Real estate and other stuff

My husband's brother lives in Sydney and took this photo on his way to work this morning. He said he got up too late to see the full effect of the sunrise, but I thought this photo of the shoreline was amazing.

Sydney is undergoing a severe dust storm from winds blowing from the interior of the continent. Transportation was virtually shut down because of poor visibility; flights were diverted and even ferry traffic was halted. The pollution level is off the charts, too. Dust storms rarely reach the coast, but this one is being called the worst one since the 1940s. 

I just hope Tom will wear a mask when he goes back outside.

That post I wrote earlier today, about the rain hopefully ending the drought in south Texas? Possibly going to be part of a series?

Well, a few minutes ago, I sashayed through my sunroom to look out in the yard and watch the downpour and I heard a strange "plink." I whirled around and saw a puddle of water on the table. There's not supposed to be a puddle of water on the table.

My roof is leaking! Aargh!

And this just two sunny days after my rental property had a horrible broken pipe upstairs that sent water cascading all over the hall and down into the kitchen and living room. My carpet cleaning guy took some fans over and is trying to dry it out, and I asked the tenants to turn down the A/C to dehumidify the house. Torrential rains don't help. I thought about that this morning when I heard it start. 

I was willing to overlook that, though, but my roof leaking? No way!--I have HAD it with this rain!

Trite, but true! The weather in Texas doesn't do anything by halves. It suddenly started raining again early this morning, and has been raining pretty heavily for the last couple of hours. The forecast calls for more showers for the next few days. Hurrah! I never thought I'd be so happy to see rain, after 6 years in England.

We still need lots of rain to recharge the Edwards Aquifer and dispell the drought. Here is what the drought monitor map looks like after the San Antonio area averaged 5.5 inches of rain earlier this month.

Compare it to August 25's map, showing the worst of it. This is when temperatures averaged 105, too. The forecast demurely says the temperature today will be "not as warm."

Where I live, in Guadalupe County northeast of San Antonio, we tend to get more rain than Bexar County. This is because it's on the east side of the fault line that is the eastern boundary of the Hill Country from San Antonio to Austin. More on that in a future post.

The biggest drawback to the welcome rain will be the flash floods that typically occur here because of the combination of heavy downpours that quickly saturate limestone/clay soils. And of course, the inevitable car wrecks from people driving as if it were dry and sunny.

As I write this, the sun is coming out and it is starting to steam outside. But we are making progress!

My husband's friend Andrea came to visit us from Italy recently. We went down to the River Walk one afternoon, as everyone should do, and after walking around for a while, we got thirsty and stopped for a drink at one of the many restaurants.

Andrea was amazed at the Texas-sized serving of beer he received.

Martin's cocktail was not too shabby either (although I don't remember what it was).

You don't need an excuse to celebrate on the River Walk. People there are already in a great mood, and the generous size of the drinks may be just one reason why!

Some recent posts:

Are you dissatisfied with your weight? Well, here are some great tips for you!

Mesquite should not be a bad word in Texas

Who gets to choose the title company? The seller? The buyer? OMG, the agent?!

I never thought I'd call a mosquito THIS, but ...

Everything is bigger in Texas, but not as big as it used to be

Bad MLS photos! Photos of homes still for sale in San Antonio and Corpus Christi, Texas

Speechless Sunday: a relaxing one

Do we look like we're having fun?

I think this is a ridiculously clever idea. Zoey the Cool Cat agrees, and she wanted Kitty and Miles to know about it.

Tell your pet about it too!

Miles the cat ignores the hummingbirds, wasps, and bees that congregate around the covered patio, but he is always on the lookout for lizards. They hang out on the deck outside the sunroom, and there was probably one near the clematis when I took this photo of it. Or maybe there wasn't. Miles also has a vivid imagination.

Are you still too thin, even after trying hard not to diet? You might be ignoring some of the triggers that make you want to eat fattening foods.

Here are some tips for you to gain weight fast. They are based on the latest research:

- Don't eat any protein! Especially avoid fish and eggs, which have too much protein and will just slow down your digestion.

