ROBERT (BOB)'s Blog

GENERAL ELECTION NOV 4 - EARLY VOTING KATY AREA

ROBERT (BOB) GILBERT (PRUDENTIAL GARY GREENE) — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 17:32:09 -0500

Yesterday was the first day of early voting throughout the Houston area and it has been reported that there were record turnouts of early voters in Harris County by almost double factor versus the last Presidential Election held 4 years ago. As people from Chicago who are familar with the Daly group heard city politicians say to their people " Vote Early and vote often!!! Whether you vote early or vote on election please vote... The USA is all about csting your ballot on election day and having input into the government. Having the right to vote is a priviledge and pne we should all cherish.

Below is a list of places to vote Early in the Katy area:

FORT BEND COUNTY

1) Cinco Ranch Library, 2620 Commercial Center Blvd - October 24 - 24, ( M-F) 8 AM to 5 PM; Sat. Oct 25 7 AM - 7 PM; Sunday Oct 26 12 PM TO 5 PM; Oct 27- Oct 31 (M-F) 7 AM to 7 PM.

2) University Houston at Cinco Ranch, 4242 S. Mason - October 24 - 24, ( M-F) 10 AM to 7 PM; Sat. Oct 25 7 AM - 7 PM; Sunday Oct 26 Closed; Oct 27- Oct 31 (M-F) 7 AM to 7 PM.

If you live inFort Bend county outside these two areas there are approximately 19 other location to chose from Go to http://www.co.fort-bend.tx.us/PollingLocations.asp#23637 for a completre list.

HARRIS COUNTY

1) Franz Road Store Front, 19818 Franz Road, Katy - October 24 - 24, ( M-F) 8 AM to 4:30 PM; Sat. Oct 25 7 AM - 7 PM; Sunday Oct 26 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM; Oct 27- Oct 31 (M-F) 7 AM to 7 PM.

2) Courtyard by Marriott, 12401 Katy Freeway - October 24 - 24, ( M-F) 8 AM to 4:30 PM; Sat. Oct 25 7 AM - 7 PM; Sunday Oct 26 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM; Oct 27- Oct 31 (M-F) 7 AM to 7 PM. Go to www.harrisvotes.com/Docs/10.14.2008EVPR.doc for a complete list of voting locations. ( It is a word document)

WALLER COUNTY

1) Houston Oaks Country Club , 22602 Hegar Road, Hockley - Oct 23 - Oct 25 ( Thur-Sat) 7 AM to 7 PM

2) Brookshire Convention Center, 4027 5 th Street, Brookshire- Oct 23 - Oct 25 ( Thur-Sat) 7 AM to 7 PM - Other locations check http://www.co.waller.tx.us/ips/cms/modules/news/News_001.html?uri=/index.html

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE!

The Houston Chronicle last week had the times and locations of early voting only that data was totally incorrect....

KATY RICE FESTIVAL OCT 11 AND 12, 2008

ROBERT (BOB) GILBERT (PRUDENTIAL GARY GREENE) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:42:05 -0500

The Katy Rice festival will be held this weekend on the historic streets of downtown Katy between 1 st. street and 4 street and Ave A to Ave D. If you are looking for good old fashion family fun at a reasonable price this is the place to be! The downtown Katy area is exit # 741 off of I-10 and downtown Katy is approximately 1 mile north of the freeway. There will be 300 plus booths of crafts and food, entertainment, and a carnival. The Festival dates back to 1981 and it is expected that 40,000 - 50,000 people will attend this year. Entertainment will be held on both Saturday and Sunday at the Katy Stage and the Rice stage and will include music, dancing, choirs, Tae Kwon Do, jump roping and many other acts. The Festival will be held on Saturday from 8 AM to Midnight and Sunday from 10 AM till 7 PM Parking is free of charge at Katy High School just off 1463 and Highway 90. Free shuttle service will carry visitors to downtown Katy for the events.

The Festival also has a Carnival. The Carnival actually starts on Friday evening at 6 PM and runs till 11 PM. The Carnival will operate from 10 AM till close on both Saturday and Sunday. Entertainment will start at 10:00 AM on Saturday at the Rice Stage and at noon on Sunday on the same stage.

Tickets are $6.00 per adult per day and children under 12 are free when accompanied by an adult. Senior Citizens age 65 plus are free and so are Military personnel with proper ID. Credit cards and checks are NOT accepted at the festival. Only Cash Money! Carnival armbands are one day all you can ride per person and cost $20 per person for Saturday and Sunday. The Carnival armband costs $15 for Friday evening.

Every ticket purchased at the Festival will generate a $ 1.00 donation to the Be An Angel Park which is handicapped accessible and located at Franz Road and Ave D.

