Pearland Real Estate Expert

By Bernice Torregrossa
Contributor

Published February 18, 2007

GALVESTON - Hundreds of runners, walkers and Mardi Gras visitors flocked to Stewart Beach for the eighth annual Mardi Gras Beach Run. In the 5-kilometer race, newcomers to the race claimed the top spots, while Luis Armenteros successfully defended his 10k title.

The day's biggest surprise came in a small package as 12-year-old Virginia Ney crossed the 5k finish line in 20 minutes, 41 seconds to win the women's race. The Pearland resident, a member of the Pearland Junior High West track team, was running the Mardi Gras race for the first time.

"I had set a few goals for the race - to finish in under 21 minutes, to run at least a 6:50 pace, and to be the first girl to finish," she said. Ney achieved all three.

Among the male runners, Houstonian William Rogers and Ball High runner Frank Bohn fought for the 5K title until Rogers stepped up the pace in the final mile to win in 17:45. Bohn was second in 18:17, followed by Juan Flores in 19:19.

"The first mile and a half was good, but then turning into the wind got me," Bohn said. "I'd been keeping pace with the leader, but he cut through the wind like it was paper. I tried to draft, but I couldn't close the gap."

5K winner Rogers was competing in his first race in the area. He recently moved from Louisiana to Houston, where he is a technical representative for Adidas. "I'm not in my best shape, so I went out a little slow. I hung with a couple guys for the first half and then tried to pick it up."

In the masters divisions, Galvestonian Lindie Nanninga was first in 21:27. Felix Rippy's 19:14 was the winning masters time and the third-fastest finish overall.

Luis Armentaros cruised to his second consecutive Mardi Gras 10K victory, shaving 36 seconds off his previous winning time to finish in 32:54. Second place went to James Smart, who ran 35:17.

The women's field in the 10K produced a cluster of fast finishes, with Baytown teacher Lea Carretreas edging out Galvestonian Autumn Ray and masters winner Renee Hugger. Carretreas, a member of the On The Run running team, clocked a 38:59 to Ray's 39:12 and Hugger's 39:19.

Participants in the Mardi Gras run and walk were enthusiastic about the event.

"I came from San Antonio for the weekend, and it's been fun," Lisa Culton said. "My sister from Houston encouraged us to come, and so one of my sisters, her son, our niece and my husband are all running or walking. I think my niece may be more interested in the parades, though."

Race veterans noted improvements to the race.

"I like the new finish line closer to the Seawall," Galvestonian Vicki Blythe said. "You turn the corner, and boom! You're done."

The Mardi Gras Beach Run benefits the Galveston County YMCA and the UTMB Physical Therapy class of 2007.

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(PRLEAP.COM) Perry Homes invites homebuyers to visit the new model home now open in the Eden Cove section of Shadow Creek Ranch, located in Fort Bend County. To celebrate the opening of the new model home at 2801 Green Mountain Dr., Perry Homes is offering a $10,000 bonus on all sales in the Eden Cove and Crescent Landing sections through Feb. 28.

Conveniently located off the Texas 288 Corridor, Shadow Creek Ranch is a 3,500-acre lake-themed master-planned community south of Houston in Pearland. While the majority of Shadow Creek Ranch is in Brazoria County, the Eden Cove section expands the community into Fort Bend County.

Perry Homes offers a full selection of one- and two-story homes in Eden Cove and Crescent Landing that are priced from the $280,000s with home sizes ranging from 3,000 to more than 4,800 square feet.

Available for immediate move-in and eligible for the $10,000 bonus in the Crescent Landing section is Plan 3594 at 12512 Boulder Creek Dr. This home features four bedrooms and 3.5 baths in approximately 3,594 square feet of living space.

The entry opens to the adjoining formal living and dining rooms, both showcasing wood floors. A two-story family room is highlighted by a fireplace with granite surround and second-story sun light windows and opens to a sun room.

The island kitchen features 42-inch job-built cabinets, built-in GE Profile® appliances, recessed can lighting, granite countertops and ceramic tile backsplash.

