Realtors & Home Remodeling

We hear from a home remodeling expert and Realtors!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The views and opinions expressed by the participants on this
show are not necessarily those of Stuart Information Services Corporation,
Stewart Title, or Stewart Insurance. Before you make any investment,
you should seek the advice of your investment advisor or attorney.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Whether you're a real estate broker, realtor homeowner, buyer or seller,
everything matters when it comes to real estate. This is
Real Estate Matters with Steare Title, Steward Titles. Bill Nabik
and guests open the door to what really matters in owning, buying,
and selling real estate. And now Real Estate Matters with
Steuarre Title, brought to you by Stuart Insurance. Here to inform,

(00:38):
entertain and inspire. Bill Nebek, Welcome to the show. It
is Real Estate Matters with Stuart Title. I'm your host,
Bill Nappik. Here we are on show number five seventy four.
We're glad you're joining us here today. We have great
real estate professionals. We're gonna have a little bit of
fun along the way, even talk about home remodeling. First,
we're going to talk to Randall Martin. The company is C.

Speaker 3 (01:01):
B and A. Randall, Welcome to the show.

Speaker 4 (01:05):
Thanks for having me here, Bill for number five seventy four.

Speaker 3 (01:08):
Five seventy four seems like only yesterday, Randall. But in
the meantime CBNA, let's tell people what those initials stand
for and about your company.

Speaker 4 (01:16):
Great well, CBNA stands for Chance Brown and Associates. And
if you don't know the name, Chance Brown is one
of our Texas real estate commissioners. So he sits up
there at the Austin level. And we have six offices,
five in Houston plus one in Austin and right around
that seven hundred agent mark.

Speaker 3 (01:35):
Is where we are at. So the company has grown, to
say the least, quite a bit in the last few years.

Speaker 5 (01:40):
It has.

Speaker 3 (01:41):
It has, we've been on a high trajectory lately. Well
also as far as now you help buyers and sellers,
and let's tell people where you practice your real estate
for the most of the time, that is, as far
as geographically got it.

Speaker 4 (01:54):
Well, I'm primarily down in the Land of Pairs otherwise
known as Pearland, and I do I do manage that
Southeast office down there. We're right on that Pairland friends
with borderline so and I've worked in that market for
going on nineteen years now. So and even prior to that,
I was in that market, just not in real estate,

(02:15):
back in the restaurant industry.

Speaker 3 (02:16):
So well, that's one of the great things. So as
you help your buyers and sellers, you know the pairland, friends,
would area, geographically good places, all those things. You have
a lot of knowledge.

Speaker 4 (02:26):
I think that's a key that a lot of people
don't get in real estate is it's not do I
know my contract? Can I help someone buy or sell
a house? Can I set up a search? It's can
I tell you the best places to find a good
deal on some fruit? Like which grocery store do you
want to go to? Where can you buy toilet paper
during the pandemic?

Speaker 6 (02:46):
Well?

Speaker 4 (02:46):
What places can you get good fajitas? It's really knowing
your market, I think, is what it's about. And when
you're young in the business, you just want to get sales, sales, sales.
When you get older, you become friends with your clients
and and you run into them. And I don't ever
want someone to throw an orange at me at AGB
just because you know I gave them a bad deal,
you know, So.

Speaker 3 (03:08):
Yeah, we have to watch those outbreaks of orange throwing
as we go through life. So as far as the activities,
you're a real estate professional, but also you're involved. You
talked about chance being involved in the associations and so forth.
Let's tell people what you also do in addition to selling,
helping buyers and sellers.

Speaker 4 (03:28):
Absolutely, so I think servitude is key. Since twenty ten,
I have been volunteering on various committees at the local, state,
and national level, from being a past chair of the
Young Professionals Network for HR, chair of Technology, different positions there.
But I'm actually very proud. Most recently was elected to

(03:50):
serve on the HR Board of Directors. So I'll be
serving in the geographic Southeast District for twenty twenty six,
twenty seven.

Speaker 3 (04:01):
That's a big deal.

Speaker 4 (04:02):
And so's twenty four seats and we represent close to
forty eight thousand realtors in Houston.

Speaker 3 (04:07):
So what you're doing for the board is going to
go beyond twenty twenty five, twenty six and twenty seven. Correct.
It's a two year position. Quite a role, Randall.

Speaker 4 (04:17):
Two year position. Well, people had a lot of faith
in me. I can't let them down and so but yes,
we will be you know, the Board of Directors meets
basically we and kind of Like I said during the
campaign run, I'm looking at this not as a as
a position that hey, I got it now, I can
hang it up and I put another tick on my resume.
What I what I'm doing is making sure that our

(04:39):
industry remains relevant and a respectable career because I have
daughters that have grown up being part of real estate,
whether they wanted to or not, you know, in the
backseat of a car hunting for seale by owner signs,
different things like that. But I want to I want
to feel good that if my daughter came to me
and said, hey, Daddy, I think I want to get

(05:00):
real estate license, that I had a hand in shaping
the association that she's potentially going to work for.

Speaker 3 (05:05):
And as we talk about HAAR, for people that are
listening outside of Houston Randall, and there are many on
the internet, we have people from other states listening all
the time. But they hear about the Houston Association of Realtors,
they may not have an idea of the actual scope
and size and what it all does. So if someone
never heard of HAR from another state, or even this

(05:27):
state for that matter, let's tell people exactly what HAR is,
because it is quite an organization helping real estate professionals,
helping buyers and sellers, but also it's well known around
the United States.

Speaker 4 (05:41):
It is it is, I mean, it is a trailblazer
in the industry when we rebranded years ago to be
Homes and Rentals because HAR even has gone statewide in
a way, you can find listings from all over the
state of Texas on har dot com. And when it

(06:01):
comes to a few of the key points that I
think help us stand out is we are a board
that elects the people who sit in that position, which
is unique. Also, there's a heavy emphasis on technology because
there's a lot of tools that HAR gives its members
that I know for a fact are not available in

(06:23):
other markets. And the one thing that we're really proud
of is HR has consistently had a higher hit count
online than some of the national sites. I don't want
to know if I can name other names, but I'll
just leave it at that. People go there as the
source of correct information and tools that can actually help

(06:45):
them connect with the real tour learn about the market,
and find their next on well for.