Visitors can not bring ice chests or alcoholic beverages into the Festival.

Have a great time and relax while forgetting about the Stock Market, Politicians, Retirement and the fact that all of us are going to have to work our entire lives. See you there!!!

SOUTH KATY TEXAS REAL ESTATE MARKET REPORT - SEPTEMBER 2008

ROBERT (BOB) GILBERT (PRUDENTIAL GARY GREENE) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 11:28:02 -0500

The Houston market "Hotness" statistic indicated that the South Katy area is once again number 1 during September 2008 with a ratio of 13.4 while the number 2 area was South Central with a ratio of 11.4. This specific "Hotness" rating refers to the number of pending sales ( buyer demand) that occurred during a given month in relation to its active inventory ( homes currently on the market for sale). The South Katy area has been the number one area several times this year and has not dropped lower all year than number three. These stats are based on data listed in the Houston Association of Realtors Multiple Listing Service and while not 100% complete are very representative of each market. The South Katy did have some damage from Hurricane IKE but compared to most of the greater Houston area this damage was minimal being mostly fence and roof incidents.

The average price during on a year to date (YTD) basis has increased by $10,752 or 4.36 % versus YTD September 2007 data. Median home price has also increased by $10,680 or 5.08 %. The sales price per square foot has increased by $2.00 per square foot to $89.00 sq. ft. The final sales price as a % to list price has dropped from 97% during 2007 to 96% during 2008. New home listing in the area has increased by 165 to 3,652 at September 30, 2008. Pending sales in South Katy, like most areas in Houston, has decreased by 154 to 1,479 and days on the market have also increased to 64 from 54 last year. South Katy has a 4.4 month supply of inventory of homes available which is still excellent.

Contrary to all the negative press, homes are still selling in the South Katy area and people are going about their normal lives. The news media in Houston and across the US would have all of us believe that sky is falling in and we are living out our last days. South Katy has a good supply of available homes ready for buyers to move into and it's a great place to live with its award winning school district and tons of amenities. Give me a call as I would love to show anyone just how great this area is to live and/or work in!!!

HURRICANE IKE - FEDERAL TAX IMPACT

ROBERT (BOB) GILBERT (PRUDENTIAL GARY GREENE) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 16:17:24 -0500

TAX FILING

On Satuday September 13, 2008 the Federal Government declared several Texas counties ( all counties surrounding the Houston area plus several others are included) to be a presidential disaster area qualifying for individual relief. Affected Taxpayers residing in or have a business in the applicable counties now have specific tax deadlines postponed until Jan. 5, 2009. This postponement applies to filing returns, tax payments and other time related and sensitive issues tax issues due on or after September 7, 2008 and before January 5, 2009. This includes individual estimated tax returns with payments and corporate returns that were due September 15, 2008 and extended individual tax returns due October 15,2008. Affected taxpayers also included taxpayers who live outside of the indentified counties but whose books, records, or tax professionals offices are located in the disaster area.

PENALTIES

In addition, the IRS has stated it will waive penalties that are due for failing to deposit employment taxes and excise taxes due on or after September 7, and before September 22, 2008 as along as the deposits were made by September 22, 2008. The problem with the September 22, date is that numerous taxpayers in the affected areas did not have electricity until after that date. I guess the IRS never thought it would take as long as it did to turn the electricity back on in the Houston area.

CASAULTY LOSS

When you suffer a Casualty Loss from a disaster in area declared by the President as warranting federal assistance you may deduct the casualty loss either on the tax return for the year of the actual loss ( tax year 2008) or on the return for the prior year (tax year 2007). Since IKE occurred September 13, 2008, an individual generally has until April 15, 2009 to amend your tax year 2007 tax return ( Form 1040 X and signed statement regarding the disaster) to claim the IKE loss incurred during 2008 on your 2007 taxes. What is the advantage of amending 2007 tax year return you may ask? Well if a taxpayer incurred a significant loss from IKE then the taxpayer might obtain a tax refund quicker (assuming the amended return is filed fairly quickly) by amending 2007 instead of waiting to file year 2008 taxes. The IRS advises that taxpayers who file amended returns for tax year 2007 should write across the top of the return "Texas/ Hurricane IKE" to expedite handling.

All Casualty Losses are reported on Form 4684 and are reduced by 10 % of a taxpayers AGI ( Form 1040 line 37 tax year 2007) and by $100 for each casualty or theft incurred (Individual only). The amount of loss flows from Form 4684 to Schedule A Itemized Deductions but the normal itemized deduction haircut ( reduction based on income) is not applied on the loss from personal use property when a Presidential declared disaster occurs. An individual can deduct personal property losses not covered by insurance or any other type of reimbursement.

