A House (not) In The Woods Part 2

Holly hallelujah! We had finally closed on the construction loan in July (3 months past my deadline)! Unfortunately, all of our savings have been depleted, but we were ready to build! I knew that we were going to have to do a lot with our own hands. I believe in the value of hard work! No problem! We got this! Over the next year, my resolve would go up and down like the old wooden roller coaster at Carowinds.

I will start with what was my fault. This business model for ValueBuild calls for the homeowner to do what they call an equity plan, which includes ALL site work. I should have asked more questions about “ALL”. They have a worksheet that estimates what those costs will be and even loop that into your construction loan. This, I thought, was a great way for me to pay a lot out of pocket so we planned to clear the land, install the septic, drill the well, grade the lot and landscape all by ourselves. It even prompted me to buy the tractor I had been dying to buy! I had a particular spot on my land picked out for the home, way back in the woods on a section of land that could serve no other purpose on our farm. I needed guidance as to what the potential concerns would be. About 4 different ValueBuild folks came to my property, walked the area I wanted to build on, one guy with some fancy equipment, and all told me once I had the driveway and a septic plan together, we could start building. So I set out to do all those things.

First, let’s talk about septic. The old saying about having to get the land to “perc” is not entirely true. If you want to deal with the county and you want the county to install a septic system, presumably for cheaper, then YES, their engineers need to come out and see if the land has the right soil make-up and contour for appropriate drainage. That’s what it means to perc! BUT there is another way. Based on my vision of this little farm house in the woods, we were going to have to be creative. I hired a Septic Engineer to develop an Engineered Option Septic Permit for our build. The engineer does add an additional cost to your build, but they have ways of making things magically work out. Essentially, the plan the engineer puts together, along with a soil scientists who advised on the make up of the dirt, gets handed to the county as a solution. The county doesn’t approve or have to agree, they just stamp it. For the application of my little farm house in the woods, this was a perfect solution with a small price increase.

Second, we needed driveway access to that part of the property, but there was a creek in our way. I did a little research to discover that waterways are given designations by federal and state organizations so we had to determine if this particular creek was restricted in the type of way you could cross it. Luckily for us, there were no real restrictions for our particular creek. I found a site contractor that was very knowledgeable about this type of work, and he connected me immediately to the right person. Thankfully, there were no strict regulations. We decided to install a 4′ pipe in the creek about 12′ long to create the road. That meant there would be large rock, small rock, and even smaller rock piled on top of that pipe to make my driveway. We decided to clear the rest of the driveway ourselves, due to our now depleted savings. No problem with a skid steer and my hot hubby! See the video:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mary (@marypage94)

Third, we had to clear the build site. The trees and brush were cleared, the driveway gave us access to the site I wanted to build on, and the surveyor told me I could fit it inside the bounds of all the rules (sort of) so we began to cut the small saplings that had started to grow. It was always a bare patch with no big trees. We needed a flat, clean surface for the builder. We used the tractor to move dirt. We used the neighbors bucket pick-up machine thingy to move dirt. We rented the skid steer again to try to flatten it out. But no matter how much we took away or added or flattened, we couldn’t get it to not be muddy. We thought maybe it was the hill or the fact little sun got through the forrest. I begged for ValueBuild to send some of those people back out to look. Especially the guy that had showed up with all the equipment. No one came. No one offered help or suggestion. So we just kept trying to make dirt and make something happen. No one answered my emails. In August they asked for a $20K change order due to “Delays”.

House Placement

Side Yard (not a dirt pile)

Front Yard

At the end of August they fired Ralph, our foreman, and told me John would be in charge of my house. I never met or talked to John. He never answered my calls, emails or texts. Literally, nothing else happened until December when I received another email introducing me to Daniel, my new-new foreman. All the while, I am still moving dirt, clearing the ever growing brush and forest, and begging for dry dirt. I am very thankful for Daniel, but we didn’t start off so good. He too one look at what we had cleared and staked and graveled…and told me it probably wouldn’t work. We called the guys to dig the footers, they showed up the very next day (amazing that I’d been waiting 2 months and they show up the next day), and began to dig. Twenty feet down, they still had not found solid ground. You could actually see water running though one of their now 20 foot ditches. Daniel said it would require some type of engineered footers. We were essentially building on a 100 year old creek bed and the ground was too soft for a foundation.

“Yes!” I said. But my husband said “No!” So we looked at the rest of the land and Daniel chose a spot in the big pasture that seemed much easier. I pitched a fit, because, to me, it changed the entire dream for the entire property. Moving this far up the hill put us too close to the original trailer to use it in the future. I had already created this dream in my head of a quaint little AirBNB where people could bring their horses to ride and kayaks to explore Mountain Island Lake. This conversation about moving the house seemed inconsequential to the builder (and my husband), but it was a giant problem for me. Daniel was telling us we would save so much money (it didn’t). It would be so much easier (it wasn’t). And my hubby was buying every word. The dream I created about a vacation rental I could manage on my very own land with farm fresh eggs delivered every day and veggies picked from the garden was now in the toilet. Daniel asked me to sign a change order right there in my drive way to move the house, and I almost walked away. I seriously told him no and I would have to think about it. Opportunity #2 that I should have walked away.

We debated long and hard about what to do. We actually debated selling and moving. We even looked at a few options, well I did. We were 9 months into this and there was nothing but a beautiful gravel driveway and a cleared muddy lot to show for it. Furthermore, everything that I had been planning and dreaming about changed in about 24 hours. There would no longer be a house in the woods! There would no longer be a vacation rental to manage! Do you want to know what kept us here? Mr. Bojangles! If we left, he would never leave. And if we tried, he couldn’t live in a neighborhood. And if we left him, the new owners might not take care of him. I know it sounds crazy, but we literally made a decision about continuing the build with ValueBuild homes based on the barn cat! We decided to do everything we could to stay and keep him safe for the rest of his life.

