Tag: Buying a Katy TX Home

8
Apr/20

How to Buy a Katy TX Home Virtually

by under Buyer and Seller Tips, Katy Texas, Katy Texas Real Estate, Katy TX Realtor
Katy TX homebuyers

Virtual home-buying in Katy TX

Real estate isn’t exactly business as usual right now, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the Katy real estate market is still alive and active! If you need to buy and/or sell this spring, as your Katy real estate agent, I am still here for you. We can discuss your needs virtually and go from there. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me!

If buying a Katy home is on your spring to-do list, let’s talk about your virtual options. Luckily, we live in an age where technology can really help us out! If you find yourself with a lot of time on your hands, and you spend a lot of your day browsing the internet, now may be the perfect time for you to begin your house hunt.

Listings are still active in the Katy real estate market, so there is no better time to browse listings and see if there are a few that interest you. Check out the photos and details of each house. If you find yourself very interested, give me a call! I can set up a showings for you via FaceTime or virtual. You can enjoy seeing homes from the comfort of your own home!

Realtor.com shared some tips for buyers who are searching virtually:

1.  Read the descriptions carefully and read between the lines to learn more about the home. Pay attention to any potential red flags, such as if there are photos missing of certain areas of the house, or if the home is considered a ‘fixer upper.’ Write down any questions you come up with to ask your agent.

2.  If the listing includes a video, ask the agent if they have any more footage that may have gotten cut, or ask for a live virtual tour via FaceTime, where you can request to see more of certain areas of a home and ask any questions you may have.

3.  If you really like a home after seeing the virtual tour, ask to see the seller disclosure, which outlines any known problems with the home’s structure, as well as the age of various features in the home, and any home improvements that have been done.

4.  Do a lot of research on the surrounding neighborhood, community, local businesses, schools, etc., which should be pretty easy with the internet.

5.  Accept that you may not be able to tour the home live right now. In this case, you can wait until you can view the home live, you can drive by to view the exterior and neighborhood if you live nearby, or you can choose to buy the home unseen. For your safety, when needed, we can add the COVID-19 Addendum to your contract, which allows you to back out if need be.

As always, as your Katy real estate agent, I am here to help! Whether buying, selling or both, give me a call and let’s discuss your options. Time is on your side, let’s use it to accomplish your goals in the Katy real estate market!

Mickie Cioccia | Broker Associate

Mickie C Team
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3
Jan/18

First Step to Buying Your First Katy, TX Home

by under Buyer and Seller Tips, Katy Texas Real Estate, Katy TX Realtor
Katy Homebuyers

Katy TX Home-Buying Tips

Happy New Year! Is your 2018 new year’s resolution to finally buy a Katy, TX home? Have you been considering it for a while but are finally going to do it this year? As a Katy real estate agent, I am happy and eager to help you out! Whether you want to buy this winter or this spring and beyond, I am here to answer your questions and guide you through the process.

The first step in the home-buying process is to get a preapproval from a mortgage lender. Most real estate professionals will agree that in today’s market, with housing inventory lower than usual, you shouldn’t even begin browsing for a home until you’re preapproved.

Why is this step so important? For one, it lets you know exactly what you can afford. This will save you wasted time searching for homes above your budget, not to mention heartache when you find a home you love and then later realize you can’t afford it.

Two, it helps home sellers take you seriously. If you fall in love with a home and want to put an offer down, a seller is more likely to accept your offer if they know that you’re already preapproved for that amount. In this competitive market, bidding wars can happen, and if another buyer is preapproved and you’re not, the seller is likely to go with that buyer.

Finally, it makes the whole process go faster. If you put an offer down on a home, and you’re already preapproved for a loan, the closing tends to happen much faster, since you got the initial work out of the way.

To determine how much you will be qualified to borrow, lenders will look at your four C’s:

1.  Capacity: Your current and future ability to make your mortgage payments.

2.  Capital: The money, savings and investments you have that can be sold quickly for cash.

3.  Collateral: The home, or type of home, you’d like to purchase.

4.  Credit: Your history of paying bills on time and the amount of debt you have.

If you still need to pay down debt, increase your down payment savings or improve your credit score, here are the three things you should do now:

  • Automate your down payment savings – Automatically deposit some of your paycheck into a savings account for a down payment.
  • Build your credit history and keep it clean – Pay down debt, pay your bills on time and fix any credit report errors.
  • Practice living on a budget. Cook and make coffee at home rather than buying it out, and don’t buy new cars, clothes, furnishings, vacations or any expensive items right now.

If you need help finding a local mortgage lender, I can point in you the right direction. If you’re ready to begin the home-buying process now in the Katy real estate market, contact me! I am your Katy real estate agent, ready to help you achieve your home-buying goals in 2018!

