1. 80% of stroke victims had no apparent warning signs.
2. Ultrasound screening can help you avoid a stroke.
3. Stroke is a leading cause of death and permaent disability.
4. Screening are fast, painless, affordable and convenient.

Lifeline Screening is coming to your neighborhood!

• Where:  Tomball Heritage Retirement Community
• Sponsored By: Tomball Regional Medical Center
• When: Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 from 8:00AM to 4:00PM
• Pre-registration is required.  Call: 1-800-779-6353

4 test for only $139 - Add an Osteoporosis screening for $10 more.

1. Stoke/Carotid Artery Screening
2. Heart Rhtyth Screening (Atrial Fibrillation)
3. Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Screening
4. Peripheral Arterial Screening
5. Osteoporosis Screening

Please watch the short video. Jackie the director of the Heritage Retirement Community gives some additional information about the screening.

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If you are buying or relocating to Spring Texas or Tomball TX and need help from a professional REALTOR®, Marchel can be reached at Marchel@AgentwithResults.com or by phone at 832-721-8332. 

If you would like information about Spring-Tomball TX please visit my websites at www.AgentwithResults.com and at www.ResultsRealtytx.com. The AgentwithResults site is rich in Content about Spring and the surrounding areas of Tomball, The Woodlands and Magnolia.  If you prefer pictures with your content then visit my ResultsRealtyTX site.

Want to find out about new Spring-Tomball TX properties immediately as they come on the market, then click here to sign up for a free automatic notification of new listings.

Click the button to the left to search our local MLS.

Subcribe in a reader

Copyright © 2010 Marchel Peterson, All Rights Reserved.*Lifeline Screening at Heritage Retirement Community - Tomball TX!!*

This morning I went to a training that Charter Title offered on the new RESPA rules and how they are going to affect our Spring-Tomball buyers and sellers.  Chuck Jacobus SVP of Charter Title and a real estate attorney with law offices in Bellaire was the guest speaker.

RESPA came in to affect in 1973 and to begin with Chuck said the restrictions were difficult to comply with. According to Chuck it is déjà vu 1973. We are going through the adaptation phase of the new RESPA rules and most don't understand them (which includes title companies, lenders etc.).

LONG story short both the seller and the buyer are going to have to be patient while we go through the process.  He felt that the days of having a loan done in 30 days or shorter are gone.  He recommended allowing 60 days for the loan process.  He said some lenders will be able to go through the process in a shorter time and he felt the smaller lenders and banks had a better handle on the changes than the big banks did.

The buyer is going to have to be proactive on their loan.  I have had buyers who started the loan process and then took a 2 week vacation. He said if the buyer goes on vacation you can just about be assured that the loan will not close on time. He also said the buyer is going to have to realize that they cannot switch loans a week before closing.

As of January 1^st2010 lenders are required to use a new good faith estimate (GFE). The new HUD 1 form and the GFE must look exactly alike. All charges must show on the HUD.  Chuck was joking and said if you throw a quarter across the closing table it will need to be on the closing statement.

If there are any changed circumstances that will affect the mortgage amount that is on the GFE the lender will have to make changes which will take time. The lender basically has to live with the GFE that they give you when you start the process. However the quoted terms and prices in the GFE are only good for 10 days. The buyer will need to give the go ahead during that 10 day period or the terms may no longer be available. Please note if you don't contact your lender to say go ahead during that 10 day period; the terms can change on the 11^th day.

Changed circumstances include:

1.  Acts of God, war, disaster or other emergency. For those of us in the Spring-Tomball area this would be something like Hurricane Ike.
2. Information particular to the borrower or transaction that was relied on in providing the GFE; which may include; information about the credit quality of the borrower (you lost your job), the amount of the loan, the estimated value of the property.
3.  New information particular to the borrower or transaction that was not relied on in providing the GFE.
4. Other circumstances that's particular to the borrower or transaction, including boundary disputes, the need for flood insurance or environmental problems.

When there is a "changed circumstance" the loan originator must issue a revised GFE within three business days of receiving the information to establish the changed circumstance.  This goes back to the buyer not going on vacation as then it will be hard for them to deal with the changed circumstance.

All of this came about to keep consumers better informed in response to the predatory lending that happened in the last few years. As always when the government gets involved it can get a bit more complex so both buyers and sellers are going to need to be patient with the process.  More than ever it is going to be important that a buyer go to a reputable lender who can get the loan done.  If you need the phone number of a good lender please give me a call.