A House (not) In The Woods

If you’ve been following me for a while, you may be aware of the chaos that has been building our new farm house! Well, we finished! We are moved in! But it was not without drama (and lessons). Whether you are wanting to build and want to know what NOT to do or you just like drama and dirt, it’s a great story that’s going to take some time for me to finish!

Seven years ago or so I bought a horse farm near Denver, NC to get back to life as I like it, hard work, homesteading, and free range. It had a double wide mobile home on it that was old and deteriorating, but not in horrible condition. When we got married out here we decided to work toward building a new house in the woods and use the trailer as an investment property, a vacation rental that people could bring their horses or play on Mountain Island Lake. It was a great plan! Enter COVID…

I want to build houses the way I live the rest of my life, not creating brand new but repurposing and recycling.

We went from 2 people living here all the time and 2 children half the time, to 4 people living here, homeschooling, furloughed, working from home, and dealing with the construction market. We wanted to build ourselves, but banks will no longer make construction loans to owners. Counties will let you GC a project and permit it yourself if you own it, but you would have to pay cash or use a commercial loan. I tried to go the commercial loan route, but they were still pretty leary since none of my building experience was on paper. We searched for a builder that offered a particular kind of product. We wanted to be able to do as much on our own, and in cash, as possible. We also had a very specific design in mind. I had actually paid an architect to draw it out. Lastly, I was looking for a very specific price. I was not interested in “custom builds” or “custom home”. I found the biggest reason they were called “custom” was 4″ baseboards and crown molding. I just wanted a builder to give me the skeleton and I would go from there. Guess what…that doesn’t exist! We thought we had a builder friend that would do it for us, but he even backed out at the very last minute in the crazy COVID market, leaving us a bit in the lurch to find a builder in time to clear the loan and pay off the original mortgage. I can assure you that I investigated all the options…modular, mobile, stick built, local builder, national builder, custom builder. I poured through home designs and contracts, met with many builders, and stressed out a lot because our crappy little double-wide was falling down around us and time was running out. I learned enough to fill blog posts for weeks! I can tell you pros and cons for every builder out there, I think! Just Ask!

We signed a contract with Value Build Homes in March of 2021. Our sales experience was okay. We wanted to do a lot more ourselves than they would allow us, like cabinets and light fixtures. But we were able to add a side door and do the floors ourself. There business model forces the homeowner to do all the “site work” themselves, including well, septic, grading, driveway, landscaping, and a few others. My philosophy is that I can save a lot of money using reclaimed or salvaged things that are in great shape. I want to build houses the way I live the rest of my life, not creating brand new but repurposing and recycling. But that wasn’t going to work with these guys, so we decided to put that into practice when we upgrade. Get the basic-est house and upgrade as time goes on with the cabinet, countertops, light fixtures, etc. It’s a real waste of time, money, and stuff, in my opinion, but we had no other choice.

They wouldn’t let me use my own finance company, and that should have been my first sign. Let me start off by saying that is illegal! I had been preapproved with a guy already when we were looking at modular and wanted to stay with him. The crazy thing is the person they sent me to worked for the same company just in a different office, so unethical. Jackie Wampler with Intercoastal Mortgage was either very new or just not good at her job. In hindsight, I think they must have just created this “partnership” prior to my contract, because she definitely got better in the 16 months it took to build my house. Our biggest problem occured when she called in the appraisal. On new construction, they approve your construction loan at 80% loan to value of what the value will be when the house is built. In other words, they guess, putting the specs of the house you want to build on that lot. You either pay the other 20% in downpayment or you use the equity you may already have in the lot. Considering I had been paying on the property for 5 years, I was sure we would have enough equity to cover it.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Above are pictures of the farm prior to construction. Pictures 6 & 7 are where the house would eventually go, where the appraiser should have been placing the 2000+ sq. ft. new home.

The appraiser that showed up had no idea what he was doing because the lender didn’t give him the correct information (and maybe because he wasn’t good at his job either…there is a theme here). He appraised my 2000 sq.ft. new house on a horse farm with barn, arena, fences and 6 acres compared to the same size newly built house in a local neighborhood on .2 acres. He valued my property at $350K. I begged for a re-evaluation, a new person that had experience with equestrian properties. Jackie just kept telling me that they had no control over the appraisers. As a real estate agent, I knew there was some truth in that. But I also knew that she must not have provided him with any up front explanation. I personally reached out to him and convinced him to ad $25K for at least the barn while the lender did nothing to help and just kept claiming she had no control. Her negligence to provide the appraiser with the survey (I paid for) and comparable properties (I provided), a practice I do with every appraisal, cost me $30K in cash at closing! I had to pay a $30K downpayment just to get the construction loan started on a property I had owned and paid for for 5 years. That was all the money we had saved to do the site work for the home.

The most frustrating part was the lack of desire to help me from anyone involved in the process except for Greg, my salesman! Intercoastal Mortgage reminds me of those predatory lenders that just fills in the boxes and fills up their pipeline without caring how they affect the client. That kind of disregard is what got us in trouble in 2008. Many times Jackie would call my husband out of the blue at work and ask him where a random document was, when she had been working with me for the last week to get documents uploaded. The insistence of the builder to use them makes them equally at fault to the predatory nature. I work with builders all the time who offer incentives to use their in-house lenders, like no closing costs or free appliances, but I have never been told that I didn’t have another choice and HAD to use their lender. When Taryn Donahue, Start Coordinator for ValueBuild Homes, said that to me over the phone, conveniently not in writing, I should have walked away. That was opportunity #1. There would be many other opportunities to walk away or fire them that I should have taken, but I stuck it out and lived to tell the entire, disgusting, sordid, warped tale of how we built a house (not) in the woods.

