20 under 40 in Houston Real Estate

I am completely humbled and honored to have been selected as one of Houston's 20 under 40 in Real Estate by NRG (NextGen Realtor Group).  It's a very competitive award and I am very excited to have received it!  All of the winners this year were awesome and I feel honored to be chosen to be among them. 

Today was a luncheon to honor the recipients at the Rice Hotel's Crystal Ballroom & it was amazing! We will also be featured on the cover of the November Issue of the Houston Realtor Magazine.

Here I am with my award:



Here is a picture of the cover of the November issue.

That's me in the green!

Bathrooms worth looking at

Kitchens are one of the biggest selling points in a home, of course. But, I also feel that one area is sometimes overlooked by a few builders...bathrooms.

 

A bathroom can make or break a buyers feeling on a home.  Usually, buyers need a bathroom that fits their needs, but also can be an area for relaxation!

It's crazy to me how many homes have skipped a tub in the master, put in a cheap product or have crappy tile work.  Frankly, I don't think builders realize how much people focus on it.

I got fired up about this last Friday when I showed a slew of homes and one just had the most AWFUL bathroom.  It was a brand new construction home and I was appalled.  The tub (with clearance rack tile) was misplaced and took up half the bathroom.  The double vanity sink looked like they bought it off the clearance rack as well and it was about half the size that it should be. Just not impressed!  No wonder the house hadn't sold... 

 

Here are a few bathrooms I saw on Pinterest and just had to post.  Some of these bathrooms aren't even that big, but I like what they have done with the spaces!

 

 

This is a great example of using space wisely.  This isn't an oversized bathroom, but I love the tub choice and the large walk in shower with all the bright, natural light!

 

 I found this to be interesting choice of tile on the floor! I would have never picked it, but all put together, I really like the tile choices all around.  Also, LOVE the chandelier!

 

 

If this were my bathroom, I would be very happy. Love the white cabinetry and the wallpaper contrast. Also, I just like that it's simple and bright!

 

Just had to throw this one in! I see bathrooms like this all the time in Heights Bungalows. I just love the use of color.  The subway tile is very popular and looks very vintage with the claw foot tub!

 

Now, we don't really see bathrooms like this in Texas with the fireplace and stone, but I thought this was very different than my other choices with the beige tile work and the darker cabinets.  Love the fireplace too, however, I would never use that in Houston!

Pinterest Project - First One Ever...

So I really like Pinterest, but man, how do these people have the time?!  There are some really cool projects, but I only get on there about once a month or so & then I'm just worn out after looking at everything.

I have been wanting to make my own bulletin board for my home office and I turned to Pinterest for help.  Under no circumstance will I be taking a photo of my home office because it's a complete DISASTER.  It's that room where everything goes to die.  But I have been working on cleaning it up...so I could one day actually use it. 

Anyway, my desk is black and my desk chair is lime green zebra print.  Some of my desk accessories are also lime green.  I have been wanting to make a bulletin board for bills, pictures, invites, etc & saw some easy do-it-yourself projects on pinterest.  This one was super easy.

First, I got a plan cork bulletin board from Michael's ($16.99) and some push pins. I chose simple silver pins since I selected a lime green pattern.

The hardest part was really making sure the pins were in the board. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. Maybe one day I'll get a picture up of it in my office!

 

Matching Shoes! Not Heels, but they match...

So I got released of the big boot this past week! Doctor says my bone is healing "perfectly". Yay! I am now able to wear TWO regular shoes! Huge deal for me. Still no heels, but I am hoping in a week or two, I can work my way up!  I can wear tennis shoes, sandals and a few pairs of my flats.  Progress!

 

Pug Races

I haven't mentioned my pug much, but this is him, Paulie...the pug.  He's pretty darn cute. (at least I think so). And yes, I am one of those annoying people who have 2035 photos of their dogs on their phone and you can't even blink before I will show you a slew of photos.  I also have another dog, Abby, who's a Jack Russell, but we'll talk more about that later.

 

 

I'm involved with PugHearts of Houston & Paulie is a big BIG reason.  I help plan our fundraising events and this year we have our annual event, Pugs at Blanco's on November 3rd.  Check out our website for more details: www.pughearts.com. We're pretty cool & PugHearts has helped LOTS of pugs.

 

Anywho...the other event planner (DD) and I went to OKC this weekend (literally flew up & back) to check out a huge event there called Puggerfest.  We were trying to get some additional ideas for our event (even though ours is GREAT, just always looking for ideas) and they had many contests...but my favorite was the PUG RACES.  If you know anything about pugs, it's that they don't race anywhere (unless maybe food is involved).  It was just TOO. CUTE.

 

How can you not find this adorable?

 

Costume Contest Winner: Aerial

Shake your Underbelly

  I recently went out to dinner with some girlfriends to celebrate my friend Kate's birthday.  We headed to a newer restuarant called Underbelly off Westheimer near Montrose.  I've been there once before and let me say, it's pretty darn tasty. 

 

The concept of the restaurant is like that of a Tapas restaurant, so expect to be sharing food with everyone.  They also have non-traditional dishes that you don't find at your run of the mill restaurant. (Like they use EVERY part of the animal...not sure I'm really totally down with all that)  We let our waiter pick every plate he brought and he was pretty spot on. 

 

We started with the Sourdough Bread, which bread = good and I could eat that only for pretty much every meal.  They had butternut squash butter paired with it...um...YUM.  I think I ate half the entire loaf.

 

We had about 4 other entree plates, but my favorites were the Carolina Styled Pulled Pork and the Korean Braised Goat & Dumplings.  I'm not normall a goat eater...(really is anyone), but this is one of the dishes they are known for and let me tell you, it did not disappoint.  The Pulled Pork was also super tasty & came on a green tomato - super delish!

 

Last, but not least were our 4 deserts.

The Doughnuts and Vingear Pie were by far the best things. 

The vinegar pie is right in front of me - tastes a little like key lime, so if you are into that sort of thing, it's a MUST TRY.

 

 

Here are the girls AND our desserts. Extreme overboard on the desserts.

 

 

Also, total side note about my footwear.  Since it's starting to get a little cooler, I've busted out the boots...now I'm at least wearing 2 boots!

Oh yeah, I'm a realtor! And I've sold a few houses!

Yes, even with a broken foot, I have been a busy realtor bee!  I have been showing houses to several new buyers and have had several closings.  Below are a few in the last month!

 

Just for those that are curious...I average about 20 transactions a year and that works out to 1.6666666667 a month for all you math wizards. Of course nothing is ever consistent in real estate and I extremely enjoy the months that I have 3 or 4 or more!

 

This is the first closing I had this month.  It was a listing that I had and it was a rental property for my client who lives in another state & was ready to unload it.  After completely updating the property, the house sold very quickly and we had several offers on it!  My client was very pleased and I will be listing his other rental across the street soon!

 

 

 

 This property was a new construction property that my clients built in Upland Lakes (just outside the Beltway @ Wilcrest).  It's a cute new neighborhood that has two lakes, will have a dog park and a pool and it's zoned to Stratford H.S. I listed my clients house in May just after they started construction on this and their house sold in a week, so they have definitely been eager to get into their new place!  I have been by several times and it just looks fantastic!

 

This property below was another new construction home in the Heights.  My clients were newlyweds and so cute with great taste!  I loved all the upgrades they chose, especially the stone fireplace they went with (sorry for my lack of photos)! 

 Here is their beautiful kitchen!