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If you are buying or relocating to Spring Texas or Tomball TX and need help from a professional REALTOR®, Marchel can be reached at Marchel@AgentwithResults.com or by phone at 832-721-8332. 

If you would like information about Spring-Tomball TX please visit my websites at www.AgentwithResults.com and at www.ResultsRealtytx.com. The AgentwithResults site is rich in Content about Spring and the surrounding areas of Tomball, The Woodlands and Magnolia.  If you prefer pictures with your content then visit my ResultsRealtyTX site.

Want to find out about new Spring-Tomball TX properties immediately as they come on the market, then click here to sign up for a free automatic notification of new listings.

Click the button to the left to search our local MLS.

Subcribe in a reader

Copyright © 2010 Marchel Peterson, All Rights Reserved. *New RESPA Rules - How they affect Spring-Tomball TX buyers and sellers!!*

Tomball Business & Professional Women 11th Annual"Fall Food Fest"

Held at Tomball United Methodist Church on Baker Street

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009 from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM  

Tomball Business & Professional Women will host their 11th annual Fall Food Fest at Tomball United Methodist Church on Tuesday, October 20th from 11:30 a.m.- 1:30 p.m. This event serves as our organization's primary fund-raising effort to secure funds for scholarships for high school graduates in Tomball & Magnolia School Districts as well as a scholarship to someone attending Tomball College. Additionally our organization's fund-raising contributes to numerous community needs. 

Local restaurants will be providing samples of their food.
Pizza
Cassaroles
Blackened catfish
Soups
Mexican food
Catfish
Cakes Pies
and More

Adult Plates are $7.00. Seniors 60 and over are $5.00 and children under 10 are $2.50. If you don't have time to stay To Go Plates are also available.

A raffle, along with a silent auction, is part of our fund-raising efforts for this event. Raffle tickets are presently

 being sold with the winners of the raffle items announced at the Food Fest. Raffle tickets are $5.00 apiece or 5 for $20. 

Last year we were able to give out 6 scholarships within our community. We are hoping to be able to do the same this year.  Please come and support our scholarships for High School seniors and others in need. 

We appreciate  Tomball United Methodist Church on Baker Street allowing us to use their Church for our fundraiser.  This is an easy location to get to.  If you are coming from 2920 turn north on Baker and you will curve to the church on the left.  If you are coming from SH 249 turn to the east on Baker and the Church will be on your right. 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

If you are buying or relocating to  Tomball Texas and need help from a professional REALTOR®,  Marchel can be reached at Marchel@AgentwithResults.com or by phone at 832-721-8332. 

If you would like information about Tomball please visit my websites at http://agentwithresults.com and at http://www.resultsrealtytx.com/.  The AgentwithResults site is rich in Content about the area.  If you prefer pictures with your content then visit my ResultsRealtyTX site.

Want to find out about new Tomball TX properties immediately as they come on the market, then click here to sign up for a free automatic notification of new listings.

Click the button to the left to search our local MLS.

Subcribe in a reader

The above oak tree was a causality of Hurricane Ike.  It is on Baker Street in Tomball which I travel often.  I watched the artist sculpting the tree from my car as I traveled back and forth on Baker Street.  I figured the cougars had something to do with the cougar being the mascot of Tomball High School.

I found a youtube video that our local Tomball Potpourri News made that explains it all. The artist who carved the tree is Master Wood Carver Nathan Smith, a local Tomball artist.  He carved two cougars in a rocky cliff setting out of this fallen oak tree.  Yes, the cougars are in recognition of The Tomball Cougars.

Please click here to watch the Youtube vidoe about the Tomball Cougar art sculptor! It is a very cool video and you can even watch Nathan Smith sculpting the cougars.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

If you are buying or relocating to  Tomball Texas and need help from a professional REALTOR®,  Marchel can be reached at Marchel@AgentwithResults.com or by phone at 832-721-8332.

If you would like information about Tomball please visit my websites at http://agentwithresults.com and at http://www.resultsrealtytx.com/.  The AgentwithResults site is rich in Content about the area.  If you prefer pictures with your content then visit my ResultsRealtyTX site.

Want to find out about new Tomball TX properties immediately as they come on the market, then click here to sign up for a free automatic notification of new listings.

Click the button to the left to search our local MLS.