The master suite features room for a sitting area, a whirlpool tub, a separate, glass-enclosed shower with ceramic tile seat, a dual vanity and dual walk-in closets. A private guest suite with full bath is located at the rear of the home for privacy.

Ceramic tile floors extend through the entry, family room, sun room, kitchen, morning area and all baths. Coffered ceilings accent the entry, both formals and the master bath.

The home also includes a flagstone covered patio, landscaped back yard, three-car garage and porte-cochere.

To visit Perry Homes in Eden Cove, from Texas 288 South, exit Shadow Creek Parkway. Turn left on Trinity Bay. Turn right on Arcadia Bay and left on Arcadian Shores Lane. The Sales Center is straight ahead on Green Mountain Drive. Perry Homes Sales Centers are open daily until 6 p.m. Or visit http://www.perryhomes.com/.

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04:43 PM CST on Tuesday, January 23, 2007 From 11 News Staff Reports

Pitching legend Nolan Ryan was on hand Tuesday for the groundbreaking of a school that bears his name. The Nolan Ryan Jr. High School will open in August 2008. The Alvin ISD school is being built in the Shadow Creek Ranch Subdivision of Pearland. Tuesday's ceremony was moved indoors because of the rain. Fourth graders who will be the first students to attend Nolan Ryan Jr. High also attended the groundbreaking.

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TEXAS (San Antonio Express-News) - Texas regulators have ordered title insurers to reduce their rates by 3.2 percent effective Feb. 1.

The order, signed by Texas Insurance Commissioner Mike Geeslin, will cut the cost of title insurance for a typical $100,000 home to $843, compared with $1,023 in 1998.

In the last eight years, Texas has cut title insurance rates by 17 percent, including a 6.5 percent reduction in 2004, the department said in a news release.

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Maximum Exposure: Keller Williams Realty Pushes For Peak Listings Potential with New Online Marketing Tool

By Stephanie Andre

RISMEDIA, Jan.31, 2007-In the ever-evolving world of technology and Web-based solutions, online competition for prospective home buyers has never been stronger. To that end, Keller Williams Realty has launched a new marketing tool-the Keller Williams Listing System (KWLS), a new database of all Keller Williams Realty listings, to increase the online presence of its 73,000-plus associates. Here, COO Mary Tennant and Dave Therrien, chief technology officer, offer their thoughts on the new platform and how they believe their agent sites will become the "go-to" source for home searches nationwide.

Real Estate magazine: Please describe the new Keller Williams Listing System.

Mary Tennant: This is a product we are very excited about. Keller Williams developed the system so that agents could advertise their listings on multiple online platforms, because with our company, they own the listings themselves. That's the difference between us and our competitors. We wanted our agents to be able to put their listings in different search engines on the Internet - to help them get more exposure. Prior to this platform, they couldn't do that because the information was owned by different MLSs. Now, we have formed their own listing system with their listings data. They give Keller Williams International (the company's International support center) permission to market their listings on other Web sites. It really gives the listings maximum exposure.

RE: What initiated the decision to create this platform?

MT: We made this decision because our agents wanted it. Each one of them was paying fees to advertise on numerous different Web sites. They were spending tons of money on advertising and we wanted to serve them on a higher level. Our company is a little unique in the way it is designed. We are all partners, and so they wanted us to capture and market their listings to everyone on the internet.

Dave Therrien: It was the right time to do this because we needed to take control of our listing data, and expose and expand our marketing capabilities. It was imperative that we get our agents' listings maximum exposure online.

RE: How is this going to most benefit Keller Williams and its agents?

MT: Instead of spending a lot of money, time and resources worrying about getting their listings on different Web sites, Keller Williams Int'l will take care of the majority of that for them. The new system will also give our agents a big competitive advantage in listing presentations and in securing more buyers' leads. Now, agents can say, ‘When you list with me tonight, by tomorrow morning, your home will be listed on 10 major sites.' It's going to be getting our sellers massive exposure on the Internet immediately.

One of strongest departments at Keller Williams Realty is Research and Development. The data we get through the KWLS is going to allow our company to pull together data and research that will help us watch where the market goes and take us into the next generation.

