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    <title>Katy Texas Real Estate Professional's random market thoughts</title>
    <link>http://activerain.com/blogs/rontarvin</link>
    <description>Katy Texas Real Estate, Katy Texas real estate expert, katy texas real estate consultant</description>
    <language>en-us</language>
    <item>
      <guid>648146</guid>
      <title>Is there really power in a NAME?</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;So, I've been thinking about NAMES quite a bit lately.&amp;nbsp; Wondering, with so many brokerages out there is there really a difference (I mean other than to the agent's wallet).&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I know agencies differ as far as costs go.&amp;nbsp; Some do great splits, some do capped company dollar and there are many other compensation models but at the end of the day, it really is about the sales you make and the income that you earn.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So I'd love to hear what everyone has to say on this subject and&amp;nbsp;answer these questions in your remarks:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What one thing sets your brokerage apart for the agent compensation model?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;What one thing does your company do that helps the AGENT generate more sales and hence more income?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <author>Ron Tarvin's Katy Agent Team-- Katy Texas Real Estate (Keller Williams Realty)</author>
      <pubDate>Mon, 18 Aug 2008 21:02:24 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/648146/Is-there-really-power</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>643861</guid>
      <title>Another Short Sale in Katy Texas gets done!</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title="Short Sale Katy Texas" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/5/0/7/0/9/ar121884820390705.jpg" height="420" alt="Short Sale Katy Texas" width="350" style="float: left;" /&gt;Yep, this one was a bear!&amp;nbsp; Getting all the parties on the same page and working through multiple offers, some from buyers who disappeared right after they submitted an offer, but we finally got it closed and made our sellers very happy!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://activerain.com/blogsview/529035/Short-Sale-in-Katy" title="4755 Wind Trace Short Sale, Katy Texas" target="_blank"&gt;The home that we had listed at 4755 Wind Trace, Katy Texas Sold after two months of wrangling!&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The market is getting a lot tougher with foreclosures and preforeclosures but here is the funny part I learned.&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Banks that are trying to sell properties that they own are dropping prices and yet they are wanting top price on short sales.&amp;nbsp; The effect is that they make short sales more difficult because they are competing with very similar foreclosure properties.&amp;nbsp; WHEW!&amp;nbsp; What a cycle that becomes!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;All I can say is that as a buyer, you can certainly get a good deal on a home through either a foreclosure or a short sale, but the number one ingredient for getting that deal is "PATIENCE".&amp;nbsp; These bank employees can be working 300 files or more at a time and so the process can be very slow.&amp;nbsp; For those that do have the patience to see it through though, the end result is a home for a reasonable price!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <author>Ron Tarvin's Katy Agent Team-- Katy Texas Real Estate (Keller Williams Realty)</author>
      <pubDate>Fri, 15 Aug 2008 20:39:29 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/643861/Another-Short-Sale-in</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>639401</guid>
      <title>Glenn Eller, Katy Texas Olympian</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;Glenn Eller, a Katy Texas resident competing in the Olympic games in Beijing China set a new world record in trap shooting during qualifying on Tuesday.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The record was formerly held by Ahmed Almaktoum of the United Arab Emirates and was set Aug. 17, 2004 at the&amp;nbsp;Athens Olympics.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Eller hit 145 targets out of 150.&amp;nbsp; The previous record was 144.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Glenn is with The U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit out of Fort Benning currently and he went on to win the GOLD medal, the USA's first in the event in the last 24 years!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Way to go Glenn, from Katy Texas!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <author>Ron Tarvin's Katy Agent Team-- Katy Texas Real Estate (Keller Williams Realty)</author>
      <pubDate>Wed, 13 Aug 2008 11:04:54 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/639401/Glenn-Eller-Katy-Texas</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>616877</guid>
      <title>La Centerra Event--July 31st</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;La Centerra shopping center in Cinco Ranch is hosting the Hot Nights, Cool Jazz featuring The Billy Keener Band on July 31st.&amp;nbsp; Admission is free!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;This is one of many events hosted by La Centerra in Cinco Ranch!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Hot Nights, Cool Jazz is held every Thursday evening through the summer!&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <author>Ron Tarvin's Katy Agent Team-- Katy Texas Real Estate (Keller Williams Realty)</author>
      <pubDate>Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:36:55 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/616877/La-Centerra-Event-July</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>616395</guid>
      <title>UNITED TITLE and Mercury Corportation latest in Real Estate failures</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;United Title, with office all across Houston and Katy has closed their doors effective today.&amp;nbsp; United Title and Mercury Corporation was a West Coast company and that location has seemingly caused all the offices across the country to close.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;No warning was given about the impending closure and it happened very swiftly.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It appears that any agents/buyers/sellers that had transactions in the works with any UNITED TITLE COMPANIES can contact that office to transfer the file to another title company of the agent/buyer/seller's choice.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <author>Ron Tarvin's Katy Agent Team-- Katy Texas Real Estate (Keller Williams Realty)</author>
      <pubDate>Wed, 30 Jul 2008 11:58:17 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/616395/UNITED-TITLE-and-Mercury</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>608612</guid>
      <title>Focus group on GPS units</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;I got a call last week from a "research group".&amp;nbsp; This group was conducting a focus group on GPS units.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;They asked me to participate in a 2 hour panel and that I would be compensated $150 for my time.&amp;nbsp; Sounded like a good idea on the heels of having had my GPS unit &lt;a href="http://activerain.com/blogsview/592871/Trip-to-the-ZOO" title="Stolen GPS unit" target="_blank"&gt;stolen from my vehicle&lt;/a&gt; a short while back.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So I went.&amp;nbsp; The drive of the focus group actually ended up being about ONE particular brand of GPS.&amp;nbsp; The DASH.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Dash is supposed to have the ability to have 2 way connection to the internet, be able to update maps and software seemlessly, and have not only sensor traffic information but get traffic information from other DASH units in use around the city.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So the question was...if the GPS unit could do all that stuff, would it be worth the cost of the unit AND a monthly fee to you?&amp;nbsp; The fee that was mentioned was about 10 bucks a month.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.dash.net/product/traffic.php" title="DASH GPS UNIT" target="_blank"&gt;ABOUT DASH GPS&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <author>Ron Tarvin's Katy Agent Team-- Katy Texas Real Estate (Keller Williams Realty)</author>
      <pubDate>Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:16:57 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/608612/Focus-group-on-GPS</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>592931</guid>
