Pre-Qualified / Pre-Approved: What’s the Difference?

If you are in the market to purchase a home now, or plan to be in the near future, the very first step in the process is to get pre-approved for a mortgage. There’s a good reason we call it pre-approval, because it’s supposed to occur before you find a home you want to purchase. Sounds elementary I...

Grit and Grace

By Patti Parish-Kaminski, Publisher I turned 56 years young this week, and one thing has become crystal clear to me:  At this juncture in my life, I am completely incapable of bullshit.  My tolerance for foolishness, insincerity, disloyalty and just plain idleness is non-existent.  The older I get,...

Cash Out Refinance, Who Me?

Owning a home is a large part of the American Dream. We work hard to save for the down payment, and we continue to work hard to make the payments on time, and to build equity as we go. Equity in a home is the difference between the value of the home and what you owe on it. Having equity in your home is like...

Choose Your Battles Wisely

By Patti Parish-Kaminski, Publisher A woman on a diet is nothing to be trifled with, especially a southern woman. It’s a hard, laborious, painful, ugly process this diet thing. It brings out the worst in women. Just look at the word. The first three letters spell D-I-E. What does that tell you? I have...

Did You Know . . . Being a Woman

Just being a woman is the biggest risk factor for developing breast cancer. There are about 266,120 new cases of invasive breast cancer and 63,960 cases of non-invasive breast cancer this year in American women. While men do develop breast cancer, less than 1% of all new breast cancer cases happen in men....

Judge Chris Morales Announces Re-Election

Judge Chris Morales announced that he will seek a third term as Judge of County Court at Law No. 1. Over the years Judge Morales’ faithful service to Fort Bend County is evident in the many changes that have taken place at the courthouse. Since taking office, Judge Morales has been instrumental in...