southland log homes: What's Better Than One Log Home On A Lake??? - 06/14/10 03:21 PM
What's better than one log home by the lake? Give up?? The answer is easy... It's two or three or four log homes by the lake. For those who love log homes...trying to get one on the ground is a challenge...so building two or more seems nearly impossible and, more important, financially impossible.
I've got good news for you! The company I used to work for, Southland Log Homes, saw the need and started a sister company called Solid Wood Homes. They took their dry kilned logs and pre-stacked them into sections for an easier build and at a lower cost. … (2 comments)
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southland log homes: The Count Down is On--Old Fashioned Log Raising on April 3rd! - 03/30/10 03:36 PM
This is my maiden log home raising... I have lived in log homes...sold log homes...vacationed in log homes...but have yet to see a log home built. I have a feeling that maybe it's the same for you as well. Here's your chance to actually see a log home being built and to talk with folks that can help you realize your log home dream. It's Easter weekend...so why not take a drive to the "cowboy capital of Texas" on April 3rd and see just how it's done?
All you need to know...including an address to paste in Google maps...is below. And, … (0 comments)
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southland log homes: Old Fashioned Log Home Raising--April 3, 2010 - 03/26/10 10:41 AM
All you Texans Active Rainers... This is a repeat of an earlier blog and will continue to be until the day of the event. Just want to make sure you all know you are invited!
Back in the 17th and 18th century there was a practice called "barn raising" where a community would come together to build a barn for another neighbor. Those days are nearly gone except in some Amish communities...but Southland Log Homes has decided to resurrect it (somewhat) and offer the community an opportunity to see one of our log homes being built. Our Old Fashioned Log … (1 comments)
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southland log homes: Oh, for goodness sake...put the lid down! - 03/22/10 06:16 PM
I have spent much of the afternoon looking through listings on the MLS for my clients and have been shocked and (may I say ever so bluntly) HORRIFIED at how many pictures I saw of bathrooms with the lid up on the toilet. Okay...for many men, this is probably "no big deal"...but I actually saw one with the lid up and full of yellow pee. I know...I know...TMI...but yeeeeeeeeeeesh!
We are all professionals here...right? But...sometimes I think we get so excited about getting the listing and taking pictures...that we don't pause and look for things others may be seeing in the … (112 comments)
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southland log homes: Note to Self: Fire Your Client - 03/17/10 11:33 AM
I've been in real estate for nearly 18 years and you would think that by now I would know when it's time to give my client the pink slip...the boot...the see-ya-later-alligator...the ol heave ho...but, alas, I still hang on. There's always that nagging thought in the back of my head..."What if I boot these folks and then they finally decide to make the move? All that hard work...down the drain."
I have been dealing with two clients that have held me on the line for months. I have dropped everything and given up family time when they would call and just … (8 comments)
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southland log homes: Goombas Wanted--The Art of Setting Realistic Expectations - 03/11/10 12:15 PM
HELP WANTED AD: Do you laugh in the face of killer goombas? Call us. $80,000 a year plus a free house. A parent can dream can't she? Having a son that loves gaming (maybe not to THAT extent) and has an eye for animation...seeing this Farside cartoon made me laugh. It also made me think...how we as agents...maybe set an expectation for clients that not in the realm of reality.
There's not a day that goes by that I don't hear ads on the radio for "first-time home buyer" neighborhoods promising folks that they will never have to pay rent again … (4 comments)
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southland log homes: Log Blog--If Men Were Wrens - 03/10/10 10:52 AM
Last spring I noticed a wren feverishly pulling apart my coconut based hanging basket to make his own little nest in the bush around the corner from my home office near Bergheim, TX. It was fascinating to watch this little guy work. I looked forward to seeing him each morning and finally decided to take a look at his progress. Much to my surprise...the nest was complete...in tact...and ready to go...yet, no bird. Hmmm...wonder what happened?