DT: It is going to bring significant benefit in two areas. First, the marketing exposure is a big advantage in selling their client's home. Getting our listing data out there on many different platforms, economically, makes sense to us. It also gives our agents a much stronger listing presentation package for sellers. When the seller is looking to hire an agent, it shows a superior comprehensive marketing plan. Now, the agent can look at a potential client and say, "Your property is going to be seen by potentially tens of thousands of buyers."

RE: How do you plan to train your agents to work on this new system?

MT: We are using our online educational platform, KWConnect. We put together a series of new KWConnect sessions on how to enter listings into the KWLS. That said, because our agents are used to using the MLS, and much of the information is the same, the transition over to this platform has been pretty easy.

RE: What are your short-term, as well as long-term, plans for this new system?

MT: This is a program that will now be with us forever. We developed this for our agents; it is not going to go way. Even more consumers will surf and search the Internet. So, this platform will continue to help us get more exposure for our listings. Of course, like with everything else, it will be refined and upgraded. But the basic conceptual product is forever.

DT: This listing system is not duplicated by any others I've seen, and it is the first of a number of systems we're launching for our agents that will provide them a more complete technology toolset. It's a piece of a bigger picture. It's our goal that the KWLS will feed a significant Web presence, including enhanced agent Web sites, Web sites for our market centers, a newly revamped kw.com, third-party search engines, third party Web platforms and a second to none lead routing system that sends all of the Internet leads back to our agents as quickly as possible - helping them grow their businesses,

RE: Now that you've launched this new platform, how can the industry balance its dependence on the Internet with its reliance on agents?

MT: People used to browse the papers; now they browse the Internet. It's going to grow more and more and more. However, I don't believe that the agent relationship will be handicapped. The Internet will serve as a tool to serve clients at a higher level. The Internet also helps us train our agents, capturing leads and more. So, I don't see it as a takeaway, but rather as a tool that will enhance our industry and the job of the real estate agent.

How It Works:

The Keller Williams Listing System (KWLS), which looks much like the MLS interfaces of which agents already are familiar, will contain every Keller Williams Realty listing in the United States and Canada.

Currently, agent listings cannot be marked on any non-company sites because the listing information is the property of the MLS. In order to broker deals with partner sites and popular search engines, agents must have the ownership of their listings data.

Once associates enter their listings into the KWLS, those listings will be instantly posted on thousands of Web sites, including the company's Web site (www.kw.com) and every office and agent Web site in the Keller Williams Realty system.

Once entered, agents can immediately add extensive details to their listings including: up to 20 images, open house announcements, virtual tours, uploaded documents and additional links as well.

For more information, visit http://www.kw.com/.

RISMedia welcomes your questions and comments. Send your e-mail to: mailto:%20realestatemagazinefeedback@rismedia.com.

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By Stan Beer    Friday, 02 February 2007  

It appears that Microsoft's new operating system Windows Vista is too smart for its own good. A blogger has found that Vista's speech recognition system is good enough for hackers to issue security breaching commands using malicious sound files on rogue websites.

One of less touted features of Vista is its vastly improved speech recognition system, which allows users to issue commands using spoken words instead of via the keyboard. Naturally, the question arises as to whether hackers could exploit this feature by issuing recorded commands through a computer's speakers.

According to a ZDNet blogger, the answer is yes. George Ou reported that he played a sound file on his PC containing commands which Vista subsequently recognized and executed.

After getting wind of the report by Ou, Microsoft responded by pointing out that a computer would have to be equipped with speakers and have a microphone attached. In addition speech recognition would need to be enabled. Finally, the User Account Control (UAC) security feature of Vista would by default not allow administrator level privileges to be executed by voice.

However, these days many PC users communicate over their computers using Internet telephony programs such as Skype and thus have microphones and speakers permanently attached. In addition, many laptop PCs have built-in microphones and speakers. Also, it may seem strange to many users not to enable a key feature of Vista such as speech recognition.

Therefore, it would appear that on at least a significant proportion of PCs, the conditions may be right for a potential exploit to take place. As far as the UAC is concerned, some reviewers have tipped that there may be a fair proportion of users who may disable it because of the continual annoyance of having to tick query boxes.

