Homestead Exemptions: It’s that time of year again! Please click on the logo to access a link to the Harris County Appraisal District web page and find information for Harris County homeowners. Harris County currently provides a 20% optional homestead exemption to all homeowners. This means, for example, that if your home is valued at $100,000, the exemption will reduce its taxable value for Harris County taxes by $20,000 to $80,000. Surrounding counties may have different exemption amounts available. My suggestion is that you get this is information to your tax professional so that they can complete the form and apply for the exemption on your behalf and notify the county of a change of ownership if need be. FAQ’s include:

How do I qualify for a residential homestead exemption?

• You must own and occupy the property as your primary residence on January 1 of the year for which you are applying.
• Form, 11.13, is used to apply for a general residential homestead, the over-65, disability, 100% disabled veteran and the surviving spouse exemption. The form can either be mailed in or dropped off at our office at 13013 Northwest Freeway, or electronically submitted.
• Fill out form 11.13, “Application for Residence Homestead Exemption,” on our website at FORMS > POPULAR FORMS, generally steps 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6.
• Using the HCAD MOBILE APP to apply for the homestead or over 65 exemptions is as simple as taking a picture of the front and back of your Texas driver’s license. Go to www.hcad.org > ONLINE SERVICES > HOMESTEAD to find more information and further instructions. To use the mobile app successfully, the name and address listed on your driver’s license must match the name and property address listed on your account.

What do I need to include with the application?

• You must provide a copy of your Texas driver’s license or state issued ID with the same property address of the account for which you are applying. You can submit the temporary paper license with the application when you have updated your license address.
• If the property is not listed in your name, include a copy of your deed with the application.

Please let me know if you have additional questions.

November Residential Market Review: Courtesy of Har.com. Please click on the logo to learn more.

HOUSTON — (November 10, 2021) — Along with the first notable cold front of the fall season, October delivered the inevitable to a hot Houston real estate market: cooling sales. Buyers weary of limited housing inventory apparently stepped back in October, which became the second month of 2021 to experience a decline in home sales. The first was July. According to the Houston Association of REALTORS (HAR) October 2021 Market Update, single-family homes sales fell 5.2 percent versus last October, with 8,703 units sold. That is down from 9,183 sales in 2020. On a year-to-date basis, however, local home sales are 12.9 percent ahead of 2020’s record pace and up 21.6 percent when compared to 2019, the previous record-setting year. Homes priced from $500,000 to $1 million drew the greatest sales volume increase for the month, scoring a 23.1 percent year-over-year increase. The luxury market – comprised of homes priced from $1 million and above – came in second place with a 20.4 percent gain. That was followed by the $250,000 to $500,000 housing segment, which rose 17.5 percent. Prices appreciated once again. The single-family home average price climbed 13.1 percent to $377,631 while the median price rose 14.7 percent to $305,000. Both are record prices for an October but are well below the all-time pricing highs set in June 2021. Sales of all property types were down 3.1 percent year-over-year, totaling 10,756. Despite that decline, total dollar volume for October increased 9.9 percent to $3.8 billion. “Housing markets move in cycles, especially after churning at record levels for months on end, and we cannot rule out the possibility that some homebuyers are holding off until there is more inventory from which to choose,” said HAR Chairman Richard Miranda with Keller Williams Platinum. “Existing home sales were actually flat in October while new construction declined, and that is most likely the result of the supply chain interruptions and labor shortages that have affected homebuilding across the country. Nevertheless, 2021 is still on track to be a record year for Houston home sales.”

  November Commercial Real Estate Highlights: Courtesy of BISNOW. Please click on the logo to learn more.

November 8, 2021 – Houston Could Be ‘Most Consequential City In America’ As It Rapidly Diversifies, Raising Questions CRE Must Answer – As massive numbers of older, White baby boomers age out of the workforce, those following in their wake are both more racially diverse and more eager to approach the office in new ways. The face of the average American worker is changing quickly, fastest of all in Houston, with important implications for a commercial real estate industry already grappling with upheaval wrought by the coronavirus pandemic. As of 2020, the Houston metro area was roughly 35% White, 17% Black, 8% Asian and 38% Latino, according to the latest U.S. census data. Urban experts agreed that amid the coronavirus-fueled paradigm shift in hybrid and work-from-home, the real estate industry will also have to pivot to accommodate the needs and interests of its workers. “We are at the forefront of what’s happening across all of America. What happens here matters. This is where the American future is going to be worked out,” said Stephen Klineberg, founding director of Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research. “How we navigate this transition will have enormous significance, not only for the Houston future, but for the American future,” he added. “It makes this city maybe the most interesting and most consequential city in America.” “The office is not dead — but headquarters are now virtual,” the report said. “Executives should consider repurposing physical office space toward environments that intentionally foster collaboration and connection among co-located and remote colleagues, while retaining some space for solo, focused work.” “After the oil bust of 1982, the Anglo population of Harris County stopped growing. All the growth … has been the influx of African Americans, Latinos and Asians,” Klineberg said. “This biracial, Southern city, dominated and controlled throughout all of its life by White men, has become the single most ethnically diverse major metropolitan area in the country.”

November Mortgage News & Education: Courtesy of thebalance.com. Please click on the logo to learn more.

Today’s Mortgage Refinance Rates & Changes, November 17, 2021