This is part one of a four part series! Next post I’ll talk about land prep and what that means, how it works, and what ValueBuild failed to do to help us. Follow along as I relive the drama and lay out all the lessons I learned, but most importantly, identify the reasons why everyone needs a Construction Manager or Buyers Agent. The things that I did to get this house built no normal person could do and keep their day job or sanity. I want to help other people build the home they dream of! You shouldn’t be at the mercy of the builder. They are not looking out for your best interest. They are looking out for their companies bottom line. They work for their company, not you! Even if they are nice, which ValueBuild is not. Issues come up and contractors just don’t have the best interest of the client or best possible creative solutions in mind. Some of it is because they are likely building 7 other houses and you only care about 1, but most of it is about money. So, PLEASE, for the love of all that is holy, hire someone to advocate and work for you!

New People and Services

Well, we knew this day was coming and it finally did! Mom RETIRED! She is 75 (ish) and has worked since she was 14…for the record, so have I. It‘s just how this family is built. This was a GIANT step for her! Our emotions are all over the place, excited, scared, nervous, proud. But she’s not really retiring. She’s coming to work for me! So this post is not about her, so much as it is about me, hiring my first employee, creating work for her, paying my first set of taxes, and figuring out how all of that works!

The whole Fam on Vacay last Thanksgiving.

I went into real estate to help myself, originally, more so than to help other people. I wanted to build a career around selling homes for others but mostly buying them for myself to create passive income. Along the way, I realized that I have a service heart. I really love helping people achieve their goals, whatever they are! I enjoy sharing the benefits of homeownership with people similar to my story who didn’t come from a family with financial literacy. What I found is that sometimes that goal is just to have an independent place to live. I have certainly been there too. Some clients need help taking care of themselves and their families now to build the skills to get to home ownership a year or two or five down the road.

Enter my Momma! She wanted to retire, but was worried about money, because she has no retirement or wealth (other than her home…you can see what I mean about not learning these things from an early age). I have been really busy the last 2 years helping clients and want to focus time on the parts of the business that I enjoy, like writing this blog. I would also like to expand in a few other ways, like coaching new agents and entrepreneurs, growing a Lake Norman office, and building my own portfolio. So I asked Mom to come work for me to free me up to do more!

There are many reasons why that simple invitation is a miracle. Our relationship, probably like many parent/child relationships, was strained in past years. Life is not always rosy in that garden. But in my 40’s came great wisdom! She did the best she knew how. The same way I do the best I know how with my girls. It is not perfect, but it is my best. Most importantly, it is not for anyone to judge! Myself included! I realized a few years ago that if I didn’t find it fair that I judge other Mommy’s or let their judgement of me feel painful, I couldn’t judge my mother either. There is a book called Mother Hunger that the Red Table Talk has been focusing on for a while and I was really interested because I am a mother and my relationship with my mother didn’t seem strong. What I decided is that identifying that is all well and good, but the value is using it to grow into a better me.

As a Real Estate Assistant, she can take a lot of things off my plate, freeing me up to really spend time on the things I enjoy and that make me the most money. But maybe even more importantly, she can help renters so that they can become buyers. This means we can help renters find homes by learning the tricks and streamlining the process for them. Her and I both see a real need for help with this process. She has worked with people in her previous job that struggled finding suitable housing so she is well aware of the lack of affordable housing in Charlotte.

For More Info on Rental Services, CLICK HERE

We are also going to extend our services to include rental property management. Again a service that I otherwise would not have time to staff or manage. I’m most excited about this service because this is my end goal long term. I want to own rental properties and manage them ourselves so we have passive income. It is such a great way to grow wealth! That will also include vacation rental property management. Again, a service I intend to do for my own rentals, so the ability to do it for others is a bonus. There are actually tons of vacation (or short term) rentals in and around Charlotte. And there are plenty of regulations, issues, and things that can be outsourced to a management team like us.

As with any growth there are always growing pains! It has been a struggle to figure out her pay structure. Since she is retirement age, she gets her full Social Security, which is under $20K (who could live off of just that?!). If she makes more than $52K per year in combined income, the federal government (and probably the state) will go back and tax that $20K so she would have to pay taxes, which she had to do last year. We decided it’s just safer to make just under that threshold and avoid taxing the SS income. We’ll see if that philosophy changes as we grow and move forward. Researching all the regulations for that, salary, and taxes has been difficult and I’m not sure I have all the answers, but I have a plan! Of course, I could hire a pay roll company. There are plenty out there! But I like doing things myself. Lets hope thats not a huge mistake!

Our biggest challenge has been training and job description. It has taken me 4 years to get to where I am in the business, so teaching someone else how to do what I do is pretty difficult. But I am a teacher at heart! I sat down last weekend and created an Assistant Manual for her. It’s a giant 2″ binder with everything she needs to work this job in writing. It comes complete with a monthly and daily suggested schedule. I dedicated a page for each computer system that I use with log in information, what it’s used for, and what her responsibility for it would be. I sprinkled in a little life philosophy like dream casting, life lists, and volunteer work. And then I wrote out as many tasks as I could think of that she might complete. I remember working jobs in my life where I had no idea what I was responsible for because there was no job description. You can’t hold people (even children, BTW) responsible for something if you never told them what that is.

We made it through her first week! And she has already reminded me to return emails I would have lost and gotten marketing postcards completed in record time. I am so excited for what we will do together! I am so excited for the additional number and types of clients we can really help! But most of all, I am proud that I can take care of my momma like I always said I would. I am also very nervous about that one, if I’m being honest.