Speaker 3 (06:51):
The listenings, there's no doubt it has great details, a
lot of information and I know myself. When I look
at real estate, and I do often in other states
and other cities, I see other places where the homes
are described. But as you mentioned that, now, I put
myself in the place of being maybe in I don't know, California, Indiana, wherever,
and I look at a listing here in Houston, and

(07:13):
I could see the various choices. There'd be an HAR
where I could look at that home and really get
some great information.

Speaker 4 (07:20):
Absolutely, it's the place where we input our data. So
I focus heavily on our selling clients. So when I input,
for instance, up I was going to list your home,
I would input that data into our MLS, our multiple
listing service, which can be found on HAR. From there,
it's going to syndicate out to multiple other websites, including
individual brokerage websites.

Speaker 3 (07:40):
You go to other states.

Speaker 4 (07:41):
Sometimes you find a home on someone's website and it's
not on a different website, and then you have to
go to this place to find this one. And as
a consumer, Bill I just don't think that's very efficient.
So we don't have that problem here in Houston.

Speaker 3 (07:54):
Well, let the news go forth that we feel good
that you are on the board and You're going to
be there for the next couple of years at least
to help out so we can all rest easy tonight.
The real estate professionals that are hearing this far and wide,
that's super awesome. So as far as helping buyers and sellers, randall,
give us an idea, is what's happening in your world?

(08:15):
Are you helping more buyers or sellers at this moment?

Speaker 4 (08:19):
You know, I'm fortunate to have a lovely bride who's
also in real estate, and we work together as a team.
Teamwork makes the dream work, you know, it really does.
She loves working with our purchasing clients. I love working
with our selling clients. So between that now you truly,
I know it sounds cliche, and I'm not up here
to throw a bunch of cliches, even though I've already

(08:39):
spit out about five of them. But you do get
two heads for the price of one with us, because
even though she works with our buying clients and I'm
with our sellers, we are married. We do communicate, and
so every client really gets both of our heads on
every transaction and key.

Speaker 3 (08:59):
It is, you know, and.

Speaker 4 (09:02):
Yeah, it just it creates a more seamless experience, which
is what I think the consumer deserves in twenty twenty five.
You know, we have the technology, we have the tools
ais out there, there's all these things, but really we
should be making the process a simpler and more fun process,
and that's what our goal is.

Speaker 3 (09:20):
That's a good point too. You mentioned all the tools available.
Quite frankly, there hasn't been a time who knows what's
going to happen in the next five ten years, but
there hasn't been a time in history where anybody in
any profession, but just in the real estate profession, has
so many tools available to get the job done. So
I would think other than using various tools and marketing

(09:42):
and things like that, discernment becomes a very important thing
to know what not to use so you don't waste
your time, so you can help the buyers and sellers.

Speaker 4 (09:52):
You know, in the in today's market, you know, listen
to speed, but strategy wins. You know, there's a term
that I like to throw out a lot. We can
get caught up in fake work, and that's what Hey,
I got to build my website.

Speaker 3 (10:09):
I got to do this, I got to get this fixed,
I got to get.

Speaker 4 (10:12):
This done, blah blah blah, And I'm working on this
and I'm perfecting my business cards and all this kind
of stuff. But at the end of the day, these
tools are here to say they technology should be saving
us time, not a fear of replacing us.

Speaker 3 (10:27):
One of the things, as I mentioned, I'll check on
real estate and other places for a variety of reasons.
But I think one of the most important things a
realtor can do if someone maybe they don't know, is
trying to reach out for information, maybe to even buy
or sell a house, is answer their phone. Randall. It's
so basic.

Speaker 4 (10:44):
Communications communication, it really is, you know, and if you
can't answer the phone, call the person back at least,
right I mean, I think most of us get separation
anxiety when we're away from our phone, so we don't
have a lot of excuses to not get back with
people these days.

Speaker 3 (11:01):
I would think mostly the phone is near every one
of us most of the time, like you're.

Speaker 4 (11:06):
Saying, even in places where it shouldn't be.

Speaker 3 (11:08):
Probably exactly so well put Randall. So before we close
this segment, Randall, let's tell people what else you want
them to know.

Speaker 4 (11:17):
Well, what I want people to know is that if
you're looking for somebody primarily on the southeast side of
town that can help you not just find your house
or tell you what your home is worth, but actually
guide you through that process and help navigate the things

(11:40):
that could come up. That's what we're really here to do.
We're really here to be a resource, your trusted advisor
for all things real estate. And also, if you're a realtor,
listen to this and you're looking for a place to
call home. We are large enough to have the tools
to succeed, but small enough to remember your name. And
that's what I like to tell over there at the

(12:00):
CBNA CBNA rialts.

Speaker 3 (12:02):
And also, as you mentioned your wife, what is your
wife's name to know so we want to know the
whole team. Right now we know Randall Barton, but your
your team, your wife. Her name is Vanessa Vanessa Martin,
Vanessa Martin. So there you go. Once again, teamwork makes
the dream work. People are listening right now, Randall. Let's
tell them how they can reach you.

Speaker 4 (12:22):
You can reach me by phone caller text two eight
one nine two four three nine nine zero or Randall.
That's our a N D A L L AT Agent
Randall dot com and I'll make it easy for everybody.
If you're looking into socials, it's at Agent Randall on
every single one of them.

Speaker 3 (12:41):
And Randall The phone number again.

Speaker 4 (12:43):
Is two eight one nine two four three nine nine zero.

Speaker 3 (12:48):
Thanks for being with us, Randall. Thanks for having me, Bill,
And now let's welcome Chris Ty. His company is called
Elevation Construction. So we're going to talk a little bit
about remodeling and some of those things that happened when
we want to change things around. Chris. Welcome to the show.

Speaker 5 (13:03):
Thank you, Bill, thanks for having me.

Speaker 3 (13:04):
Appreciate it. Well, here you are, Chris, very interesting the
remodeling business. I think just first of all, in my experience,
it would be great to use your company, talk about
your company, because I think in my experience it's hard
to have a good, reliable company where they return calls,
where they give you quotes promptly, things like that. Let's

(13:24):
tell people about your company, Elevation Construction.

Speaker 5 (13:28):
All right, Elevation Construction. We've been here in Houston for
about three years, but we've been in business for about five.
We operate in two states, but I'm going to focus
here Houston for now. Our focus really is communication, being
on time and staying within budget, and those are the
big three pain points that I hear from people when
they talk about contractors. So that's what we really focus on.

