We normally have our ‘uchiage/hanseikai’ party right after our softball tournament ends, but this time because of scheduling issues, we waited a few weeks. I was supposed to be in Fort Worth with Ty for a wrestling tournament but when that plan got cancelled, I was free to go to this dinner with my softball team afterall! I always look forward to not only eating at Izakaya Wa, but also being able to chat with my fellow moms and teammates. It’s funny that everyone on our team brought their sons so there were our 3, the Asanos 2, the Tanakas 2, and the Osakos 2… 9 boys at their own table, that was actually more than the moms table! We chatted over our recent news, reviewed what happened at our last softball game, and enjoyed all our favorite items on the menu. Its always helpful when the owners are at your table! Thank you, Asano family for a great meal and hope our Team Izakaya Wa can do better next year!
Did you know that The National Association of Realtors is the largest trade association in the United States, representing the interests of 1.5 million agents, brokers, appraisers, property managers, and other real estate professionals? One of the biggest and most important role NAR plays is their advocacy for issues important to the real estate industry. Having the annual May meeting in Washington DC gives realtors the chance to visit the Capitol to meet their elected officials. Susan and Mariko attended these meetings and got to actually meet with their Congressman, Brian Babin, with a group of realtors from Houston! Aside from that, Susan attended the CIPS Advisory Group meeting and made some recommendations to change the current CIPS curriculum. It is in these settings and in these committee meetings that changes like these can be discussed and realized. In the off hours, Susan spent time with her HAR Executive Team, visiting the White House on a short tour and sharing meals at different local restaurants. Before the conference started, Susan arrived a couple days early to attend her second in person NARLA (NAR Leadership Academy) session.The week ended with a short Board of Directors meeting, attended by over 900 realtors representing local associations from all over America. It was Susan’s first time to represent HAR and Texas Realtors as an NAR director! All in all, it was a very eventful week and we were happy to spend time with so many colleagues both new and old from all across the United States and some from other countries.
Where to start!? Team Annoura had an incredibly busy past 2 weeks with Susan and Mariko both traveling to DC for NAR’s Realtor Legislative Meetings. While there though, the work never stopped! Mariko was super busy helping many clients virtually. There are so many steps to help with when expats move to Houston. Finding the apartment or home is just one of many steps. It’s the after support that we take pride in- helping people apply, get qualified, sign their leases, set up their utilities, pay their balances. The to do list is always very long with each client. We ran into several new issues this week that don’t normally happen. For example, one new lease complex signed a lease with our expat client then told us they could not finish construction on time and needed to delay move in by one month! We fought back on behalf of our client and were able to negotiate a bigger unit for the same price. In another case, one apartment denied our expat’s application saying he could not qualify because of a lack of income.We were able to show an offer letter with a grant from Japan to prove he had enough income to qualify and to avoid their requirement of having a guarantor who made 5x the monthly rent. In a third unusal case, the apartment’s computer system had a problem and the our expat client’s application could not be processed! We were able to work through the problem and finally get his application pushed through manually. We still have 15 or so expats on the way to Houston and 7 waiting to move in. On the sale front, our Brookmall listing is set to close at the end of next week and we have two new listings that hit the market: One is a special home in Towne Lake and one is a condo on White Oak Dr. near downtown. The home in Towne Lake is a “multi-generation home” featuring TWO homes that would be perfect for a mother in law suite, or guest house. The White Oak condo would be perfect for anyone working downtown. Perhaps the most exciting closing since our last newsletter is the closing of Robert Gondo’s house! not only is the house itself absolutely drop dead gorgeous with stunning views of the golf course, even more awesome than that is the fact that it sits right next door to his mom and dad’s house. Surprise! I personally could not be happier for all of them, especially the parents, who I KNOW must be ecstatic. I know I would be!
Each new client has been telling us how they found us and usually it is a referral from a previous client. Because of this, we are planning our Referral Rewards Program soon! If you have referred a client to us, be sure they let us know. We are tracking where our new clients come from and we plan to give you a special gift to say thank you! Stay tuned!
The U.S.-Japan Council (USJC) Board of Directors selected Audrey Yamamoto to be the Council’s next president and chief executive officer. Before coming into this position, Audrey was the COO of The Asian American Foundation (TAAF) in the San Francisco Bay Area. Audrey will lead USJC’s staff in the U.S. and Japan, and will work closely with the Council’s boards in both countries in carrying out the Council’s mission of developing and connecting diverse leaders to strengthen the bilateral relationship.
The USJC Houston chapter was excited to meet Audrey on April 20, when she stopped by Houston and had dinner with us! We look forward to her leadership and seeing her again later this year in Tokyo, when the 2024 USJC Conference moves to Japan at the end of October.
April 8 was a special day in Texas as most major cities were able to experience the solar eclipse. CCISD was actually off from school so Ty hit the road to Austin with his friends, while Susan and Zach stayed home to watch it from our front yard. We dragged out our zero gravity chairs, mixed some cocktails (non-alcohol for him of course), fixed some snacks, and reclined all the way back. Although it was pretty cloudy, we were able to catch the entire show, on and off through the clouds, and with and without our eclipse glasses. Some places in Texas were fortunate to have good weather and got to see the very rare total solar eclipse and the famous ring of fire. I am so glad I was able to experience the eclipse with Zach this time, because the next total solar eclipse that can be seen from the United States will be August 23, 2044, which is over 20 years from now. I hope that Zach and I will be able to see it again together. He’ll be 31 and yikes, I’ll be 72!