Renovations

Which renovation pays the most return when it’s time to sell?

This is one of the questions that I get most often from random people that might want to sell their home in a year or two. My answers are a little different in different markets. In the last 2 years, my answer would have been NOTHING! People were buying things off the market for the price asked, literally, no matter what it looked like or the shape it was in. But the market is shifting! I do not mean that it is crashing, for goodness sake. I mean we are finally getting back to a normal market in NC. In turn, we have to talk about selling your home differently. That means that you have to begin to understand what buyers are looking for, and I have figured that out. They are looking for clean, new, and updated! And where does that matter most?

Kitchen

Changes to your kitchen can increase the value of your home dollar for dollar. That means that if you spend the money, you can ask for the money. If you put $20K into a kitchen renovation, you can ask for an additional $20K in the price of your home. The places that buyers are really looking for that are in the cabinets, lay out, countertops, appliances, and floor. Take a look at the kitchen of your home. Does it meet modern design trends? Right now, I would say those are quartz counters (or some new material), easy to care for floors, new appliances, and new cabinets. There are ways to get around buying NEW in all of those areas, but just upgrading a kitchen can make a huge improvement in value.

Bathrooms

I have seen many homes where the owners will upgrade the kitchen, but forget about the bathrooms. In my experience, these renovations may cost a little more money or have a tendency to require a bit more work. It is hard in some cases to just replace fixtures or existing things. Older showers were tiny! Sometimes this remodel will require moving walls, which means permits. I think that’s the reason so many people don’t do it. But it is ALSO a dollar for dollar upfit. If you spend the money, you can make the money back. My suggestions would be the following:

• Make use of space
• Modern fixtures
• Separate Tub and Shower
• Extended Shower
• Privacy
• Storage

Outdoor Living Space

I’m not really talking about curb appeal. I’m talking about an actual outdoor space that you want to spend large amounts of time. This is not a renovation that will be able to increase the price of your home dollar for dollar! If you put in a $20K pool, you CANNOT increase the price of your home by $20K. Pools are a little controversial (and a lot of people put them in during COVID). You have to find a buyer who is willing to take on the maintenance and liability. For that reason, it does not increase the value of the home. If it is not well maintained, it can actually decrease the value because the buyer will need to repair it, sometimes to even complete the transaction. Creating an outdoor living space can be simple, but it should look clean and well maintained. Repair and replace any damaged deck boards. Create pathways with pavers or rock. Add color and variety with landscaping. Add a sitting or dining area for entertaining. Curb appeal isn’t just about planting flowers around the front yard. It is about a space for relaxation in the outdoors.

Paint and Flooring – No! These do not increase the value of your house! But it may make the home sell quicker. The days of “under contract in less than a day” are pretty much over or, at least, are no longer the norm. The market prior to this saw homes traditionally on the market in CLT for 30 – 60 days, and Luxury properties (those over $700K) were on the market for a year plus. What sets listings apart is the way they show, in person and on film. Even though I would like to say it is the expertise of the agent, it’s really about how the home shows. Replacing damaged flooring or painting dirty (and smelly) walls will not bring additional money into your pocket, but it very well migh bring you a buyer faster than your neighbor.

Happy Independence?

I am a firm believer in Patriotism. I am also a firm believer in Jesus. But this week…WHEW! We are a nation created by the people, for the people. But when those people are limited in freedoms based on choices and personal preferences, it is no less severe than limiting freedom based on the color of your skin. Are we only the land of the free, white, man…which is pretty much what we were when the constitution was signed? So we shouldn’t look at the 2nd Amendment through the lens of a changing time, population, and country dynamic? But we should look through a different lens when it comes to issues like women’s right to make decisions and the definition of marriage? If I as a woman cannot decide what to do about my reproductive health, why would I further have the right to decide what property to own or who to elect president. If my decision about my body is not a right protected by the Supreme Court and Federal Government, then when will my other rights be yanked out from under me? If the 6 justices that voted to no longer force the federal government to protect the right of women to make their own decisions about their own bodies feel that the States can handle those decisions, would they allow the States to make such decisions about black freedoms during the Civil War, especially Justice Thomas? We are at a tipping point very similar to the one present in 1860.

It is so very difficult to explain to men the weight of being a woman. We may indeed make the same decision to consent, but we do not have to make the same decision about what that does to our lives, bodies, and freedoms. You can walk away and pretend you never heard the word “pregnant”. You can deny any part or responsibility. Yet I stand alone trying to figure out what to do, with my body, with my life, and with my faith. No one forces men to be a father. A judge can force you to pay, but not to show up or help or teach or care. Biology forces women to be mothers. That is what gives men the power they think they have over us. Maybe the real problem in society is not the lack of freedom women have, but the abundance of unrestricted freedom men have. The toxic way that men are raised to fight and control, from the smallest psychological inference of their job as protector, that’s what really needs to change. Native cultures (you know…the savages) believed that men and women were divided into Hunters and Gatherers, but they all protected and defended. Women were not incapable or fragile. I have never understood where Anglo- and Germanic- men got that from. We don’t need your protection. We want your partnership. Who in this country has the right to judge someone else’s decision when the skeletons of their own lurk somewhere in the darkness! No one should have the ability to grab you by anything and get away with it, whether you are a man or a woman. It sounds a little these days like separate, but equal.

Our country has millions of weapons that take life, and argue that it’s our right to do so. But this one weapon that is man made and gives women power to pull the trigger is no longer defended by Federal Law. Maybe a man’s shouldn’t be either. It isn’t women that carry out mass shootings and school shootings. If legislation was fueled by a desire to save children, school shootings would have stopped after Columbine. I’m not quite sure what Independence I have left anymore. Except maybe here on this page.