      <title>FHA Guidelines that changed TODAY!</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;There are several guidelines that changed with FHA today.&amp;nbsp; The result of which will likely leave some folks who THOUGHT they were buying a home out of the market.&amp;nbsp; If your preapproval was written under the standards pre 7-14-08 and you are NOT in contract already with a case number assigned (case numbers are assigned to PROPERTIES, NOT to buyers), then you may not be able to purchase a home if you were a borderline case with FHA to begin with.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So what changed?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Effective with all new registrations on or after Monday, July 14, 2008,&lt;/strong&gt; the following requirements for &lt;strong&gt;FHA&lt;/strong&gt; loans are now in effect:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;middot;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Desktop Underwriter&amp;reg; (DU&amp;reg;) or Loan Prospector&amp;reg; (LP) must be utilized for all loan decisions.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;middot;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; DU/LP Findings must be "Approve" / "Accept"&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;middot;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; DU/LP Findings of "Refer" are no longer eligible&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;middot;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; Non-Traditional Credit loans are no longer eligible&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;middot;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; A minimum FICO of 580 is required for all FHA loans&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The big changes here are the minimum FICO score requirement and the elimination of the "REFER" category.&amp;nbsp; The REFER category often let loan officers put together a package that COULD be accepted even though other criteria were not met and now that option is not available to them.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;If you have questions, please feel free to call us or check with your preferred loan officer!&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <author>Ron Tarvin's Katy Agent Team-- Katy Texas Real Estate (Keller Williams Realty)</author>
      <pubDate>Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:05:26 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/592931/FHA-Guidelines-that-changed</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>592871</guid>
      <title>Trip to the ZOO!</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;My family and I took a short trip to the zoo this weekend.&amp;nbsp; We were there less than three hours and really, it was less than an hour and a half since my wife had returned to the truck to get something out of the truck.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;When we returned to the truck at about noon,&amp;nbsp; there it was...the lock was jimmied on the door and the truck was unlocked.&amp;nbsp; Oddly, they took the GPS, rifled through other things in the truck but didn't take anything else that I am aware of.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I post this not to make anyone afraid of the zoo, but really has a public service.&amp;nbsp; If something like this DOES happen to you, REPORT IT.&amp;nbsp; Make a police report.&amp;nbsp; These types of stats are tracked.&amp;nbsp; If you don't report it, they may not track the incident.&amp;nbsp; If there IS a problem and it gets tracked, it will result in new security or more patrols or the like.&amp;nbsp; The guest services lady mentioned that it had happened the day before as well but that the lady did not make a report with the police...if there is increased activitiy of this nature in the area of the zoo, it's impossible to do anything about it unless it gets reported and tracked!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <author>Ron Tarvin's Katy Agent Team-- Katy Texas Real Estate (Keller Williams Realty)</author>
      <pubDate>Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:29:44 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/592871/Trip-to-the-ZOO</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>575777</guid>
      <title>Governors Place Annual 4th of July parade!</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;Governors Place will be hosting their annual 4th of July parade on July 4th from 9am to 12pm! &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Bring the kids out and have a great time!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.wondercliparts.com" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.wondercliparts.com/holidays/4th_july/graphics/4th_july_graphics_06.gif" border="0" alt="4th July Graphics" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;img title="Katy Texas Real Estate Professionals" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/0/8/4/9/ar121501537594801.jpg" height="257" alt="Katy Agent Team, Katy Texas" width="350" style="border: black 3px solid;" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.katyagent.com/" title="Katy Texas Real Estate" target="_blank"&gt;Call Ron-- 281-935-7152 Direct or our Toll Free information line&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.katyagent.com/" title="Katy Texas Real Estate" target="_blank"&gt;Call (877)472-5390 and use the code to hear about the guarantee:&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.katyagent.com/" title="Katy Texas Real Estate" target="_blank"&gt;Easy Exit Listing Guarantee Code: 7003&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.katyagent.com/" title="Katy Texas Real Estate" target="_blank"&gt;$5000 Buyer Guarantee, Code: 7004&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.katyagent.com/" title="Katy Texas Real Estate" target="_blank"&gt;Your Home Sold in 29 Days GUARANTEED, Code: 7005&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <author>Ron Tarvin's Katy Agent Team-- Katy Texas Real Estate (Keller Williams Realty)</author>
      <pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:13:15 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/575777/Governors-Place-Annual-4th</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>575692</guid>
      <title>Tokyo Steak and Sushi in Villagio, Katy Texas</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;Tokyo Steak and Sushi in Villagio!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Fantastic!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The atmosphere was great and the food was even better!&amp;nbsp; I've never been to a place that had happy hour all day long with a free glass of wine with your dinner but it was a nice touch!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The HIBATCHI dinners were fantastic...I had the steak and my wife had the chicken but it all looked GREAT!&amp;nbsp; Might I suggest the noodles instead of the rice though as the noodles were really good (especially withe Teriaki sauce).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The meals were about $15 a piece and the service was great!&amp;nbsp; The do have a flat screen tv on the wall that was a little odd to be watching sports in a place like that but overall great place!&amp;nbsp; Interesting decor as well (that looks like bamboo flooring used to panel the lower wall!).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;My grandmother is coming to visit this month and we can't wait to treat her to this neat place!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Tokyo Steak And Sushi is located in Villagio at the corner of Peek road and Westheimer Parkway.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;img title="Villagio, Katy Texas" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/7/5/3/1/7/ar121501094771357.JPG" height="345" alt="Tokyo Steak and Sushi, Katy Texas" width="500" style="border: black 3px solid;" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;Image Courtesy Google Maps&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;img title="Katy Texas Real Estate Professionals" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/9/9/2/6/2/ar12150115826299.jpg" height="257" alt="Katy Agent Team, Katy Texas" width="350" style="border: black 3px solid;" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.katyagent.com/" title="Katy Texas Real Estate" target="_blank"&gt;Call Ron-- 281-935-7152 Direct or our Toll Free information line&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.katyagent.com/" title="Katy Texas Real Estate" target="_blank"&gt;Call (877)472-5390 and use the code to hear about the guarantee:&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.katyagent.com/" title="Katy Texas Real Estate" target="_blank"&gt;Easy Exit Listing Guarantee Code: 7003&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.katyagent.com/" title="Katy Texas Real Estate" target="_blank"&gt;$5000 Buyer Guarantee, Code: 7004&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.katyagent.com/" title="Katy Texas Real Estate" target="_blank"&gt;Your Home Sold in 29 Days GUARANTEED, Code: 7005&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <author>Ron Tarvin's Katy Agent Team-- Katy Texas Real Estate (Keller Williams Realty)</author>
      <pubDate>Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:15:29 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/575692/Tokyo-Steak-and-Sushi</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>574983</guid>
