Jennifer Stence is a Realtor at Veronica Mullenix Real Estate Group in Katy.

Every week, we ask a Houston real estate professional for their thoughts on the top three stories from the week before. 

This week, we talked with Realtor Jennifer Stence of Veronica Mullenix Real Estate Group in Katy. Stence, a Katy resident, began her real estate career in the 1980s and left to spend time with her kids and teach in the Katy school district for 10 years. She returned to the business five years ago and specializes in Harris County, Ft. Bend County, Waller County, Austin County, and the Katy/West Houston real estate market. 

Houston Agent (HA): Studies show that home prices, home sales and inventory are as competitive as ever. Do you see this occurring in Katy? And how long do you see this continuing?

Jennifer Stence (JS): Yes. Katy is a desirable area because of the school district, primarily, and there is lots of building going on and lots of people moving into the area. I think as long as the economy in Texas, and Houston in particular, is strong, the people will keep wanting to move here.

There are a lot of great things about Houston. We have a good climate, we don’t have to shovel snow. The manufacturing is picking up in Houston, oil and gas is doing well, medicine is here. I don’t see any reason for this to end anytime soon.

HA: The nation’s foreclosure market has been improving, and Houston’s marketplace is ahead of the nation. Have you been seeing many foreclosures on the market lately?

JS: You know, I think there are fewer foreclosures and fewer, fewer short sales. Most of the areas that I’ve worked in, I have not worked with a whole lot of foreclosures or short sales. But from what I’ve noticed, there are still areas where there still are some bank owned properties, but for the most part, I see them going down.

I think for one thing, there are more buyers. I think that properties are selling quicker so that they’re not sitting on the market for a long time. Typically, if you have a distressed property, you can’t make your payments, you have to sell. You put it on the market and it doesn’t sell, it doesn’t sell, it doesn’t sell and it goes into foreclosure. Now the market is active, busy and when you put a house on the market, it sells. It doesn’t go to foreclosure.

I hope this continues for a while. As long as there’s an increase in buyers in the area, people with distressed properties should have an easier time selling them. Hopefully, they won’t end up going back to the bank.

HA: What kind of business strategies are helpful to you and your business?

JS: I use social media – particularly Facebook and websites. I post a lot of things that I think would be of interest to the community on my Facebook page. I also utilize my company website and my presence with the Houston Association of Realtors (HAR). For new agents who are starting out, patience and hard work is the key to succeeding!

I like referrals – they’re very important. I try to send out “sold postcards,” when I’ve sold a house in a neighborhood that I’m interested in doing business with in the future. I stay in touch with my clients – I send them emails from time to time or articles that I think they would find relevant to their situation about the current state of the market and things happening within the Houston area.