The following day, I noticed Mr. Wren AGAIN tearing apart my coconut based hanging basket but flying a different direction. I thought..."Okay...I am going to find … (4 comments)
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southland log homes: Log Blog--Greeeeeeeen Acres is the Place to Be...Defining Ag Exemption - 03/02/10 05:11 PM
If you have a client that wants to live and buy the rural lifestyle it usually means you will be looking for land on the outskirts of town at best. For those agents who normally sell in the city, understanding the ag exemption can be a benefit and huge savings to your client. Living in the city means paying city taxes and can add, in some areas, almost another house payment on top of the principal and interest payment of the home. In Texas cities...you can expect to pay a 2-3.5% tax rate. For some folks that can literally price them out of … (3 comments)
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southland log homes: Yawn...I wonder who's blogging on Active Rain at 3:20 a.m.????......... - 02/28/10 03:51 AM
I woke up with a sinus headache about two and half hours ago...played Bejeweled Blitz on facebook until my meds kicked in and then thought...hmm...wonder if anyone blogs at 3:20 a.m.... I checked the blog tab and most blogs posted were out of California...seems understandable. There may be a few night owls blogging out west. But right now...it looks like I am the only one here. It's like going into a huge auditorium that seats (now) 174,817 people and hearing your voice echo when you say, "Hello??? Anyone home?"
I did think of a couple advantages of blogging at this hour...
1. Okay...so … (6 comments)
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southland log homes: Who needs plastic surgery when you could have this...??? - 02/26/10 09:56 AM
I have never been good at making decisions when faced with a bazillion choices... I'm like a kid in a candy shop. Coming from a poor family...when we did get to choose "just one" piece of candy from a case filled with every imaginable type of candy...it would send my head swimming. Recently, when confronted with the dilemma that my business card picture might not be right for every situation, I had to quickly find a photographer to do a professional head shot.
I opened up the Yellow Pages and within seconds was glazed over with all the choices. Crum...what was … (6 comments)
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southland log homes: Does this outfit make my *ss look big??? - 02/23/10 10:17 AM
I must be a prophet of sorts in that many of my blogs tend to come back and bite in the butt... I recently wrote a blog on the importance of a good picture for our business cards and collateral. The main points of my blog were making sure our pictures were up-to-date, clear, and well...not "scarey". I have seen great business card photos and some real doozies.
"So, Claire...how then is this biting you in the patootie?" you may ask.
Well, I listed my sisters home just recently in a very nice gated subdivision in San Antonio. Being that my … (6 comments)
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southland log homes: Log Blog--Doink! Doink! Doink!...Are you listening??? - 02/22/10 10:50 AM
I love HGTV's, "House Hunters", and just about every real estate show they have on their network. Not sure if it's a sickness or a passion for what I do. In any event, I got to watch a show where an agent was working with a client who had to sell her three bedroom home and move into a two bedroom apartment...obviously a tight squeeze. They cut to the "buyer" who described everything she wanted in her new home...open floor plan, not cookie cutter, big kitchen, manageable yard and close to work. She lit up as she talked about her old home and all … (5 comments)
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southland log homes: Active Rain--Just a little "fruity"... - 02/15/10 05:19 PM
You know you are addicted to Active Rain when you lie awake at night thinking about your next subject to write about... Don't ask me why...but for some reason I started to think about those crazy words you have to "re-write" in the little box below the comment box which is directly below someones blog... I have been collecting them over the past few months thinking there would be a day that I would have enough to write about them. You know words like:
rambutan, abaca, bacae, bakuri, belimbing, carabola, cimarrona, ciku, dasheen, feijoa, harendog, ketembilla lovi-lovi, pummelo makrut mahgusteen, sesnania, shadblow, sorb, … (4 comments)
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southland log homes: Log Blog--Red on Valentine's Day...Sweet--Red on Fridays...Support - 02/13/10 12:57 PM
One of my favorite places to stop on my way back from visiting my kids in Austin is in Johnson City, TX...Whittington's Jerky. It has become a tourist destination over the past ten years...but I love it for the amazing jerky and great salsa's, canned goods, and gifts you can find in their store. I am on their mailing list to keep up with what's happening in the Hill Country...but also because I love their web site in general. It's one of the best I have seen. Their site, obviously, has you there so you will buy their jerky...but it's … (1 comments)
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southland log homes: Log Blog--Hell-oooooooooooooo...what I DON'T want for Valentine's Day. - 02/12/10 01:50 PM
This is a re-blog of my own blog... It may be a little self serving in that I would love to hear from the men on Active Rain what they would like for Valentine's Day... Could ya help a girl out?