The amount of a Casualty Loss is the lesser of :

1) The difference between fair market value ( FMV) immediately before the casualty and its FMV immediately after;

2) The adjusted basis of the property immediately before the casualty( Busines Casualty Loss)

REDUCED BY : All casualty losses are reduced by the amount of insurance proceeds or other compensation received and the amount (if any) for salvage received if the affected item can be sold.

An individual can deduct the loss of items such as their home, auto's, clothing, furniture, appliances, cameras, all other household items, trees, shrubbery, tools, etc. Ideally pictures from a digital camera of affected loss items will make a significant difference in proving an individuals claim to the insurance company and to the IRS.

An individual is not taxed on disaster relief payments from any source that reimburses or pays the taxpayer for unreimbursed costs of repairing or rehabilitiating taxpayers personal residence or replacing its contents. In addition, a taxpayer is not taxed on payments that cover reasonable and necessary lersonal, family, living or funeral expenses as long as these items are not paid by insurance or other reimbursement. Payments made by federal, state and local government to individuals affected by a Presidential declared disaster are always excluded from taxation.

TAX BREAK - WIDOWED HOMEOWNERS

ROBERT (BOB) GILBERT (PRUDENTIAL GARY GREENE) — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 16:41:13 -0500

The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief act signed last December provides of up $500,000 in profits tax-free for widowed spouses concerning the sale of a primary residence owned jointly by them as long as the sale occurs within 2 years after the death of one of the spouses. Previously, a home had to be sold the same year as a spouse's death to qualify for the $500,000 profits exclusion, otherwise the exclusion dropped to $250,000. This was an another example of just totally stupid tax laws which were finally corrected. There are thousands of additional stupid tax provisions in the law right now and we can only hope for tax reform some day but don't hold your breath. Before this change, if a spouse died late in the year the other spouse had no real opportunity to even think and plan.

KISD FOOTBALL THIS WEEK AFTER IKE

ROBERT (BOB) GILBERT (PRUDENTIAL GARY GREENE) — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 16:36:14 -0500

OK KISD football fans as you may or not know BUT throw the old schedules away ( I think) as IKE has changed many things in our area. I believe the UIL and the local schools are still working on revising the schedules for the football games along with all the other sports( ie Volleyball, etc). I will write a blog once I know what the new schedule looks like. This week we had two games played between district foes which are being treated as non-district games. These games were a welcomed diversion from the last weeks events.

Morton Ranch 21 Seven Lakes 20

Morton Ranch wins its third game this year and 4 th game in row ( includes last game of last season) in front a large crowd of approximately 7,500 fans at Rhodes Stadium last Thursday evening. This was a really exciting game and the fans got their money's worth right up to the end of the game. Morton Ranch, just like Seven Lakes, had won only 1 game out of 20 during its first two seasons of varsiry football has now already won 3 games this season and appears to be on a roll. Unfortunately for Seven Lakes it was another bitter loss after the Spartan's rallied in the 4 th quarter after falling behind by 14 points. Seven Lakes scored late in the game via a 4 yard pass from Daulton Livingson to Anthony Kendrick. The coaches decided to go for a two point conversion and the win. The pass failed. Personally, I think this extra point conversion choice was another of a long string of POOR coaching decisions at Seven Lakes but I am just a dad who sufferred through the 1-19 start to the varsity program at Seven Lakes and I have seen numerous bone head decisions being made which affected the outcome of several games. Let us hope the boys can recoup and play good this next week and not let this loss ruin their season.

Morton Ranch gained 253 yards on the ground with J. Mitchell gaining 140 yards and M. Venson 124 yards. It appears these two backs ripped up the Spartan defense. Daulton Livingston the Seven Lakes QB completed 13 of 21 passes for 169 yards 3 TD's and Anthony Kendrick caught 5 balls for 54 yards and 1 TD.

Cinco Ranch 42 Mayde Creek 14

Cinco Ranch ( CR) wins its third game of this season and remains undeated as it beat Mayde Creek last evening at Rhodes stadium. Cinco Ranch's running back Adam Hirtz gained 200 yards which included 132 yards on his first 4 carries. Very impressive performance by Adam and the CR offense line. Mayde Creek had previously won its first two games of the seaon and looked very good in doing so but CR appears to be the best team in district 17-5A at least at this point in this season. CR defense held Mayde Creek to 32 yards rushing in the first half of the game. Mayde Creek QB V. Miller completed 14 of 21 passes for 174 yards and 1 TD. Mayde Creek in spite of its first loss this year is still a team that the rest of the District needs to respect.

Anyone have any comments??????

