Architectural Corner: Spanish Colonial
From Florida to California and throughout the southwestern states, Spanish Colonial homes date all the way back to the 1600’s when Spanish settlers began building their homes in North America.
Characterized by red clay tile roof, thick, white stucco walls, relatively few, smaller windows, and exposed wood support beams, they were designed around hot climates and to maintain coolness inside. Courtyards are also common, long ago used for cooking. Decorations were usually somewhat minimalist. Earlier homes were not well-suited for cold, humidity, and could swell if exposed to too much water, causing the stucco to fall apart.
Spanish Colonials are very popular in newer construction homes now that the technology has allowed for better stucco and central heat, although many builders (like Clifford Hutsell in the early 1900s) abandoned stucco for brick.
Real Estate 2022: Your Agent Matters
For those of you who’ve been reading my newsletters for awhile, you know behind the tongue-in-cheek self-aggrandizement I try to provide you with genuine value, writing what I hope to be useful information and not just cut-and-paste Realtor marketing. That said, in the wild-and-crazy market of 2022, your Realtor matters, and can be the difference between buying/selling and not.
There have been sellers markets during which you could just stick a sign in your yard and wait for offers to roll in; in all markets you can approach a seller or their Realtor and submit an offer without a Realtor of your own. It’s worth repeating that I tip my hat to anyone who is able to represent themselves buying and selling, and does so to save money and not just to satisfy their ego. Unfortunately this market is different. One of the reasons you hire a Realtor is to understand norms, and by that I don’t mean which boxes to check or what to fill in on the contract. You also need to know to the velocity of the market and from the perspective of people who experience the market every day.
Regarding sellers, an enormous part of my job now is not just orchestrating marketing, compiling offers and negotiating the best terms, but to find which buyer has the best chance of showing up to closing. Sounds ridiculous, but when a seller signs a contract it’s almost like a blood-pact. It has precious few outs and no easy fixes if the buyer doesn’t perform. Buyers remorse is at an all-time high and they are more squirrelly than I’ve ever seen them. If you get left at the closing table it could cost you thousands and demolish your immediate plans.
For buyers, if you’re making a move on on a hot property with a seasoned agent who understands the market, you’re at least the running. If you don’t have an agent who knows what it takes to be competitive – like a relative who’s “trying real estate” or “sells a couple houses a year”, you’re facing an almost impossible battle. If you’re being “savvy” and representing yourself, unless you have an angle you don’t stand a chance.
Work with a full-time, full-service agent who can competently represent you.
Vague Specifics – April 2022
The madness continues.
It’s a weird time to be a Realtor, and I know I’ll look back on this in 10 years and shake my head that I would complain at such a market. Sales prices are skyrocketing. Sellers are laughing their ways to the bank, buyers are crying tears of joy at the closing table, and the commission checks are certainly cashing. “But John, you dashing yet mysterious champion,” I hear you ask, “Why are you complaining about being a Realtor during the best market in the North Texas’ history?” Well, dear reader, it’s because I’m from Dallas and remember a time when we were among the most undervalued markets in America. Although it took several years for people to realize the return on investment of buying a home, they were usually house-rich and not having to scrape the top of their means to find a good home. Now it’s as if a trap has been laid, with rapidly-appreciating prices as the spring and interest rates as the pressure plate. Rates have gone from under 4% to 5.65% in the last 4 months and will continue to climb. As they do, it will make housing less-and-less affordable until someday the average young person or couple will no longer be able to afford a house inside the 635 loop.
What is fueling this rapid appreciation? As I’ve said before, basic supply-and-demand economics. If tens of thousands of people fleeing California and the west coast is the wood, Covid and supply shortages are gasoline. We’re more than 2-years behind on new construction inventory, causing more demand to be placed on pre-owned homes. However, there is a bit of hope on the horizon with a slight uptick in new single-family inventory compared to March 2021. This might be an anomaly, but hopefully it’s a sign that supply is going to start catching up ever so slightly.
To put interest rates in perspective, the average interest rate going back through the 20th century is right at 8%. It’s hard to complain knowing that about 4.65 or even 5%, but considering what we’ve been used to, buyers are certainly feeling the monthly payment sticker shock.
Vague Specifics – March 2022
I attend a networking meeting every Thursday at a local café. Great group. On the 24th I made my 30-second speech on the expectations some have that the Dallas market is going to “adjust”, and that they’re waiting on that before they buy real estate. I’ve heard people talk about this since 2016, and I’m sorry to say it’s not going to happen, at least barring something so catastrophic that the real estate market is going to be the least of our worries. I remember thinking Covid would crash the market, and it only served to antagonize the high demand with lower inventory. The people who waited to “time the market”, now have to worry about climbing interest rates in addition to that low inventory. It’s difficult to wrap our heads around real estate prices these days because for so long DFW was ridiculously affordable compared to other major metropolitan areas. Unfortunately we’re now victims of our own economic success, and having such a broadly-diversified job market like we do virtually guarantees more and more people moving here the next 20+ years. Frankly I hate it, and as much as I love making people money I hate people are being priced out of neighborhoods.