(13:51):
On the communication piece, I've invested a lot on the
large back office admin team so that way anyone who's
doing business with us or even calls us, they hear
from us from the time they call in to the
time they're done with their project with us, and even
after that they receive a newsletter and communication pieces from
us as well. We really pride ourselves and being on time.
I'm prior military. We were talking about that before I

(14:11):
did twenty three years and part of being in the
military is being on time. So we are on time
and being in budget. When we give you an estimate,
that's our price. We're not going to change anything on there.
You're not going to get a change order surprise change
order from us. If there is a change order's because
we didn't see something that was in the walls that
we could not have seen, or the homeowner decided to

(14:32):
make some changes during the project, and those cases will
have a change order. But when we give you an estimate,
that's our price. And let's tell people as far when
we talk about projects. What are the most common projects
you're doing. I think as people here remodel, especially people
that own older homes like I do you start thinking
about kitchend remodel bathroom everyone because all that stuff gets old.

(14:53):
So what are the most common things you're doing there?
The biggest two biggest projects that we do our kitchens
and master bathroom. So they're just updating it. They're taking
out maybe the forour mica, or they're taking out the granite,
and they're putting in courts countertops. Back in the day,
the eighties and nineties, they're a little bit darker was
the color scheme back then, and now everyone wants to

(15:14):
go a little bit lighter. We went through a transition
where there's the gray colors were popular and now they're
kind of fading out a little bit. But primarily it's
just getting the material to be more updated. For example,
if they don't have an island, trying to move things
around so they can have more counter space and get
that island in their more seating room. In the kitchen
spaces because that's where they do life and they have

(15:36):
events and people come over. And in the bathrooms, we've
been doing some projects where we're actually removing the bathtub
and creating a larger walking bathroom or a shower just
because either they're aging in place or it's just a
lot cooler.

Speaker 3 (15:51):
Yeah, people like the showers. And as far as the
size of the jobs, I mean, there's all sorts or
small jobs. I'm thinking of a small bathroom right now.
You have the master bath if you're going to work
on that. But how big a job do you go
up to? Do you do a thing where someone says, well,
we're gonna knock down three walls, and how big a

(16:12):
job will you do?

Speaker 5 (16:13):
So right now we're working on a project. We're going
to be starting swinging hammers here in Cyprus for about
a two hundred thousand dollar jobs. It's a new home
edition in the backyard and the garage. We've done commercial
jobs that are three four hundred thousand dollars and we've
done smaller jobs at kitchen, bathroom model whatever it might
be a five thousand dollars job.

Speaker 3 (16:33):
See, we've just heard some remodeling talk. Swinging hammers, swinging
like that, you're ready to go the gas when things
get serious. So there's no doubt I don't want to
come out there just for a few swings, if you'll
allow me putting that aside. Though you also mentioned the
outdoor job. So you're doing, say an outdoor kitchen, you
do that.

Speaker 5 (16:52):
As well, right, So we're taking their existing outdoor patio,
turning it into it indoor living area, and then we're
creating a new door patio for them for their future pool.

Speaker 3 (17:03):
So all we need is money and a place to
do the construction. And it sounds like we could have
certain dreams and our visions come into reality exactly.

Speaker 5 (17:12):
And that's what we like to do. We like to
meet everyone understand what their vision is. And if it's
a larger project, we have architects and engineers that we
work with because we want to get it all on paper,
have it written down, the plans and everything that we're
all on the same page before we start the project.

Speaker 3 (17:26):
And I would think too, going back, I own a
home that was built in ninety two. I've had some
things updated along the way. But as you drive around
Houston or I guess anywhere else, you look at these homes.
I mean this is such ferral ground for the remodeling business.
I'm imagining.

Speaker 5 (17:40):
Yeah, we're doing pretty good. I mean, there's a lot
of remodelers out here, and we are getting some pretty
good leads. You know, it does slow down in the wintertime,
but it picks up in the summertime. So but yeah,
this is a great place for construction here in Houston.

Speaker 3 (17:54):
You know, as far as the wintertime, that's when I
want to swing the hammer most where. I'm not going
to sweat a lot. Just saying if you were to
have me on your crew, not that you would, but
just saying, I'll throw a.

Speaker 5 (18:04):
Little secret out there if you want to do a
job and you want to, like, you know, hey, I
made a decision, I want to get started next week.

Speaker 3 (18:10):
Do it in the wintertime, I would think so. So
also as far as the small what's the smaller jobs
that you do? So they range anywhere up to twenty
thousand plus dollars. But what about someone that has just
the small bathroom. They say, hey, man, I just need
this the shower. I want to replace the bathtub with
the shower. Is that a big deal? No, it's going
to do a.

Speaker 5 (18:27):
Smaller You do a smaller job if you know too
three thousand dollars. Maybe it's you know, just taking out
an old fiberglass shower surround and replacing that and regrouting
it and making it new. We do things like that.
That doesn't come up too often because typically they go
find a handyman to do that kind of stuff. But
we were not above that. We can certainly help them out.

Speaker 3 (18:47):
Well, you said this a few minutes ago there, Chris,
and that is we're talking with Chris Tie elevation construction.
But your background is fascinating. Number one, we know a
lot of veterans listen to the show. We love veterans
on this show. You were with the Navy for twenty
three years, correct in Afghanistan.

Speaker 5 (19:05):
Not all twenty three years, but I was in Afghanistan.

Speaker 3 (19:07):
You're in Afghanistan, And there's so many things to talk about.
Just what anyone learns in the military. You learn how
to follow, you learn how to lead, and in twenty
three years that experience has to be serving you well.
But first, first, and foremost, thank you for your service,
pleasure and all the veterans that are listening to dedicate
their lives and put your lives in jeopardy to keep
us safe here. But as far as your roots of

(19:30):
even becoming in the being in the construction business. As
I understand it started in Afghanistan. Tell everyone about that.

Speaker 5 (19:38):
So I volunteered to go at Afghanistan two thousand and nine,
and which was interesting because my main job as a
Chinese linguist. So that's how I started in the military
as a Chinese linguist.

Speaker 3 (19:49):
So you can speak Chinese, not now, so don't ask
you it's been a while, say real estate matters.

