from NY or NJ) and there's plenty to do in... read full post »

September 13, 2008--Hurricane Ike strikes Galveston Bay and proceeds inland.  I live in Huntsville TX, we were not the most effected, but we got creamed. So, here's the personal chronology: I had just started in Real Estate.  I was at a closing of my very first sale at noon on Friday, September 12 2008.  It was all downhill from there. I got home as quickly as I could, and my husband and I started bringing everything in from the outside, hummingbird feeders, bird feeders, hanging baskets, patio furniture.  We have 3, 4o+ foot porches--all with stuff on them.  Our house was full to the brim. During this time, my very first clients were moving in to their new house.  The winds started to pick up that afternoon. Water covered roadways in Galveston county long before projected.  There were already reports of people who were trapped, unable to evacuate. Wow, this was serious.        You know it's been a while since I have... read full post »