      <title>Congrats to a Junior at Cinco Ranch High School are in order!</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;WOW!&amp;nbsp; Way to go to&amp;nbsp;Isaiah Smith, a junior at Cinco Ranch High School for a PERFECT score on the ACT.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Isaiah was one of only SIX students in Texas to score a perfect score.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Over 25,000 students took ACT this year and over 490,000 nationwide so Isaiah&amp;nbsp; was in rare company with the perfect score of 36!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;img title="Cheers!" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/3/5/8/6/ar121496186668532.JPG" height="218" alt="Clapping!" width="300" style="border: black 3px solid;" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <author>Ron Tarvin's Katy Agent Team-- Katy Texas Real Estate (Keller Williams Realty)</author>
      <pubDate>Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:25:37 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/574983/Congrats-to-a-Junior</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>566776</guid>
      <title>Katy Agent Team wins award!</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;Ron Tarvin's Katy Agent Team is proud to announce that we earned the distinction of TOP SELLING AGENT OF THE MONTH for the month of May 2008!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;A big thanks to all of our clients who helped make this possible as well as thanks to all the agents we were lucky enough to co-broke with and the builders we worked with during the month of May 2008 to make this possible!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;img title="Agent of the Month" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/4/2/9/6/0/ar121445082206924.JPG" height="521" alt="Agent of the Month" width="400" style="vertical-align: bottom;" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;Give us a call and put us to work for you as well!&amp;nbsp; You'll be glad you did!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;img title="Superior real estate services in Katy Texas" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/5/8/5/6/ar121445092765852.jpg" height="210" alt="Katy Agent Team" width="280" style="vertical-align: text-bottom;" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.katyagent.com" title="Katy Texas Real Estate" target="_blank"&gt;Call Ron-- 281-935-7152 Direct or our Toll Free information line&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.katyagent.com" title="Katy Texas Real Estate" target="_blank"&gt;Call (877)472-5390 and use the code to hear about the guarantee:&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.katyagent.com" title="Katy Texas Real Estate" target="_blank"&gt;Easy Exit Listing Guarantee Code: 7003&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.katyagent.com" title="Katy Texas Real Estate" target="_blank"&gt;$5000 Buyer Guarantee, Code: 7004&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.katyagent.com" title="Katy Texas Real Estate" target="_blank"&gt;Your Home Sold in 29 Days GUARANTEED, Code: 7005&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <author>Ron Tarvin's Katy Agent Team-- Katy Texas Real Estate (Keller Williams Realty)</author>
      <pubDate>Wed, 25 Jun 2008 22:31:12 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/566776/Katy-Agent-Team-wins</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>562332</guid>
      <title>Comedian George Carlin Passes away</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title="George Carlin" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/9/7/2/9/4/ar121421694349279.jpg" height="147" alt="George Carlin" width="200" style="float: left;" /&gt;I'm sure&amp;nbsp;George would have had something very witty to say about the title of my post and the many headlines stating that he had "passed away".&amp;nbsp; At the age of 71 and having just completed yet another HBO special, George "checked out" due to heart failure.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;While the language he used in much of his comedy was pretty foul at times, he was still one of the funniest comedians around as he saw the absurd in the every day things.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Those from the 80's also remember the&amp;nbsp;part he played in Bill and Ted's Excellent adventure (was that really Keanu Reeves?) keeping Bill and Ted on track to save the world.&amp;nbsp; Always thought that odd that George played that role, being the cynic that he was.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Just a special tribute to George Carlin on the day after his passing.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title="George Carlin" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/6/6/3/4/ar121421712443661.gif" height="240" alt="George Carlin" width="320" style="float: right;" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;If laughter is the best medicine, George was one of the best doctors around for over 30 years!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;GEORGE CARLIN....thanks for the laughs!&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <author>Ron Tarvin's Katy Agent Team-- Katy Texas Real Estate (Keller Williams Realty)</author>
      <pubDate>Mon, 23 Jun 2008 05:34:39 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/562332/Comedian-George-Carlin-Passes</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>561579</guid>
      <title>Gas prices?!</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;Well, it finally happened.&amp;nbsp; I finally got GAS SHOCK.&amp;nbsp; I've been saying that no matter what, we're all going to continue to consume gas and price is little deterrent to usage.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Now, I'm thinking that the key in all that is usage.&amp;nbsp; Personally, I love my truck.&amp;nbsp; I drive an Ford Expedition and I love the room it affords me for clients and for my family.&amp;nbsp; However, I can't keep up with gas costing as much as it has recently and I've thought I should downsize.&amp;nbsp; Hey, if could save a little money on gas, I could afford to have a more expensive car!&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; (that's&amp;nbsp; a joke for any that know me and my views on money saving/spending!)&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So there is was, in my face....&amp;nbsp; &lt;img title="Pump Sticker Shock!" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/4/6/0/4/8/ar121415941684064.jpg" height="267" alt="High Gas Prices" width="400" style="float: right;" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;$83 for a fill up.&amp;nbsp; Yes, I was near empty at the time...but still.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;When I bought this truck, about three years ago, it cost around $45 to fill it up.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Now really...in THREE years, we're talking almost DOUBLE in price?&amp;nbsp; Has anything else done that?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Has your salary DOUBLED in the last three years?&amp;nbsp; As a Realtor&amp;reg;, I know my commission hasn't DOUBLED in the last three years.&amp;nbsp; I know my house value hasn't DOUBLED in the last three years.&amp;nbsp; Seems so very, very odd that the price of a barrel of oil doesn't effect the price of gas UNLESS it's when the price goes up.&amp;nbsp; Price of a barrel of oil drops, but the price of gas does not.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Anyway...that's the rant for the day.&amp;nbsp; It's not like I'll stop driving or being a consumer...but I may want to look at better alternatives for my next vehicle!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <author>Ron Tarvin's Katy Agent Team-- Katy Texas Real Estate (Keller Williams Realty)</author>
      <pubDate>Sun, 22 Jun 2008 13:37:27 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/561579/Gas-prices</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>542857</guid>
      <title>Driving your advertising into the ground!</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;Many agents, inspectors, mortgage people and lots of other business people have advertisements on their cars.&amp;nbsp; From magnetic signs to full auto wraps, you are a moving billboard!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I'm reminded of the saying that "what you do speaks so loudly I can not hear what you are telling me you do".&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;What are you really advertising?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Well, in my case, I KNOW that I have some issues on the road from time to time.&amp;nbsp; Now don't get me wrong.&amp;nbsp; I'm usually a very courteous driver.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp; I believe in NOT crossing solid lines when getting on and off a freeway ramp (or anywhere for that matter).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I believe in letting others in...to a point (if I am at a congested area, I try to let at least ONE car in and sometimes more).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I believe that you are required to stop, when at all possible, at yellow lights.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I believe that you do not turn from lanes that are NOT turning lanes.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I don't believe in road rage (what purpose does THAT serve!?).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I believe that turn signals were put in our vehicles for a very legitimate reason!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;But I do have one issue that gets me almost every time.....