Speaker 5 (19:55):
And again I wasn't prepared. It's been a while, but
that was my primary job. And when I first started
in the Navy, and as time went on and the
war started, I really wanted to develop new skills because
I wanted to be a part of the effort right
and back then, you know, drones or uaves were coming
into play when it comes to war fighting and ISR
type stuff, and so I had an opportunity of work

(20:17):
for special forces to fly drones for special forces in Afghanistan.
I volunteered for that. I went to Afghanistan. I arrived
ready to fly and support the team, and they said, hey, Chris,
your operation center hasn't been built. You're the first one here.
You have to build it. So here's the plans, here's
the location. Go out and find a bunch of afghanies

(20:40):
and build it.

Speaker 3 (20:40):
So what you're talking about building a building?

Speaker 5 (20:43):
Yes, it was a dirt field with nothing, so I
had to do a foundation, electrical plumbing. I didn't even
know what a septic tank was until someone says, hey,
what happens when you flush at toilet? Where's it go?
I'm like, dang, I didn't think of that.

Speaker 3 (20:58):
That's what I learned about septic right.

Speaker 5 (20:59):
So I learned a lot, made a lot of mistakes
in afghanistans, so I won't repeat them here in the US.
But I really enjoyed the experience. It was a lot
of fun, taking some plans, finding subcontractors that didn't speak English,
trying to work with them and coming up with the
plan and actually finishing it. And we're doing connecting operations.
People are living there and I left. I'm like, wow,

(21:20):
my fingerprints are all over that. That was kind of fun.

Speaker 3 (21:22):
So basically, you're looking at an area of dirt and
you're given an order to build a building there with
not having the experience at the time, and as we
all know in the military, orders are followed exactly.

Speaker 5 (21:36):
I can't say, hey, I don't know how to do it.
Can I go home. That's not an option, so I
have to figure it out.

Speaker 3 (21:41):
Of course, visions of the movie a few good mend
people follow orders or people die right, exactly right.

Speaker 5 (21:48):
So if I didn't do it, then then they wouldn't
have the birds to support, you know when I say birds,
the drones to support the team. And the team needed
that camera footage before they arrived to their their where
they're going to fight, and if I didn't do my job,
they wouldn't have had that capability. So it was really
important that I actually just learned it and got it done.

Speaker 3 (22:07):
Fascinating. So but meanwhile, back here, you're doing work in
Houston area. As far as geographic coverage for people listening
that are saying, hey, I want to reach out to Chris,
I want to remodel the bathroom. I want a better
outdoor environment. I want to bust out that old master
bathroom and make it real geographically, what areas do you
cover here? If someone's listening they want to give you

(22:29):
a call.

Speaker 5 (22:29):
We do operate Greater Houston, Aario. That's you know, we're
based out of Cyprus, but we go as far south
as Galveston east out to Beaumont and we've been up
to Dallas and Austin as well, so that's a.

Speaker 3 (22:39):
Pretty big area of coverage there. So and right now,
if someone were to call it, we keep talking about.
Let's take a kitchen remodel just for example, if someone
had an average side size kitchen on the medium size,
how long does a kitchen remodel take for example, So
let's talk too with with with the in term of

(23:00):
the countertops, cabinets and those sorts of things. Maybe a
few new appliances, a new stove and that.

Speaker 5 (23:06):
So we're replacing cabinets, putting in a new and we're
not changing the layout, same layout.

Speaker 3 (23:11):
We're not busting any walls out.

Speaker 5 (23:12):
Ok So, I got it. And we're not moving pipes
or anything like. The plumbing and electrical stay in the
same Okay that and you say an average size kitchen,
you know I would say something like that could probably
take about ten to fourteen days.

Speaker 3 (23:25):
So there you go. So in fourteen days you can
have your new kitchen. It's that easy, yep. Chris. Let's
tell people how they can reach you, and the website
for elevation construction.

Speaker 5 (23:36):
Elevation Construction Team dot com is where you can go.
We get all of our blogs there. I put out
eight blogs a month. And we also are really big
on social media, so Elevation Construction Team on Facebook, Instagram,
and also on YouTube. I got about three hundred videos
on YouTube. Some of it is are before and afters
and others is just education, us educating the consumer about construction.

Speaker 3 (23:58):
And if they want to call you.

Speaker 5 (24:00):
Eight three two three, five three one four nine one
eight three two three five three one four nine, I.

Speaker 3 (24:07):
Want to go to this. I want to see the
before people loved before and after. Soy they do well, Chris,
thanks for being with us. Thank you for Chris Ty,
and thank you for your service. Once again. As we continue,
let's talk the Lowell Blue. The company is called real
Estate Connection International. Lowell, welcome to the show.

Speaker 6 (24:27):
Thank you very much.

Speaker 3 (24:28):
Well, here you are real estate. I love the name
real Estate Connection International. So let's tell people first of
all about the company.

Speaker 6 (24:36):
The company was founded in nineteen ninety and it's thirty
five years old, so coming up next month. And so
the broker owner is Lisa Curis, and she was the
former world President of the International Real Estate Federation, which
enables us to market our listings in one hundred different markets.

(24:58):
All around the world and many different languages, and she's
been written up in MSNBC, Fox News, Reuters and so
that's where the international connection comes from, was from her
serving on that really highly sought after position.

Speaker 3 (25:13):
So wow, well it was not that long ago, Lowell
where she sat in the very seat that you're sitting
in right now. Does she know you're here on the
show today? She sure it does. Oh, a special hello
to Lisa. In fact that I just saw one of
her Facebook posts doing tremendous work and a visionary too
in the real estate world.

Speaker 6 (25:31):
Yes, And you know, one edge that we feel like
we have as a company is faith in real estate.
That's kind of one of our taglines. And also Kingdom Agents.
So we just all of us have a very vital
faith and we want that to translate to everything we
do through our clients and how we love on them,
how we walk them through the process and doing things

(25:54):
with you know, market excellence. But at the same time
with that faith and Kingdom edge.

Speaker 3 (26:00):
Well, and then geographically, as you're helping buyers and sellers
every day, right, geographically, where are you the most let's say,
in the last I don't know, twenty transaction.