The conditions for an attack to occur, therefore, may not be as rare as Microsoft indicates. However, the advice that users should turn off their speakers and microphones when they leave their PCs would appear to be sound (no pun intended).

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Tuesday, January 23, 2007 / CHRISTINE DUNN (The Providence Journal)

BRISTOL, R.I. -- In 1964, Alexander Paiva paid $18,500 for his ranch-style house in Bristol, R.I. More than 40 years later, the property has an appraised value of $285,000.

Paiva, 64, retired last summer from his job as service manager at an automobile transmission shop. Some of his retirement benefits won't be available until he turns 65 this year.

To help tide him over, and to pay for a few extras, Paiva has tapped the equity of his home with an increasingly popular financial tool for the elderly: a reverse-mortgage loan. With these loans, an elderly homeowner who wishes to continue living at home can get access to money that doesn't have to be repaid until he or she sells the house or dies.

The upfront costs of the loans are high, and they are not recommended for those planning to sell their house in the near future. Paiva's closing costs were $13,325, which included a payment of $5,760 for mortgage insurance from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Federal Housing Administration. FHA insures an estimated 90 percent of reverse-mortgage loans issued in the United States. Most borrowers roll over the loan costs into their balance to keep their initial outlay of cash to a minimum, according to Chris Barnett, a spokesman for Rhode Island Housing.

Bill White, president of Ocean State Reverse Financing Inc., who worked with Paiva, said the loan insurance cost is 2 percent of the appraised value of the house. It protects the lender, but also guarantees that the "heirs or borrowers will never have to pay (the lender) more than the house is worth," he said. Without the insurance, he said, the interest rates for reverse mortgages would be higher than they are.

In the past week, interest rates for reverse mortgages were 6.5 percent for a monthly adjustable rate and about 8.25 percent for a rate that is adjusted annually, White said, and the loans have lifetime rate caps.

Borrowers have the option of taking their payments in a lump sum, as a line of credit, or in regular monthly payments.

To be eligible for a HUD-insured reverse mortgage, borrowers must be at least 62 years old. The amount that can be loaned depends on the borrower's age, the amount of equity, and the interest rates. Loans insured by the government cannot exceed a certain limit (currently $362,000, according to Peter Bell, president of the National Mortgage Lenders Association), even if the value of the house is much higher. Uninsured loans are offered at higher amounts, and at higher costs.

In the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2006, 76,351 federally insured reverse mortgages, also known as home-equity conversion mortgages, were issued, up 77 percent from the previous fiscal year, White said. As the baby-boom generation begins to retire, the numbers are expected to grow.

Increased competition may eventually help drive down the high costs of reverse mortgages, according to Ken Scholen, director of the AARP Foundation's Reverse Mortgage Education Project. "We're just starting to see some competition," Scholen said. Until recently, "there was only one funder, Fannie Mae, and only one insurer, HUD, and we really haven't seen much competition on the fees. It's starting to change."

Loans sold on Wall Street recently got a better price than Fannie Mae has been paying, and HUD is looking into options for reducing origination and insurance costs, he said.

Scholen said he advises seniors considering reverse mortgages to wait, if they can. "If they ... don't have a really urgent need to do this now, they would be smart to wait until prices come down and they have more choices," he said.

Scholen said many seniors would like the option to "borrow less and pay less" with reverse mortgages.

"It's good advice in general to wait," Scholen added, because "the older you are when you take it out, the more you can (borrow)."

He said he also advises seniors considering reverse mortgages to seriously research the option of selling their house and moving. Some seniors find to their surprise that new housing better fits their current needs, while for others, the process makes them more sure that they want to remain in their longtime home and "age in place."

"In either case, you come back with a better idea" of what you are buying when you take out a reverse mortgage, Scholen said. "You're buying the ability to stay in that home."

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.shns.com.)

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by FortBendNow Staff, Jan 20, 2007, 10 19 am

The Brazoria County District Attorney's Office has been given authority to to participate in that county's opposition to a proposed expansion of Blue Ridge Landfill in Fort Bend County.