Subcribe in a reader

Tomball Rental Center and Tomball Party Rental  are located off of State Hwy. Business 249 just to the south of Tomball. 

The owners Bill and Virgie Kitchens along with their son Terry opened Tomball Rental Center in 1977.  They started out with 300 pieces of equipment (mostly outdoor equipment).  They have grown to where they now have over 10,000 pieces of equipment to rent.  Through all this growth Tomball Rental Center has stayed a family owned business.  Their son Greg and his wife Beverly joined them in 1978. Every adult member of the family has worked in the business at one time or another.  They now have over 17 employees.

I'm not sure where they were located to being with but in 1984 they moved to their present location off of SH 249.  That was when they added the Tomball Party Rental shop.  As you can see from my pictures if you are planning a wedding or other special event Tomball Party Rental is the place to come to. 

I have been in a Women's group with Virgie for years and when she introduces herself she lets us know that they can rent anything from a back hoe to a silver punch bowl.   They can also rent EVERYTHING in between.

 Their philosophy is to treat people as they would want to be treated.  They place a high priority on customer satisfaction and it shows.  We moved to Spring 12.5 years ago.   We had built a new house and so of course needed all those things that go along with a new home.  We quickly learned about Tomball Rental Center and have used them ever since.  When my husband has something he needs to rent his first thought is Tomball rental.  We have always received exceptional service from Tomball Rental Center. 

If you would like more information please visit their website at Tomball Rental Center!

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

If you are buying or relocating to  Tomball Texas and need help from a professional REALTOR®,  Marchel can be reached at Marchel@AgentwithResults.com or by phone at 832-721-8332. 

If you would like information about Tomball please visit my websites at http://agentwithresults.com and at http://www.resultsrealtytx.com/.  The AgentwithResults site is rich in Content about the area.  If you prefer pictures with your content then visit my ResultsRealtyTX site.

Want to find out about new Tomball TX properties immediately as they come on the market, then click here to sign up for a free automatic notification of new listings.

Click the button to the left to search our local MLS.

Subcribe in a reader

Mel's Country Cafe is in Tomball TX.  This is the second time I have written a post about Mel's but some things are just SO GOOD they are worth posting on more than once.  That would be Mel's Country Cafe!

Mel's is on the outskirts of Tomball on Stanolind Rd.  It is on a country road that I use as a short cut over to Tomball so I drive by quite often.  It is amazing no matter what time of the day you drive by it is ALWAYS busy.  I have learned to slow down as I drive by as there are so many trucks I'm always afraid a car will be hidden behind one and not see me. The picture to the left was taken about 3:30 PM on a Sunday afternoon.  I wrote this prior to going to take the picture so this just validates my point.

Mels Country Cafe is nothing in the looks department but the food is GREAT and the help are Texas friendly.  This restaurant is all about good old country cooking.  Lunch time is normally packed as it is a quick place to get a home cooked meal at a reasonable price in a short amount of time. They have a steam table with 3 different daily lunch specials, Tuesday through Friday. The prices are reasonable; the steam table is $7.00 and that includes your meat and two sides along with your drink.  Our daughter's favorite day is Tuesday as that is chicken and dumpling day.  Our daughter commutes and is here on an occasional basis (with no rhyme or reason) but if she happens to be here on a Tuesday you can bet she will be on her way to Mel's.  If I can't go with her she drives over and gets her meal to go. 

As you come in you will probably wonder what all the names on the wall are about.  That would have to do with the Mel's Mega Burger.  If you can eat the Mega Mel Burger within 2 hours your name goes on Mel's Mega wall of fame.  The burger contains 1½ pounds of ground beef, 1 pound of bacon, and a ¼ pound of American cheese.  Personally I have never seen anyone eat the Mega Burger but I had some friends who moved here and the first time they visited they saw someone eat the mega burger within the time frame.  Note that someone ate it in 9 minutes.  Mel's has all different sizes of hamburgers ranging in price from $2.95 to the Mega Mel Burger at $15.95.  I have trouble finishing the smallest size hamburger so I can't even fathom eating the Mega Burger.

Within the last couple of years Mel's started opening on Sundays and are now closed on Mondays.  It is always so strange to drive by on a Monday and see an empty lot as that is the ONLY TIME I see an empty parking lot.  Evenings are busy also.  I called in an order for pick up recently and noticed they had a waiting line. They are known for their catfish and chicken fried steak.  Friday evening is all you can eat catfish and pop corn shrimp. 