Speaker 6 (26:11):
Yeah, We specialize in the four B area. We call
it the Beltway to the Beach Brazoria County all the
way out to the Bay. So if you could see
a circle around that region, that's really our sweet spot.
So we go all the way out from Angleton to
Bay City sometimes but more Galveston County, so we actually

(26:32):
reside in League City. That's where our headquarters are.

Speaker 3 (26:35):
So you're near the water a lot of the time.
It sounds like, so lol. Do you find people that
reach out to your company or to you find you
on the social media platforms and say, hey, I live
here right now, but I want to be near the
water to either retire or to have a second home.
Do you run into that.

Speaker 6 (26:52):
Absolutely, yeah, we do. We have a lot of people
that are, you know, thinking of moving here from the Snowbirdville,
you know, live up in the ice ice part of
the world when they are ready to finally get down
to the to the water and get on the water
and live and have a boat. So we do have
a lot of that. We have a lot of people
that live just in the north of downtown Houston and

(27:13):
that want to have a place to live on the
water and come and you know, get away. So yeah,
we do have a lot of that, and we have
a lot of permanent residents, people that have been in
this region their whole life and have had multiple waterfront
properties with the boat slips and and all that stuff.
So yeah, it's it's definitely a big part of our
of our client base.

Speaker 3 (27:33):
So right now, if someone wants to that never lived
with a water view or even on the water, what
are some of the considerations or do they ask you
and say, hey, I was thinking about this, what should
I know? How do you prepare someone for that kind
of situation or that search?

Speaker 6 (27:49):
Well, you know, it's it's that's a good question. Honestly.
A lot of it comes down to, you know, what's
their budget and what are their what's their lifestyle? Like,
you know, do they want to fish, they have a boat,
do they want to do all of it? Is it
a weekend home, is it a permanent home? Is it
a retirement place? And so a lot of that will
drive every property you show any client, you know, and

(28:12):
whether it be on the water or not. But for
sure with waterfront properties, it's a different it's a different
type of property you have to maintain on a whole
other level. When it comes to water. You know, and
we talk of water, we're talking salt water. So when
it comes to maintaining a property on salt water, it's
it's quite a bit different than maintaining even a home

(28:32):
on a lake. Salt water is much more corrosive, so
you have to really take a lot of measures in
regular cleaning, your sighting, and the under part of your
home on stilts, which most of the waterfront homes are
on stilts, and so yeah, you know, flooding comes into play.
You've got to talk about flood insurance policies, and with

(28:53):
the rising insurance costs, that's a big factor, so we
have to be very careful with that.

Speaker 3 (28:59):
That's it interesting that as far as the maintenance, I
never thought about that. Certainly, I hear people with lake
property say, oh, well, we have more spiders here, so
you got to watch for spiders. But I never thought
about the salt water, because each kind of water condition
has certain things that apparently must be done.

Speaker 6 (29:16):
That's so true. Yes, and you know, it might even
be something as simple as when you do have a
multi level home and you're in retirement, years of talking
about how you're going to get from the bottom floor
to the next floor and putting in elevators, and if
the home doesn't have an elevator, doesn't have an elevator
shaft is an external elevator lift or is an internal elevator.

(29:39):
You know, that's a very big consideration for people on
the water, mainly because they're tired of climbing stairs and
in their latter years and they want to be able
to get right up to their living room and with ease,
and so yeah, there's things that's a big factor as
well as just taking care of the maintenance on the home.

Speaker 3 (29:58):
And right now, from an inventory standpoint, I want to
dwell so much always on the water. But before we
get away from water properties, what's the inventory right now
if someone does want maybe a condo on the water
in Galveston or something, what's it look like right now?
Do we have choices?

Speaker 6 (30:15):
Much more choices than even this time last year, believe
it or not. We have one of our agents in
our company who works for a home builder that in
Crystal Beach, and he was telling me the other day
of just the amount of inventory that is now available.
It's definitely more in the buyer's court on the market
these days, and especially for vacation homes and so that

(30:38):
has actually relaxed the prices considerably, but it's also given
buyers a lot more options of what they want to
go and view and how to buy. And so it's
definitely a different market right now, but it's definitely in
the favor of people that are looking to buy. To
get a good.

Speaker 3 (30:56):
Deal, sounds like a good time to buy. So let's
go out to dry Land away from the water just
per second. Because you're helping people with all sorts of
real estate properties, right So as far as right now,
do you help also sellers?

Speaker 6 (31:11):
Yes, I do listings, I do buyers. I do commercial
real estate. That's another aspect of our company is we're
a one stop shop company and so we have the
full gamut. We've sold anything from literally hospitals. Our broker
did a deal in a hospital just a couple of
years ago, down to business properties. I've got a home.

(31:35):
I've got a property in Paerland that's about to close
in the next couple of days that is originally a
gas station that was converted to a totally different property
and that's about to sell right now. It's called Periland
Auto Inspection. And then of course I mostly do single
family homes, you know, but I do probably about ten

(31:56):
percent of commercial fifteen percent a year. It varies, but
I do help people list their their subdivision homes, their
their you know, acreage properties. I've sole land. I haven't
turned anything down yet, So.

Speaker 3 (32:12):
A great range of coverage and knowledge. It sounds fascinating
as far as in a in a buyer's market, like
some of the areas are right now today in the
Houston areas, how do you prepare the seller to say, Okay,
it might take a little bit longer, but what's the
preparation to get that seller ready so that they can
that they can thrive even though maybe it's more of

(32:34):
a buyer's market in their particular area.

Speaker 6 (32:36):
That is a great question. There's been a very much
of a shift we've all experienced this summer in the
buying season, in selling season where we've seen really wonderful
properties that were very I guess turnkey ready, you know,
maintenance was done, fresh paint, landscaping, and it's taken a

(32:57):
little longer this year. So we have to pair our
sellers ahead of time, you know, to be prepared for that. Now.
There are instances where I've even had one that was
under contract in a week, so we're still seeing a
little bit of that, but those are a little bit
more unique properties that that have something that are a

(33:17):
little bit more appealing than the average you know, listing.
But we are definitely making those adjustments to prepare our
sellers to for the long haul, you know, whether that
be a month to three months, we hope no longer
than that.

Speaker 3 (33:32):
So and I would also think if I'm a seller
at this point in time, I'm going to really make
sure my place looks good, and even if I have
to do a little remodeling, a little touch, a little
bit more work than normal, I'd be on it to
make sure that my property shines more than the other places.

