5 Remodeling Realities No One Talks About

Dave and I are at the tail end of our remodel and the painful beginning of the actual moving process.  I thought I would do a series of posts that highlight what we’ve learned, how we did little things to make our home “ours,” and general tips.  We are real estate agents but we’re also human, I hope you’ll find our chronicle of our adventure funny and useful.  I’ve decided to make these posts a bit raw, we’re not always polished and professional – this is a slice of our reality; we’re just like our clients, we’re like you, and we’re doing the best we can.  Don’t worry, I will get back to the serious things like the economy and our rising market, new lending laws, etc.; but for now, I’m pretending I’m just like Nicole Curtis only my hair isn’t always fantastically, perfectly mussed and I don’t hang out with LeBron James.  (I’d prefer Steph Curry anyways.  Go Warriors!)

So to kick things off, here are the remodel/moving realities that no one tells you about.  Unless it’s your best friend over a glass of wine but even then…. there are those moments you don’t admit to where you tell yourself that life will be back to normal soon just to keep your sanity.

1. You will make friends at Home Depot.  You will see those friends more often than you see your family.  You may have a day where you spend more time with those friends than your spouse.  Home Depot will be your home away from home (or Lowes or Menards, depending on what’s closest).  You will know the store better than some of the employees.  You will *hopefully* learn that Michelle’s son says the cutest things, Ruby will always go out of her way to ask how your day is going, and David who resembles Thor will be super polite when your husband yells, “Ragnar!” at him even though he’s told you he hasn’t seen Vikings.  You will also have a preferred paint guy; you’ll be bummed when Glenn isn’t there and you need a gallon of Bit of Sugar.  If you don’t have this experience, then I feel sorry for you.  It takes no time to give someone a smile and ask how their day is, it takes very little effort to make friends because not only will they go out of their way to help you, but they’ll also put a smile on your face when you’re absolutely sick of hanging out in the plumbing aisle because you bought the wrong fittings.  Again.

2. You will wear the same clothes for a week straight and not care.  And your spouse won’t either.  Because he’ll be doing the same damn thing because laundry is the last thing on your mind after a 16 hour work day.  Once you get paint on your favorite yoga pants, there’s no point in potentially wrecking another pair while you’re still painting, am I right?  Same with your sweatshirt.  Actually, you’ll pretty much make it your entire remodel uniform to save your other clothes which is brilliant.  It will seem like an even more brilliant idea when you decide to wear a different pair of pants to clean your stove because the painting is done and you tear them.  In two places.  I’m not sure if my friends at Home Depot will even recognize me if I wear something else at this point.

3. The girl who works the drive through at Carl’s Jr. will know that you like BBQ sauce with your onion rings and extra salsa with your street tacos.  And she’ll automatically give it to you.  And you may not catch on right away but when you do, you’ll be a bit embarrassed.  If you’re anything like me, you’ll start by packing your most prized possessions which include your pots and pans.  Your husband may sarcastically ask if you also packed the silverware; which you didn’t because you’re smart like that.  No, seriously.  I packed my pans on Day 1 but I still have my plates and forks.  And Dave had to unpack the coffee.  I think that’s called priorities.  Or getting it wrong.  Take your pick.

4. You may become insane enough to consider jumping out a window.  Doing renovations will cost you money and potentially your sanity.  We’ve had to cut holes in our bedroom ceiling at least twice, the first time was to move some gas lines for our heater and stove because our floor plan is inverted (meaning our living space is on the top floor above our bedroom) the second time was to fix gas leaks in those new lines.  Finding those leaks and dealing with them was beyond frustrating.  So, Dave was re-texturing our bedroom ceiling, a messy and difficult task, and he started joking about how I was “locked in” to helping him because he had taped the door closed.  Then he realized that the texture was on the other side of that door.  I noticed he gave a longing glance at the window to avoid having to re-tape the door and he likely would have used it as an exit but it wouldn’t have been so easy to come back in with the 5 gallon buck of mud.  It’s days like these when you need to keep your sense of humor (because your wife will laugh at you if she’s not laughing with you).