According to The Facts newspaper, Brazoria County Commissioners approved a resolution to that effect on Thursday.

Owned by Allied subsidiary Blue Ridge Landfill TX L.P., the landfill, at 2200 F.M. 521, is about a mile north of Fresno in Fort Bend County, just across 521 from Pearland and Brazoria County.

Allied has obtained a "draft permit" that, if made permanent, would allow the company to expand the landfill from its current 302-acre "waste footprint," where refuse is permitted to be piled up to 58 feet high, to 784 acres, with the right to pile refuse up to 170 feet high. Texas Commission on Environmental Quality commissioners will have to vote in favor of the project before any work can proceed.

Pearland City Council voted in December to oppose the expansion, after a presentation by opponents of Allied Waste's plans. Fort Bend County and Missouri City reached an agreement with the landfill's owners several years ago, which precludes them from officially opposing expansion plans.

Richard Morrison, an environmental attorney representing Coalition Against Blue Ridge Landfill Expansion, spoke to the Pearland council before the vote. He said he learned that the city eventually intends to treat water from Mustang Bayou and use it for drinking water.

No portion of the proposed footprint of the expanded landfill lies within the bayou's floodplain, but the southwest corner of the property is within its 100-year floodplain, Morrison said in written comments submitted to the TCEQ during a hearing in December.

Morrison has raised the possibility of barium leaking from the landfill, based on an incident Allied acknowledges in which a "statistically significant" increase in barium was discovered at one monitoring well at the existing landfill, in November 2005. Allied officials say they are convinced that the discovery was a natural occurrence.

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Stronger self-defense law backed

By JOHN MORITZ
STAR-TELEGRAM AUSTIN BUREAU

AUSTIN -- A coalition of state lawmakers that cuts across party lines wants to remove any doubt that Texans have the right to respond with force to protect their homes and belongings from unlawful intruders.

To that end, state Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, filed legislation Wednesday that would update the so-called Castle Doctrine to make it clear that a property owner had no "duty to retreat" before firing on or otherwise stopping the intrusion or attack. And 27 of his 31 Senate colleagues have signed on as co-sponsors to Senate Bill 378.

"I believe Texans who are attacked in their homes, their businesses, their vehicles or anywhere else they have a right to be should have the right to defend themselves from attack without fear of being prosecuted criminally," Wentworth said. In addition, he added, if the wounded intruder files a civil lawsuit against the property owner and loses, the intruder would pay all court costs under the bill.

Wentworth and others acknowledged that Texas has long tracked the custom dating back to English common law stating that a person has the right to defend his or her castle. But the Texas law is not as far-reaching as some might realize.

"Current Texas law effectively imposes a duty to attempt to retreat before using force against an intruder," Wentworth said. "Texans who do not attempt to escape before using force to protect their homes, their businesses or their vehicles may be criminally prosecuted and face possible civil suits alleging wrongful injury or death."

His measure would carry the presumption that the property owner was acting with justification rather than forcing the property owner to prove that the action was appropriate. So far, 15 other states have enacted similar legislation.

A nearly identical measure in the Texas House has gained the support of 100 of the 150 members.

"This legislation puts criminals on notice. If you break into someone's home in Texas, you enter at your own risk," said state Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Lewisville, one of the co-sponsors.

Crime victims rights groups and the National Rifle Association have expressed support for the measure, saying it would tag the intruder as the sole criminal in such matters and not the property owner.

"It is fundamental that honest, law-abiding citizens know the law is on their side if they are ever faced with danger from criminal attack," said NRA spokesman Chris Cox.

Charley Wilkison, spokesman for the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas, was more guarded in his assessment.

"A person in Texas has the right under the law to defend their life and property," Wilkison said. "But law enforcement officers are specially trained to handle all kinds of critical situations. ... The Legislature should be cautious about sending the signal that citizens should rush into dangerous situations.

"It's always best to call 911," he added.

Even though current law contains the duty-to-retreat clause, cases where a Texas property owner is prosecuted for shooting intruders are rare. In November 2005, Arlington grandmother Susan Gaylord Buxton made national headlines when she opened fire on an intruder hiding in her home after he was chased through the neighborhood by police.