Speaker 6 (33:50):
Absolutely, And you know, you can't really change the location,
and you can do a fair amount of home remodeling,
which we just heard about, but if you can't do
either of those, you definitely need to make sure that
everything else is as nice and clean and fresh as possible.
These days, from landscaping, curb appeal, getting the driveway pressure washed,

(34:15):
to really top notch photos. I would say even we've
seen a huge spike up in video promotion of properties
and marketing has gone. I think at an all time
high since I've been in real estate the last seven years.
It's definitely a different time of day where you can't
just be a real due who sticks a sign on
the ground and waits for the contract to come in.

(34:37):
You actually have to get out there and have open
houses and push that to all the social media platforms
and really stay on top of your pricing, stay on
top of all your showings, making sure you're getting very
good feedback. We are very busy right now. We're not
necessarily seeing as many closings as quickly as we used to,
but we are working harder to get the same number

(35:00):
of transactions done that we were even a year ago.

Speaker 3 (35:03):
We're talking with Lowell Blue with real Estate Connection International LOLL.
Before we close this segment, what else do you want
people to know?

Speaker 6 (35:11):
Well, I just want to say that I'm I'm your
real estate agent. If faith matters to you, or you
have a if you want to have an agent who
prays through the whole process with you and takes it
into account your life, seasons even and also an agent
who's there for life. You know, it's not I'm not
a transactional agent. I'm really more of a lifelong agent.

(35:33):
And also I base all of my business off of
referrals one hundred percent. I do very little paid marketing,
and I'm looking for people that want to give me
the contacts of their whole family, friends, neighbors, coworkers to
do the excellent job for them that I've done for
the for the same person.

Speaker 3 (35:52):
Loll. How can people reach you?

Speaker 6 (35:55):
My number is eight three to two eight zero three
for zero four war one again eight three to two
eight zero three four zero four to.

Speaker 3 (36:04):
One, Lowell, thanks for being with us. Real estate matters
with Stewart Title would not be possible without our partner
Stewart Insurance. With a focus in real estate and a
special focus on real estate brokers, Stewart Insurance creates insurance
plans to address the risks facing our industry today. They
invest a significant amount of time helping real estate broker

(36:26):
owners offset and manage their risks. Here he is John
Bramlett was Stewart Insurance Idy Bill Well John. Here we
are ready to bring forth insurance information once again. The
last two weeks you knocked it out of the park.
The Facebook posts were going crazy. People loved the way
you organize the tips on insurance. So what have you

(36:48):
for us today?

Speaker 7 (36:49):
Well, we're going to go number three in our series
number yeah, So again we're talking KEYII key insurance indicators, Yes,
and number three is going to be flood insurance. So
we're going to talk about flood insurance today, and it's
eight plus one. Things to know, of course, there's always
the plus one, there's always the plus value added eight

(37:11):
plus one, eight plus one. So flood insurance the first
thing when our listeners are either evaluating their current policy
or thinking about flood insurance maybe for the first time,
or to understand the risks. So what risks do you have?
Because we all have some level of risk for our home.
So you know what is the flood zone designation for
my area? So if you live in an area that

(37:34):
the National Flood Insurance Program offers coverage, you're in a
flood zone designation. So it's important to understand. Am I
in a designation that's more likely to flood or less
likely to flood does not mean it will or will not,
But it's important to understand that. Understand maybe the history
has that neighborhood flooded a lot, has it not flooded before?
But understanding that history is important, and then the types

(37:56):
of flooding that occurs there. So is it solely if
we have a severe storm, or is it an area
where we have a heavy rain that could flood, or
if it's an area that's near bios or rivers or
retention ponds that could potentially when they get heavy water,
heavy rains that they could you know, they could go
past their banks. So understanding the geography as well is

(38:17):
part of that understanding the risk. So that's the first
thing to consider. The second thing to consider is the
coverage options. So what am I going to get covered?
Am I going to get covered for just my structure?
Am I going to get my personal property covered? So
understanding that, is it going to be replacement cost or
actual cash value?

Speaker 3 (38:35):
So replacement cost.

Speaker 7 (38:37):
Is they'll replace at today's like value without any depreciation.
Actual cash value takes into depreciation. So understanding is replacement
cost in place or is it actual cash value or
is it both? So understanding that, and then do I
need or want additional living expenses? So if I had
to move out of my home while it was being repaired,

(38:57):
do I want some assistance in covering the short term
living expenses? And if so, that's going to drive which
type of coverage we would look at. So understanding what
your coverage options are is critical, and then that leads
us to the policy type and the provider that you
would want to go with. So, for example, if you
wanted to have the ability to offset some of those

(39:20):
temporary housing costs costs, then you would need to go
with a private flood insurance company because the National Flood
Insurance Program, which is part of FEMA, so the under
the federal government is the underwriter, they don't provide that
type of coverage. So understanding the differences between the two.
So you know, with the National Flood Insurance Program, the
liability limits on the property value is two hundred and

(39:43):
fifty thousand dollars. The liability limits for your personal properties
one hundred thousand dollars.

Speaker 3 (39:49):
So at least.

Speaker 7 (39:50):
Understanding that might tell you, hmm, is this going to
cover what I would need to repair or replace my home?
And if it doesn't, then maybe we need to consider,
you know, consider private coverage. You know, the beauty of
the National Flood Insurance Program is once you have it,
you have it, and they can't increase premiums more than

(40:12):
eighteen percent a year, so you know there are pluses
and minuses to both based upon what your individual needs are.
So understanding what the policy type is, Understanding who the
provider is, what their reputation is, that's important to understand
as you make those decisions. So that's point number three.
Point number four are the limits and the deductibles. So

(40:33):
I mentioned that with the National Flood Insurance Program, so
the one from the federal government. The liability limits, so
the amount of coverage per incident and the amount of
coverage for the life of the policy for the structures
two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. For your personal property
is one hundred thousand dollars, so if you've got a
million dollar home, that's a pretty significant discrepancy. So that's

(40:55):
when you might want to think about having private coverage
because their liability limits can be beyond a million dollars.
So again, understanding that you know what's the you know,
how do I match you know the cost it's going
to take to rebuild or replace my structure or my
personal property. Match that with the liability limits that the

(41:16):
plan has, and that can help you make the decision
whether you would go with a pub with the public
coverage from the National Flood Insurance Program or a private
you know, a private company, So that can help make
that decision. The waiting period and timing. If you purchase
flood insurance today, you're just you're just buying it for
the first time, and you buy it through the National

(41:38):
Flood Insurance Program, you're probably going to wait thirty days
before it's instituted. Now, if you buy it at closing
or prior to closing, or if it's part of a
requirement for your loan, you would have it then once
the keys were in your hand. But if you waited today,
then potentially there's another thirty days that you're going to wait.
With the private companies, that time period could be shorter,

(41:59):
So that's thing to keep in mind.