&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title="What are you advertising" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/5/1/9/8/4/ar121301900748915.jpg" height="204" alt="Speed Gun" width="280" style="float: left; border: black 4px solid;" /&gt;&amp;nbsp;Yep,&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Speeding.&amp;nbsp; It seems like either I'm not aware of it or it's just a habit, but I tend to have the lead foot.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Maybe it's because I was raised around race tracks when I was a kid.&amp;nbsp; My dad was a motorcycle drag racer and we went to various dirt track and sprint car races as often as we could.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Maybe I'm just perpetually running behind.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Maybe, I just ought to slow down....&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So if you see me go speeding by and you want to call me up (my number is on my truck), be gentle and remind me that I'm supposed to be slowing down.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;Then let me apologize and figure out if there really is some emergency that I am attending!&amp;nbsp; After all, I want people to be able to read my moving billboard, not just see a blur as it goes by!&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <author>Ron Tarvin's Katy Agent Team-- Katy Texas Real Estate (Keller Williams Realty)</author>
      <pubDate>Mon, 09 Jun 2008 08:50:02 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/542857/Driving-your-advertising-into</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>541307</guid>
      <title>Katy Texas Real Estate Market for MAY 2008</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;The Katy Real Estate market saw a return to a robust level.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;There were 364 homes sold in the city of KATY between May 1st, 2008 and May 31,2008!&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The homes sold ranged in value from $54,900 to $1,130,000.&amp;nbsp; Once again quite a spread on values!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;226 of the properties sold in Katy in May were South of I-10 and had an average sale price of $251,747 at a $87.63/square foot price.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;134 of the properties sold in Katy in May were North of I-10 and had an average sale price of $117,208 at $61.69/square foot.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;img title="Katy Texas Real Estate" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/9/9/1/9/7/ar121289039179199.jpg" height="220" alt="Katy Texas Real Estate" width="300" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.katyagent.com" title="Katy Texas Real Estate Specialist" target="_blank"&gt;Please give us a call if you are looking to buy or sell a home in the West Houston and Katy Texas area! We are area specialists who guarantee our results!&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="center"&gt;Call Ron-- 281-935-7152 Direct or our Toll Free information line&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Call (877)472-5390 and use the code to hear about the guarantee:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Easy Exit Listing Guarantee Code: 7003&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;$5000 Buyer Guarantee, Code: 7004&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Your Home Sold in 29 Days GUARANTEED, Code: 7005&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <author>Ron Tarvin's Katy Agent Team-- Katy Texas Real Estate (Keller Williams Realty)</author>
      <pubDate>Sat, 07 Jun 2008 21:02:43 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/541307/Katy-Texas-Real-Estate</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>541153</guid>
      <title>No  Triple Crown winner this year....again!</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;Heavy favorite, BIG BROWN was beaten in his bid to win the third leg of the TRIPLE CROWN.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;38-1 odds on Da Tara must have paid off big as Da Tara wins the Belmont Stakes and Big Brown pulled up and finished last.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Let's just hope no injuries are found out about this time!&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <author>Ron Tarvin's Katy Agent Team-- Katy Texas Real Estate (Keller Williams Realty)</author>
      <pubDate>Sat, 07 Jun 2008 18:01:22 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/541153/No-Triple-Crown-winner</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>539099</guid>
      <title>Special financing for Washer and Dryer--30 years to pay!</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;So how many times does the builder throw in the washer, dryer, and fridge?&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img title="Bad Financing Options" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/4/4/6/2/6/ar121276191562644.jpg" height="250" alt="Save MONEY" width="250" style="float: left; border: black 5px solid;" /&gt;Did the&amp;nbsp;anyone stop to think that NOTHING is free?&amp;nbsp; You ARE paying for that somewhere along the way.&amp;nbsp; So if you were to take that off the price of the house, would it be significant?&amp;nbsp; No, probably not.&amp;nbsp; But even if it was $2000, what is $2000 amoritized over 30 years at 6.5%?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Principal borrowed:&lt;/strong&gt; $2000.00 &lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Annual Payments:&lt;/strong&gt; 12 &lt;strong&gt;Total Payments:&lt;/strong&gt; 360&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Annual interest rate:&lt;/strong&gt; 6.50% &lt;strong&gt;Periodic interest rate:&lt;/strong&gt; 0.5417%&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Regular Payment amount:&lt;/strong&gt; $12.64 &lt;strong&gt;Final Balloon Payment:&lt;/strong&gt; $0.00&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The following results are estimates which do not account for values being rounded to the nearest cent.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Total Repaid:&lt;/strong&gt; $4550.40&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Total Interest Paid:&lt;/strong&gt; $2550.40&lt;br /&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Interest as percentage of Principal:&lt;/strong&gt; 127.520%&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So that $2000 washer and dryer actually cost you about&amp;nbsp; $4500 bucks!&amp;nbsp; And here is the kicker...you have probably replaced it 2-4 times during that 30 year period!&amp;nbsp; So you pay for something for 30 years that lasted only 6-8 years!&amp;nbsp; The interesting part is the last line in the amortization: Interest as percentage of principal: 127.5%!!!!&amp;nbsp; YIKES!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Now don't get me wrong.&amp;nbsp; I'm not saying that you SHOULDN'T get the washer, dryer, fridge or big screen tv thrown in there, but just to be aware of the long term cost.&amp;nbsp; Most people don't stay in a house for 30 years, so if you stay less, you can see how that affects what you really end up paying!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <author>Ron Tarvin's Katy Agent Team-- Katy Texas Real Estate (Keller Williams Realty)</author>
      <pubDate>Fri, 06 Jun 2008 09:46:44 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/539099/Special-financing-for-Washer</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>534023</guid>
      <title>Vigilante Justice...swift and Just?</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title="Red light" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/6/9/6/8/ar121246778486968.jpg" height="213" alt="Red Lights" width="250" style="float: left;" /&gt;So I was thinking the other day as I saw a guy run a red light.&amp;nbsp; What would happen if I went after that guy to give him a ticket?&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Sounds crazy, right?&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Why wouldn't you do that?&amp;nbsp; Because it isn't legal.&amp;nbsp; It's vigilante.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So I've recently started to see another sort of vigilante running around town, taking the law into their own hands.&amp;nbsp; Now in some regards, I can't say I blame them.&amp;nbsp;But on the other hand, I can't say that they are right.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I'm talking about an organization that has a national scope called CAUSS.&amp;nbsp; CAUSS stands for Citizens Against Ugly Street Spam.&amp;nbsp; This group believes that they have every right to remove signage or to just destroy existing signage if it isn't lawfully place.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Now I don't know how they determine if it's lawfully placed or not.&amp;nbsp; &lt;img title="Sign Damage" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/1/3/4/0/ar121246802904318.jpg" height="200" alt="Sign Damage" width="300" style="float: right;" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I came across this scene recently.&amp;nbsp; If you look closely you will see builder signs that were put in the ground with 2x4s and they are sawed off to knock the signs down.&amp;nbsp; There was a CAUSS sticker on one of the signs as well.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;To me, the signs knocked down and left is just as ugly as the "street spam".&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Now I don't know if the builders had permission to put those signs on this vacant lot, but I am sure they cost a bit of money to put out.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Look, I believe in following the rules too, but the rules also prohibit being a vigilante and taking matters into your own hands.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So what do you think?&amp;nbsp; Is the destruction of signage ok if the signs were not supposed to be there or were against city ordinance?&amp;nbsp; What would be a more effective deterrence to sign spam if the vigilante route isn't the best thing?&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <author>Ron Tarvin's Katy Agent Team-- Katy Texas Real Estate (Keller Williams Realty)</author>
