Ok if you were out having dinner in The Woodlands the other day and noticed it busier than normal. Well this may have changed the dinner plans of a few folks unless they had back up generators. Now, I have heard of my clients getting genertors, but most of those are in more rulal areas, not the subburbs like the Woodlands.[Hey this is Houston we do get huricanes you know] Well if you need more infor about generators let me know I could post some stuff about that. Other wise this oh that was what was going on for those in the Alden Bridge Area. But this had not thing do with buying or selling real estate in the Alden Bridge or The Woodlands.

Published in The Villager 

01/31/2008
Faulty equipment cause of power outage in Alden Bridge 
By: SARAH PUCKETT , spuckett@hcnonline.com 

A power outage on Jan. 27 left 3,941 Entergy customers in The Woodlands without electricity for more than an hour because of faulty equipment.
The Woodlands Fire Department Station 4 received a call from joggers who reported seeing smoke coming from a switch cabinet on the corner of Alden Bridge and Research Forest Drive.

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TWFD Driver Operator Paul Stanley said Engine 2 and Engine 104 responded to the scene.

“When we got to the scene there was no fire, so we waited for Entergy officials to de-energize the power lines until the problem could be fixed,” Stanley said.

According to Derrick the electricity was turned off 5:43 p.m., power was restored to all customers by 7:21 p.m.
Derrick said the problem was caused by faulty equipment in the switch cabinet.

The power outage spanned throughout the Village of Alden Bridge.

Alden Bridge resident Tony Angelo said the moment the electricity went out he asked his wife if she had paid the electricity bill.

Derrick said the problem was fixed and the electricity was turned back on without having to reroute customers

Pro’s and Con’s of being a land lord.  I have heard it often recently from a couple of clients.  So I thought I would share a few things to help you get started deciding. I have not had a chance to develop the investor pages yet. I will cover these topics there in the future. For now…

 1.  Pro cash flow. Con its not a lump sum and you have to collect it. Use this Calculator to figure out which you would make more money at renting vs. selling. Two of the inputs are your expected rental income and likely sale price of your home. This is where I come in contact me with your address and I will do a comparitive market analysis on your home to give you the likely sales price and ask me aslo to do a rental income projection.

2. Pro depreciation, Con no homestead exemption. Here are some real estate tax tips. Real Estate tax advanges are many but most have some degree of complication, this is definitely not for the tax novice. You need to see a tax advisor to check as to the actual benefits likely to accrue to you.

3. Pro you are an investor. Con you are responsible for where other people call home. When you expect the property to increase in value and you want to hold on, this may be a good option for you. Escape the responsibility part by paying a property management company but this is expensive and cuts into the pro from reason number 1.

To make an educated decision you should consult both your tax advisor and me of course, your Realtor.

Seems like everyone these days everyone has a blog. They are definitely all the rage. Well just like having a blog, during the heat of the real estate boom seems like everyone is a real estate agent too. Everyone knows someone that is an agent. Shamefully I admit in the state of Texas it is not that hard to get your license, but at least it is harder than setting up a blog (well for some). See more on Texas license requirements Well, it’s not terribly difficult to get a license. High school diploma and take a few classes and sit for an exam.
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