5. You will realize more than ever what it’s like to be a team.  If you’re remodeling with a spouse, those vows for better or worse may reverberate in your head during your journey.  Dave and I work as a “team,” we are teammates in life but after this experience, that meaning has evolved for us.  As a working team, we spend 24 hours a day, 7 days a week together.  We’re rarely apart and sometimes we even cook dinner together.  Most think we’re nuts but it’s our dynamic, it’s what we’re used to.  We started working together about 6 months into our relationship and a decade later, we still make it work.  We’re not perfect but we balance each other.  Where he is weak, I am strong and where I lack certain talents, he has them in spades; we’ve used this to our advantage professionally whether it’s picking the right person to negotiate with the other side or assisting our clients.  So when it came to our remodel, I expected to approach it as a team.  We’re on the same side, it’s not my tile versus his tile, it’s finding “our” tile but that’s a challenge in itself when you have very differing opinions about how you want your home to look and feel.  This doesn’t mean we haven’t had disagreements or moments where we needed to be alone to collect our thoughts.  Being a team is solving the problem through compromise and trust.  At one point, we were at an absolute deadlock on paint colors.  I bought 13 samples for 1 accent wall.  We just couldn’t agree on anything and it was frustrating, unsettling, and very very real – this is that nightmare couples dread when remodeling.  This is our home and we both have to live there and like it.  I can honestly tell you that Dave gave up his fight for the color he loved; he wanted to move on.  I picked a color (and it wasn’t the purple I wanted!) and it was a risk.  Now, we both love it and neither of us would change it for the world.  We may want those hours hemming and hawing back but we learned some lesson.  I am too tired to recognize what it was but I’m sure it was there.  It’s not all going to go perfectly but you you keep moving forward and at the end of the day, when you look at that person you vowed to spend your life with and you realize you couldn’t do this without them – that’s what it’s all about.  Until it’s time to pick drawer pulls…

So, I did not intend to end on a sappy note but if you’ve stuck with me reading this, then I’d like to thank you.  I appreciate you joining us on this new adventure.  I can’t wait to share more useful tips with you and pictures of our work in progress.

Let’s talk about… Protection

I’ve got my mind on my money and my money on my mind…

Protection is something that’s rarely discussed in our industry but it’s so important.  Many agents love to blog about the market, how many lovely homes they’ve sold, how to look past a dated kitchen or a lack of curb appeal.  Don’t get me wrong, I love all that fluffy stuff, too.  What’s not openly talked about is one of the key factors you should be hiring an agent for.  With the birth of the internet and sites like Redfin, Trulia, and Zillow, you as a buyer or seller have access to the listings and the ability to do market research yourself.  You can identify your perfect home on your own, so why even hire an agent?  You hire an agent because whether you realize it or not, this is going to be one of the biggest investments in your life and you want to make sure your hard earned money is protected.

You may also want to protect your heart.  Sound silly? Maybe it’s not.  You’ve walked into this home and you’re already picturing your son’s first steps in the living room, your daughter walking down that staircase in her prom dress, or late nights snuggled on the porch with a glass of wine.  This home is going to become an extended member of your family, you’re emotionally invested.  Then you’ve spent the time trying to decipher the reports which are written in another language (“serviceable” means what?)  and you’ve decided that you can live with or fix the flaws because every home has flaws but not every home has what makes this one feel right.  You’ve also sacrificed, choosing to forgo fancy meals or vacations to build up that down payment.  But now comes the stressful part.  Will the sellers like my offer?  Will they like me?  Did I choose the right amount to offer?  Should I have gone a thousand dollars higher?  What if the others offers are all cash?  What if the other buyers have more money in the bank?  What if we don’t get it?  Will I ever find another home I love this much?

Let’s face it, you sign on the dotted line and you’re all in.  It’s a legally binding document.

Now let’s take a step back… You just signed a legally binding document with someone licensed by the state to write legally binding documents.  In California, agents are the only other entity beyond lawyers who can write such binding contracts and your savings (and heart) are on the line.  Did your agent explain this contract to you?  Are you aware of all the terms you’ve just agreed to?

How did you choose your agent?  Was it because they were nice and made you feel comfortable?  Are they a family member who maybe took a few online classes and thought, “Hey, I can sell houses now?”  Or did you pick the professional who successfully does this for a living, who studies the market and the paperwork as though it were a craft that can be honed but due to consistent changes in the law can never be mastered?