Some people got what they wanted. Hopefully, what they also did was fan a flame of realization. Hopefully people see the power of their vote. That is the only way we change this! When people are in power that represent such a small pocket of belief, the entire population suffers. The majority of Americans did not want Roe v. Wade overturned. Probably because they know people and stories of people who have benefitted from abortion in some way. You can’t tell me those 6 Justices don’t! They didn’t outlaw abortions, they outlawed legal and safe abortions. But a deal was made with the Devil. People turned a blind eye with hopes of fiscal prosperity or protecting their guns. Let’s just hope that people see the evil that creeps around when people scheme to control other people. That’s what this is about, after all…control, not babies.

I am going to focus on America, the Beautiful this July 4th. We are a far cry from perfect or great this year. I don’t see a reason to celebrate our strength with fireworks and or freedoms with holidays. Those symbols should be retired this year. I personally don’t feel very strong or free after this week. And if our people don’t, why should our country. Maybe we should celebrate in quiet reflection of what the forefathers were actually trying to do…escape religious persecution, raise their families in faith without fear, create opportunity for success. Maybe let’s just stop there. I just don’t feel like there is much to celebrate this year. But I’m just a woman!

Home Buying: Next Stage

Where are you in your life stages right now?? I didn’t even really think that was a thing, for me especially, until recently. I realized the other day that my husbands friends are all getting engaged and married. It didn’t hit me until his brother got engaged. Then I realized how many weddings we have been invited to recently. He married me when he was just out of college, so I guess that is earlier than many people are ready to make life-time commitments!

Those young, newlyweds are now willing to commit to a lifetime with one person and, usually, a 30 year mortgage. Yay! Homeownsership is one of the ways you build lifetime wealth. The sooner you buy real estate the sooner you can start building wealth. There is no reason to invest in other things if you are still throwing your largest payment per month out the window and into someone elses pocket. Paying rent is just making someone else wealthy. I hope these newlyweds will make that move next! One of my favorite options for first-time-home-buyers is new construction. There are still a few builders that are doing things the right way!

• True Homes (these folks have a great Build-on-Your-Lot option)
• DR Horton
• Meritage

There is no reason to invest in other things if you are still throwing your largest payment per month out the window and into someone elses pocket.

At the same time, I am helping my mother move to her next stage of life. She will retire at the end of this year and has areed to be my assistant for a while (until he gets tired of me). The home that she is in is the house in Charlotte I grew up in, as did all of my brothers and sisters. But the upkeep and work on an older home with almost a full acre of land is just too much for her anymore. She is ready for a little less in life. We have been looking at tiny homes to put on our farm property. Our biggest concern originally was that it had to be 1 story, with her double knee replacement looming, if I can ever get her to schedule it. Most tiny homes take advantage of a loft space for sleeping with storage under the stairs. I was afraid a single story did not exist, but they do! We are a long away from making any decisions, but I am learning about so many options for that demographic of client that is ready to downsize, whether it is because of age or just a desire to live with a smaller footprint.

This tiny home is 270 sq. ft. on a steel frame and can be bought at Home Depot for $23K. Completion of the interior and all the site work would be added to that price for a total build, but it’s a cool look!

---

On the other side of the spectrum, there are those clients who are busting at the seams in their current home. In some instances it the blessing of children, and in some it is the addition of parents or siblings requiring a different type or size of house to make living space comfortable for everyone. I recently closed on a house with some clients that needed 2 masters, essentially, so they could live with parents and not have to spend all their time together. Those clients offer a particular challenge because we have to buy and sell. I have learned sooooo many tricks in the last few years from cash offers from local investors and national corporations to financing loopholes that create non-contingent offers. But the problem facing most buyers right now is the low inventory and competitive bid market. I have TONS of tricks for that as well! The folks I mentioned earlier…we got our very first offer accepted at just $5000 over list price.

If you are heading into a new stage of life, staging up or down, I think there are a few common things to consider when it comes to finding the perfect home.

Location: City vs. Suburb vs. Rural

Acreage: .5 or less vs. 1 or more

Square Footage: Tiny vs Extra

My last huge life stage change was shortly after my divorce, so it doesn’t always happen on any “normal” guidelines. That was the moment I knew I wanted to homestead and live on some type of farm. It was an investment/business decision as much as a housing decision. Prior to that, I was living in a third floor condo (that I loved) and I knew that was not the life for me. I included my current hubby in the decision, though we weren’t married or even engaged at the time. It was something I wanted, even if it was on my own. He agreed, thankfully! Sometimes I think he regrets that agreement!

I always encourage clients, especially buyers, to decide what is most important. Take all of the criteria that you use to choose a home and pick the 4 or 5 things that you absolutely have to have! It’s a strategy called the 80% House. If I can find you 80% of what you want in a new home, and 100% of what you need, will you be ready to buy? There are so many people that get frustrated in this market because they cannot find what they want because they have not thought about what that truly is. We must walk down that path first! It’s a big decision and it can be scary, but with the right help, it is totally worth it. My mission is to HELP…that’s my word that guides every decision we make in this business.

Wishing for a New Home

I have been wishing for a new home since I moved to this farm about 7 years ago!! Please, understand, I am NOT moving. I LOVE my farm. But the house here is falling down around us. I’m actually not kidding. The people who put on the roof didn’t add gutters, so the entire roof is rotted and moldy and mildewed. The floors in 2 of the bedrooms have holes in them that the carpet was just stretched over. The septic is from 1970 and only has 1 drain line. And the well, we believe has shifted too close to the dirt, because it pulls sediment and we have to change filters every 2 weeks now! This has been the perfect example of “What Not To Do” as a seller or landlord I think I could have ever experienced!

