There is a beautiful new community in the infancy stages of development in Cypress TX, just north west of Houston.  It will have all the bells and whistles a home buyer could want in a master planned community with 20,000+ homes.  Nice landscaping, water parks, pools, tennis courts, etc.  It's called Bridgeland.

However, I recently learned of an "enhancement fee."  This .5% fee is attached to all resolds in the community and is payable by the seller. This fee is to be paid back into a community fund that pays for salaries for full time employees in the HOA, and any repairs or enhancements inside the community.

I can see a few problems with this.  It will not apply to new home sales.  So I think it is realistic to say that most home buyers will not find out about this until their closer at the title company slips a notice to them explaining the details of this fee, where it is realistically too late.  In many cases, I can see this scenario play out on resales, especially where buyers have no representation. Lastly, this fee is collected on top of steep yearly HOA dues.

It's my opinion that information like this needs to be disclosed during the decision making process. Not at the closing table. This is where a buyers agent earns their comission. Buyers need to have all the information assocaited in buying a specific property in order to make a smart finacial decision.

Fellow bloggers/agents... are these steep HOA fees a growing trend in your markets?

Cypress Texas real estate agent, Michael Crider, launches a new informative website to service the local real estate market and its consumers.

A new online resource has become available to service the Cypress Texas real estate market. With an overwhelming majority of new home buyers beginning their search on the Internet, CypressTexasRealEstateSite.com aims to benefit the online consumer by offering information and home searches that will aid them in the home buying process or home selling process.

This site contains important information and articles that keep consumers informed on a wide range of topics from credit issues and scoring to school systems in Cypress and North West Houston, as well as multiple ways to search for Cypress TX homes. This site is dynamic so information is constantly added and updated. Consumers can also request information through a contact form.

Home searches are the number one item online consumers are looking for. CypressTexasRealEstateSite.com has access to Houston's multiple listing service. Home buyers can search all the listings in the greater Houston areas, including Cypress, without first being required to register personal information. If the consumer is having trouble sifting through the plethora of homes available in the online real estate listing, they can request a custom home search to help narrow the listings.

Michael Crider, a Cypress Texas real estate consultant with Keller Williams Realty, has serviced the Cypress and Northwest Houston areas for the past three years. He has an excellent record for customer service and getting listings sold below the average days on market. He is able to achieve this through use of technology available and efficient marketing. He is a part of the Greater Northwest team located off of Hwy 290 and Hwy 6. This is the largest office that serves the area and just embarked on its ten year anniversary, a company proud to announce the launch of a new real estate listing Web site.

For more information, contact:
Michael Crider, Cypress Texas Real Estate Consultant
Keller Williams Realty - GNW
8514 Hwy 6 N
Houston, TX 77095
281-797-5436