Houston home sales cooled off a bit in August, possibly because inventory is at the lowest it has been in five years.  August homes sales were up on a year-to-year basis, but that wasn’t the case for month-to-month sales. Sales are still better than they were the first few months of this year. Typically, when school starts there is a slight decline in sales.

Category	Jan. 2020	Feb. 2020	Mar. 2020	Apr. 2020	May 2020	June 2020	July 2020	Aug. 2020	Sept. 2020	Oct. 2020	Nov. 2020	Dec. 2020
Total Property Sales	5,800	7,393	8,965	7,192	7,917	11,153	13,043	11,121	11,137	11,232	9,660	11,572
Total Active Listings	39,699	40,091	40,932	41,151	39,516	36,901	36,055	34,181	32,047	31,384	29,948	26,821
Single-Family Home Sales	4,699	6,044	7,566	6,199	6,671	9,328	10,917	9,195	9,101	9,287	7,990	9,652
Townhome/Condominium Sales	398	465	533	373	405	577	685	639	652	636	580	662
Single-Family Months of Inventory	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.6	3.5	3.2	3.0	2.8	2.5	2.4	2.2	1.9
Single-Family Pending Sales	7,212	8,547	7,885	7,125	10,559	11,610	11,185	10,598	9,507	9,680	8,265	7,469
Days on Market	68	68	65	58	58	56	56	51	51	47	46	46

Price Range	Jan. 2020	Feb. 2020	Mar. 2020	Apr. 2020	May 2020	June 2020	July 2020	Aug. 2020	Sept. 2020	Oct. 2020	Nov. 2020	Dec. 2020
$1 - $99,999	109	107	97	82	98	92	100	79	70	85	60	85
$100,000 - $149,999	277	328	361	258	301	346	316	253	294	278	221	268
$150,000 - $249,999	1,757	2,131	2,688	2,180	2,309	2,927	3,406	2,845	2,932	2,907	2,397	2,925
$250,000 - $499,999	1,461	2,056	2,547	2,200	2,278	3,403	4,157	3,464	3,416	3,472	3,216	3,887
$500,000 - $749,999	226	277	402	324	342	548	766	613	580	611	515	650
$750,000 and above	124	161	258	191	157	282	424	398	355	393	335	443

These are the type of clients that make it all worthwhile.

“Leslie was a constant professional through both of our experiences with her. Buying and selling. She fought for us and negotiated to get us the very best deal both times. Her years of experience, combined with the relationships she has formed make her a powerhouse in this industry. I recommend her 1,000% for your real estate needs.”

-Amy Q.

>>>Testimonials

Has spending more time in your house this year made you realize there are places that are in need of good scrubbing? Below are some hints that can make the job a little easier.

Kitchen Grease on Walls
Any decent dish soap can remove grease stains on walls.

For small stains, mix: 1/4 teaspoon of soap in a cup of warm water, and wipe. Rinse with clean water, and blot until dry. Clean stubborn grease stains with solution of 1/3 cup of white household vinegar with 2/3 cup of water.

Dirt and Grime Buildup
The oil from your hands gets onto walls, cabinets, doors, and door frames. A wall eraser, like the Mr. Clean Eraser ($3 for 4 pads), easily wipes away these stains.

Wet the sponge and rub gently to avoid taking bits of paint off with the stain.

Or make your own homemade wall cleaning sponge:

• 1 cup ammonia,
• 1/2 cup white distilled or apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup baking soda
• one gallon of warm water.
• Wipe the solution over walls with a sponge (or cloth), and rinse with water.

Crayons
Wall erasers work like a charm on crayon marks. If they don’t do the trick:

• Rub marks with toothpaste (not gel).
• Erase marks with an art gum or a pencil eraser; use a circular motion.
• Swipe marks with baby wipes.
• Sprinkle baking soda on a damp sponge and scrub marks.
• Permanent Marker
• Permanent markers are tough to remove from walls. Soak a cotton ball with rubbing alcohol and dab the stain. Or spray marks with hairspray, then wipe drips.

Ink
Ballpoint ink, which is oil-based, often melts away if you use foaming shaving cream, dry-cleaning solvents such as Carbona, or nail polish remover.

Make sure you open windows when using cleaning solvents and polish remover.

Mildew
Mildew is a fungus that eats soap scum and body oil. To remove from walls, spray with vinegar water: 1 tablespoon white vinegar to 1 quart water. Also, try an enzyme laundry detergent; follow the pre-treating directions on the label. Blot it on the stain, and then rinse thoroughly with water.

Water Stains
After you’ve solved the problem that caused the water stains, rinse with a solution of 1 cup bleach to 1 gallon of water to prevent mold and mildew from growing. Thoroughly dry with a hairdryer or fans. If bleaching doesn’t remove water stains, you’ll have to repaint. Prime the walls with a stain-killing primer, such as Kilz Paint.

Adapted from Pat Curry’s post on Houselogic.