INVITATION TO ALL OUR FRIENDS IN THE HOUSTON AREA AFFECTED BY IKE TO SEE KATY

ROBERT (BOB) GILBERT (PRUDENTIAL GARY GREENE) — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 16:31:15 -0500

As we all know and understand all too well Hurricane IKE left huge path of destruction and devastation during its journey through the Houston area last weekend. My family and I stayed in our home during the entire storm and I don't mind telling everyone we were very scarred. I learned several lessions from my Hurricane experience and I plan to write a blog and share my thoughts on this subject and solict others to tell me what they leared from this experience.

My prayers and thoughts go out to all of my fellow Houstonians who suffered loss of homes, loss of life, severe damage to their homes, loss of jobs and every other possible horrible outcome from the wrath of IKE. Katy had damage due to the storm such as downed fences, roof damage, loss of electricity, uprooted trees but for the most part the whole area appears to be almost normal right now. There are excellent homes available right now in the Katy and surrounding area. I would like to invite anyone who needs an excellent place to live to come out to Katy and let me show you around. Katy has great award winning schools and has virtually every other convenence a family would want or need. CALL ME TODAY AND LET ME TELL YOU ALL ABOUT THIS EXCITING AREA ABOUT 30 MILES WEST OF DOWNTOWN HOUSTON.......Numerous folks from Louisiana who suffered from Katrina's destruction have made Katy their new home town.

KISD WEEK 2 FOOTBALL RESULTS - FRIDAY NIGHT

ROBERT (BOB) GILBERT (PRUDENTIAL GARY GREENE) — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 15:15:04 -0500

KATY - WHO WOULD HAVE THUNK IT!!!!

Well so much for my ability to predict H.S. games as Katy got destroyed by The Woodland by the score of 47 to 0 last night. Katy is 0-2 for the season and this is the first time since 1984 that Katy starts the season with two losses. Is the The Woodlands football team that Good or is Katy really that bad? I think it is combination of both but The Woodlands is now 2 -0 this season and both games were shutouts! The Woodland defense held Katy to two first downs the whole game and 72 yards of offense with no yards passing. WOW... The Woodlands must be a really good team. . I still can not believe that Katy appears to be a mediocre football team this year...There maybe room for a new district champ this year!!!!

CINCO RANCH 34 Cy Springs 15

Cinco wins its second game of year and was ranked 7 in the 5A Area Rankings before the game. Cinco should move up in the rankings. It apears that Cinco Ranch is for real and could be the best team in the district since Katy has proved to be mortal so far. Cinco scored on five of their first six possessions to take a 34 - 0 lead into half time. Cinco defense limited Cy Springs to 15 yards of total offense in the first half. Cinco had 401 yards of total offense for the game! Cinco plays Cy Ridge next week and Cy Ridge features an excellent QB named Russell Shepard who accounted for 326 yards of offense this week in their victory over Klein.

MAYDE CREEK 49 FOSTER 14

The Mayde Creek QB Vaughn Miller completed 16 of 18 passes for 218 yards and 2 TD's. Mayde Creek is 2-0 ths season and so looks like a good team and surprise to everyone outside of the team. Their offense gained over 500 yards!!! Seven Lakes plays Foster next week...

KISD WEEK 2 FOOTBALL RESULTS - THURSDAY GAME

ROBERT (BOB) GILBERT (PRUDENTIAL GARY GREENE) — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 14:11:35 -0500

WOW, WOW AGAIN... THIS IS NO MISPRINT... SEVEN LAKES 51 DULLES 14

Well my Seven Lakes spies were correct on one point.. Seven Lakes Offense is really clicking and looks great and by last nights results had a very impressive opening evening.. Seven Lakes even had an excellent ground attack!!! But my spies said the defense could not tackle Granny!!! Way off the mark as the defense held Dulles to a net 7 yards in the first half after Dulles first drive which ended with a 50 yard run by Jarrell Oliver (who in opinion should have been the starter). The 51 points scored is a school record!!! When Dulles scored its initial touchdown on its first drive all the parents moaned and thought to themselves here we go again...

Good performances last night were by:

1. Defensive Unit - great game

2. Dalton Livingston - 8 for 17 and 4 TD's no turnovers... Excellent game.

3. Ground game - Dominique Harris - 13 attempts for 123 yards - He looked really good; Felix Rome 10 attemps for 51 yards - He looked good too. Seven Lakes had a strong ground game..

4. Offensive Line - Good blocking and teamwork..

5. Receivers - Anthony Kendrick - 2 for 78 yards 1 TD ; Steven McCormack - 3 for 45 yards 1 TD; Christain Duda - 1 for 20 yards 1 TD. All were very good..

The Seven Lakes fans can't wait for next weeks game versus Foster... GO SPARTANS!!!!!!

