I sold my first foreclosed property in 2008. Until Hurricane Ike paralyzed Galveston Island and the economy collapsed the very next day. foreclosed property listings were not common at Pointe West, the West End resort community that is my specialty. And what the heck was a short sale? I had not even heard of that type of a transaction until 2009. Well, let's just say that I was forced to learn what these transactions were and how to walk a buyer through the purchase while maintaining their level of confidence. The amount of distressed sales at Pointe West skyrocketed and I saw list prices on properties that were 50% lower than what our Centex sales team had sold them for initially from 2005-2007. 3 years later, representing buyers that purchase foreclosured properties has become a huge ... 12/28/2010

Some years back, I owned a good sized track of land with several hundred front feet on the road that vacationers take to access the many fine beach homes located on the west part of Galveston Island. In recent years, it has been the location of my friend Willie Payne's Re/Max office, but back then I owned a second brokerage company in Galveston called Resort Realty.  Our offices were on the property. We were doing well and mortgage and business start-up money were fairly easy to get, so I hired a Houston architect to design a strip center that would include our real estate office.  We'd rent the remainder to other businesses. As is usually required, we gave the architect a retainer fee.  In this case, I think it was about $5,000.  The remainder would be due when he completed the plans. ... 08/08/2010

A ninty million research facility to be built on the island at 6th Street and Harborside Drive has been approved by the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.  Approximately half of the 140,000 square foot building will be devoted to research.  Construction is set to begin in early 2010 and be completed by 2012.  Also, UTMB Galveston just received a $3.4 million grant to develop what may become the first effective drug to help conquer cocaine addition.www.StagingSmartNSold.com provides Galveston home staging solutions designed to promote a rapid and profitable house sale for area Realtors and homeowners. 03/06/2008