- Don't eat any fiber! Tasteless fiber also slows down digestion and prevents exciting spikes in your blood sugar. Force yourself to eat only spongy white stuff: white rice, biscuits, white bread, and pasta alla gumma.

- Don't be tempted to up the flavor of your food up with anything either, such as spices or olive oil; that will only make you feel full sooner.

- Serve your meals in huge platters right at the table, not the stove. Put it on huge plates, too. If you use small plates, the portions look larger. It wouldn't be nice to fool your brain into thinking you're eating more than you really are.

- Stay up late, and don't sleep in. Getting enough sleep won't make you crave calories. An easy rule of thumb to remember is five hours of sleep a night yields five more pounds of weight.

- Don't mix high- and low-calorie foods. If you're going to eat potato chips, have them with Cheez Whiz instead of dipping them in yogurt along with celery, zucchini, or carrot sticks. They obviously don't go together!

A study in white, the color of the foods you should eat

My tips were taken from an article I read about an interview of Susan B. Roberts, PhD, a senior scientist and professor of nutrition and psychiatry at Tufts University. But they should still work.

One of my clients gave me a great tip today for Texas drivers, especially those who don't belong to an auto club, such as AAA or Allstate.

The state of Texas has a free courtesy patrol for highways in and near major cities. They can help you change a flat, provide fuel, help start your car, or call a tow truck. It is a public service paid for by tax dollars. A trooper or deputy will come to check on you if the courtesy patrol truck can't get there.

The toll-free number is listed on the back of your Texas driver license, just above the bar code. In case you can't read the extremely tiny print, or if you have a license from another state, the number is 800-525-5555.

It's worth putting it into your cellphone.

Some recent posts:

Mesquite should not be a bad word in Texas

Who gets to choose the title company? The seller? The buyer? OMG, the agent?!

I never thought I'd call a mosquito THIS, but ...

Everything is bigger in Texas, but not as big as it used to be

Bad MLS photos! Photos of homes still for sale in San Antonio and Corpus Christi, Texas

Speechless Sunday: a relaxing one

Do we look like we're having fun?

Lenn has another good reason the government should not extend the first time home buyers tax credit. Please think it over before you obey the NAR's command to lobby your Congress person about this short-sighted and self-serving idea.

I originally posted this last November and got lots of thoughtful, and hilarious, comments in response. One of my favorite things about ActiveRain is having the chance to connect with other people in the industry and comparing our experiences. Everybody has a different point of view and story to tell. I love it!

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Blue carpet is the kiss of death: why houses sit there and don't sell (check it out to read the comments)

Real estate is local, of course, and I have noticed certain things over the years that make a house stubbornly cling to its sellers instead of taking in new owners. At least in my area, and maybe in others, these issues can cause the house to take longer to sell.

One of them is blue carpet, as per my soon-to-be trademarked slogan in the title of this post. Emerald-green carpet isn't great, but it's not as bad as blue. (Below is an actual photo from the MLS.)

Another thing that keeps houses from selling is bad feng shui that comes from having the stairs start right in front of the front door and continue straight up to the second floor. My Asian clients often comment on this.

The stair thing isn't too much of a problem for one-story houses. But they, like two-stories, can be affected by bad chi, which happens when the house is located where a street comes to a T-intersection in front. I think that the chi rushes up the street and blows right into, through, or against the house. Houses directly at the end of cul-de-sacs are affected, too.

Home buyers don't like puzzling rooms, either. I showed a vacant house recently in which the garage had been partly converted to a room. There was still a garage-type door to the room in the hallway, and another garage door at the other end of the room into the garage. There were no windows. There was a cedar-lined walk-in closet. The floor had the same new carpet as the rest of the house. There were 8 large fluorescent light fixtures on the ceiling. And all around the room at about 3 feet apart and 3 feet off the floor, there were electrical outlets. They were in the closet, too.

What was up with that room?! It would make a perfectly good game room or media room, once the fluorescent lights were replaced and a new door installed, and it wouldn't cost much. But I think that room may have too many strange little quirks for buyers to be able to imagine the possibilities. 

What strange things have you discovered that keep a house from selling?