Buxton had a permit to carry a handgun and was not charged with a crime because she was defending herself, police said.

"If I didn't have a gun to protect myself, I probably wouldn't be here," Buxton said at the time, adding that she had obtained her permit after someone tried to kidnap a granddaughter 12 years earlier.

In 1996, Fort Worth civic leader Thomas B. Reynolds was cleared by a grand jury after fatally shooting a burglar while chasing him from his property across the parking lot of a nearby church. The grand jury concluded that Reynolds was acting within his right to defend his property during the incident.

NO RETREAT

"Current Texas law effectively imposes a duty to attempt to retreat before using force against an intruder. Texans who do not attempt to escape before using force to protect their homes, their businesses or their vehicles may be criminally prosecuted and face possible civil suits alleging wrongful injury or death."

-- Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio, who filed legislation that would make it clear that a property owner had no "duty to retreat."

John Moritz, 512-476-4294 jmoritz@star-telegram.com

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Feb. 1, 2007, 12:24AM
Pearland police officers learn firsthand the power of Tasers

Pearland Detective Jeff Jernigan, left, shocks officer Joseph Hoffman, center, with a Taser as he is held by officer Adam Carroll, front left, and Pearland EMS supervisor Fred Ortiz during training Wednesday.

James Nielsen: Chronicle

By RICHARD STEWART
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

PEARLAND - When the Taser sent pulses of 50,000 volts of electricity through officer George Dacy's muscles; he went into spasms, lost control, groaned and shouted an obscenity.

The roomful of fellow Pearland policemen erupted in laughter - not at Dacy's two seconds of obvious pain - but because the young patrolman seldom talks at all, much less curses.

Rite of passage

Dacy had just gone through his rite of passage. Every Pearland officer must be shocked by a Taser before being allowed to carry the device designed to render a person helpless without lethal force. Officers go through recertification training every year, but don't have to be shocked after their first time.

Making officers submit to being shocked keeps them from wanting to use the device unless it is really needed, said department spokesman Roy Castillo.

Being shocked is not required in every department.

Houston Police Department officers do not get shocked during Taser training, but deputies with the Harris County Sheriff's Department have the option during their training. Deputies are not required to participate, Lt. John Martin said.

So far, about 70 of Pearland's 104 officers have been certified to carry Tasers. In the four years the force has had them, Tasers have been used in 23 incidents, said Detective David Patterson, one of the Pearland training officers. In that same time, no Pearland officers have shot anyone with a gun.

Dacy's shout is common for officers getting shocked for the first time, Patterson said. A few minutes earlier, patrolman Joseph Hoffman had reacted with the very same word. He said the pain was bad, but the loss of muscle control is worse.

"As soon as it ended, the pain went away," he said.

What won't go away for a year or so will be the small burn marks on the officers from the device, Patterson said.

In the field, the Tasers shoot two small probes that are tipped by needle-like barbed tips about an inch long. The probes fly up to 21 feet trailing tiny copper wires that connect with a battery in the gun.

The probe tips can stick in skin, or just in clothing, Patterson said. They can deliver their electric charge through two inches of clothes, he said.

The muscles between the two probes tighten up in uncontrollable spasms as the device sends about 19 pulses per second. The device delivers the shocks for five seconds, but can be used multiple times to subdue a combative subject.

A small red laser points to where the top probe will hit.

Video, audio records

"Often just using the laser and telling the subject that you have a Taser is enough to subdue him," Patterson told the officers.

Pearland's newest Tasers also have tiny video cameras and microphones in the battery pack that sticks out of the hand grip. "Don't put your finger over the camera lens," Patterson warned.

He said having video and audio records of Taser incidents can help the department avoid some of the questions that linger over how and how often Houston police use the weapon.

Pearland Sgt. Andrew Beavers said he responded to a domestic disturbance in which three members of a family were fighting. "The mother came out of the kitchen with two butcher knives," he said.

He shot her with the Taser and not his gun. The woman survived, as did the officers.

"If you can diffuse a situation verbally, that's what we want you to do," Patterson said.

richard.stewart@chron.com

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