Here's the blog:
Oh my gosh...if I hear one more talk show radio host tell their male listeners what they should get their "honey" for Valentine's Day...I may just puke. I rarely call into those shows...but when I heard a local talk show host tell the audience that there's nothing a woman wants more than having her carpet's … (2 comments)
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southland log homes: Log Blog--Hell-oooooooooooooo...what I DON'T want for Valentine's Day. - 02/12/10 11:00 AM
Oh my gosh...if I hear one more talk show radio host tell their male listeners what they should get their "honey" for Valentine's Day...I may just puke. I rarely call into those shows...but when I heard a local talk show host tell the audience that there's nothing a woman wants more than having her carpet's cleaned for Valentine's Day, I about lost it. Seriously??? For Valentine's Day??? (Wait a minute...let me think about that... Now if you had Jimmy Smits coming to clean my carpets...hmmm. Never mind...) I know I might get chastised for this....but that idea is right up there with … (6 comments)
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southland log homes: Log Blog--Please, oh, please...Give me a snow day! - 02/09/10 10:31 AM
My husband wakes me up every morning around 5 a.m...just before he heads out the door for his job at the radio station. I usually turn on the radio to get the latest news and lay there with my covers up to my nose contemplating how cold it's gonna be moving from my bed to the the bathroom. This morning, as I laid there shivering under my covers, I heard about how Washington, D.C. and other parts of the country were in for yet another "snow day".
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh...snow days. I remember that... I grew up in the Midwest and remember many … (1 comments)
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southland log homes: Log Blog--Mutton Bustin at the San Antonio Rodeo! - 02/08/10 06:25 PM
I have already told my grown kids that once they have kids of their own that one of them is going to do some Mutton Bustin at the rodeo. All three have rolled their eyes at me when I declared my intentions...especially since not a one of them is dating...but, I digress.
I am a cowgirl at heart...a wannabe...so going to the rodeo is my outlet and a chance for me to at least be a spectator of all my childhood dreams. Last year I saw Mutton Bustin for the first time...and, honestly, I fell in love with the whole … (2 comments)
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southland log homes: Log Blog--Once you've stacked...it's hard to go back. - 02/08/10 03:23 PM
I owned a beautiful log home just outside of Liberty Hill, TX before I moved here two years ago. I can't think of a soul who didn't like that home...especially me. After I loaded the last box onto the truck...I sat on the porch overwhelmed with all the same feelings I felt on the last day of camp. The adventure was over...and I was leaving behind a home that had the ability to take away every bit of stress I felt the moment I walked in the door. Even so...I had found true love and was promised we would build … (2 comments)
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southland log homes: Log Blog-O'Briens--Worth the Drive. - 02/08/10 12:01 PM
There's not much in Bergheim...or at least in what most think Bergheim is. I legally live in Boerne, TX...but am closer to what most refer as Bergheim. And...when I refer to Bergheim...I am thinking of the corner of Highway 46 and 3351. Not much there...a Valero station, Taquitos, a hair salon, Bergheim Cellars, the Bergheim General Store...and of course, O'Briens.
My first exposure to O'Briens was one of my first dates with my now husband, Larry. We were looking for homes for me to rent when we decided to take a break and go eat. I was immediately charmed by … (2 comments)
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