The Houston Rodeo’s international committee is already busy recruiting our new rookie class for 2025. Applications were taken a few months ago and on Monday August 19, these applicants attended a Rookie Meet and Greet, which is a kind of interview process with the management team. There are a limited number of open spots so it is a bit competitive to join the international committee. Successful candidates will be announced in the next couple of months and then training will soon begin. Next year’s Houston Rodeo is slated for March 4-23 with the first 8 days or so “international days”, the days we have special programs and events for our international guests.
We definitely shifted gears as a family since the past newsletter! The first son to start school was Zach, who entered 7th grade at Westbrook Intermediate School on August 14. He will be taking Spanish 1 this year after school, making our carpool a lot more challenging! The next son to start school was Ty, who finally finished his intense plebe summer and started class on August 19 at the United States Naval Academy. Now that plebe summer is over, he has gotten his phone back and texts us from time to time. He told his first class of the day is Wrestling! Our third son to start school actually has not started yet at time of writing this newsletter. Joe’s first day of school at University of Texas actually starts today, Monday August 26. This year, Joe will live at his fraternity house, Kappa Sigma. Susan and Joe took a trip to Austin to furnish his room and get things set up. Joe found a nice sofa and a nice bed frame on Facebook Marketplace! Susan and Koh have been busy supporting our kids and are still hands full with the many properties that still need repair from Hurricane Beryl.
Annoura Realty Group is constantly thinking about special things to do for our clients! One of course, is our famous Welcome Bucket, which is given to all newcomers when they move into their new homes. This branded bucket contains everything a new person might need when they move to a new country, in order to get their new lives started: dish soap, clothes detergent, paper towel, toilet paper, (lots of) snacks, water, beer, even shampoo, conditioner, and body wash! After attending a real estate conference and listening to a famous speaker, Susan learned that it is also very important to remember our past clients, and especially past clients who recommend new clients to us. It is to them we owe a huge thank you for helping us grow our business. So, Susan found a custom box company who helped her design a custom box with our logo and colors. Then, she chose a few special items as the gift inside the box, added stuffing, some marketing items, and a hand written thank you card. Each box is labeled for delivery and/or is ready to be shipped to the people who send us a new client! Last week we shipped two boxes and hand delivered four. We have seven more to deliver and will knock those out right away! If you know anyone moving to Houston or who wants to change houses and move within Houston, or is moving away from Houston and needs us to help sell their house, please let them know about Annoura Realty Group! Our five man team would love to help, and be sure they mention your name so we can thank you with a special Thank You Box!
HAR が企画した 2 つ目のイベントは、TREPAC Havana Nights イベントでした。ハリケーン・ベリルの影響で少し延期されていました。 TREPAC は、住宅所有の促進、不動産権の保護、政治的意識の向上を信じる寄付者から資金を集めています。素晴らしいパーティーで、友達みんなに会えて楽しかったです!
Last week the Houston Association of Realtors had TWO events that both Susan and Mariko attended. One was a round table event put on by the Young Professional Network committee, of which Mariko is a member. They invited 10 speakers to come in and talk on a particular topic of specialtise. One talked about the power of social media, one talked about how to get into leadership at your local association, one talked about how to get listings from builders. Susan was invited to lead a discussion on how to invest in real estate for your retirement. The event was very well attended and many people were interested in how to invest for their future. It is so common that realtors help their clients invest, but very few actually invest for themselves. It takes discipline and save up as well as a good knowledge of numbers and demographics to pick the right properties that will both perform well and appreciate. The other key is not to sell, however tempting it may be. Hold on to the properties, keep them leased, and let the renter pay you rent so that you can turn around and pay your loan and expenses. Over time, the loan will be paid off using the renter’s money. Try to buy one house per year and accumulate 10 houses in your portfolio. For young people under 40, by the time they are in their 60’s, the houses should be paid off and they can then use their rental income for retirement. That’s the goal!
A second event HAR put on was their TREPAC Havana Nights event. It had been postponed because of Hurricane Beryl to this new date. TREPAC raises money from donors who believe in promoting home ownership, protecting real property rights, and increasing political awareness. It was a great party and it was fun seeing all our friends!
Last week Susan had a 3 day reunion with her former HIT Partners members. Mr. Takahashi and Mr. Watanabe both flew into Houston to meet up and discuss exit strategies for their clients. Back in the day, maybe 8 years ago or so, Susan and her two partners formed an investment company that bought nearly 100 properties, leased them all, then sold them to Japanese investors. Annoura Realty stayed on to manage them. The Japanese investors bought predominantly because of a Japanese tax law that allowed them to depreciate their improvements over a short 4 year period (versus America which is a 27.5 year long period). Many wealthy Japanese people used this tax law to reduce their taxable income and many targeted Texas because compared to places like California, the land value here was closer to 20% of the overall value of the property and a perfect amount of improvement to depreciate. Fast forward to 2024 and it is time for many of the investors to sell. Not only has the market gone up since they purchased, but the market could be stabilizing or slowing, so we are recommending them to sell. Additionally, with the yen now at 155 yen to the dollar, it is a very good time to sell the US Dollar based property and then send the dollars back to Japan for a big yen bonus on the currency exchange. The partners also own several properties in Houston still and one in Corpus Christi, so we flew to Corpus to visit that property (47 units) and to visit with the property management team there. Susan will help sell all of that and their properties here in Houston. It was a super productive 72 ours together and so happy to get back together with the team, just like the good ole days!