Tip, Tricks and Resources For Finding a Good Contractor!

3 Tips for Finding a Good Contractor

Before you ever get started on a new project around the house, my first recommendation is to consider the resale value of the project. Are you doing the project for you, for resale or both?

The average homeowner moves every 5-7 years. If you plan on never moving, go ahead and make a very personal choice on your updates. However if you think you might move again its important to consider the value a properly done remodel or renovation can add to the final sale price. Since I see so many homes, I’m happy to tell you what I think. We can also recommend architects and interior designers to provide some insight as well. We also recommend looking at the National Association Cost versus Value Report.

 

1.Get recomendations

Once you’ve decided on the project, start talking to anyone and everyone who’s taken on a similar project. They can usually recommend some trustworthy contractors. We also deal with a a lot of contractors as we help our sellers prepare for the market. Always consider us a resource for all things real estate. As a last resort, Angie’s List and Thumbtack are typically good resources. You can usually get a good idea of what a project will cost based on some of the bids you will get from these sites. Both sites are now FREE to use as well.

2. Interview multiple people

Next, you want to make sure an interview a few different contractors for any given project. I always like to let the contractors know that we are getting multiple bids so they will put their best foot forward. I also recommend this because timing can prove to be a challenge. Sometimes the contractor you want to work with won’t be available for 6 months and you need it done in 2 weeks. It’s also important that you have a good line of communication. Some projects can take several weeks or months and it’s important that you can get along with your contractor for that length of time. Along with all of this you want to make sure that you get along with your contractor and that they understand your vision for the project. Home renovations are always a big investment and good communication can make or break the project. 

3. Always negotiate

Lastly, once you decide on a contractor ask them one more time to give you their best price. It never hurts to ask and sometimes you can save a little bit more money on a project. It also helps to get to the bottom dollar in case you run into snags and have more expenses with the project than anticipated. I always recommend adding a 10-20% cushion into your budget to account for any issues that may come up. I also recommend paying your contractor after the job is done. Sometimes they will want money up front to cover costs, etc. If this is the case, break it into payments depending on the size and time the project requires. NEVER Pay a contractor in full up front. If any contractor is insistent that this is the only way they will work, get a new contractor.

In summary, think through your project and do your research. Ask friends or your favorite Realtor (hint, hint) who they recommend. Finally, push them to get to their best price, accounting for issues that may arise in your budget and never pay up front.

Top 3 Hardest Houseplants to Kill

Your Houseplant Guide

Who doesn’t love houseplants? That little bit of green can bring so much joy and a spark of life to a room. But, let’s be honest - we’ve all killed our fair share of shrubbery, so we’ve put together this list of the hardest houseplants to kill. Whether you have a green thumb or a brown thumb, we’ll help you bring just a little bit of the great outdoors inside your home.  

So in no particular order we present the 3 hardest houseplants to kill and how to care (or not care as it might be) for them.

1.Peace Lily

If you’re in the market for some great greenery that will also provide you with some floral love then look no farther than the Peace Lily. While not a true lily this beautiful botanical can still provide you with the fantastic flowers you need to brighten that room right up! What makes the Peace Lily such an easy plant to care for is that not only does it not require a lot of light or water - it will actually tell you when it needs to be watered with a telltale droop of its leaves. We recommend keeping it in shaded part of the house and watering it about once a week, making sure that the soil dries out completely between waterings. Otherwise just watch this beauty thrive and brighten up that space!

2.Snake plant:

    Up next we’ve got one of our personal favorites - the snake plant. Again this is another low light, low water plant, however the snake plant takes it a step further than that Peace Lily and is so resilient that it would take actual effort from you to kill. It can withstand a lot more abuse and neglect than most plants. The snake plant is great for almost any space because it can vary so greatly in size and can survive in either full sun or complete shade for long periods of time. We recommend watering it every 2-3 weeks, but be careful - it is easier to overwater this one rather than have it dry out to death. One important note is that the reason the snake plant can go so long without water is that it holds a lot of water in its leaves, this means that the larger they get the more they weight and heavier they get. Other than that this is one the easiest and most low maintenance plants you can get!

 

3. ZZ Plant

    Last but not least we have a newly discovered favorite of ours - the ZZ plant. We’ve saved the best for last here folks - as the ZZ plant is one of the hardest kill without a doubt. It got its start in planters in malls and large office buildings where people often saw them as fake plants because need such little care. Now that it’s starting to become a popular plant you can find them in nurseries and plant stores across the country. We highly recommend picking on up. They can survive in just about any lighting - even fluorescent, and as with the snake plant, you are more likely to kill it through overwatering than underwatering it.  We advise watering it only when the soil is absolutely dry or every couple of weeks just to be on the safe side. 