HOME APPRAISAL KATY, TX - DIFFERENT MEANINGS

ROBERT (BOB) GILBERT (PRUDENTIAL GARY GREENE) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:38:35 -0500

Recently I spent at least 45 minutes trying to explain to a client why there are different values attached to a home appraisal for the lending bank, appraisal for property taxes and market value of the home. There appears to be significant confusion with all of these itens and that is the purpose of my blog entry. Anyone who has additional thought please share those with all of us.

Bank Appraisal - When a Buyer goes to any lending institution asking for a home purchase loan the lending institution will require that an appraisal be made on the subject home. The mortgage lender will hire a propfessional apraiser o do the work. The bank does want to lend $450,000 for a home that has appraised value of $200,000.The appraisal assists the mortgage lender in assessing its actual value. An appraisal will examine the home condition, location, features and comparable property sales in the same neighborhood or surrounding area. The potential buyer will have to pay for the appraisal and if the property appraises for less than the loan amount the mortgage lender will reject this loan in its underwriting department.

The bank appraisal has absolutely nothing to do with the annual appraisal conducted by the local taxing authority.

Tax Appraisal - Once every year the local taxing authority appraisal district will conduct their own appraisal of the home to estabish a basis for charging property and school district taxes. Each appraisal district has its own group of appraisers who work for them and they make their own unique judgement as to the value of the home or property. Each taxing authority has established and published regulations which allow home owners to protest their appraised value. Its necessary for each individual to check their taxing authority web site to obtain their rules and required forms so that they can protest the tax appraisal value if they feel that the established appraised value is too high.

Market Value- The market value of any home is not in any way related to cost that current owner paid to buy the home. The market value is initially establish by an experienced and competent real estate agent. The analysis will consider such items as location, condition of the home, square footage, features, and what other comparable homes/properties have sold for in the recent past and what competing homes in the same neighborhood are listed for at that point in time. The market value eventually will be set when the seller of the home and a buyer agree to transaction and the sale actually closes

Does anyone have anything they would like to add or comments?

Prudential Real Estate - Highest for Seller Satisfaction in 2008 via J.D. Powers Study

ROBERT (BOB) GILBERT (PRUDENTIAL GARY GREENE) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:20:54 -0500

Below is a reprint of an article on Prudential Gary Greene's web site and I thought it was important for potential clients to know this important piece of news.

Prudential Real Estate Ranked Highest for Seller Satisfaction in J.D. Power and Associates' 2008 Home Buyer/Seller Study

(Houston, Tx) - Prudential Real Estate Affiliates, Inc., a Prudential Financial, Inc. [NYSE: PRU] company, and Prudential Gary Greene, Realtors® announced that Prudential Real Estate ranks "Highest Satisfaction for Home Sellers Among National Full Service Real Estate Firms" in J.D. Power and Associates' 2008 Home Buyer/Seller Study^SM.

The inaugural study measures customer satisfaction of home buyers and sellers with major national real estate companies. Overall satisfaction is determined by examining four factors for the home selling experience: agent (43%); marketing (38%); office (12%); and services (7%).

Among home sellers, Prudential Real Estate achieved a score of 793 on a 1,000-point scale - and Prudential Real Estate received particularly high ratings from customers in the marketing and office factors.

"We are very proud of this distinction, as it underscores the quality of our affiliates and their hard-working sales professionals, said Laurie Keenan, president of Prudential Real Estate Affiliates, Inc. "Our sales professionals are local experts, and sellers appreciate their ability to market and price homes right -- along with providing exceptional, attentive service."

The team at Prudential Gary Greene, Realtors® works hard to not only meet, but exceed the expectations of its clients - sellers and buyers, explained Marilyn Eiland, Partner, Prudential Gary Greene, Realtors®. "In the current challenging market, our clients want all the expertise and market knowledge we can offer - and by leveraging Prudential's brand strength, its wide array of product and service offerings and its strong Internet marketing programs, we can provide sellers with the increased exposure they need."

The J.D. Power and Associates study finds that despite the popularity of home buying and selling resources on the Internet, the real estate sales professional remains key to customer satisfaction with real estate companies. A large proportion of both home buyers and sellers rely on the Internet to facilitate the buying or selling process, with 68 percent of buyers saying that they used Internet tools to help them in the purchase process and 61 percent of sellers reporting that they used a website listing to market their home. In addition, among sellers, online methods are the most important aspect of marketing.

However, the sales professional carries the greatest importance among the factors that comprise overall satisfaction among both home buyers and sellers.

