iTexas Realty Co. Blog: March 2010

"What If It's Not Convenient To Show My House?"

It has been getting busier this past week with showings and agent inquiries increasing. 

If you have a showing request, be careful to try to find a time to show.  We had a Realtor this past week who was refused a showing by the Seller who knew several days in advance that the Buyer would be in town that weekend and was intending to purchase, liked their neighborhood and was well-qualified. 

Unfortunately, the Seller had company in town and felt it would be inconvenient for them to leave the house for an hour.  When I called that Realtor this morning to try to set another time for her Buyer the following weekend, guess what?  Yes, the Buyer had put a contract on a house.

Please remember that Buyers do purchase on their time frame.  Altyhough it may be inconvenient at times, it is in your best interest to do your best to show.  We are getting further into the Spring market and the April 30th expiration of the tax credit is looming.

--Sara

Or do I?  I never know what my mom is up to.

Steve and I spent Friday night at the Emergency Room at Metropolitan Methodist here in San Antonio.  My mom had a fall on Monday night and decided that Friday in the late afternoon was a good time to tell me about it!  She was experiencing dizziness, headaches and nausea and didn't know that those were signs of concussion.  Oh boy!

The staff at the hospital was fantastic - from the nice young woman in Admissions to the doctors there, they took care of everything, including the CAT scan.  There was a slight concussion, but we were overjoyed that the scan didn't show any negatives.  My mom headed out around 11pm with her prescriptions and a bounce in her step. 

A lot of the fear and frustration of this event could have been avoided, if my mom had told me about her accident right away. 

Experiencing this reminded me that years ago, I vowed never to grow old and do things that would drive my (now grown), kids crazy.  Of course, the old part in inevitable (if you're lucky!), but I determined these things to be:

1. Being cavalier about safety - personal and otherwise (huge catch-all category)
   
2. Hiding health issues
3. Not asking for help with decisions that might overwhelm me

I'm sure that I am doing other things that drive my kids crazy, but not things that actually worry them. That's the part of being a parent that should never change: Your children should never have to worry about you unnecessarily.

As Spring is in bloom, maybe it's time for some new resolutions. 

Is anyone worried about you? 

What can you do to change that? 

--Sara

Of course, we're talking about one particular building:  This new residence for our out-of-state Buyers is scheduled to be completed in June and is coming together nicely. (View last week's photos).

The home is now completely sheathed and partially sided with cement-fiber board. 

The stone will be added in the weeks to come. 

The sheathing is on and the window installation is complete. 

The interior work is progressing and the staircase has just been started - those temporary stairs look pretty scary and there is no way that I'm going up them!

The roofing material shoud be coming next.

Keep watching for more updates and if you need help getting yor dream home in San Antonio, Texas, give us a call!

--Sara

Yesterday, I was caught at a light along the Loop 1604 frontage road here in north central San Antonio and as I looked out my car window, I spied some bluebonnets and other wildflowers. 

A lot of time, newcomers to San Antonio, Texas don't realize how excited we get about the wildflowers - the city mowing schedule works around them!  This photo shows how green our area will be for until about Thanksgiving when we have our "dry" season.  It's a truly beautiful area!

I love Spring:

The bluebonnets

The birds

The trees leafing out


Now, all that's over

Today, I saw the first mound of sandy-looking dirt. Ugh! if you've lived in San Antonio, Texas, you know that anything that looks like that in your grass or flower beds is a nest of fire ants.    They look small but they pack a wallop - you can be itching for DAYS and miserable.  You don't want the kids anywhere near them!
 

Those vipers of the soil. 
Those*&^#^&%%!

Well, you get the picture.  Luckily, many of the local stores have what you need to keep the fire ants at bay.  You might want to get them before they get you!

This past week was quiet as so many people were out of town on Spring Break or spending their weekend watching one of the 20 games on.  We did see some weekend showings, but no written offers. 

This week, we should be seeing more Buyers getting out and seeing San Antonio, Texas homes.  One factor in this spring season is that the tax credit is due to expire soon.  Buyers who want to take advantage, must have a home under contract by April 30, 2010. 

Bear in mind that with this Buyer's market and Buyer uncertainty about both the national economy and the stability of housing prices (the national news just keeps taking about it), these Buyers are often not writing offers right away.  They are taking time to consider slowly - sometimes so slowly that a home that interests them goes under contract before they get their offer written!

While you're waiting, enjoy the beautiful weather that we are having and make sure that your yard or lot is looking good. 

This is a great week to trim, set out some flowers and revive those hanging baskets in your garage! 

Be careful though, I just saw the first of the season's fire ants.  I'm off to Home Depot this evening to pick them up some special snack food!

Have a wonderful week!

It's exciting to see our Buyer's San Antonio, Texas house being built.  Last week's photos show how nicely these panel-built homes come together. 

Already, you can see the form really mature as the windows are in and the sheathing and cement fiberboard siding are being installed.  Our Buyers are looking forward to seeing more as their new home comes together! Next is the roof.  The home is scheduled to be completed in June, just in time for the new owner's transfer.

Please keep checking back to see more photos as the building continues!

We had some beautiful sunny days this week in San Antonio, Texas.

One of the things that I love about working in my Stone Oak home office is that the view of the Hornbeck Preserve in the canyon behind our house in the Peak at Promontory. 

This week, as spring came roaring back it brought even more birds with it.

From my office window, here are some more of my feathered friends:

--Sara

One of my Buyers was just talking with me recently about decor trends here in the San Antonio area. 

Of course, we have a lot of beautiful model homes here and my Buyer had asked me to photograph one of the homes that we had seen in a community north of Blanco Road and Loop 1604: Canyon Ranch Estates.

The size of the wall decor (which may not necessarily be "art"), and associated accessories was of special interest as it is larger than many home buyers (and those interested in selling their homes), may be accustomed. 

When you are assessing the scale of a piece or your accessories, you have to consider not only the size of the room and the height of the ceilings, but the effect that you want the piece(s) to have - in other words, how dramatic you wish them to be in the scope of the decor when set against the the furnishings and wall color. (Please note that when this home was photographed, the time of day as well as the light in this particular home made the wall colors appear much yellower than the "latte" shade that they are painted.)

In the following sequence of photos, you will notice that all of the framed wall decor is over-sized and that accessories are fewer in number, but larger that what you may have in your home.  The frames themselves are darker and wider to be more dramatic. 

Another important, and easily imitable concept is to have enough contrast against the wall color and furnishings for the decor element to "pop".

So, don't be afraid to go a little bigger and/or more dramatic in your selections.  That will allow you to reduce the number of elements in your room, letting your carefully-chosen selections become focal points in the setting.

--Sara

Deep in the heart of Texas... OK, along almost every Hill Country highway in Texas; including those around wildflower-rich San Antonio, are the most beautiful blue wildflowers flowers that you will ever see.

The Texas Bluebonnet is a type of lupen and grows rampant thorough-out much of the state in the Spring.  One Bluebonnet is so pretty, but often you will see a whole field of them, that pop of bright blue with white - against the green.

Steve took this photo today in the Hornbeck Preserve behind our home in San Antonio (we'll miss the views when it sells).  Maybe tomorrow, we'll find a full field of Bluebonnets for you!

--Sara