After 2 years of struggling (and learning) we finally started construction on our new house. We got the notice from our builder that we are about 60 days away from completion!! I was looking for a particular product and a particular process so this experience has been a learning one for sure! I really wanted to General Contract it myself…those years as a project manager for an electrical firm all came flooding back. But lenders will not give money for projects that are self GC’ed, unless you have experience (never understood this…how do you get experience if you don’t first get a chance?). So plan 1 was for a friend to GC and I just run it. He backed out at the last minute because he wouldn’t make enough money (he sort of missed the point) so I had to find something similar. I had a very simple wish list for my new home:

1. A Separate Real Office with Doors
2. A Dining Room (always on my list)
3. Closets
4. 2 story
5. In the Woods
6. $100 per square foot

view from the sliding door

kitchen

My office!

back yard and future garden

bonus space and main bedroom

bedroom #2 and bonus space

front of the house

back yard with future deck space

I went with a builder that allowed me to do a portion of the work on my own. It’s a very strange arrangement where you become both the client and the sub contractor. The problem is, this company does not have their shit together! And I pride myself on always at least seeming like I have my shit together. I will not be referring them to any clients. And don’t even want to mention their name here! Mainly because after this experience, I can definitely do this on my own. It’s their level of planning and customer service that have made the biggest problems and mistakes. They delivered our floor joists and ceiling rafters 3 weeks (and one snow storm) before they were installed. Now they are covering the cost of mildew removal and remediation throughout the entire house. That is just one large example in a long list of what I think are simple planning mistakes that have cost them money and me time and now my future clients. I’m not trying to be a Monday morning quarterback, but I will certainly use their failures and develop a much more efficient system.

When it comes to builders, I found there are really 2 types out there…spec built homes in cookie-cutter neighborhoods and giant, custom, McMansions that cost entirely too much money. In looking for my own home, I noticed that there is very little out there to get exactly what you want on a decent, affordable budget. Everyone wanted to tell me that it’s because supplies are so high. While that may be true, that isn’t the only problem. The biggest problem with builders and construction that I have found is a lack of creativity. Finding creative solutions to getting the client exactly what they want on any budget is the type of business that I want to run! And those are the types of people I choose to do business with. I do not want to hear what the problem is, but what a solution to the problem is.

What do you wish for in a new home??

What do you wish for in a new home? I love working with buyers to find exactly what they want. Sometimes what they think they want changes as we look. Pictures in this market are VERY deceiving. In my opinion almost negligibly so. With the use of wide angle lenses, digital rendering and Photoshop, you should ALWAYS go look at a property first. This making an offer before the property is available to view, or offers as sight unseen, is crap! As a listing agent, I rarely every accept those offers. (1) they have really low Due Diligence fees, and (2) they don’t seem to get as much as expected from the sale. My suggestion to buyers is always wish big and be patient. I am in the business of solving problems, not really selling real estate.

As simple as my wishes were for a new house, it has been a struggle. We had to move the location so knock off #5 (Well, we didn’t really HAVE to, but someone – or some hubby – didn’t want “spend anymore money”). There aren’t as many closets as I would like (so I’m adding more once we move in – watch for the pantry build). But we finally have walls and windows and stairs and a roof! We still have a long way to go, but it’s beginning to feel real. Ever experience something that you wished for for so long and it doesn’t seem real, or it seems surreal, like an out-of-body experience. If not, maybe you’re not wishing big enough???

The Importance of Support

I would probably classify myself as a loner. I have a group of great friends that group chat all the time and get together at least once a month. I have children, so sometimes being alone is impossible, but they are older now and more independent so they need my help and constant attention less and less, well…sort of. My intention for a life partner has also morphed into this you-live-your-life-and-I-live-mine atmosphere that once or twice a week/month we get to bring it together, but it has to be planned and intentional. COVID may have exacerbated some of this. We want to spend less time with the people we were stuck with for 18 months and more time with those we missed. And I had completely planned for my professional life to take the loner route, as well. But something changed in the last four years that maybe was COVID-related, but maybe more “you have a teacher heart” related.

I went into real estate with the intention of it being a lonely profession or at least a family business. But, like literally everything else in my life, the universe had a different plan. I recently discovered that one of the things I enjoy most about this business is how I get to HELP other people. (That’s been my word of the year for two years now!) I thoroughly enjoy helping clients achieve their goals. Maybe its a house in the boonies with land for animals, or a condo in the city so they can walk to everything, or a rental to keep them safe until they can buy. Whatever! Literally! When I do my job from a heart of service, I get the most from my success. Recently, that has really extended into helping other real estate agents as well.

I really enjoy what I do. And it DOES lead to Super Happy Clients!

This business doesn’t have to be cut throat. It isn’t a competition to make more money than my fellow agent. I don’t have any secrets to doing business that I want to keep away from everyone else. In my opinion, there isn’t even a “magic bullet” in real estate that creates success. It is all about the WORK. Put in the TIME, follow a GUIDE, and find HELP! How much TIME…that’s up to you. What GUIDE….that depends on you. Where do you find HELP…it is literally everywhere. The help I found came from my firm, Giving Tree Realty. Not because they have a magic formula that breeds million dollar sales, but because they have a collective atmosphere of support, guidance, and hard work mixed with a few examples of what not to do and guided by a moral compass to put all of it into perspective. It’s not just a recruiting tool to say that we have a family atmosphere and a giving spirit. It is literally at the core of our system. The moral compass is what has fueled my success in business, but more so in my life and mind. I’m not selling 30 million a year, but I’m making more money than I ever have, and I still have time to run a farm and make dinner for my family.

