Attention ramen lovers!! There is a new ramen restaurant in Houston called Tsujita Artisan Noodle and it just grand opened on the west side of Houston. Tsujita has five (almost 6) locations: three locations in California (with one more coming in May), one in New Jersey, and now one in Houston! Tsujita originated in Tokyo in 2003 and has 18 locations in Japan. Taking a look at their menu, they have Tsukemen (noodles where you dipped them in tasty soup) as well as Ramen (Hakata Tonkotsu, chicken, miso, or veggie). They also have various rice bowls (katsu curry or chashu bowl) and a nice appetizer menu with everything from takoyaki to gyoza to karaage. Tsujita Ramen Retaurant is located at 12230 Westheimer Rd, A-160, Houston, TX 77077. We are excited to go check it out!
In major real estate industry news, NAR (National Association of Realtors) settled a commissions lawsuit last week, shaking up the realtor community and associations across the United States. The problem is that the media has twisted the story and has put out incorrect information which is causing lots of confusion to the public. Because of this, there are several good websites to visit to get correct information. NAR has a dedicated website with very good information here: https://www.nar.realtor/competition-in-real-estate. And, to help local realtors in Houston, HAR has created a very helpful Q&A link for realtors and consumers to understand the possible impact and implications of the recent settlement. Please see here: https://cms.har.com/lawsuits/.
This deserves a story by itself! We are proud of our second son Ty, who went to Iowa with his club coach, Joe Forsman, over spring break and battled against some of the toughest competition in the United States in the 126 pound category. The competition was through USA Wrestling (USAW) and the name of the event was the 2024 Junior Boys & Girls Folkstyle Nationals. In order to become an All American, one must finish in the top 8 spots and Ty barely made it, taking home the 8th spot! Last October, Ty finished 4th at another national tournament in Iowa (PreSeason Nationals), making him now a 2 time high school All American! With only a little over 2 months left of high school, we are still unsure of where Ty will go for college or if he will wrestle after he graduates. He is considering offers from a few different universities and is still waiting for the results of his Naval Academy application. Please keep him in your prayers! We should hopefully know his future path in the coming month.
So much has happened over the past 2 weeks because of Spring Break! The Annouras for the first time in history, spent spring break all separated. Ty went on a fishing trip and then came home and turned around and went to Iowa for a big national wrestling tournament. Joe had his girlfriend Sana here still from Japan and fulfilled her request to go camping at a Texas State Park. They volunteered to bring Zach with them so the three of them borrowed Susan’s dad’s van and hit the Texas hill country! They pitched a tent inside Guadalupe River State Park and did some hiking, made a campfire (and of course Joe showed her how to make S’mores), and slept under the cool Texas skies. With all the kids handled, Susan and Koh booked a 5 day trip to TURKS AND CAICOS islands! Wow, if you have never been there, you must go check it out. I have never seen water color that pure and blue! While there, they visited several beaches; of course the award winning Grace Bay Beach, Sunset Beach, and their favorite Taylor Bay Beach. They also booked a catamaran snorkeling trip and a one day kayak excursion to Iguana Island and Mangrove Cay, where they saw sea turtle after sea turtle, a small shark, and even a manta ray. Though Koh was fighting a cold the whole trip, he was able to hang in there and the two of them stayed in a perfect little home one minute from the beach. It was just what they needed to reset, refresh, and regain their energy!
At time of writing, we have 14 deals under contract and things are are just starting to get even busier!! March/April is always the busiest time of the year as the Japanese fiscal year changes over April 1 and new expats start pouring into Houston. Mariko has done a fantastic job of handling many newcomers including our new researcher at MD Anderson, Dr. Miyagawa who was referred by Dr. Manabe. Daido Steel is another new company Annoura Realty was blessed to be hired by and HITACHI is yet another new company that tapped us for help. We are expecting a newcomer from Nisseki Chemical as well as two from Mitsubishi, two from Mitsui, one from Kuraray, and one from Nippon Pillar (this will be a new company for us to take care of and we are excited!). Daikin, Mitsui Plastics, and Kaneka all had new expats come through our doors and all three of them are now under contract and expected to move in in the coming weeks. On the sale side, our Japanese investor iowners for Misty Meadows and Baltic both found buyers recently. We are navigating the contracts and repairs for both of those now. Shinobu san moved to Dallas and her Richmond home’s closing is delayed due to the buyer’s IRS transcripts having a small issue. Hopefully that will be cleared up in the next few weeks. Van and Chase are scheduled to close on their Conroe home on Tuesday of next week, and our Panasonic Family is still on track for an April closing in West Katy. One more bit of exciting news is Maika san and her husband coming to Houston for a quick home hunting tour. Mariko toured them one full day and they found the house of their dreams. We were able to get that under contract by the time they boarded their flight back to Japan!
We thank you all for your continued support of Annoura Realty Group. Your referrals mean the world to us as we strive to always be the #1 real estate company serving the Japanese expat relocation market here in Houston.