A few days ago, we were invited to be part of a small, exclusive forum made up of the top agents from our brokerage to discuss the two contracts commonly used in our area.  We challenged each other and used our real world experiences to pick apart each contract to point out the positives and negatives of each one because neither one is perfect for all situations.  Most buyers have no idea that there are two standard contracts in our area and even worse, most agents are only comfortable working with one.  However, it’s important to know that each purchase contract protects the buyer and seller in different ways.  While the contracts can be modified a bit through the buyer’s choice of terms and terms can be negotiated later, the main fact is the contracts are very very different and the contract your agent chooses for your offer may be the difference between opening the door to negotiations and a hard no.  For example, one contract obligates the seller to make repairs while the other one doesn’t… which contract do you think the seller is more likely to accept if he/she’s got one of each sitting in front of him/her?

This all comes back to working with a real professional.  You can find the house but we are the ones who help you leap off that cliff and (hopefully) dive into homeownership.  The quality of the contract your agent writes, the importance of knowing which contract the seller or their agent would prefer, the knowledge base your agent brings to the table in knowing how to give the seller what they want while still protecting your rights as a buyer – these are all the factors that can stand between you and the realization of a dream.  Your agent can make or break it; they truly can be the difference between you writing an offer and buying a home.  As a seller, an agent who understands all the purchase contracts coming in will protect your rights, too.

(Sara’s Notes:  This advice may not apply to you as many states in the US require a lawyer to write up the contracts.  If you do live in a state where the contract is not written by the agent, I’d still advise you to pick an agent who fully understands the process and can ensure the entity writing the contract executes it with your terms and conditions in tact.  Contract writing is often the first step in the negotiation process so it is key to make sure that you have a strong negotiator with your best interests at heart.  Once it’s in writing, it’s very hard to redefine your needs.)

RE/MAX National Housing Report – July 2014

Curious how this recovery is effecting our country as a whole?  Overall Days on Market are down (excellent!), prices in metropolitan areas of the Mid-West are up, and an increase in inventory is having a positive impact on the nation’s real estate outlook.  Our market here in the SF Bay Area recovered faster than any other market and has settled into something that resembles a stable market (as depressing as that may seem to some who thought the Spring frenzy would last); now it’s the rest of the country’s turn to start seeing some positive numbers so those who wish to make a move can.

If you’re thinking about a change in the SF Bay Area, we’d love to help you!  If you are thinking about a change anywhere else in the world, don’t hesitate to contact us.  Through our vast network, we can help you find the right professional in your area to get you the best results!

REMAX_National_Housing_Report_July_2014

Tuesday Musings

Today Movoto posted their Top Ten Snobbiest Cities in America and *surprise* (which doesn’t seem like a surprise at all) Palo Alto was labeled number 1. How did they come to this conclusion? Well obviously factors like number of Apple stores, home prices, and income came into play along with completed higher education, performing arts centers, and access to private schools (not that you even need those in Palo Alto, those schools are attended by the Atherton kids). Movoto suggests that if you know the difference between a Cabernet [Sauvignon] and Merlot, these cities might be at the top of your list when looking for a home. However, “snobby” or rather “snobbery” is defined as the behavior or attitude of people who think they are better than other people. Not sure those are the neighbors I would be seeking out myself but to each his own.

Heading out on Realtor tour today was a bit underwhelming as we still have record low inventory, yet it’s not the frenzied market of Spring as there are noted price reductions, too. So, while the buyers are out there, they’re being a bit more discerning about which homes they bid on. The positive is this: there are good homes at good prices and there are deals to be had if you know where to look and when to strike. The other take away: your listing agent still matters! Can you hear me sellers? You may think a monkey can sell your home in a market like this but you still only get one chance to make a first impression. Hiring a professional is the only way to guarantee you’re not leaving money on the table.

Our favorite home today was 1906 Bayview in Belmont. Priced at $945k (and very likely to over that asking price), is a move-in ready home with an open floor plan in the Belmont hills – close to good schools, great food, a year round farmer’s market, transportation, and so much more. This 3 bedroom/ 2 bathroom home won’t last long!