Speaker 3 (42:01):
And then just plan ahead. You know, it's better to
buy it.

Speaker 7 (42:06):
In January than it is in June because we're in
the middle of hurricane season now, so if we've got
a named storm in the Gulf, you know we're not
going to be able to help you out until that
storm moves out. So again, kind of planning ahead, and
you know there are optimal there's always a good time
to buy, but there's optimal times to purchase as well

(42:26):
understanding the exclusions and the limitations, what is and what
is not covered. That's always important to understand that what
is their reputation for claim support? Does does the you know,
do they get agents on the ground and adjusters on
the ground quickly in order to evaluate your system, So
you want to be able to have an understanding history

(42:47):
of what their claim support is.

Speaker 4 (42:49):
Like.

Speaker 7 (42:51):
Cost factor is always important, you know, based upon what
the coverage you need is going to drive that cost.
So understanding what that premium is or that cost is.
Where your home is located is going to affect the cost,
you know, because if it's in a higher risk area,
you're going to have a higher premium. Are there some
things that have been done to the home to minimize

(43:12):
the chance of any damage that that can help offset
some of the premium if the if you've got an
elevation certificate and shows a certain level, you know that
can offset some of the premium increases. So there are
some things that we can do that could affect the cost.
So you know that's a consideration. And then the last one,
the plus one is work with an insurance advisor that

(43:35):
understands flood coverages and work with an insurance advisor that
can help you both coverage from the National Flood Insurance
Program or from a private company. And at Stewart Insurance,
we can provide that support.

Speaker 3 (43:46):
You know, John, just talking about this makes me reminisce
reluctantly about when my home flooded. And there's so many
things that happen as we're thinking about are as. You're
describing this an individual home, but quite quite likely is
that if your home floods, that the person next to
you might have flooded. Like when my home flooded, the

(44:07):
whole development flooded. So when it came time for adjusters,
this adjuster was going to thirty homes, maybe more going
to thirty homes. So that in itself, and then you
talk about replacing things, you have to clean out all
the water, all the cabinets, everything is ripped out of

(44:27):
the home, deumidification, all those It is traumatic to go
other than the dollars and cents. And the home that
flooded is just a stone's throw from where the studio is,
and it was a home that was probably twenty some
years old, never flooded, made it through all the storms,
except except the one that it didn't yeah, known as

(44:49):
Hurricane Harvey. Well, and that's so many things.

Speaker 7 (44:52):
I mean, part of what you said is part of
the definition, because there is a specific definition of what
a flood is.

Speaker 5 (44:59):
So part of.

Speaker 7 (44:59):
That that is it's inundating one or more two or
more one or more property, or two more properties, or
two or more homes that are adjacent. So it's so
it's got to be multiple homes, they've got to be
you know, the same area. It's rising water coming from
the outside in. So there are specific there are specific
elements that defines what a flood is and is not.
So that's you know, part of it that you know

(45:21):
that's critical. And like you said, just because you haven't
flooded in the past doesn't mean that you're not going
to flood in the future. You know, we're seeing whether
it be weather pattern changes or changes in geography so
we have less just raw land to absorb, or if
there's been constructions that could change water patterns in the neighborhood.
That all has an effect.

Speaker 3 (45:41):
One of the things, it's so interesting that the dynamics
of a of a tragedy like that in a neighborhood,
whether it's here in Houston, or and we see things
on the news all the time about the the weather
events that happen. It's you're not the only person going
through it, so you are in line to wait whether

(46:02):
events are tough. It's a good idea to have flood
insurance in Houston. I don't care where you're at. Well
it is.

Speaker 7 (46:07):
And again, you're going to be in a flood zone.
You may be in a zone that's less likely to
flood or more likely to flood, but you are in
a flood zone if you live in the US scenario.
And again, any place that the National Flood Insurance Program
is offered, there's a flood zone designation.

Speaker 3 (46:23):
John fascinating timely stuff. As always, Let's tell people how
they can reach Stuart Insurance to learn more.

Speaker 7 (46:29):
They can reach us at eight sixty six seven ninety
eight two eight two seven. That's eight sixty six seven
ninety eight two eight two seven. They can learn more
about us in flood coverage at Stuart Insurance dot com,
or they can email us at Stuart Insurance at Stuart
dot com.

Speaker 3 (46:44):
And one more time, just for the fun of it.

Speaker 7 (46:46):
The number is eight sixty six seven ninety eight two
eight two seven.

Speaker 3 (46:50):
John, thanks for being with us. Always a pleasure.

Speaker 4 (46:51):
Bill.

Speaker 3 (46:52):
As we continue, we have our business development person doing
tremendous work, Britney Hernandez, right there in our Parentland office. Brittany,
welcome to the show.

Speaker 8 (47:03):
Hey Bill, how's it going today.

Speaker 3 (47:05):
It's great. Let's tell people about your office for Stuart
Title and some of the things that you're doing to
help the real estate world.

Speaker 8 (47:11):
Well, of course we all know Parland the land in pairs.
Like we always say around here, we are located right
off of two eighty eight down five eighteen. Everything is
coming up that way, So if you haven't made your
way down to our office, which is at nine two
one five Broadway Street, you should come down and come
see us. You missed our food drive that we had
go over there, but when it came out very well.

(47:31):
We were able to donate over fifteen hundred pounds of
non perishable items to the local food pantries in our area.
So we went to the Parentland Neighborhood Center, Christian Helping
Hands and to the Alvin Food Pantry.

Speaker 3 (47:44):
And that's one of the great things not just your office,
but our Stewart offices are trying to help all the
time through the community, all throughout the year.

Speaker 8 (47:52):
Of course, we always try to get involved with our community.

Speaker 6 (47:55):
It's very big.