IMPORTANT: All 3 of these plants are toxic to humans and pets if ingested so stick to kale when it comes to your salad!

Where to Buy?

Now that you’ve got 3 great houseplant options that are incredibly difficult to kill its time to figure out where to get them. Well have no fear we’ve got our four favorite Austin nurseries and plant emporiums that will fulfill all your greenery needs and wishes. We love these places because they all have such an amazing staff that will be able to help answer any plant related questions you might have!

So get on out there and add some natural beauty to your home!

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Bartion Springs Nursery

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The Great Outdoors

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The Natural Gardener

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Tillery Street Plant Company

Top Ten Interview Questions You Should Ask A Real Estate Agent

Why Interview a Real Estate Agent?

For a lot of people, buying or selling a home is the largest monetary transaction they will make in their lifetime. Beyond a home being just a place of shelter, it's the place where family and friends gather and where our children grow up. It is also a savings account. In a lot of ways a home, when sold, can represent a large portion of many people’s retirement funds.

With the home buying or selling process representing such an important piece of many people's financial future, it is important to do you research when choosing a professional to represent you on something so large and important.

The good news is that 1,000’s of homes sell all over the country everyday. If done correctly, this can be a very smooth, seamless and rewarding experience. On the other hand, if handled improperly, it can make the process of selling your house a miserable and overwhelming experience. 

To better help you make a more informed decision when choosing a Realtor to help sell your home, it is important to take the time to interview them. We created a basic list of questions and why you should be asking these specific questions. These questions will pro-actively help you avoid the above issues. We've also included all the questions as a PDF that you can download and take with you when you go to interview a potential real estate agent. 

10 Questions To Ask When Interviewing A Realtor!

1. Tell me about your experience? How long have you been an agent in Austin?

I know this is a relevantly straight forward question, but the truth of the matter is, so few people we meet with ever ask. Without asking this question, you put yourself at risk to hire someone who, quite frankly, may not be qualified to advise you on such matters.

Experience is important for 2 reasons:

1. You only truly learn by doing. Passing a real estate exam, does little to nothing to educate someone on how this business works. There are hundreds of moving parts for every transaction and if you don’t know how the process works, it can cost your clients thousands.

2. The barrier to entry for someone to get a real estate license is about on par with learning how to properly swing a golf club. Anyone can get the general idea of how it should work, very few can drive a golf ball 300 yards down the middle of a fairway.

What does this mean in real estate terms? Is your Realtor up on national and international markets--both real estate and otherwise and how they will affect your bottom line. Do they understand how the timing of getting your home on the market can make the difference between selling at $400k or $425k? Can they tell you about supply and demand and how to properly take this into consideration when you are trying to come up with a price to sell you home.

Yes, we are in a sellers market. Most people think that means that all you have to do is put a sign in the yard, put the listing in the MLS and hold your hand out. People are leaving thousands of dollars on the table everyday by not hiring a Realtor with experience in both up markets and down. Worse, they are going to trust this massive transaction someone who probably won’t be in the business in 2 or 3 years.

2. Have you been through the home buying/home selling process yourself personally?

This is really important for 2 reasons… the first is financial stability. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard a potential client tell me they plan to work with their sister, cousin or friend to buy or sell their home because they want to “help them”. I always ask, aren’t they supposed to be helping you instead of the other way around. I’ll tell you right now, you are helping no one when you putting one of the largest transactions in your lifetime in the hands of someone who can’t help themselves. If your Realtor is going to put their financial gain above yours, that is a huge red flag. When you aren’t stable enough to put your clients first, you give bad advice and make poor decisions.

The other part of this question is about understanding how large a decision buying or selling a home truly is if you haven’t bought or sold a home yourself. Growing up in the real estate world I had my first experience buying and selling when I was 17.  My Dad and I flipped a home together; he had a client that really just needed to get rid of a home. It had been his Mother’s and she had really let it go. We got the home at a great price, then my Dad and I put together a budget, estimated our profit on the sell, and we setup a bank account to pay for the updates and repairs. Every few days I met with the contractors, wrote checks and kept up with their progress. Let me tell you, the responsibility of something so big...especially at 17, has stuck with me to this day. It was one of the greatest lessons of my life. Selling a house takes time, dedication, hard work, and willingness to do anything and everything to get it done. 

