Just Horsin' Around - Thoughts on Central Texas Real Estate and More

In Texas, when a home goes under contract, it usually has what's called the option period. The buyer pays a small fee (in the neighborhood of $100, but it's negotiable) for the right to walk during a period of (usually, but negotiable) 10 days, during which time the buyer can do their due diligence on the property.  But what IS due diligence?  

Due diligence, per the dictionary, is: the care that a prudent person might be expected to exercise in the examination and evaluation of risks affecting a business transaction.

Due diligence in the purchase of a home includes, but is not limited to, having the home professionally inspected, and getting estimates on any necessary repairs that might be found.  This helps the buyer discover things that might not be obvious on the surface - in fact, things that even the seller, unless they've wisely had a pre-inspection done, might not know are wrong with the house, things that might impact what the buyer is willing to pay or repairs that they might wish to require be done or paid for by the seller.  

However, due diligence is more than that.  The buyer can, if it is of concern to them and they haven't already done it, check into such things as the school district the house is in and if they like it (I recommend a visit to the school if possible to talk to the principal), crime statistics (available on various websites or from the police department), visiting the neighborhood at various times of day to check out traffic patterns - essentially, investigating not only the house but the community to make sure it's a good fit, seeing what shopping and other facilities that impact your way of life are in the area (for a horse property, it might be riding trails or a nearby public arena).  In other words, checking out anything that you might want to know about the house and the neighborhood.  Again, you can do many of these things before finding a specific house, but if you haven't for some reason, if you stumbled acros the perfect house while driving down the street one day, they are part of due diligence and something that can be done during the option period.  

Practicing due diligence - both before you find a specific house and after - can help you find the home that you will be happiest with and most comfortable in.  It's worth the time and effort to take a little care in what is likely to be one of the biggest purchases you'll make, and in the comfort you will find in your new home.  

We have two dogs here at the ranch.  

One, Joey, is a Great Pyrenees/Lab/something (we think hound of some sort) mix.  Very, very, VERY laid back and all about the food.  (I blogged about him some months ago in Joey Doesn't Share Food!)  

J.D., on the other hand, our Heeler, is all about Kick the BALL!!!!!!  If there's any possibility that we might kick his partially deflated basketball, that's all he's interested in.  Food? Not interested.  Cat running past under his nose?  Couldn't care less. 

If anyone goes outside, J.D. immediately grabs The Ball, or goes and finds The Ball and grabs it, and brings it and sets it in front of us, quivering in anticipation.  If we kick the ball, he runs after it so fast that he frequently runs right over it, grabs it, runs in a big circle, then brings it back.  "Again!  Kick it again!"  If we ignore him and walk past him, he'll pick up the ball and bring it along and take the first opportunity to set it down in front of our feet in the direction  we're walking.  If we continue walking, rinse and repeat, until we give in and kick the ball.  

If we're sitting, or digging a hole, or filling the feed buckets to feed the horses and cows, he'll set the ball down right by our feet.  If we do not acknowledge said ball, he will shriek.  (Have you ever heard a Heeler shriek?  No?  Lucky you!)  One day, when I ignored the ball until I couldn't stand the shrieking any longer, then kicked it a distance away so I could get the buckets filled, I turned away and when I turned back to fill a feed bucket, he had brought the ball and set it IN the bucket so that there was no way I could possibly miss that it was Time To Kick The Ball!

Yesterday, J.D. topped even himself.  I had fed the animals, I had Kicked The Ball all along the way (easier than tripping over it as he'll put it down Right in front of my feet every time), and I went to peel some hay off the round bale for the cows.  I took one peel, then turned back to get another, only to be met with hopeful Heeler eyes - at my eye level.  Yep, J.D., asking me, in a new and different way I could not ignore, to KICK THE BALL!!!!!!!

He's a living lesson in focus and persistence.  We could all take a page out of J.D.'s book - set a goal and go for it.  Don't let a No get you down; just keep going until someone, somewhere, sometime, Kicks The Ball!  

The State of Texas has just released a new program that will make it easier for some folks to drive clean and green (in more sense than one). 

Currently available in just a few participating counties (including Travis and Williamson in Central Texas), this program gives a voucher worth $3,000-$3,500 to anyone willing to turn in their older (ten years or older) vehicle that meets specific qualifications (registered in the participating county for the past 12 months, failed an emissions test, gasoline powered, and others). 

The participant can take the voucher to a participating dealer and use it towards the purchase of a vehicle that is 3 years old or newer, fits certain federal qualifications for being "green", and is $25,000 or less. 

The vehicle that they turned in will not go back on the road.  It will be dismantled and the metal recycled.  

Just one more way that Texas is pro-active in cleaning up our State, and one more good reason to live here.  Remember, Don't Mess With Texas!  

In a rating audit by the Insurance Service Office which rated them on such things as staffing levels, training, equipment, building code enforcement, and more, the Georgetown Fire Department raised their rating from 65 to 87 and, with the addition of equipment, personnel, and other upgrades, achieved a Class 2 rating. This means that they fall into the top 1% of fire departments in the nation.  Great goin', guys!

What this means to homeowners and business owners in Georgetown, Texas, in addition to increased safety, is a savings on their home or building insurance.  If the fire department is doing a great job, the insurance industry takes that into account when figuring the risk for an area and lowers premiums for homes and businesses in the area served by the department.  

Just one more good reason to call Georgeton home! 

Take one of our neighbors across the road, for example.  No horses on his place (one of the few that doesn't have at least a couple).  But he does love his sheep!  

I was driving into Georgetown the other day, pulled out of my drive, and had to pull over and take this shot.  He had put out a big round bale (grown on this very pasture,as it happens - he pulls the sheep off of this one periodically and lets it grow and hays it, so they're eating hay made from the same grass they graze the rest of the year).  The sheep were clearly very interested and enthusiastic - at first glance, all that could be seen was a circle of wagging sheep's tails (and one Great Pyrenees head).  One or two moved slightly between the time I first saw them and the click of the camera, and Rene the GP was barking her head off at me, but you get the general idea.  

Peaceful visions like this are just one of the joys of living in the country.  And we're just a decompression away from Austin.