One of my favorite things about living in Houston is all of the great restaurants. There are no shortage of options to be sure, but the hard part is sorting through them when you are new to the area. We use our handy IPhone apps like Urban Spoon and Around Me to find a specific type of food that we are in the mood for. The problem is that we have not been thrilled with all of the restaurants that we have tried this way. The number of Mexican restaurants to choose from in Texas is astronomical. So far our favorite in Houston is Guadalajara’s. Love the stuffed poblano pepper! We have not found a good Chinese buffet yet and are still searching for the best pizza in town. Houston seems to have more international fare than other cities in Texas. We are fortunate to have neighbors who own the Lebanese restaurant, Cafe Lili on Westheimer. After dining there and being shown the best way to enjoy the food, I like it even more. The cost of living is lower in Texas than many other states so people can afford to eat out more. I would love to know everyones favorites places to eat in Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio where ever you live. Please share your favorites in the following categories and tell me your favorite dish: Mexican, Italian, Steak, Seafood, Chinese Buffets, Other International cuisine.
Eckerman Real Estate Blog
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I can't believe another year has gone by. Hopefully 2011 will be a much better year for everyone. The real estate market should experience a more normal year without the tax credits creating false booms.
If you purchased a home last year, now is the time to send in your Homestead Exemption form. The exemption can save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars on your property taxes depending on where you live. You can download the form from your local county tax appraisal website. You do not have to pay anyone to do this. It should only cost you the stamp to mail it in. Feel free to contact me with any questions. I can help you determine if you have the exemption already or not.
If you or anyone you know has real estate questions or needs, please have them contact me. I have a team in both Dallas and Houston ready to offer exceptional service.
How good is your memory? I spent my day yesterday in a Mastering your Memory class and found out my memory is a lot better than I thought. When the instructor from Direct Development Training came to our our office meeting to tell us about the class he offered, he was able to remember 15 items that we called out randomly and the order they were given in. He said we would be able to to do the same thing with up to 50 items when we left his workshop. I thought that would be impossible. But amazingly it is true. The filing system he helped us create in our minds is as simple as remembering your body parts from toe to ceiling. He also gave us great strategies on remembering people’s names when you first meet them. Of course it included the repeating back of the persons name 3-5 times, but on top of that he suggested using word associations and images that you would never forget. The 5 hour class was fun, went by really fast and I even got MCE credit. I would be happy to pass on his contact information if you are interested in taking a class like this in your area. The strategies have practical applications like remembering your grocery list or to do list for the day to remembering speech outlines so you don’t need any notes. It makes perfect sense and just takes a little practice. I look forward to the first chance I get to use my new memory in the real world.
I am not a big fan of the Open House. In some markets it may be a great selling tool, but in Frisco, TX it very seldom would sell the house. It was mainly a tool for the agent to pick up more buyers. I have not mastered the skill of converting Open House lookers to clients, so I usually opt not to do them unless it will please my sellers. There are also the safety concerns with holding an Open House. The sellers are putting their valuables at risk and most importantly the agent could be risking their own personal safety.
Since I have moved to the Memorial area in Houston, I noticed that holding Broker Open houses on the lunch hour, during the week is very popular. While it is mainly marketed to other agents, the signage in front of the house invites anyone to come in that happens by. I have been attending these open houses to learn the market and meet other agents. I visited a Broker Open House (BHO) the other day in an upscale home, priced at almost $4 million. When I arrived it was just me and the agent who was holding the house open. Before I even had a chance to explore the house someone else came to the door. It was not another Realtor. It was a man wearing jogging shorts and a tank top that immediately gave me the creeps. It was at that moment that I thought to myself, “I am not leaving the other agent alone in this house with him.” The other agent mouthed to me when she had the chance. “Please don’t leave.” The man stayed in the house and asked questions for about 20 minutes, making us both uncomfortable. Thank goodness he eventually left without incident. I waited at the house until another Realtor arrived just in case the man came back. The fear and discomfort I felt in this situation illustrates how important it is to take personal safety precautions when you hold an Open House of any type.
I looked up some Open House safety tips for agents and sellers on the Texas Association of Realtors website.
Sellers:
Hide any item that has personal information on it, such as mail.
Also, be sure to take off site or put in a safe anything that might be considered valuable, as well as prescription medications.
Check for unlocked windows and doors after the open house.
Agents:
Have all open house visitors sign in.
Ask for full name, address, phone number and email.
Always walk behind the prospect.
Keep your cell phone with you.
Direct them; don’t lead them.
Say, for example, “The kitchen is on your left,” and gesture for them to go ahead of you.
Avoid attics, basements, and getting trapped in small rooms.
Invite a Title Company or Broker Office to sponsor or sit in.
Remember: Opening and Closing is the most dangerous time!
In my 6 1/2 years as a Realtor in Frisco, TX I had never actually moved myself. Watching my clients move and giving them advice was enough for me. Then my husband came home one day with a great job opportunity in Houston. There had been talk of possible moves over the years that never materialized so I assumed this would be the same thing. But the pieces started falling into place and the job was too good for my husband to pass up. So Houston here we come.
Now I really had to do it, put my own house on the market and shop for a new one in a city I knew little about. I decided to represent myself on the sale and purchase. I thought I would have a hard time letting someone else do the job I know so well. (For the record I will probably never do that again). I realize just how valuable my services are. If nothing else, Realtors act as a buffer between the 2 parties. Plus, I always had the inside MLS scoop. Now I was a consumer in the new city. Lucky for me, the Houston MLS is fantastic for consumers. Dallas does not have anything like it. We were able to find our home options in the areas we were interested in pretty easily and know we weren’t missing anything. Since I didn’t have my license in Houston yet, I hired an agent to show me a few houses for an hourly rate. He also provided me with comparable sales to help me justify my offer.
As for listing my own home, it was mid April 2010 and we had a couple of weeks before the tax credit expired. I hurried to get the house ready and have it staged by an amazing stager (Thank you Holly) and we got it on the market with less than 2 weeks to spare. The second day on the market my buyers came to look at the house. They lived in the neighborhood with a house to sell first and did not have a buyer’s agent. They made an offer and said I could list their house in exchange for giving them a better deal on my house. We agreed to terms with a contingency and now I represented them as sellers but not as buyers. Does this sound complicated? The next 30 days are a complete blur. I found myself getting very emotional about the negotiations. Talking directly to your buyers is hard. There was no time to think through your response to their requests. When agents are present, their clients have time to get over their initial emotional response and hopefully come up with a rational one. Neither party has to know that anyones feelings are hurt.
By the end of May we somehow managed to close 3 deals in 2 days so that my family could move into our new home in Houston over Memorial Day weekend. I find it somewhat miraculous that all of the deals went through considering all of the challenges in the lending market that were happening at that time. Only one of the 3 loans was delayed by two days, giving us all a scare, but it closed and funded just in the nick of time.
Buying and selling my own home was a great learning experience. I have always been able to relate to my clients, but now I feel like I will be better connected to their emotional ups and downs as we go through the process.