According to J.D. Power and Associates, although the Internet provides home buyers and sellers with the ability to perform some essential tasks - such as listing a home for sale or researching a neighborhood in which to purchase a home - it still does not replace the importance of a good sales professional. Particularly in an uncertain real estate market, professional advice from sales professionals can be especially valuable to buyers and sellers. The knowledge and expertise provided by experienced sales professionals is an important benefit of using a full-service real estate company.

The study also finds that the average time a respondent's home remained on the market was slightly more than six months, although home sellers represented by the top-ranking real estate companies report that their homes were on the market for slightly less time - approximately five and a half months, on average.

Satisfaction averages 794 among those customers whose homes sold within five months or less, but declines considerably to an average of 730 among customers whose homes took seven months or longer to sell, the study showed. A real estate company that provides sales professionals who are skilled at determining the appropriate market value and listing price for homes, and who can effectively market properties, can help minimize the time that clients' homes remain on the market - which can save the seller money, inconvenience and anxiety.

Nearly one-half of respondents in the study (46%) reported using recommendations from family or friends to find their real estate sales professional. Approximately 28 percent used the Internet, 23 percent used a sales professional they had used previously and 11 percent used a printed real estate guide.

The study also reports that home buyers were shown an average of 13 homes before they made a purchase. Home sellers reported that, on average, their home was shown 11 times, and about five open houses were conducted before a sale occurred.

The 2008 Home Buyer/Seller Study includes 3,670 evaluations from 3,205 respondents who bought or sold a home between April 2007 and June 2008.

Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is a global marketing information services company operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, performance improvement, training and customer satisfaction. The company's quality and satisfaction measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers annually. For more information on cell phone ratings, car reviews and ratings, car insurance, health insurance and more, visit JDPower.com. J.D. Power and Associates is a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies.

Prudential Real Estate and Relocation Services, Inc. is Prudential's integrated real estate brokerage franchise and relocation services business. Prudential Real Estate franchises are independently owned and operated. Companies are selected based upon outstanding performance

records, high levels of customer service and shared business values with those of Prudential. Prudential Real Estate provides franchises with business strategies using Operation Reviews as well as numerous benefits, including access to Prudential Real Estate's Online Seller Advantage^SM program designed to provide real-time information to sellers with the touch of a keystroke. Prudential Real Estate is one of the largest real estate brokerage franchise networks in North America, with nearly 2,100 franchise offices and approximately 64,000 sales professionals in the franchise Network as of June 30, 2008.

KATY FALL HOME & GARDEN SHOW - THIS WEEKEND

ROBERT (BOB) GILBERT (PRUDENTIAL GARY GREENE) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:16:36 -0500

On Saturday September 6 and Sunday September 7 2008 the Kay Fall Home & Garden Show will be held at the Merrell Center. On stage on Saturday only will be Carter Oosterhouse who is host and construction expert from HGTV's hit show " Carter Can". There are going to be over 250 exhibits on 2 floors. The exhibits include Remodeling, Decorating, Kitchens & Baths, Appliances, Windows, Siding, Home Builders, Blinds & Shutters, Pools & Spa's, Furniture and a lot more. There will be a Green Products Showcase which will have a whole selection of new green products. Seminars will be conducted on stage. The show includes a Pet and Outdoor Pavilion which will be one stop shoping for fun pet and outdoor projects. Tickets are $8.00 for adults, $6.00 Seniors and children 12 & under are free. Parking is free!

DIRECTIONS TO MERRELL CENTER: When going west on i-10 from houston, take the PinOak rd exit onto the feeder. Stay on the feeder and go through Pin Oak Rd. interection. Turn right on FM 1463 and the Merrell Center will be one block on the left.

See you there as this should be a really good event to attend if you are or plan to be a homeowner!!!

KISD FIRST WEEK FOOTBALL RESULTS

ROBERT (BOB) GILBERT (PRUDENTIAL GARY GREENE) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:07:25 -0500

Week one found the following:

North Shore 10 Katy 6 - Tough game for either team to lose as these teams are two of the best in the whole state. Look for Katy to rebound big this week

Cinco Ranch 21 SA Reagan 17 - Cinco wins a big game on the road but not committing any turnovers.

Mayde Creek 17 Brenham 10 - Chronicle predicted Mayde Creek would not have a good team but they are already in the win column. so much for the Chronicle.

Morton Ranch 41 Tomball 22 Morton Ranch plays a good game and wins BIG...

Cypress Springs 20 Katy Tayor 3 Cypress Springs may have areally good team. We will see..

