Sylvie Shurgot Real Estate Blog

The first step in the home buying process should be to meet with a loan officer (mortgage broker) to determine the amount of the loan the buyer qualifies for. Why a loan officer rather than your bank? Because a loan officer can usually find a lower interest rate for the buyer, sometimes as much a...

Is anyone out there aware that the TVLB just took away the 1.72% discount on interest rates to qualified service era (meaning war era) veterans??  I'm a realtor and loan officer, but I'm also the spouse of a Vietnam Era veteran.  I find it amazing that our politicians are signing off on these new...

A week ago today I found out that Gene and Carol Griesemer probably won't be able to continue producing that great marvel, their goat cheese. I missed Gene's return at the Grey Forest Farmers Market; May, June, and most of July went by...I had been told he'd be back in June or July. Last week the...

Last December, I decided to take a drive south on IH-37 to visit a local olive grower.  What a delight!  Ten thousand trees of 22 varieties grow on this beautiful land.  The owner, Sandy Winokur has a nice little shop where you can buy goodies for your taste buds, olive-based skin care products, ...

Healthy Homes: indoor air pollution.  Candles, air fresheners, cleaning supplies, dusts, smoke, paints, carpet, glues, and many products we use without thinking about air quality can all contribute to indoor air pollution.  If you can smell it, you might want to look into the contents, which coul...

I've been following a few properties.  They sold for $500,000 or more in 2006, and I collected appraisal information for 2007 and 2008.  Not only did many appraisals not catch up with the actual sales price of the house, but some actually went DOWN. For fun, I also looked through The Dominion, Al...

I just returned from a trip to the farm, my car loaded with fresh produce, fresh from the field, for prices you won't find at HEB.  Think of the best Texas has to offer; it was there and I bought it: red beets, black-eyed and purple hull peas, fresh pinto beans, zucchini, onion, new potatoes, Swi...

PMI is extra insurance lenders require borrowers to pay for as long as the loan is for over 80% of the home's value.  Once the borrower has paid the loan down to 78% of the value, PMI is automatically cancelled.  Of course once you hit the 80%, you can request cancellation.  PMI can easily cost y...

For people who try to shop at farmers' markets and to eat more locally-grown foods, there's a new website and blog out there.  It's still very much under construction as I try to gather information about local growers and markets in the San Antonio area, but it's a good start.  You can find the s...

This morning a friend of mine emailed me a link to point out to me that real estate prices in San Antonio are down.  He sent this to me because I had told him that "prices sold" were up by 2.05% for the first quarter of 2008 from the first quarter of 2007.  So I opened the link and started to loo...