      <pubDate>Mon, 02 Jun 2008 23:46:01 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/534023/Vigilante-Justice-swift-and</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>529035</guid>
      <title>Short Sale in Katy Texas, going fast!</title>
      <description>&lt;div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: #6F6F65;"&gt;&lt;font size="2"&gt;&lt;table cellspacing="0" border="0" height="100%" cellpadding="10" align="center" width="100%"&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td background="http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/bg_body.gif" valign="top" align="center" colspan="2"&gt;&lt;table cellspacing="0" border="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" width="740"&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td&gt;&lt;/td&gt; &lt;td height="20" align="right"&gt; &lt;div style="background-color: #4B532A; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; color: #FDF8D8; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"&gt;&lt;font size="2"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ron Tarvin&lt;/strong&gt; | Katy Agent Team&lt;a href="http://www.postlets.com/email_interest.php?pid=773697&amp;v=re" style="color: #FDF8D8;"&gt;&lt;/a&gt; | 281-935-7152&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;/table&gt; &lt;table cellspacing="0" border="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" style="border-left: 1px solid #DEDDC9; border-right: 1px solid #DEDDC9;" width="740"&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td&gt; &lt;table cellspacing="0" border="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" width="100%"&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td&gt; &lt;table cellspacing="0" border="0" cellpadding="7" width="100%"&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td style="background-color: #DEDDC9; background-image: url('http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/bg_subheaderbar.gif');" colspan="2"&gt;
&lt;table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" width="100%"&gt; &lt;tr valign="top"&gt; &lt;td height="30" valign="top" align="left"&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: #8E0700;"&gt;&lt;font size="5"&gt;4755 Wind Trace, Katy, TX&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td valign="top" align="left" width="560"&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; color: #6F6F65;"&gt;SHORT SALE in KATY TEXAS.  Patient investors welcome.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td valign="top" style="background-color: #FFFEFD;" colspan="2"&gt; &lt;table cellspacing="0" border="0" cellpadding="4" style="border-left: 1px solid #BDBCAB; border-right: 1px solid #BDBCAB; border-top: 1px solid #BDBCAB; border-bottom: 1px solid #BDBCAB; background-color: #FFFEFD;" width="724"&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td align="left"&gt;&lt;table cellspacing="0" border="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%"&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td height="35" valign="top" width="350"&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: #4B532A;"&gt;&lt;font size="4"&gt;4BR/2.5BA Single Family House&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt; &lt;td valign="top"&gt;&lt;span style="padding-right: 5px;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt; &lt;td valign="top" align="right"&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: #4B532A;"&gt;&lt;font size="4"&gt;offered at $99,900&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td valign="top"&gt;&lt;table cellspacing="0" border="0" cellpadding="3" style="border-left: 1px solid #BDBCAB; border-right: 1px solid #BDBCAB; border-top: 1px solid #BDBCAB; border-bottom: 1px solid #BDBCAB; background-color: #FFFEFD;" width="100%"&gt;  &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td style="background-color: #DEDDC9; background-image: url('http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/bg_attributes.gif'); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; color: #4B532A;" width="125"&gt;Year Built&lt;/td&gt; &lt;td style="background-color: #DEDDC9; background-image: url('http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/bg_attributes.gif'); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; color: #4B532A;"&gt;2005 &lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td style="background-color: #FFFEFD; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; color: #4B532A;"&gt;Sq Footage&lt;/td&gt; &lt;td style="background-color: #FFFEFD; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; color: #4B532A;"&gt;2,610 &lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt;  &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td style="background-color: #DEDDC9; background-image: url('http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/bg_attributes.gif'); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; color: #4B532A;"&gt;Bedrooms&lt;/td&gt; &lt;td style="background-color: #DEDDC9; background-image: url('http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/bg_attributes.gif'); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; color: #4B532A;"&gt;4&lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td style="background-color: #FFFEFD; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; color: #4B532A;"&gt;Bathrooms&lt;/td&gt; &lt;td style="background-color: #FFFEFD; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; color: #4B532A;"&gt;2 full, 1 partial &lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt;  &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td style="background-color: #DEDDC9; background-image: url('http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/bg_attributes.gif'); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; color: #4B532A;"&gt;Floors&lt;/td&gt; &lt;td style="background-color: #DEDDC9; background-image: url('http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/bg_attributes.gif'); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; color: #4B532A;"&gt; 2 &lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td style="background-color: #FFFEFD; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; color: #4B532A;"&gt;Parking&lt;/td&gt; &lt;td style="background-color: #FFFEFD; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; color: #4B532A;"&gt; 2 Car garage &lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt;  &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td style="background-color: #DEDDC9; background-image: url('http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/bg_attributes.gif'); font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; color: #4B532A;"&gt;Lot Size&lt;/td&gt; &lt;td style="background-color: #DEDDC9; background-image: url('http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/bg_attributes.gif'); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; color: #4B532A;"&gt;4,991 sqft &lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt;  &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td style="background-color: #FFFEFD; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; color: #4B532A;"&gt;HOA/Maint&lt;/td&gt; &lt;td style="background-color: #FFFEFD; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; color: #4B532A;"&gt;$32 per month&lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt;  &lt;/table&gt;  &lt;br&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; color: #4B532A;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt; DESCRIPTION&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;hr noshade size="1" style="border-top: 1px solid #BDBCAB;"&gt; &lt;table cellspacing="0" border="0" cellpadding="3" width="100%"&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; color: #6F6F65;"&gt;This home is in pre-foreclosure status and is subject to bank approval.  All offers will be submitted to the bank for approval on Wednesday June 4th.  Bring final and best offer as bank may not counter offers and final selling price likely will exceed list price on this one! (County appraisal value is $148,174!)&lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;/table&gt;  &lt;/td&gt; &lt;td valign="top" width="5"&gt;&lt;span style="padding-right: 5px;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt; &lt;td valign="top"&gt;&lt;table cellspacing="0" border="0" cellpadding="8" style="border-left: 1px solid #BDBCAB; border-right: 1px solid #BDBCAB; border-top: 1px solid #BDBCAB; border-bottom: 1px solid #BDBCAB; background-color: #FFFEFD;" width="100%"&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/create/photos/20080529/153015_hr2047980-1.jpg" border="1" height="262" width="350"&gt;&lt;br&gt;
&lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;/table&gt; &lt;table cellspacing="0" border="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%"&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td align="center"&gt;&lt;table cellspacing="0" border="0" cellpadding="1" width="350"&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td height="25" align="center" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal; color: #6F6F65;"&gt;see additional photos below&lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;/table&gt; &lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;/table&gt; &lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;/table&gt; &lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt;  &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td valign="top" style="background-color: #FFFEFD;" colspan="2"&gt;&lt;table cellspacing="0" border="0" cellpadding="4" style="border-left: 1px solid #BDBCAB; border-right: 1px solid #BDBCAB; border-top: 1px solid #BDBCAB; border-bottom: 1px solid #BDBCAB; background-color: #FFFEFD;" width="724"&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td align="left"&gt; &lt;table cellspacing="0" border="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" width="100%"&gt; &lt;tr valign="middle" align="center"&gt; &lt;td valign="top"&gt;   &lt;table cellspacing="0" border="0" cellpadding="3" width="100%"&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td align="left"&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; color: #4B532A;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;PROPERTY FEATURES&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;hr noshade size="1" style="border-top: 1px solid #BDBCAB;"&gt; &lt;table cellspacing="0" border="0" cellpadding="3" width="100%"&gt;&lt;tr style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; color: #6F6F65;"&gt;
&lt;td width="33%"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/blt_features.gif" vspace="3" height="3" width="13"&gt;Central A/C&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td width="33%"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/blt_features.gif" vspace="3" height="3" width="13"&gt;Central heat&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td width="33%"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/blt_features.gif" vspace="3" height="3" width="13"&gt;High/Vaulted ceiling&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; color: #6F6F65;"&gt;
&lt;td width="33%"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/blt_features.gif" vspace="3" height="3" width="13"&gt;Walk-in closet&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td width="33%"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/blt_features.gif" vspace="3" height="3" width="13"&gt;Tile floor&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td width="33%"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/blt_features.gif" vspace="3" height="3" width="13"&gt;Living room&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; color: #6F6F65;"&gt;
&lt;td width="33%"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/blt_features.gif" vspace="3" height="3" width="13"&gt;Dining room&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td width="33%"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/blt_features.gif" vspace="3" height="3" width="13"&gt;Breakfast nook&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td width="33%"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/blt_features.gif" vspace="3" height="3" width="13"&gt;Dishwasher&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; color: #6F6F65;"&gt;
&lt;td width="33%"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/blt_features.gif" vspace="3" height="3" width="13"&gt;Refrigerator&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td width="33%"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/blt_features.gif" vspace="3" height="3" width="13"&gt;Stove/Oven&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td width="33%"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/blt_features.gif" vspace="3" height="3" width="13"&gt;Microwave&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; color: #6F6F65;"&gt;
&lt;td width="33%"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/blt_features.gif" vspace="3" height="3" width="13"&gt;Washer&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td width="33%"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/blt_features.gif" vspace="3" height="3" width="13"&gt;Dryer&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td width="33%"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/blt_features.gif" vspace="3" height="3" width="13"&gt;Laundry area - inside&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/table&gt; &lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;/table&gt; &lt;br&gt;    &lt;table cellspacing="0" border="0" cellpadding="3" width="100%"&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td align="left"&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; color: #4B532A;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;OTHER SPECIAL FEATURES&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;hr noshade size="1" style="border-top: 1px solid #BDBCAB;"&gt; &lt;table cellspacing="0" border="0" cellpadding="3" width="100%"&gt;&lt;tr style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; color: #6F6F65;"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/blt_features.gif" vspace="3" height="3" width="13"&gt;Great Neighborhood!&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; color: #6F6F65;"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/blt_features.gif" vspace="3" height="3" width="13"&gt;Quiet Cul-de-sac&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; color: #6F6F65;"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/blt_features.gif" vspace="3" height="3" width="13"&gt;Harris County appraisal value is $148,174&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; color: #6F6F65;"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/blt_features.gif" vspace="3" height="3" width="13"&gt;Great rental property potential&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; color: #6F6F65;"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/blt_features.gif" vspace="3" height="3" width="13"&gt;Call or email for current comparable sales &lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; color: #6F6F65;"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/blt_features.gif" vspace="3" height="3" width="13"&gt;Call or email for current rental comps if considering for rental&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; color: #6F6F65;"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/blt_features.gif" vspace="3" height="3" width="13"&gt;Sheridan Elementary&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; color: #6F6F65;"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/blt_features.gif" vspace="3" height="3" width="13"&gt;Thornton Jr High&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; color: #6F6F65;"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/blt_features.gif" vspace="3" height="3" width="13"&gt;Cy-Springs High&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; color: #6F6F65;"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/blt_features.gif" vspace="3" height="3" width="13"&gt;Washer, Dryer, Fridge included&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; color: #6F6F65;"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/blt_features.gif" vspace="3" height="3" width="13"&gt;Home is in good condition; needs interior paint and carpet cleaning&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; color: #6F6F65;"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/blt_features.gif" vspace="3" height="3" width="13"&gt;QUICK CLOSE welcomed as home is vacant!&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;&lt;p&gt; &lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;/table&gt;  &lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;/table&gt; &lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;/table&gt; &lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt;  