REALTORs are different from Real Estate Agents. This label means certain certifications, memberships, and training. Many agents choose to not go that extra mile, because of the fees. We are guided by ethical standards, required to maintain continuing education credits, and regulated by a Commission. This symbol means the highest level of professional in this business.

Humans are social creatures. We do not thrive on our own. We can survive and even succeed, but we reach our highest potential when we have a community of support lifting us up. That is one of the reasons I think it is imperative that buyers and sellers be represented by a licensed agent, even better a Realtor. There is so much you do not know in this crazy market! You spend your days in whatever your world consists of. I spend my days reading, researching, and reacting to the ever-changing real estate market. I like to compare it to going to court for a life sentence without an attorney. Who would do that?! You need and deserve representation when your life hangs in the balance, and, on a purchase that controls the next 30 years of your life, it does! And, like an attorney, you get what you pay for! If you are selling your house and choose “the cheapest” Realtor, you will get “the worst” deal, one way or another. Feel free to ask me for examples! I. Have. Thousands.

If you choose “the cheapest” Realtor, you will get “the worst” deal.

This value of support had led me to want to create my own “Team”. I put it in quotes because the traditional definition of a real estate team is a group of agents with an abundance of leads, or at least that’s what I was told. That is not mine! I want to create a place where agents with like minded goals can get the true, honest, and helpful support to THRIVE in their business (and life, since we don’t live in a vacuum). I’ve been working through what that looks like and have a great plan, so now I just need to put it in reality. It starts with philosophy. It’s not about making the most money in the Lake Norman area, it’s about helping the most people. That looks very different for every agent, client, and person that will cross our path, but that is the point. They will ALL get what I call concierge level service. Literally, the highest level of service possible. And it will happen, not because they do or do not deserve it, but simply because they are here.

Real Estate as a career has been life changing for me. I knew it would be. There are a million predictors out there about what will happen this year in the market. At the end of the day, no one really knows. I’m going to keep following my moral compass and see where the year shakes out. I have the tools because of Giving Tree Realty. I’ll be over here putting in the WORK if anyone wants to join me!

A Return to “Normal”

Is it even possible??

I really dislike using that word…NORMAL. Could someone define that for me?? Does it mean a 9-5 job in an office? Two children and a white picket fence? The point is, normal is different for everyone. I hear people say all the time, “I just want a normal life.” Really, no ones life is normal. Humans have a way of making life work. We sure have been “making life work” for the last almost 2 years! As some major corporations are contemplating bringing workers back to the office in the new year, there is a lot to process, consider, and even plan. Maybe foremost on our mind is the fact that COVID is still around. We started quarantining and working from home because it existed, and it still does, so why would we consider going back to “normal”. The truth is it’s always going to exist. And variations of it have existed for years. We have got to get through some of the fear, use the knowledge that we have gained, and create an environment where people can be successful and thrive.

“If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be.”

Maya Angelou

Set Boundaries – What are you and the people you live with comfortable with? At this point we have all reached a limit. We know by now what we are comfortable with and what we are not. Some of us are comfortable wearing masks everywhere and all the time. Some of us prefer to stay away from people. I find myself being a mixture. I see the importance of live meetings, but understand the risk and apprehension involved. I find myself keeping live stuff to really important things that can’t be done any other way while trying to scale back on the random times out in public or in a crowd. We need to not only set the boundaries for ourselves and our families, but we need to feel comfortable communicating them. It cannot be an atmosphere where people feel afraid of doing what makes them comfortable. At least not yet. This will be a time to test the waters and see where we can go from here. Collaboration is important for many businesses and school is imperative for kids. We have to find a common ground.

Getting Healthy doesn’t mean loosing weight.

Get Healthy – I really wish we could have some serious conversations about how food is medicine. I’m not saying you won’t get COVID or you can cure it with the right diet, but it does make your immune system stronger to fight the virus, and any other illnesses that might come our way. Start with leafy-green vegetables. This is the #1 best source for anti-oxidants that can boost immunity and fight off free radicals. Berries make great warriors too. Try adding a smoothie to your day, whether just for breakfast or an afternoon boost instead of coffee. What if you added a salad to your day? Salads are easy to pack as to-go lunches. The toppings and dressing may not make them “low- fat”, but the bed of greens you add stuff to can make it a health punch! Staying healthy may mean vaccine, maybe that means vitamins, maybe that means loose weight. This is a great time to do double duty on the healthy trip and keep your body fighting germs.

My new favorite smoothie recipe: 4 oz V8 Carrot Ginger, 4 oz vanilla almond milk, 6-8 mango chunks, 1 tsp. turmeric…blend and enjoy!

Stay Flexible – Things are definitely going to change. We are going to see times where schools go to remote learning or events that get turned into Zoom calls. It is important to keep that in your mind. It may mean that we still need an at-home learning space for the kids or private office space for Zoom meetings. When the teenager is late for school and my entire schedule gets turned upside down, I get super frustrated! I’ve learned this year to prepare a little flexibility into my schedule. Mentally decide which activities can be moved around and which cannot. The mental exercise of rearranging my schedule is a little calming in itself. We are still being asked to do things a little out of the normal, so mixing that with what used to be normal may take a little mental exercise.

The Real Estate industry didn’t really slow down pre-post-or during the pandemic. We made changes on the fly. And we are keeping most of those…masks are required to see houses, no overlapping appointments, trainings are still virtual or at least have a virtual option. But business is kicking right along! People want to move! Inventory is still super needed with about 5 buyers to every seller. Interest rates are still low enough to save you some money on a monthly payment from pre-pandemic rates. And sellers are still able to get top dollar for their home at a rate of about 19% over pre-pandemic values. We are also beginning to have conversations of dealing with an influx of foreclosures or bank owned properties. I am very interested to see how that whole market levels out and have done some training and preparation to deal with those opportunities.