It’s great to finally be beyond mandates and lockdowns, and I’m pleased to announce my first Spring Client Appreciation Party since 2019. Hopefully the weather will behave, there are only so many people our house can fit. Look for an invitation if you’re a client, former client or referral source.
Lastly I hope you have a wonderful spring. We only get a month or so of perfect weather before the temperature soars, let’s make the best of it.
MLS Statistics – March 2022
I know it’s February, and difficult to imagine the blazing summer that’s only a few months away. It was a comparatively cold winter, and looking in at my back yard, it’s hard to imagine it will soon be a lush, green field of St. Augustine.
There are 3 keys to a good lawn: proper fertilizing, mowing, and regular irrigation.
It all starts with good fertilizing. Calloway.com suggests to fertilize in early March, and do so every 8-10 weeks (bearing in mind they have fertilized they want to sell you). I’ve learned twice a year is fine – once in March, once in October. Depending on what type of grass you have, there are different fertilizers. If you’re really interested in finding the right fertilizer, visit www.soiltesting.tamu.edu.
Mowing is not only critical in keeping your neighbors off your back and the city from writing you tickets, it causes grass to spread laterally. More coverage means fewer weeds. Mowing on a regular basis – weekly or every other week – is very important as well.
Irrigation (also called watering) is of obvious importance. One inch per week during the spring, 2 inches per week during the summer, one inch in the fall, and 1/2 inch in the winter. Just because it’s cold outside doesn’t mean your yard doesn’t need water.
Weeds are another matter. There are two types of weed killers: pre-emergent and post-emergent. Spring is time for treating pre-emergent weeds, and make sure the fertilizer you use treats for regional weeds. They will appear throughout the summer, there’s no way around that, but using a pre-emergent weed killer is more than an ounce of prevention in the war on weeds.
https://johnangellrealestate.paragonrealtors.com/2022/02/24/331289/
Vague Specifics – February 2022
For the first time in a couple of years, the economic forecast is showing genuinely troubling signs. We have long been due for a Wall Street adjustment; the inevitable adjustment has been propped up for quite a few years by deficit spending and cheap money. With inflation rising, the Fed has had to raise rates pretty dramatically, leading to a full-point spike in interest rates for a 30-year fixed mortgage. In context, that puts rates right around 4%, which is still obscenely low. I remember when I was a kid, auto dealerships offered 19.9% financing. A $400k house on a 30-year note at 4% is roughly $1,800/mo (minus taxes and insurance). On 20% it’s more like $5,600. Yeesh.
“But John, you omniscient seer,” I hear you ask, “is the DFW market faced with a correction?”. Well, dear reader, no, Unless the laws of supply-and-demand economics are turned upside down. Tens of thousands of refugees from California continue to wash up on our fertile shores, with nary the clothes on their backs and $4,000,000 in their bank accounts after selling their shanties in Malibu. We’re also seeing an incredibly high number of first-generation Americans enter the metroplex. I had 30 offers on a listing just outside Allen, 27 of them were from either Indian, Asian or Persian-Americans. I heard a great many stories about parents wanting to buy a piece of property for their children, I wish I could have sold all of them acreage.
As of my writing this, I’m staring out the window at a frozen wasteland. Temperatures stand at 25 degrees, traffic is at a minimum. God, I miss the days of minimal traffic. If there’s one thing that really frustrates me about Dallas’ growth, it’s the traffic. It’s high-time we hit the age of flying cars.
Architectural Corner – The Cave
The cave has to be the oldest form of shelter in human history, and from a scientific perspective it’s actually a pretty good dwelling!
Caves are either naturally occurring or man-made. Given their temperature is regulated by the planet, caves tend to stay warm in the winter and cool in the summer. They save up to 80% on climate control costs. Their materials (rocks, stones & dirt) are surprisingly good with sound insulation, and many caves have underground water sources. Also, caves with only one entrance offer enhanced security. On the negative side, it’s a cave. Typically what you see is what you get, and unless you have a second exit, you’re pretty much doomed if there’s a cave-in or intruder entering.
(Thanks to Kim Nguyen for suggesting this time-tested yet oft-overlooked dwelling.)
Architectural Corner: The Chateau
The word Chateau is old French from the Latin castellum, or castle. In France, they’re the equivalent of the large plantation or ranch houses in America, and are symbol of wealth and opulence.
After spending much of the 1850’s in France, architect Richard Morris Hunt is widely credited with introducing upper class Americans to this lavish, elaborate style. Chateau-style is one of the most elaborate styles of home, with towers and spires, steeply-itched roofs, ornamented windows and doors, tall, elaborate chimneys and dormers, and are typically of stone or masonry construction.
Chateau-style is also one of the styles that is frequently employed with describing new construction properties in North Texas, although the architectural adherence of some can be questioned. But it does sound fancy, making it easier to justify ridiculous prices.