3. What exactly will you do to find buyers for my house/property? Do you have a system and plan for your listings?

Most Realtors do what we call the 3 P’s. They PUT a sign in the yard, PUT the home in the MLS and then they PRAY it sells. And in this market, it can sell a home. But typically, this approach leaves thousands of dollars on the table.

Ask your Realtor what they do “Pro-actively” to get your home sold. Do they have a written plan that they can present to you? More importantly, do they have systems in place to achieve that plan and track the results?

On the buyer side, with so much competition out there for the few homes that come on the market, what will your agent do to find you the home you’re looking for? What will they do beyond setting a search in the MLS and showing you homes as they come on the market?

In addition, when your dream home comes on the market, what will they do to ensure that your offer is accepted? What process do they go through to writing the perfect offer and present it in a manner that gets the offer accepted? Ask them how often they win when there are multiple offers, you’ll find that most Realtors don’t have a real answer. It’s like a batting average; if you don’t know how many hits you get versus how many times you strike out, how will you ever improve?

4. Are you a full time or part time agent?

Did you know that the average Realtor does less than 5 transactions per year? At a median price of $292,000 (the median price in Austin as of this writing) the average Realtor makes about $43,800 in gross commissions annually. That doesn’t seem like enough to live on and should beg the question: do you really want to hire someone who does real estate part time, or has another job or, worse, whose business is failing? I recommend you find someone who does at least 15-20 transactions a year. If they work with a team (and that’s even better for reasons I’ll get into later) make sure their team is doing about 15 per agent. Less than that and I would start to wonder “why?” What’s wrong with the way they do their business that they can’t do at least a couple of deals every month? Clearly someone doing less than a deal every month is doing this as a hobby and not a profession.

5. Are you an individual agent or do you have a team?

Hiring someone on a team, or that runs a team is preferable. Why? Because the number one complaint I hear from people about their last agent was that they didn’t communicate enough or that they somehow felt that their agent didn’t have time for them. You already know I’m recommending you hire someone who’s busy. I think you should want to find someone doing a lot of business, and unless they have a team, you run the risk that they won’t have time for you. Ask them who they have on their team and what their roles are. This varies widely and there’s not just one way this is supposed to look. What you want to know is that they have both the office staff to handle the paperwork and logistics of the transaction as well as other trained agents who can communicate and work with you should your agent not be available. Find out if the person you are interviewing will be working with you personally every step or do they have specialists to handle various aspect of the transaction. There are advantages and disadvantages either way, and the important thing is you are comfortable with how they do it. Find out if they have hours or days they don’t work. Some people don’t work after 6:00 or Sundays. Is that OK with you? Some people like their employees to be available nights and weekends and some people are less demanding. You’ll need to make find out how your agent and their team operates and decide what works for you and your needs. And unless you get this clear you run the risk of hiring someone whose style won’t work for you.

6. What parts of town are you most familiar with? How many homes have you sold in my neighborhood in the past year or two?

This is important because every part of town, every neighborhood has a different supply and demand and different reasons why people do or do not want to live there. Wouldn’t it be good to know that a home was built on an old landfill and soil tends to shift and cause foundation problems? (This is an actual neighborhood in Austin). School districts as well as specific schools play a huge part in coming up with a home value. Its important to have an agent who knows the knows that areas that you want to live in, someone who can guide you accurately when looking for your dream home. 

7. Do you have a marketing/advertising plan? Can you tell me about it?

It is important to have an actual written marketing plan with systems and processes behind it. How else will you hold your Realtor accountable to the actions they are supposed to be taking to ensure that your home sells and sells for top dollar. When a Realtor doesn't have a firm plan of action in hand for your house there is an large chance they will be leaving money on the table or be unable and unprepared to command the highest prices from the market.

8. Who answers your calls and shows my home if you’re not available?

Your Realtor can’t be everywhere at all times. It is crucial that they have a team that supports them to ensure that every showing happens and every question is answered. Harvard Business Review did a study and found that if a call is answered and/or returned within 5 minutes, that potential business is customer is 75% more likely to make an appointment. If your Realtor doesn’t have a team, it is important that they have some sort of back-up if they aren’t available. And it is important that they communicate this with you upfront!

9. Can you provide me the names and phone numbers of past clients as references?

Beyond having some testimonials, it is important that you have references that will speak to your Realtors competence and character. For all intents and purposes, this is a job interview and should be treated accordingly. Not only that, but as we have repeatedly discussed, selling your home is a huge undertaking and you need to be absolutely sure that you can trust your real estate agent beyond the shadow of a doubt. Reaching out to past clients can provide you with the assurance that your Realtor is integral and trustworthy. 