&lt;tr&gt; &lt;td valign="top" style="background-color: #FFFEFD;" colspan="2"&gt;&lt;table cellspacing="0" border="0" cellpadding="4" style="border-left: 1px solid #BDBCAB; border-right: 1px solid #BDBCAB; border-top: 1px solid #BDBCAB; border-bottom: 1px solid #BDBCAB; background-color: #FFFEFD;" width="724"&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td align="left"&gt;&lt;table cellspacing="0" border="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" width="100%"&gt; &lt;tr valign="middle" align="center"&gt; &lt;td valign="top"&gt;&lt;table cellspacing="0" border="0" cellpadding="3" width="100%"&gt;&lt;tr&gt; &lt;td valign="top" align="left"&gt; &lt;div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; color: #4B532A;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;ADDITIONAL PHOTOS &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt; &lt;hr noshade size="1" style="border-top: 1px solid #BDBCAB;"&gt;&lt;table cellspacing="0" border="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" width="100%"&gt;&lt;tr valign="middle" align="center"&gt;&lt;td height="262"&gt;&lt;div align="left" style="padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/create/photos/20080529/153015_hr2047980-1.jpg" border="0" width="344"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;div align="right" style="padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/create/photos/20080529/153016_WIND_TRACE_002.jpg" border="0" width="344"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;tr valign="middle" align="center"&gt;&lt;td height="262"&gt;&lt;div align="left" style="padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/create/photos/20080529/153018_WIND_TRACE_003.jpg" border="0" width="344"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;div align="right" style="padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/create/photos/20080529/153020_WIND_TRACE_006.jpg" border="0" width="344"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;tr valign="middle" align="center"&gt;&lt;td height="262"&gt;&lt;div align="left" style="padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/create/photos/20080529/153022_WIND_TRACE_007.jpg" border="0" width="344"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;div align="right" style="padding-left: 2px; padding-right: 2px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/create/photos/20080529/153025_WIND_TRACE_009.jpg" border="0" width="344"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;&lt;tr&gt; &lt;td valign="top" align="left" style="background-color: #FFFEFD;" width="50%"&gt; &lt;table cellspacing="1" border="0" cellpadding="0" style="border-left: 1px solid #BDBCAB; border-right: 1px solid #BDBCAB; border-top: 1px solid #BDBCAB; border-bottom: 1px solid #BDBCAB; background-color: #FFFFCD;" width="350"&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellspacing="0" border="0" cellpadding="5" width="100%"&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; color: #666666;"&gt;&lt;span style="font-weight: bold;"&gt;  Seller contact info:&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellspacing="0" border="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%"&gt; &lt;tr valign="top"&gt; &lt;td valign="top" width="100"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/galleries/photos/20080429122001_kat7.jpg" border="0" width="95"&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
 &lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellspacing="0" border="0" cellpadding="2" width="100%"&gt; &lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: #6F6F65;"&gt;Ron Tarvin&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: #6F6F65;"&gt;Katy Agent Team&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr&gt;&lt;td&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: #6F6F65;"&gt;281-935-7152&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt;
 &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td&gt;&lt;div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; color: #6F6F65;"&gt;For sale by agent/broker&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt;  &lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;/table&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt; &lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td&gt;&lt;table cellspacing="0" border="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%"&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td align="left" style="background-color: #FFFEFD;"&gt;&lt;span style="padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px;"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/css/styles/sonoma/btn_powered.gif" border="0" height="25" alt="powered by postlets" width="140"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt; &lt;td align="right" style="background-color: #FFFEFD;"&gt;&lt;a href="http://www.craigslist.org/about/FHA.html" style="color: #8E0700; text-decoration: none;"&gt;Equal Opportunity Housing&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt; &lt;td align="right" style="background-color: #FFFEFD;" width="35"&gt;&lt;span style="padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px;"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.postlets.com/images/eoh_logo.gif" height="18" width="24"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;/table&gt; &lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;/table&gt; &lt;table cellspacing="0" border="0" cellpadding="0" width="740"&gt; &lt;tr&gt; &lt;td height="20" valign="middle" align="left"&gt;&lt;div style="background-color: #4B532A; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; color: #FDF8D8; padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 5px; padding-top: 2px; padding-bottom: 2px;"&gt;&lt;font size="2"&gt;Posted: May 29, 2008, 1:32pm PDT&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/td&gt; &lt;/tr&gt; &lt;/table&gt;&lt;/td&gt;&lt;/tr&gt; &lt;/table&gt;&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
</description>
      <author>Ron Tarvin's Katy Agent Team-- Katy Texas Real Estate (Keller Williams Realty)</author>
      <pubDate>Thu, 29 May 2008 17:35:56 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/529035/Short-Sale-in-Katy</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>527489</guid>
      <title>Do you want to relax?</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;Music.&#160;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It's powerful and it can evoke much emotion.&#160; Our latest favorite comes to us from the late Bob Marley after we watched "I AM LEGEND" with Will Smith.&#160;&#160; The song is actually titled "THREE LITTLE BIRDS" but most people know it by "every little thing is gonna be all right".&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We listened to the song on YOUTUBE and ultimately this video was about the best...the beaches and relaxing scenes.&#160;&#160;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So we listen to this song and my two year old daughter can sing it as well...she dances to it and it's precious!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I wanted to share it with you so you too can relax a bit in this hectic world.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&#160;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&#160;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&#160;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&#160;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;div align="center"&gt; 

&lt;object height="355" width="425"&gt;&lt;param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_SNruAX0iUo&amp;hl=en"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;param name="wmode" value="transparent"&gt;&lt;/param&gt;&lt;embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_SNruAX0iUo&amp;hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="355" wmode="transparent" width="425"&gt;&lt;/embed&gt;&lt;/object&gt;




&lt;/div&gt;</description>
      <author>Ron Tarvin's Katy Agent Team-- Katy Texas Real Estate (Keller Williams Realty)</author>
      <pubDate>Wed, 28 May 2008 17:11:53 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/527489/Do-you-want-to</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>526541</guid>
      <title>Fortune's list of largest corporations!</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;Ok, so Fortune has released it's annual list of America's LARGEST corporations.&amp;nbsp; I'm just wondering, does anyone else sense a theme here:&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;
&lt;table cellspacing="0" border="0" id="bulletsTable" cellpadding="0" width="400"&gt;
&lt;tbody&gt;
&lt;tr valign="top"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;1.&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2008/snapshots/2255.html"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Wal-Mart Stores&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;&lt;strong&gt;6.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2008/snapshots/170.html"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;General Electric&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr valign="top"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;&lt;strong&gt;2.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2008/snapshots/387.html"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Exxon Mobil&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;&lt;strong&gt;7.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2008/snapshots/160.html"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Ford Motor&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr valign="top"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;&lt;strong&gt;3.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2008/snapshots/385.html"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Chevron&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;&lt;strong&gt;8.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2008/snapshots/2927.html"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Citigroup&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr valign="top"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;&lt;strong&gt;4.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2008/snapshots/175.html"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;General Motors&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;&lt;strong&gt;9.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2008/snapshots/2580.html"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Bank of America&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;tr valign="top"&gt;
