Back to School

While many Americans spend this tax-free weekend stocking up on school supplies and new clothes, I will be mourning the passing of the summer of '09. Not once did I wear a swimsuit! What is summer without a swimsuit? What ever happened to my float trip down the Guadalupe River that I planned in June? I suppose since it's still 100 degrees outside in H'town, there could be time for a quick dip. But schools are in session; summer is officially over.

Although most of Houston will begin this Monday, many private schools started this past week. My cousin's kids, who live in Phoenix, actually started school August 10! As house-hunting and school choice often go hand in hand, I thought it would be an appropriate time to blog about schools in Houston. So, below is a round-up of resources that I find useful for buyers to use in their home search.

If you've found a house located within the Houston Independent School District (HISD), click here for a tool that will show you what schools are associated with that particular address. HISD also offers some flexibility through School Choice Options, including Magnet, Montessori and technical alternatives.

Are you looking in the Spring Branch Independent School District (SBISD)? The house you've fallen in love with might be in Hunters Creek Village, but it is not necessarily zoned to Hunters Creek Elementary. To be sure, click here to enter the address of the house and find the corresponding schools.

Below is the feeder pattern for Memorial High School. You can find other feeder patterns for SBISD here.
Many families struggle with the public versus private school debate. The Buzz, a local magazine that is distributed to Bellaire, West U, Memorial and Tanglewood, did an informative article on it in their current issue. A good resource for private schools is Houston Area Independent Schools (HAIS), which currently has 68 member schools. For Montessori schools in Houston, click here. If you decide to go the private school route, read D Magazine's How to Pick a Private School for some good tips.

While these are all good resources, if school is important to your home-buying decision, be sure to independently verify what school your potential new home is zoned to by contacting the school district directly.

If you have other good sources for information on our schools, I'd appreciate your comments to this post. Here's to all A+'s in '09-'10!

Getting Personal

Last weekend I watched You've Got Mail with my 10-year-old niece. I watch this movie every fall, or just before fall hits. I used to live in New York City, and the scenery and weather is the perfect entrée into the new season. I admit that watching it last weekend was a little premature weather-wise, seeing as it was during the dead heat of a Houston summer, but it was one of the only PG selections in my library.

In the movie, Joe Fox (Tom Hanks) uses a quote from The Godfather to defend the opening of his super-sized bookstore, which will in turn force Kathleen Kelly's (Meg Ryan) mom-and-pop bookshop to close. The quote, "It's not personal...it's business," struck a chord with me, as I find the real estate business to get personal often.

The sale or purchase of a home in itself is nothing but personal, investment properties aside. People live their lives and make their memories in their homes. It can be hard for some sellers to even attend closing. Some cope with this by distancing themselves and closing separately from the buyers. Then others want to become friends with the new homeowners to retain that connection to their soon-to-be former home.

Agent-to-agent negotiations can get personal. They shouldn't, but sometimes agents get emotionally involved and do or say things they regret later. The point is to be the voice of the client, whether the agent's counsel is represented in that voice or not. But attacking the other agent on a personal level is not the fastest way to gain their respect.

Now where the Godfather quote bests comes into play is when buyers or sellers choose their Realtor. "It's not personal, Sally Jo Realtor, it's business."

There have been times when I've wished a buyer or seller would just say this to me. At least it would give me the opportunity to respond by saying, "I understand. Hopefully, I can earn your business in the future."

In Houston, social circles are really small. The city is comprised of 2.2 million people within 600 square miles (and 5.7 million people in the entire metropolitan area). 25,000-plus members of HAR makes 1 Realtor for every 88 Houston residents, not including those that are non-MLS agents (a lot of folks on the commercial side). Point being, people are not only bound to know more than one Realtor, but they're also bound to be good friends with more than one Realtor. Now some buyers or sellers don't even want to work with their friends. But at the end of the day, wouldn't it be comforting to know that your friend, the professional representing you, is looking out for your best interests?

In my three years of experience as a Realtor, I can already count a number of occasions where friends have been too timid to admit they've chosen another Realtor friend over me, or they prefer to use a Realtor they don't know socially. They've avoided the subject entirely and made some awkward moments for themselves. I've even had a friend flat out lie that they were not selling their house. (Hello!? I see your house online.) Ben Franklin gave good advice when he said: "Honesty is the best policy."

If any of you are out there reading this now, know this: It's okay. I promise I'm not going to egg your house! But I would like to earn your business next time. Tell me how. It's not personal... it's business.