Politicians who fight for issues that are important to realtors and homeowners are supported by the realtor family. The Texas Real Estate Political Action Committee collects the money through donations and one fun way to do this is through our Global Dinner series. Every few months, donors attend a dinner featuring a particular country, and last Wednesday that country was Germany! The party took place at a German restaurant called Rudi Lechner’s. There was German food, German beers, German music, and even a German fashion show! Everyone had a great time and it was a great way to raise money for a great cause.
In Annoura family news, all three boys have finally started school, with Joe being the last one starting University of Texas last week. Ty has finished his intense summer physical training and now that school has started, his freshmen group has incorporated into the rest of the brigade. He also has new roommates, can use his cell phone, and has officially started wrestling practice with the rest of the wrestling team. We were nervous the past couple of weeks because he said Coach Kolat was cutting some of the new freshmen, but the good news is he has survived the cuts and is still a part of the Navy Wrestling team! Joe has started year 3 of UT and has declared his major to be Finance inside the McCombs School of Business. This year he moved into the Kappa Sigma frat house and seems to really enjoy it so far. Meanwhile, Zach is enjoying 7th grade so far. His new endeavor is choir! His choir teacher is very active and has all kinds of events going on this semester so we are trying to keep up with it all. Zach added Spanish to his class lineup as well, so he will follow in Ty’s footsteps and try hablar espanol! Koh is working out everyday, preparing for his competition next month in France. The masters track world championships will be held the week of October 7 and Susan plans to fly over for a week to watch him compete in the mens sprint. As for Susan, she heads to Wyoming this week for a NARLA colleague’s inauguration as Wyoming state’s realtor association President. Following that will be 3 days in Galveston for her HAR 2025 strategic planning retreat. It’s been weird going from a family of 5 to a family of 4 and now to a family of 3. It’s normal for the kids to grow up and leave home but it’s still a little sad for us parents! Over Labor Day weekend, we jumped in the car and headed to Austin to find Joe. With our Bay Oaks membership, we were able to play golf at a course in Lakeway so that was a lot of fun. The four of us (no Ty!) ate some great Texas BBQ at County Line on the Lake and also did a strenuous 4 mile hike (almost 10,000 steps). We treasure any time we can spend with our boys!
Has the real estate market slowed down? Several factors have happened in the last couple weeks that indicate so. The first sign is that we have homes for sale that have not moved yet. This normally NEVER happens! It could be the new laws regulating buyer agent agreements or big changes that happened August 17 in the way realtors have to now navigate transactions. The Fed cut interest rates a few days ago and we realtors think this will get the buyer’s market tickled to act. We hope so at least! In exciting news, we are working on a new listing in Montrose. The owners of Nippon has hired us to lease our their restaurant space so we are now looking for the perfect person who wants to open a Japanese restaurant in Houston. Also, the double apartments in Corpus Christi owned by a Tokyo investor should be closing some time next week. Title is clearing some hiccups and then we should be on our way! On the lease front, we have two new expats with the Government of Japan coming to Houston. Now working with the first to find her favorite place. Mitsui has a newcomer on the horizon, preparing to move to Houston in October. What is keeping us very busy is a bundle of homes about to hit the market for sale. Now making ready 2114 Castle and 2119 Laughing Gull, both in League City, both should be hitting the market in the next two weeks. Mid September we will list a 2 bedroom condo in the Medical Center inside the Valencia for sale, and by the end of September we will be getting a townhome listing in the gated subdivision of Park Shadows, right behind the Boeing building. On the lease listing side, we will be bringing to market two homes in Northfork in the next two weeks. If you know anyone that needs to move to Houston or move away from Houston, please introduce them to Annoura Realty Group! We survive on word of mouth referrals! And, don’t forget to have the new person mention your name. We would like to thank you with one of our special Thank You boxes!
Right now through September 15, there is a special exhibition called “Meiji Modern: Fifty Years of New Japan” being held at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. This exhibition offers an extraordinary look at Japan’s Meiji era (1868–1912), when the country emerged from near-total isolation to enter a modern, global period. Over these pivotal decades, Japan experienced major social and political shifts. The exhibition brings together nearly 200 remarkable works of Meiji art from more than 70 public and private collections. We went to check it out on Friday night and it was very impressive! Be sure to see the golf-leaf folding screens of the Tigers!
This year’s Japan Festival just finished and it was super special! Few people know that it was Glen Gondo who first came up with the idea of a Japanese Festival and he is the one who approached the City of Houston to ask for their support and was granted use of Hermann Park to hold it. It is thanks to Glen that the Japan Festival was born and that now today thousands of Houstonians can enjoy the rich cultural heritage of Japan that is preserved by the Japanese and Japan-American communities. This was the first time to have the Japan Festival without its founder and we are grateful for his efforts of getting the City of Houston on board (thank you Mayor Bob Lanier) and for getting the Japanese community involved.