I am looking forward to a great 2022! Yes, I am a glass-half-full person. Positive energy into the atmosphere will send me positive energy back. That is what I believe. My word for the year is still HELP, same as last year, because I think there are so many more people that will need my HELP in 2022. Whatever your outlook for the year, Good Luck and don’t be Normal!

Happy Fall Y’all!

It is my favorite time of year!!! Maybe because it’s my birthday season! Maybe because it’s Halloween and “witches” are finally cool! But this year I decided to explore a little deeper into why I love this season so much. Have you ever felt a real connection to the Earth? I think I do more in the fall. It’s like the energy, colors, harvest and celebration make me a more productive human, a better person, even a better Real Estate Agent.

Favorite Time of Year

THE COLORS:When I was a kid, my mother did this color matching thing that helped you understand what type of colors worked well for your skin tone and personality. We were all definitely “Warm” color palettes! And those are all the colors of Fall. What I realized is that those deep dark colors of the leaves as they change is that fall really matches my personality too. I enjoy a full-bodied life. The things I consume are that way as well. Food is heavy with flavor, drinks are full of tannins or malts, books have rich and deep stories. After a visit last year to Colorado, I saw the difference in the green mountains of North Carolina that I love so much from the Rockies in the west, but that doesn’t even begin to compare to the beauty that happens when those greens turn to gold and burgundy and orange. It literally does something to my soul. The change is a powerful miracle that I’m not even sure of the scientific specifics, though I’ve heard it and taught it to my children so many times. That change gives me hope, because after all the humans mimic what happens to the Earth, since we are nothing more than Earth ourselves. If the Earth can go through such drastic changes to create so much immense beauty, so can we.

THE ENERGY: I feel a different energy in the air. Maybe it’s created by the pull of the Earth away from the sun. Maybe it’s created by the cool temperatures. It could even be the lack of humidity in the air after a summer of thickness. All of those things seem to make it easier to do things. It gives me energy to work harder and longer. I even see it in the animals on the farm. The horses always get a little more frisky this time of year. Our old guy Tyson, who you can’t get to run in the summer, will just take off in these months. I don’t work horses very much in the summer because the heat is too much, in my opinion, but once the temps begin to cool, we are back in the arena putting on some muscle mass. The boys here have gained a few pounds on all that summer grass. Now it’s time to turn that into muscle.

THE HARVEST: If you don’t go to the Farmer’s Market this time of year, you are really missing out! And if you don’t have a local one, find one to deliver! My favorite delivery is Misfit Market, but there are tons of local farms that will ship. My favorite thing to do is go to the local farmers market to meal plan for the week. Our last market find was homemade pasta. I really enjoyed building meals around the homemade tortilini, ravioli and gnocchi we found. Sometimes I can find bushels of older produce that I can take home and can for the winter. One day I will get back to my own harvest. The nights of shelling peas and snapping beans in front of the TV are not over for me. I dream of a pantry full of Ball jars with all kinds of concoctions. I will be apple picking in the next week. Then there will be a trip to pick pumpkins and gourds for processing and drying. In preparation for my garden next year I’m going to try to do a little seed banking this year! I’ve been reading about it in ancient cultures. The people who held the seeds in a village held the power! I don’t have a green thumb by any stretch, or any power for that matter, but I am sure going to try!

THE CELEBRATION: The beauty of it all is that it culminates in my absolutely favorite holiday…Thanksgiving! It is the only holiday that is truly, solely about food. My favorite day where I spend all day in the kitchen and all week prepping. It celebrates 3 of my favorite F words Food, Family, and Football. What could be better than eating with your favorite people and falling asleep in front of the game or starting your own outside in the cool air. I spend time making crafts and decorations and dessert (which I never make because I don’t measure things). When my native ancestors would gather from the fields and preserve and store and then give thanks…I fell connected to that, or at least I try to. And as I get older, I find the need to try a little harder every year to connect to that. It’s not trendy and people don’t understand why I do it. They say it’s “harder”. But how can something that your people have been doing for hundreds of years be harder than the basic, plastic stuff people try to do now?!

August was a busy month! I think the cooler temps will make the market even more active.

OH WHAT DOES THE MARKET DO?? And I don’t mean Farmer’s Market. Traditionaly Spring is the busiest time for Real Estate. People are looking to move through the summer and settle down for fall. But after the spring, and heck the last 18 months, we could all use a “settle down”. In the 4 years I’ve been in Real Estate, the Fall has been my favorite. I do think this year we will see a calming of sorts where people are actually able to get into the homes they want and maybe even have a selection of homes to look through. BUT, with the right tools and techniques, none of that really matters. Yes, I can likely get you the financing. Yes, I can find you a beautiful home in your budget. And Yes, the price you pay might be higher than what you would get it for in maybe 12 months…BUT the interest rate will be lower!!! Find yourself a mortgage calculator and do some quick math…$370K house at a 3.5% interest rate ($1675) vs. a $350K house at a 5% interest rate ($1840)…https://www.mortgagecalculator.org The rates are already starting to climb. There is some fear that the Fed will make some changes. I met with a lender this past week that has a program at $0 down, 3.5% for a 640 credit score that’s a conventional loan. Yes, Real Estate is about price. But sooooo much goes into that price. Fall is my favorite time to sell houses!!

I hope you enjoy all the cool temps, amazing food, and beautiful scenery!