The Anthropologie in Real Estate

 This is a test.

Rorschach Card 1

It is intended to be like the Rorschach inkblot test. Remember that from Psych 101?

I am asking that you look at the following five spreads from the new Anthropologie catalog. You may look at each spread as long as you like. 

Print it,

rotate it, 

look at it however you wish!

What do you see?

What do you see?

What do you see?

What do you see?

 

What do you see?

Did you see what I saw? The paper doll cat dressed in Victorian clothes wearing a bonnet? (Because I love cats and old stuff, I cut this out of the real catalog and put it on my fridge!) Did you see the black-and-white spotted llama? Did you see the owl? The cat wearing a dog sweater?

I thought this catalog was so creative. But, I missed the clothes! I missed the boots on the sheep. I missed the Christmas ornaments hanging from the white parrot's beak. And I missed the feather-boa pillows under the Papillion.

I bring this up because Anthropologie is only trying to do what home sellers everywhere are trying to do: move product. If you can't see the product, it makes it quite a bit harder to sell.

Eliminating clutter is so important in getting a house ready to sell. If you are selling, remember that buyers are there to look at the house, not your wedding photos, your kid's honor roll ribbons or your rare collection of ostrich eggs. For a quicker sale, clean out 2/3 of your belongings. You will be amazed at the difference it will make!

The Taxman Cometh

[Disclaimer: While you might be tempted to quit reading mid-post, you'll get the most bang for your buck if you read through to the end.]

This morning I attended a class at First American Title Company called Tax Strategies for the Self-Employed. As a Realtor, I am an independent contractor in the eyes of the IRS. On top of the income taxes that everyone pays, we self-employed pay an additional 15.3%, meaning our income taxes can add up to almost half of what we earn! So it behooves me to take such a class and learn as much as I can about the tax laws and how to deduct expenses related to my business. I found it useful, yet still daunting, even though the instructor said the laws were written to be understood by 4th-8th grade readers.

So with taxes on the brain, and the impending deadline of April 15 to file on time, I bring you this post, which I'm excited to report is being posted from the River Oaks Coffee House, a local coffee shop I've been supporting with a cup of coffee or Chai every two weeks or so since it opened. (I realize that's not much, but it is more support than I give the 7 Starbucks located within a mile or so of my house.)

Back to taxes, if you purchased a home between January 1 and November 6, 2009 for the first time (or haven't owned a home in the last three years and purchased one during that time), you may be eligible for the First-Time Home Buyer Tax Credit, which could help lower your income taxes for 2009. (If you purchased it after November 6, click here for information on the Extended Home Buyer Tax Credit, which is in effect until April 30, 2010.)

Here's a video from the IRS:

Another important thing to remember as you prepare your income taxes this year is that the interest on your mortgage is tax-deductible. IRS Publication 936 goes into detail about the what's and how's of home mortgage interest deduction. My broker, John A. Daugherty, Jr., stands by the idea that you cannot get a better deal renting than you can buying after deducting the interest on a mortgage. (For a more detailed look at Renting vs. Buying, click here.)

We're not done talking taxes. If you bought a home last year in the great state of Texas, it is time to apply for your Homestead Exemption. Taking advantage of this exemption will save you 20% in property taxes annually. There are a few requirements: You must own your home on January 1 of the tax year. You must have occupied it as your principal residence on January 1. You or your spouse must not have claimed this exemption on any other property for the tax year. Click here for a link to the form and don't forget to get it turned in by April 30.

Well that about sums it up. I hope that this post was not too taxing. Here's to a prosperous 2010!

Home for the Holidays

While people may think that home sales slow down during the holidays, it is not the truth. Many homes sell (or go sale pending) between Thanksgiving and Christmas. John Daugherty, Realtors sold some $60 million in December two years ago. (Last year sales were down due to Hurricane Ike.)

Riding on the tails of a successful October and November this year, where we [JDR] have sold well over our monthly goals set at this time last year, we are expecting another active December to close out 2009. So 'tis the season for home shopping, and Bah, humbug, to the naysayers!

To anyone thinking of relocating to Houston from a snowy city like Syracuse, New York, know this: While Houston does not often enjoy white Christmases, we do get snow on occasion (roughly every four years). Below are some photos that I took last Friday at home and in the neighborhood, when Houston's earliest snowfall on record made national news. Enjoy, and happy holidays!

Bottlebrush under the snow

Roof collecting snow

Backyard bench

 
Snow in motion

A car parked at Cherryhurst Park covered in snow

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

This Old House: Knob and Tube Wiring

After a brief hiatus from the blogosphere, in what I will call blogger’s block, I am back with a new collection of posts named This Old House. While the moniker obviously comes from the well known fix-it magazine, I have chosen it to dedicate posts that show my passion for old houses—selling them (or wanting to), living in them, and just generally appreciating their existence. From the gas cook-tops and the worn wood floors to the wood-burning fireplaces and the wavy glass of the original wood windows, I just love old houses. One day, I will fix one up myself. But for now…

It has been one year since my husband Chad and I put an offer on the place we now call home. How time flies. The house was built in 1920, but someone--Leonard Rutan we later found out--put some real TLC into our old new home, adding granite countertops, recessed lights, a built-in speaker system and plantation shutters, among other modern amenities. [Leonard Rutan owns a women's clothing store in the River Oaks area.] The house is charming, yet still very functional, almost 90 years later.