Seven Lakes BYE - What an excellent idea to schedule a bye in the first week? ( Not) This reminds of the wonderful schedule these poor kids had picked for them during their two initial years of varsity football. Let me see if I remember correctly ... first year program two years ago with no seniors and the schedule included 8 out of the 10 games played against playoff teams. WOW... What genius picked that schedule? I know it made them tough... However, by the end of the season a huge number of starters and replacements were hurt. We wonder why Seven Lakes has only won 1 varsity game in two years???? Please ..Good talent, great kids and its a real shame...

KISD WEEK 2 FOOTBALL SCHEDULE

ROBERT (BOB) GILBERT (PRUDENTIAL GARY GREENE) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 11:02:28 -0500

Week two has some really excellent games coming your way:

Cinco Ranch plays Cy-Springs Friday 9/5 7:30 PM at Berry Center.

Katy plays Woodlands Friday 9/5 7:30 PM at Wood Forest Stadium. This should be good game... Look for Katy to bounce back from last week.

Mayde Creek ( Homecoming) plays Foster Friday 9/5 7 PM at Rhodes. Good luck with your Homecoming game.

Morton Ranch plays Ft. Bend Tarvis Friday 9/5 7:30 PM at Mercer Stadium. Morton Ranch now has its first 2 game winning streak in their varsity football history. Good luck Morton Ranch!!!!!

Seven Lakes Plays Dulles Thursday 9/4 ( tomorrow) 7 PM at Rhodes Stadium. My spies say that the offense looks good and defense can not tackle Granny. ( Not my opinion as I haven't seen this group play yet). Lets hope that the play calling is not like the last two years where the Moms and Dads in stands could with high percentage of accuracy predict the play as the team came up to the line. Unfortunately, there is no reason to believe it will be different......

Katy Taylor plays Ft. Bend Austin Saturday 9/6 at 7 PM at Rhodes.

GO SEE A GAME AND HAVE A GREAT TIME.... THESE GAMES ARE MORE FUN AND EXCITING THAN STAYING HOME AND WATCHING THE TUBE...

KATY ISD - Recognized Ranking - KATY TX

ROBERT (BOB) GILBERT (PRUDENTIAL GARY GREENE) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:30:45 -0500

On August 1, 2008 the Texas Education Agency for the second time in the last three years ranked the Katy ISD as "Recognized" in its preliminary accountability ratings with final ratings to be relesed in October. If you want to see other area schools go to the TEA web site at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/account/.

Similar to other school districts, Katy ISD has more higher rated schools this year versus last year.

The TEA bases the ratings on Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test scores of students in grades third through Eleventh, dropout rates and high school completion ratings.

Katy's 45 traditional campuses listed in this report found 16 are "exemplary", 19 are "recognized" and 10 are "academically acceptable". No KISD school received the lowest rating of " academically unacceptable".

"Exemplary" rating is very difficult to obtain and all student groups including subgroups, must score 90% or better on the TAKS test. Subgroups are broken down by race and economic status.

The fifteen elementary schools with "exemplary" ratings are: Alexander, Creech, Exley, Fielder, Griffin, Hayes, Hutsell, Katy, Kilpatrick, Nottingham Country, Pattison, Rylander, Williams, Winbon and Woodcreek. The only "exemplary" rating secondary school was McMeans which boosted its rating from "recognized" to "exemplary".

Seven Lakes High School in only its third year of existence and with graduating its first class of Seniors this past June moved up from "acceptable" to "recognized" while at the same time Taylor fell from "recognized" to "acceptable".

The TAKS test is one tool for measuring school and student progress and there is a constant debate in all circles ( education, family, community) about whether this is the best.

Does anyone out there have comments one way or the other regarding ratings, TAKS tests, or KISD? Please respond

MAJOR NEW OPPORTUNITY FOR FIRST TIME HOME BUYERS - KATY,TX

ROBERT (BOB) GILBERT (PRUDENTIAL GARY GREENE) — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:25:38 -0500

As part of the "Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008" which was recently signed into law, Congress has created a new temporary Tax Credit as an incentive for first time home buyers. This is really a good deal and should assist numerous First Time Home Buyers to start the American dream of home ownership. Major components of this new law are:

* To qualify new or resale Homes must be purchased on or after April 9, 2008 and before July1, 2009

* Tax Credit is available to first time Home Buyers only.

* The maximum amount of tax credit is $7,500. Remember a tax Credit reduces dollar for dollar the FIT a family or individual owes to the US Treasury.

* The tax credit works like a 15 year interest-free loan and must be repaid over the 15 year period.

* Single Taxpayers with incomes up to $75,000 and married taxpayers with incomes up to $150,000 qualify for the full tax credit. There are more income tests which are beyond the scope of this blog.

* A " First Time Home Buyer" is a buyer who has not owned a principal residence during the three-year period prior to the purchase. Married couples tests the homeownership history for both the home buyer and his/her spouse.