&lt;td&gt;&lt;strong&gt;5.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2008/snapshots/327.html"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;ConocoPhillips&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;td&gt;&lt;strong&gt;10.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;a href="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2008/snapshots/2756.html"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;AT&amp;amp;T&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/td&gt;
&lt;/tr&gt;
&lt;/tbody&gt;
&lt;/table&gt;
&lt;a href="http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2008/" title="CNN MONEY" target="_blank"&gt;(from CNN Money)&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;You have Wal-mart which basically has it's hands into EVERYTHING now, so that's not a suprise.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Then you see THREE of the top FIVE are OIL companies.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;TWO of the top Seven are Automobile companies.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;And TWO of the top ten are BANKS.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I'm seeing that in a country that is fighting a recession, spurred on by higher costs of goods as a direct result of MUCH higher gas prices and a housing industry in trouble nationwide brought on by poor lending practices,&amp;nbsp; SEVEN of the top TEN largest corporations in Amercia have a direct influence on those major issues.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;What's wrong with this picture?&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <author>Ron Tarvin's Katy Agent Team-- Katy Texas Real Estate (Keller Williams Realty)</author>
      <pubDate>Tue, 27 May 2008 23:25:13 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/526541/Fortune-s-list-of</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>523458</guid>
      <title>A strange animal?</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;So my family and I went to Alvin Texas today (about 40 minutes south of Hobby Airport) to the &lt;a href="http://www.bayouwildlifepark.com/" title="Bayou Wildlife Park" target="_blank"&gt;Bayou Wildlife Park&lt;/a&gt; to go on Safari the cheap way.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I'll bet a lot of people don't even know it's there but they have quite an amazing place there.&amp;nbsp; Lots of animals from all over the world...only a few that would be "dangerous".&amp;nbsp; MOst that just come up and eat out of your hand (if you're brave) or out of your bucket if you are not!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;But this fellow===================&amp;gt;&lt;img title="Four Horns?" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/2/9/5/3/5/ar121168466853592.jpg" height="200" alt="Four Horns?" width="300" style="float: right;" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;just had to be about the strangest of the bunch.&amp;nbsp; Yep, he has FOUR horns growing out of his head.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;I can't remember where they said he was from but the people there once believed that these animals possessed magical qualities.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Personally, I just thought he was interesting looking!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;img title="Long Horn Cattle" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/1/0/6/5/5/ar121168492455601.jpg" height="233" alt="Long Horn Cattle" width="350" style="float: left;" /&gt;If you go, you will see all kinds of deer (many breeds), camels, water buffalo, a ZONKEY (yes, it really is a cross between a donkey and a zebra!), an albino buffalo, a rhino and a couple of GREAT long horn cattle!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;You ride a little tram pulled by a truck and the animals come right up to you!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Watch out for the Ostriches...they are AGGRESSIVE! &lt;img title="Osteriches!" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/3/9/8/6/7/ar121168503576893.jpg" height="233" alt="Ornery osterich!" width="350" style="float: right;" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;They come over and start LOOKING for your bucket of food and they have taken many a bucket away from passerby it looks like.&amp;nbsp; This one was going after our bucket while my daughter looked on in amazement.&amp;nbsp; My other daughter and wife were too scared to even try to feed this bugger!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Great time at the park and in my opinion, it rivals the San Antonio Natural Bridge wildlife preserve (although the San Antonio preserve does have nicer facilities, the animals were very similar that you get to see).&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Cost was $14/adult, $7/child and and each child under three is free if they have a paying adult for each child under 3.&amp;nbsp; The buckets of food were $2.50.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Great fun in the HOUSTON area and I'll bet overlooked by many!&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <author>Ron Tarvin's Katy Agent Team-- Katy Texas Real Estate (Keller Williams Realty)</author>
      <pubDate>Sat, 24 May 2008 22:16:22 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/523458/A-strange-animal</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>513406</guid>
      <title>Lest we forget...</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;One very important aspect of customer service in the real estate business is to never forget, while you are working through a transaction and you have a process you follow (when to take it to title, when to change status in MLS, when to put a pending sign up...etc), that this is someone's life you are dealing with and a very LARGE part of their life at that.&amp;nbsp; The largest investment that many people will ever make.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;It's very easy to forget the importance of the HOME SALE in the process of selling the home.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Never forget that while it is routine for you as an agent, it is of UTMOST importance to your sellers and buyers and we must treat it with the respect it deserves AND remember that for many home sellers and buyers, they don't know the process...that's why they hired you!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <author>Ron Tarvin's Katy Agent Team-- Katy Texas Real Estate (Keller Williams Realty)</author>
      <pubDate>Fri, 16 May 2008 22:21:58 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/513406/Lest-we-forget</link>
    </item>
    <item>
      <guid>511604</guid>
      <title>It's a dog eat dog world in the real estate world!</title>
      <description>&lt;p&gt;I called an agent today to discuss a possible listing that she had mentioned in a previous conversation.&amp;nbsp; I was inquiring for my buyers and I wanted to get an idea of where the listing was and when she would have it listed.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;She was hesitant to tell me much about the listing for fear that I would run out and try to secure the listing myself.&amp;nbsp; Now, I just don't subscribe to that type of business ethic so that's not me, but it did highlight that most agents ARE afraid of that happening, probably because it DOES happen a lot in my profession.&amp;nbsp; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I remarked that it was dog eat dog out there and she agreed.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;If it's dog eat dog out there, I guess I'll just be a vegetarian.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;img title="Katy Agent Team, Superior real estate services" src="http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/8/2/0/4/8/ar12108860084028.jpg" height="226" alt="Katy Texas Real Estate" width="300" style="vertical-align: middle; border: black 2px solid;" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="center"&gt;Please give us a call if you are looking to &lt;a href="http://www.katyagent.com" title="Katy Texas Real Estate Services" target="_blank"&gt;buy or sell a home in the West Houston and Katy Texas area&lt;/a&gt;! We are area specialists who guarantee our results!&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="center"&gt;Call Ron-- 281-935-7152 Direct or our Toll Free information line&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Call (877)472-5390 and use the code to hear about the guarantee:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Easy Exit Listing Guarantee Code: 7003&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;$5000 Buyer Guarantee, Code: 7004&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p align="center"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Your Home Sold in 29 Days GUARANTEED, Code: 7005&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>
      <author>Ron Tarvin's Katy Agent Team-- Katy Texas Real Estate (Keller Williams Realty)</author>
      <pubDate>Thu, 15 May 2008 16:16:47 -0500</pubDate>
      <link>http://activerain.com/blogsview/511604/It-s-a-dog</link>
    </item>
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