My parents love Mel's Country Café.  They fly in to visit us once or twice a year and prior to their visit my Mother is making arrangements to visit Mel's.  The owner was gracious enough to tell her how he made his cabbage.  He was gracious on three different visits as she would forget and have to ask him again.  The third time she finally wrote it down.

To find Mel's take FM 2920 to the east of Tomball.  Go north on FM 2978 and then make a left on Hufsmith.  Take a right on Stanolind Rd.; go over the railroad tracks and you will see it on your right hand side.   You won't be able to miss it you will see all the cars and trucks (well mainly trucks) lined up in front and over to the side.

To see my prior post on Mel's Country Cafe please click here.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

If you are buying or relocating to  Tomball Texas and need help from a professional REALTOR®,  Marchel can be reached at Marchel@AgentwithResults.com or by phone at 832-721-8332. 

If you would like information about Spring please visit my websites at http://agentwithresults.com and at http://www.resultsrealtytx.com/.  The AgentwithResults site is rich in Content about The Woodlands.  If you prefer pictures with your content then visit my ResultsRealtyTX site.

Want to find out about new Tomball TX properties immediately as they come on the market, then click here to sign up for a free automatic notification of new listings.

Click the button to the left to search our local MLS.

Subcribe in a reader 

We had an extraordinarily good speaker at our Tomball Business and Professional Women luncheon.  Her name is Linda Talley and being a body language expert she spoke on "Non-Verbal Etiquette for the Business Woman". As I said this was a ladies group so her talk was geared for businesswomen.  I thought about usina a title of "Women REALTORS® smile too much".  You will need to watch the video below to get the full answer to that.  

I have heard this before but verbal communication makes up 7% of all communication and non verbal makes up the other 93%.  We spend so much time focusing on what we are saying without spending time focusing on what we are saying with our body language.  We also have to remember that we may be reading what our clients are saying but they are also reading what we are saying. 

She started out talking about how we stand.  We probably all know that we need to be careful crossing our arms as it is stand offish.  She said to stand with your hands by your side and your feet in the A position.  She called this a power standing position.   When you are introducing yourself a very powerful position is to put your hands in the steeple position.  She recommended standing holding on to something which could be a wall with your hand on your hip.  She said to be careful you did not go in the female fig leaf position with one hand on your desk and the other hand by your side.

At this point she went in to handshakes.  She had us shake hands with a neighbor.  We were then to look and see where our thumb was.  If our thumb is on top it means we want to be the dominant person.  She recommended that ladies always extend their hand first.  She said this was important especially for men over the age of 45 as they were often taught not to touch a lady.  She also said if a man squeezes our hand too hard then we have permission to squeak.

She next talked about women sitting.  When men sit they take up a lot of room so our challenge is to take up as much room as we can.   She said to put your arms on the armrest and gently rest them there to take up more space. You always want to turn your chair to a 45 degree angle so you are not confrontational.  If there is a door you want to turn your chair so you can see the door. 

Women like to smile more than men so when talking to men she said we need to be careful that we don't smile too much; otherwise they think we are agreeing with everything they say.She thought this was especially important for REALTORS®.  At this point she was looking for the REALTORS in the group.  Since I was making a video I was hoping there was another REALTOR in the group but no such luck and she caught me smiling as you can see in the following video.

She gave some tips on walking away.  Most important when walking away you want to be very careful that you don't straighten your panties.  She said just let them be bunched up.  You just walk away and don't mess with anything.  Now this is a gal problem but she did mention if she was talking to guys she would be talking about a different guy problem.  As you reach the door turn back around and make some parting remark such as "talk to you on Tuesday etc". You want them to remember your face not your panty line.  We need to be careful we don't turn around and give them a Princess Diana look. 

She gave a gentle reminder that as soon as we get in to our car we are on the platform.  You just never know who may be watching you.  I recently was having an around the house day and ran to the grocery store thinking I could get in and out without seeing anyone as it was an odd time.  You would know it I saw a builder friend that I had not seen in ages.  The entire time we are talking I can't think about anything but how awful I look.  This one hit home with me!!

She ended with a story about a caterpillar and a butterfly.  So which do you want to be?

For more information about Linda Talley you can visit her website at http://www.lindatalley.com/. 

28 comments • Marchel Peterson Spring TX Real Estate E-Pro ABR • June 23 2009 06:23PM