Water is one reason. Water? Yes, water. When one lives in an area or works that area they learn about the area. They have connections in the area. They know the ins and outs of the area. They know the history. How important is history? The following story answers that.
One of my goals as an agent is to have my clients make an informed decision. And it has to be their decision. It is their money, their future home, their long term wants and needs that must govern.
Sometimes I feel that I give them too much information. Information has to be swallowed in small chunks for one to remember it. As we look I want them to know the facts and make their own decisions. And if I don't know it is not a problem to say "I don't know. But we can research some more."
As an agent we have to make sure we abide by fair housing laws so sometimes we walk a fine line as to what is information that can be given versus what is considered stating something that might violate a fair housing law. When a client asks something like is a neighborhood safe, the prudent thing to do is to direct them where to do the research. What is safe to one person may not be safe to another. So with questions it is always good to direct them to things like the crime blotter, the state water board, the state rules on a particular item or even the county rules.
There are many different factors that come into play as you show homes in a rural setting. While cities may differ from subdivision to subdivision and those can be important factors also, rural subdivisions have more than those type of differences. We do not have a central water system, trash pickup, sewer, or fire department.
Those type of things are best understood at a local level but may be governed at the local level and others are governed by the state or federal level. One example is agricultural exemptions in Texas. The state determines the general rules and each county apply those general rules into specific guidelines for their county. And it can vary greatly. And not all things apply to every buyer or seller.
Texas is a diverse state and part of the way ag exemptions are determined is by what the land supports and the intent of the person to run it as a business and make a profit. Many people will tell you it takes 5 acres to support a cow whereas my dad who is a rancher in this area says here the true figure here is probably 10 acres per cow. The requirement for an ag exemption here is 10 acres and in a neighborhing county it is 30 acres. A lot of that is governed by the county and its characteristics.
But when does your responsibility to your clients come into play. When it is something that they need to know to make an informed decision. So I want to tell you a story about our area and the reason I think everyone needs a local agent to represent them.
So the water story. There is a subdivision in this area in which I prefer not to sell. I have shown in it in the long ago past but none of my clients chose a home in that subdivision. And I am glad. Around 2010 this very large rural subdivision started to have water issues. Being rural the developer chose to install 3 community water wells when it was first developed. The subdivision was started as a golf community and did not fare well with the new homes being built. So after about 12 years about 50% or more of the subdivision is still raw lots due to lack of sales.
Then comes some age and the wells which are governed by the state begin to have issues. The developers had gone bankrupt more than once and repairs were not kept up in a timely manner. Based upon the information I was given it had gotten to the point where two wells were not operating and the entire subdivision was operating off one well. They had mandatory rationing and some other issues. The state was ready to step in and give the water service to a rural water system to operate. That I do know was correct because one of the employees of the rural water system explained it to me. That rural water system has water lines at the highway ready to start work on providing water to the subdivision. But the subdivision gots it well operating and the state allowed to continue their operations to continue after repairs. And they are still running that system at this time.
Recently San Antonio news has a story about the residents having to boil their water as the subdivision water system is having problems again. One of the resident's remarks was that band-aid repairs were always made instead of fixing the problem
What absolutely makes me sad is that builders are still building in the subdivision and people are still buying. One home actually closed on the day of the news story on the television. Can you imagine getting the keys to move into your new home and having a notice on your door to boil your water the day you moved in?
Why are these agents selling these homes to their clients without at least telling them about the water issues? And I cannot say the agents haven't informed their clients. Some are local agents; some are not. But I blame both because I can't imagine someone buying in an area where there have been major water issues. The local agent who values his pocket over the clients and the non local agent for being selfish enough to represent a buyer in an area they know nothing about.
The price point can be enticing to a client and I have had several find these on the internet and call them to my attention. At that point, I tell my client that I normally don't show in that subdivision because of the water issues. I explain what has happened in the past, their options if they choose to live in that subdivision and that I will show them if they want to view the home but I want them to understand what water issues may come with that home if they choose it. It's their choice. At that point, they can choose to view or not.
One of my first clients was a homeowner on the north side of San Antonio. She drove home this pont about using a local agent. They had their house on the market and chose to move to Floresville. She said to me that she told her San Antonio agent that while he could list her house, she wanted a local agent to be her buyers agent because of the very reasons above. She is still a client today, has referred me several clients, calls me for advice on real estate issues and is one of the smartest cookies I have ever had for a client.
So I would say to anyone choose a local agent. They know the territory and rural living is not the same as city living.
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