* The credit will be claimed on your Federal Income Tax return.. So its easy with no preapprovals or required forms.

* Generally the tax credit is equal to 10% of the qualified home purchase price but the credit amount is capped or limited to a maximum of $7,500.

This is big news for first time home buyers and gives many an opportunity of a lifetime.

Call me if you want additional data about this tax situation or if you want to start looking for a home so you can take advantage of this great tax credit

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS - FIRST GAME RESULTS

ROBERT (BOB) GILBERT (PRUDENTIAL GARY GREENE) — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 16:35:40 -0500

Friday evening rain was falling the entire time we drove to my step-son's varsity football game featuring Seven Lakes versus Clements at Mercer stadium in Sugarland, Texas. All of us were really excited to be going to a new year of high school football games and we looked forward to see what progress the team had made since last season. We arrived at the field late due to the rain and my wife was in a hurry as she was afraid that we missed the opening kick off. We found some seats on the 50 yard line (great seats by the way...and we arrived late) and we still were able to see the both teams walking in as rain had delayed the strating of the game. Last year, I would watch each week and shake my head in disbelief as Seven Lakes (SLHS) looked like a bunch of small little brothers trying to play football against a large group of huge big brothers. It did not seem fair. Remember last year SLHS team was a brand new varsity program with NO Seniors and playing a killer schedule. This game was different right from the get go as we immediately noticed that our boys were just as big if not bigger than their's. The parents in the stands all seemed to notice a new found difference in appearance and attitude.

Unfortunately in the most heart sickening fashion that I have ever experienced in my lifetime, Seven Lakes lost 21-20 to Clements in the last minute of the game. SLHS was ahead the whole game. Clements is a ranked area team and SLHS still has not won its first varsity game. However, SLHS really took it to them. Clements knew it was in tough game and I am sure their coach has told all of them that they were very lucky to win this game. Clements also has David Carr's little brother at QB and a very good offensive team. They will probably be force in their conference this season. SLHS football team gave them one heck of a game and if it wasn't for some really bad calls by the officials (home field advantage) and a few mistakes SLHS would have won the game.

WE are all very proud of the entire SLHS team as they have over come extreme adversity and shown what hard work and a positive attitude can do for any individual or group of people. KISD can take great pride in the program they have developed at this school. It would have been real easy for this group to just essentially give up after losing all of their games last year and taking a real physical beating each week. By the end of the season it hard to tell if there were enough healthy bodies to field a full team. These boys did not take the loser route or take the easy way out and I look for them to be a real force in the 4A conference they play in and make the playoffs. As adults we all can learn something from this great group boys who are now men.

SLHA plays Dulles on Friday Sept 7 at 7:30 PM at Mercer Stadium in Sugarland. I encourage all of you to come out to this game or any other high school game. I am sure you will enjoy it and learn something. HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS IS STILL WHERE INDIVIDUALS PLAY FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME. I CAN'T SAY THE SAME FOR THE PRO'S OR MAJOR COLLEGES.

I plan to try to write a weekly piece about the SLHS football team and its journey during their second varsity season.

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS

ROBERT (BOB) GILBERT (PRUDENTIAL GARY GREENE) — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 09:46:20 -0500

This weekend will begin a new high school football season. I am particularly looking forward to Friday evening as my step-son plays high school football for Seven Lakes High School here in Katy, TX. We actually live in the Grand lakes subdivision which is part of the Katy school district. Last season Seven Lakes was sadly zero wins and 10 losses. However, last year was their first varsity football season and thay had NO seniors. Their schedule was a total killer with 8 out of the 10 teams they played all reaching the high school playoffs. Friday evening Seven Lakes plays Clements High School (Sugarland School) at Mercer Stadium. It should be a good game even if we lose again. Clements is a 5A team who is picked to win its conference and loaded with excellent players while Seven Lakes is a 4A team that still a very young program and no varsity level wins under their belts.

If you are new to the area or have never had the time to attend game, I recommend going to a Friday night high school football game. Texas high school football is a special event that is difficult to describe and can only be experienced to really enjoy. The teams are fun to watch, the marching bands and music are really special and Drill Teams/Cheerleaders add a lot of spirit. The cost to attend is cheap by todays sporting events standards and I personally believe YOU will have FUN!!!!

The High Shiool season actually begins this evening with one of the top match ups being played between Stratford and Cy Fair. Both teams are excellent with star players. Stratford has Andrew Luck at quarterback (son of former Oilers QB Oliver Luck) and Cy Fair has star running back Sam McGuffie. Their will be a live web cast of this game at chron.com/highschool. This should be great game and a perfect way to start a new season.

I HOPE TO SEE ALL OF YOU AT GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!