Speaker 8 (47:56):
So if you come to our office now, we are
actually showing off all of the football teams that are
in our area. So we've got some fun stuff going
on over there. I'm teaching my first class on August
twenty first, which is Google my Business.

Speaker 3 (48:08):
You're going to teach it. I am what day is
August twenty first, It's on a Thursday. I think I
might be able to be down there for that. So
you're going to come see me If I'm invited, all
you do is send me an invite. I'll come and
check it out.

Speaker 8 (48:19):
I just want to come for the snacks.

Speaker 3 (48:20):
I want to come to learn about Google my Business too,
and you on Google. I am okay, and the snacks.

Speaker 6 (48:26):
I'm going to Google you.

Speaker 3 (48:27):
So Brittany, let's tell people how they can reach out
to you, because also you could they can bring their
contracts there and close. The real estate transaction exists.

Speaker 8 (48:35):
We have amazing escrow officers in our office. We have
a great team. They can call us at two eight
one four one two six nine zero zero two eight
one four one two six.

Speaker 3 (48:45):
Nine zero zero, Brittany Hernandez, good to see again, Thanks
for being with us. Thanks Bill Randall, Martin with C
B and A Randall. Here we are. Is we close
the show down? What else should we know about what
you're doing? You and your wife and all the great
and even Chance Brown.

Speaker 4 (49:01):
Well, I'll wrap this by saying every transaction is a
new story. And you know, we love helping people achieve
their goals, but we also love mentoring agents and helping
them grow their business. So you know, real estate blends
the problem solving with negotiation and the service. So and
we love making a difference in our community and you know,

(49:21):
doing all that while still being able to provide for
our family. You can reach out to me anytime if
any realtors out there have great ideas that they'd love
to see introduced to the association.

Speaker 3 (49:32):
That's what we do. So that's a good point. How
often do realtors actually bring forth suggestions to say, hey,
maybe we could do this a little bit better or
maybe not do this. Does that happen and do you
actually implement some of those ideas?

Speaker 4 (49:44):
You know, sometimes things are expressed out of frustration and
you have to weed some of that out. But there
there are several good ideas that are mentioned. And I'm
gonna tell you I have a note saved in my
phone anytime I see someone ask say, hey, I wish
we had this.

Speaker 3 (49:58):
I wish we have that.

Speaker 4 (49:59):
My my tree asher that is, does it improve service?
Does it make things faster? Will the consumer benefit from that?
If the answers are yes, let's bring it up and
let's see if we can make something better. They can
reach me at agent Randall anywhere on the socials or
two eight one nine two four three nine nine zero.
That's two eight one nine two four three nine nine zero.

Speaker 3 (50:21):
Thanks for being with us, and we say hello to Vanessa.
I sure will thank you for having me. And he
is back Chris Tie with Elevation Construction. So here before
we close things down, Chris, people are already thinking about
their dream kitchens, bathrooms outdoor. What else do you want
them to know about what you're doing that maybe we
didn't cover.

Speaker 5 (50:41):
Yeah, so we do offer financing. We have different loan
products that we can offer. So there's products where you
can stretch your payments from five to fifteen years. Or
for someone who wants to put their house on the
market and they don't have the funds right now, there's
a twelve month same as cash loan product that they
can take advantage of and when they close, they can
pay it off.

Speaker 3 (51:00):
Then.

Speaker 5 (51:00):
Website is Eleviationconstruction Team dot Com. Phone number is eight
three two three five three one four nine one.

Speaker 3 (51:06):
Actually I'm thinking of the drone. If you do an
outside remodel where you could take a drone shot from
above the backyard and that sort of thing, that'd be
a good application.

Speaker 4 (51:16):
Right.

Speaker 5 (51:16):
Do you have some coming up in the pipeline that
we'll be using the drone quite a bit?

Speaker 3 (51:20):
Sounds good, Chris ty Once again, thank you and any
veteran listening for your service there in the Navy, and
even you d did some work for the Marines as well.

Speaker 5 (51:27):
Marines in the army.

Speaker 3 (51:29):
Sounds good, Thank you, Chris Tye. Lowell Blue is making
his way back to the microphone. His company is Real
Estate Connection International. You know, Lowell, I like the international
part again. I mean that it has a great ring,
the whole thing.

Speaker 6 (51:45):
Well, thank you. Yeah, it's it's kind of ironic since
I have actually, kind of like the fellow before me,
spent some time overseas, so I do have a little
bit of insight in cultural matters, and there are you know,
Houston is a very cultural seity, and so there is
an edge when it comes to be able to represent
people of different backgrounds and nationalities who really don't know

(52:09):
how things work here in the States, especially Houston. So
we pride ourselves just on taking care of internationals and
people that are coming here to work from different countries.
And we can also help people find real estate and
other I would say us real estate friendly countries, you know,
such as Costa Rica and Central America. And we've actually

(52:30):
done that. We've actually helped people find their vacation home
in Costa Rica or Mexico. So we've gotten on planes
and flown down there and spent a weekend.

Speaker 3 (52:38):
But we're hearing a lot about Costa Rica, so you're
actually doing some work there.

Speaker 6 (52:42):
Yes, I have friends that own a property down there.
There are actually clients of mine, and I've been down
there on three mission trips, so I can give you
a mission trip experience. We can do a little vacation
extravaganza and go and do all the fun stuff, and
we can also just spend time looking for property.

Speaker 3 (53:01):
And right here in Houston, you're serving buyers and sellers
as well. Lowell. Let's tell people how they can reach
you again.

Speaker 6 (53:08):
You can reach me at E three two eight zero
three four zero four to one or a real Estate
Connection International dot com website, or you can look me
up at Lowell Baloo Relator on the socials. Again, you
can reach me at E three to two eight zero
three for zero four to one or a real Estate
Connection International dot com website.

Speaker 3 (53:27):
Thank you Lowell, and thank you all for listening to
real Estate Matters with Stewart Title. I am your host,
Bill Nappick, together with John Brownlett, all of us at
Stuart Title and Stewart Insurance. We appreciate you listening. If
you want to see the show, see the special effects,
the outfits that people are wearing here in the studio,
it's simple, just go to Stewart dot com Forward Slash Radio.

(53:49):
That's Stuart dot com Forward Slash Radio. It's all there,
the show archives, hundreds of shows Stuart dot com Forward
Slash Radio. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next week