Mickie Cioccia

Mickie C and Company Realty
Check Out Our Website
See Katy and Houston, TX Homes for Sale 
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Katyites | Powered by © Katy Real Estate, Texas Real Estate - use Katyites Real Estate to find real estate in Katy Real Estate or other Texas real estate. Use our home buyer tools to research all aspects of the Katy Real Estate housing market including Katy Real Estate neighborhood information, Katy Real Estate home loans, and Katy schools. Whether looking for homes for sale in Katy Real Estate or Katy Real Estate apartments for rent, Yahoo! Real Estate can help. Our Katy real estate market snapshot gives you an overview of the housing market in Katy Real Estate, TX - easily find Katy Real Estate housing market prices, housing inventory statistics such as number of listings, median home price, home price trends, and monthly real estate market trends. Once you have a better sense for the Katy real estate market, search our Katy Real Estate foreclosures, Katy Real Estate new homes, Katy Real Estate classifieds, Katy Real Estate rentals, or all Katy homes for sale. From the award winning KatyISD school district, to the tremendous value in luxury homes in great family subdivisions like Cinco Ranch, Grand Lakes, Seven Meadows, Green Trails, Kelliwood, Nottingham, Windsor Park, Cross Creek Ranch, and Falcon Ranch, to world class hospitals and medical facilities that have the Katy area being dubbed "Med Center West"

realized they had found the perfect place for their clients to raise a family...and for their clients parents to enjoy the Grandchildren! Katy boasts great Active Senior options like Heritage Grand (a 55+ section of Cinco Ranch) and The Solana at Cinco Ranch, wonderful family amenities like parks, playgrounds, golf courses, lakes, fishing, boating, nature walks, and short drives to the beach and Hill Country. the Katy area is a great place to enjoy the weekend. Simply put Katy has it all! Area Tour" with you and show you why they feel Katy Real Estate is the best place in the Houston area to live, work. and play! You will see schools, great luxury family subdivisions, shopping facilities, highway options, and wonderful restaurants! Cross Creek Ranch: Cross Creek Ranch is the newest Master Planned Community in the Katy Real Estate area but is quickly catching on with those looking for a little slower pace

While still having lots of amenities and wonderful school options. Developed by the same people who brought us Grand Lakes, Cross Creek Ranch has a wide variety of homes and prices. This community is an easy commute to I-10 and the Westpark Tollway. Kelliwood: Kelliwood is a beautiful group of subdivisions off S. Fry Rd. A wide range of homes and home prices can be found here. From Custom Gated sections like LakeForest that are comprised of all estate homes...to smaller patio homes that border the Willow Fork Country Club. The short commute times appeal to a wide range of buyers! Green Trails: Green Trails is a large Master Planned Community that borders I-10, S. Fry Rd, and Baker Rd. It is full of amenities for the family, is close to I-10 and the Houston Energy Corridor, and has a variety of styles and price ranges from small one story homes up to Custom Estates...no matter what you are looking for it will be easy for you to carve out your slice of Green Trails! Silver Ranch: A fairly new master planned community located in area that some folks believe is the best part of all of Katy Real Estate.

Silver Ranch is only a short drive away from Katy Mills Mall and is located in the highly acclaimed Katy Independent School District. The community is approximately 3 miles from both I-10 and the Westpark Tollway. Lavish homes ranging from the $140's to $300's make the community very affordable for growing famililies or empty nesters. Silver Ranch is conveniently located for access to major employers in the energy corridor and has easy entree to South West Houston, Sugarland, West Park Tollway along with numerous park and ride bus lots that have express service to downtown Houston. When this community is completed it will be home to about 1,500 families. Amenities include Six Lane Jr Olympic Pool , Stone Grill Children's Splash Pad, Tennis Court, Playground and Swing Set, Outdoor BBQ Pavilion and numerous Walking Trails.

Seven Meadows: Seven Meadows is a Master Planned Community that was developed by the same people who put Cinco Ranch on the map! It is located right off HWY 99 (the Grand Parkway) with short commutes to both I-10 and the Westpark Tollway. Pools, parks, a movie theater, work out facilities, and nature trails are all part of this great community!


Katy is a city located in Harris, Fort Bend and Waller Counties in the U.S. state of Texas, within the Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown metropolitan area. The population was 11,775 at the 2000 census.

Katy, suburb of Houston, Texas, is named for the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad (commonly referred to as the "K-T Railroad", now a part of Union Pacific) that ran through Katy in the 19th century. Katy was once known as Cane Island. The name is derived from Cane Island Creek which runs just west of downtown. Cane Creek is a branch of Buffalo Bayou. The origins of the name Cane Island are believed to be from the fact that Katy was once a major sugar cane producer and rice producer. To commermorate the importance of rice to the Katy community, the Chamber of Commerce holds the Rice Harvest Festival every second weekend of October.

Katy was recently the location of one of the ten large red balloons in the DARPA Network Challenge on December 5, 2009. The balloon was stationed in Katy Park.

In 2009 the Gadberry Group named Katy as one of nine "9 from 2009" most notable high growth areas in the United States.
After a low income apartment complex was proposed for development in an adjacent unincorporated area, in 2010 the Katy City Council passed a resolution stating that the development would decrease property values.[5] The plans for the complex were canceled.