What we didn’t know when we fell in love with what we saw was that some of the internal aspects of the house were not as updated as the external ones. Our house had an unidentifiable amount of still-active old wiring, called Knob and Tube, which was common in houses built before 1930. While there are houses that still fully operate with this type of electrical system and minds that think the system is--in some ways--superior to current ones, the powers that be say it’s just not safe.

One of my go-to inspection companies, introduced to me by the late, great Realtor Warren Strauss, is Fox Inspection Group. Here’s what inspector Mark Chalmers of Fox has to say about Knob and Tube: “When electrical wiring gets old, the insulation can become brittle and fall off. If that uninsulated area comes in contact with something flammable, it can start a fire. For this reason, homeowners insurance is difficult to obtain and is priced higher than it is for newer homes.”

While Chalmers says he would live in a home with active Knob and Tube--depending on its condition, what my husband and I found out was that it was more than difficult to obtain the required homeowners insurance on a home with active K&T wiring--whatever its condition. If it’s active, it’s a no-go.

Due to time, heat and possibly hungry critters, a home inspector on oldhouseweb.com says, “This [K&T] system is rarely intact after 80 or so years of use.”

While Steve Hartwig of John R. Ray & Sons worked tirelessly to find us insurance to cover it, after hearing “no” from about nine companies to finally hear “yes” from one, we questioned its safety ourselves.

Though it was not cheap to do (about $6/square-foot), we had our entire new old house rewired by a licensed electrician and his team before moving in. They had to get permits from the City of Houston, and their work had to be inspected. It was a week-long project, but the headache was worth it. We feel comfortable living in an old house with all new wiring that stands up to 2009 code.

As a Realtor, my reader is probably questioning why I didn’t know more about Knob & Tube than I did. Our inspection report (not performed by Fox) briefly mentioned it, but did not call great attention to it. As Realtors, we are not experts on electricity or home building. We are experts in negotiation, the real estate market and servicing our clients. We learn with experience about the other things, but will direct a buyer or seller to the appropriate expert.

So with the above in mind, I plan to send this post to the Texas Real Estate Commission in hopes that they will add “Presence of Active Knob & Tube Wiring” to the Seller’s Disclosure form, just as “Previous Use of Premises for Manufacture of Methamphetamine” was added in 2007. I have no doubt that this would help all parties involved in a real estate transaction of an old house.

Photo: OldHouseWeb.com

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!

I ♥ Cherryhurst

Amongst my colleagues at John Daugherty, Realtors, I am considered young in the business. Maybe so, but there's an opportunity being young did afford me recently: stepping into the shoes of a first-time homebuyer. This, my husband Chad and I accomplished at the end of last year, when we stumbled upon and purchased our first home in Cherryhurst, an adorable subdivision tucked quietly inside of Montrose.

It was an uncertain time in the economy. Houston was just starting to feel what we did of the recession, which they say has maybe turned a corner now. If it is in fact turning a corner, Houston did not experience it like the rest of the country did. We had a mild case of the recession. But at the time, interest rates were low--not as low as they got, the house fit the bill and we were eager to become homeowners. Fortunately, we were eligible for the $7,500 first-time homebuyer tax credit that is paid back over the course of 15 years. Unfortunately, we missed the cut--by seven days--for the new-and-improved $8,000 first-time homebuyer tax credit that never has to be repaid!

We already knew we liked Cherryhurst. Its location cannot be beat. It has culture and an urban vibe with a twist of traditional neighborhood feel. Cherryhurst is about four streets wide by five streets tall with Cherryhurst Park at its center, offering tennis, a community center, a field to throw a football or run the dog (future dog for us...one day!?) and a playground. While we haven't made use of the park on a regular basis yet, we have enjoyed walking to nearby restaurants (our favorite: Hugo's), shops and bars--something you can't often do in Houston, whose walk score is the definition of average at 51/100. Montrose ranks second within Houston for walkabilty, with Downtown ahead at numero uno.

While I could go on about how I ♥ Cherryhurst, learning a few things about the home-buying process would probably be more worthwhile to my loyal readership. So, here are a few tips:

• Get organized with your lender sooner than later. You don't want to fall in love with a home you can't afford. You also don't want to drag on getting your loan approval and have your earnest money up for grabs if you don't end up getting the loan approved in the time prescribed.
• Don't worry about bothering the sellers during the option period. The option period is your time to bring in all kinds of specialists, not just the inspector himself. Get everything suspect checked out and know what you are buying.
• Try to keep it friendly with the sellers. You never know when you'll need to ask them a question about the house down the road.

Buying your first home is both exciting and scary. Trust your instincts and you will make the right the decisions. And expect to keep learning about home ownership every day.