10. Why should I hire you over the other 12,000 agents in Austin?

Your Realtor should have a unique selling proposition. Something that they do very well that sets them apart. What’s their marketing plan look like? What is their negotiating style? How do they help advise you to pick the right offer if you do receive multiple offers on your home? Can you trust them - do they have an established reputation? You need to know what your agent can do for you that no one else can. 

Turkish Kilim Rugs

What is a Kilim Rug?

Turkish Kilim rugs have a special history within the world. Each rug is handcrafted using special techniques that get passed down through the generations.

• Kilim rugs are said to last two generations. Most of the rugs that you find for sale now are from the 1950's-1970's. Think about it - once a rug reaches you it is already 50 years old and holds so many memories and secrets that you will add to. Rugs are great like that. They truly become part of your family.

• Cost - because of their handcrafted nature and their durability the rugs can be costly with the smaller ones being from $200-$300 and the larger ones venturing into the $1000s. These rugs are an investment that appreciates, similar to art and jewelry. That being said they should be treated the same when it comes to your homeowners insurance. Most insurance companies require a separate policy for rugs along with an appraisal. I'm happy to help you with this process when you get to this point. Send me a note -> melody@birdhome.com

How Are They Made?

• Size - Each Kilim rug is made using a loom and therefore can only be as wide as the loom itself, because of this you won’t find very many kilim rugs that fit standard rug sizes. Most of them tend to resemble oversized runners.

• Dyes - all of the dyes are naturally produced, for example the green dye comes from pistachios and browns from walnut shells.

• Symbols - throughout history, kilim rugs were traditionally a rite of passage for women. Because of their durability and long life span women would bring the rugs within into marriage and would therefore be full of symbols that represented: good health, fertility, a good marriage, or other desirables.  

Rug Care 101

• Because they are created with such care and are meant to last for up to two lifetimes they are extremely durable. The big thing that you need to watch out for is oil stains, so I would recommend keeping them away from your kitchen whenever you’re frying anything. Other than that, most stains can be removed with a little water and a mild cleanser like Dr. Bronner’s or something similar.

• The most important part of rug care is making sure to get a good rug pad. If you don’t it’s like buying a brand new car but getting the cheapest tires available. The pad is what keeps your rug living its long beautiful life - so don’t cut corners when it comes to the pad. Look for a "Recycled Felt, Double Sided Rug Pad" if you're shopping on Amazon. You can buy them large and cut them to size.

Where I get my rugs

Interestingly enough I tend to get most of my rugs through instagram! There are so many great dealers on there and its a great way to see all the different rugs they have to offer! Listed below are some of my personal favorites:

kayakilims

loomandkiln

ohfoxcreative

shoppe_by_ai

Is It Time To Sell Your Austin Investment Property?

6 Reasons Why It Might Be Time To Sell That Investment Property

Predicting the real estate market is like the predicting the weather… you have a lot of facts, historical data and experts giving advice, but sometimes it just rains without any warning. So take my perspective with a grain of salt.

I am voracious consumer of all information real estate. I love the facts, figures and data behind all of it. I like taking into consideration the most minor neighborhood intricacies--like why a house two blocks north sold for $50,000 more than the same house a few blocks south. I also like to look at world events, like #Brexit to understand how that can potentially affect housing values in Austin.

The Austin Housing Market

Austin’s housing market is stronger than ever, demand still consistently outpaces supply. However, if you were around in 2007, you know as well as I, that it can come to a screeching halt within a few days, and there are more factors that contribute to that than just the state of the national economy! 

For example, let's take a look at the property around Lake Travis. We were in a 5 year drought and there were experts predicting that the lake might run out of water completely. Activist groups sprung up, water was shipped in to some neighborhoods. The lake levels were the lowest in history and housing prices were bottoming out. Houses were selling for an average of 5% below asking price when the rest of Austin was averaging less than 1% below asking.  And then, just a few rainstorms later, the lake was 120% of capacity and we had the complete opposite problem. Coincidentally, homes sales are up 44% and median prices are up almost 25% year-over-year for Lake Travis waterfront homes.  

I am singling out real estate investors specifically with this information only because most people need to either buy or sell a home no matter what market we are in. If they get relocated for their job, get a promotion, need to downsize or finally have saved enough to purchase a home--most people just move and deal with the hand they are dealt.

Real estate investors, like myself, depending on their investment strategy, are taking in factors like rental rates, cashflow, ROI, taxes implications etc. And if you are a real estate investor who purchased in 2012 or before, it might be time to sell to get the highest return out of the property.

Why Sell Now?

1. Home prices are still on the rise, but they are not going up as fast as in the past.

• This is the lowest May (2015) over May (2016) growth in median home prices in 6 years, only going up 1.39%.
• The trend so far this year is showing that prices are only going up about 5% overall this year, when they went up double digits the previous 3 years. See chart below. 

• We will most likely continue to see modest gains in home prices over the next few years, but the huge upswing has happened already with our market going up 40% over the last 5 years.  

2. Housing inventory is still consistently low at 2.4 month’s supply of homes.

• There is literally nothing out there to buy. Multiple offers, record setting prices and favorable terms for the seller are still happening everyday. This is the “high”, when people utter the infamous phrase, “buy low, sell high”.
• The chart below details out how the housing inventory has shifted from a buyer’s market in 2010, to a seller’s market within a 12-14 month period. Seasonally, the housing supply tends to shrink into December and January. A 2 month supply in February this year represents the most extreme seller’s market we have experience in over 10 years.

Months of Inventory is the amount of time it would take to sell all current listings at the current sales pace if no new listings became available. It is generally determined that 0-4 months is a “Seller’s Market”, 5-7 months is a “Balanced Market”, and 8-12 or more is a “Buyer’s Market”

 

3. Interest rates are at a 5 year low--30 year is around 3.5%.

• Why are low interest rates great for investors? It means your average homebuyer can afford more home. Coincidentally, you can sell your property for more money. Once interest rates start creeping up again, it will start narrowing the potential buyer field. The rule of thumb we use is that for every point interest rates go up (i.e. from 3.5% to 4.5%), this reduces the buyer’s price range by $25,000.

4. First-time homebuyers, who represent 32% of the homebuying population, are getting squeezed out of the market.

• The average age of first time homebuyers is 41 years old. I could not find any specific data to back up my next opinion, but 41 sounds really old to being buying a first home. Maybe I’m the exception to the rule, but I bought my first home at 25. This says to me that younger people with lower incomes cannot afford to get into our market. They are delaying their entry into our market and thus, narrowing the potential buyer pool. If we continue this way and incomes don’t go up in alignment with inflation at the very least, we will lose ⅓ of the buyers in the market.

5. There are many national and world issues that can have a ripple effect on our housing market.

• There is a very tumultuous election coming up in 4 months. Most economists are predicting that no matter who wins, the housing market will experience some sort of a change.
• We still haven’t seen how Brexit will affect America long term. Right now, it has only been positive. However, the official exit of United Kingdom from the EU has not actually happened yet. And Scotland is now even discussing leaving the UK.
• China, who played a large part in bailing America out when the last housing bubble burst, is now having their own housing bubble.  
• Something not being discussed AT ALL is how college student loan debt will affect the housing market. The average college student graduates with close to $38k in debt. With $1.3 trillion in student loan debt spread across 43 million Americans, this could have a major long term effect. There are several interesting articles arguing both sides of the issue here, here, here, here and here.

6. Appraisal reviews

• This is the latest in the Dodd-Frank laws designed to protect consumers in the market. This is something that most Realtors are NOT aware is happening. The short of it is this, if the home loan is being sold on the secondary market and complying with Fannie Mae’s guidelines--which 90% of loans are--then they are subject to review if there is any irregularity in the appraiser’s report. This extra layer of bureaucracy and oversight is slowing down the market AND in the majority of cases I’ve dealt with this, the values are coming back lower after the review.
• This single-handedly might explain why prices aren’t going up nearly as fast they were 12-24 months ago. This can be seen two ways. (1) Good-- to stabilize and pace the growth in the market. (2) Bad-- because it artificially regulates the free market capitalism of the real estate market.  Since this is relatively new, the longterm effects will remain to be seen. For further reading on the topic, see the best articles here and here.

In summary, my argument is that we know what market we are in right now. The cyclical and seasonal nature of real estate means we will be experiencing a slow down in the next 3-5 years, possibly sooner. There is no way around it. This market we are in is a great bird in the hand that has produced stellar returns for a lot of homeowners--both owner-occupants and investors. It might possibly be time to cash in on the returns and sell your Austin investment property.  Reach out to us below or give us a call at (512) 991-4801 and we'll be happy to help you navigate the waters of the Austin market.