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I guess I need one that does small business sized scale and that can follow that a lot of our thinking and methods are counter-intuitive to what a formal corporate-type might think and do.
So just that I am understanding, this is way outside the scope of work that a normal real estate person does. Is that correct?
Unfortunately, they're right in that you're going to have to zero in on an area and then find an agent who's at least licensed in that state to help you. But zeroing in an on area or two CAN be done online.
My first question is, where are you in Texas and what is it that you don't like about it? I ask because all of the things that you have on your list I recognize as being available in the Central Texas/Austin area.
We are in the Dallas area. Southside. The schools are abominations. Only two serious school districts in the area are Highland Park and Southlake-Carroll. We have both of those on the maybe list due to the schools, but it is a severe mis-match on the rest of the sort criteria.
But overall a state cannot be at or near the bottom education-wise and have good schools on average. It is just a mutually exclusive proposition.
The Texas in-town route-around is to buy private schools. But around here that means deep into city areas, or else totally wacked out their gourd Christo-nutcase religion operations.
I know you want to work with one agent, but you have zoning issues that will have to be dealt with and there is NO WAY that one agent can go across states and be aware of local zoning laws. I would be extremely worried for you that if you tried that you would purchase a property and not be able to do the things you wanted on them.
An agent that crosses different states isn't going to know about special programs. Out here we have the NW Energy Trust which offers rebates for making properties green. You should check out their website. BUT...my point is that an agent in another state isn't going to know about those small details. Relocation companies can be national, but they refer to local agents. You would still be working with many different agents.
You have a multitude of issues in that you are willing to consider many states, for many states MLS's are regional so you would have to potentially work with different agents within a state, and you would have to prioritize your criteria. We have UGB's out here so our cities are more compact, so biking to work is not a problem from a ten acre property. Prices are high here compared to Texas, and we have tough zoning laws. So...business use on rural land, you'd have to be more specific and may have to get a conditional use permit. We don't have open zoning out here. That may eliminate Oregon from your list and make your search that much easier!
I don't see an easy solution to your problem other than working with several individual real estate agents. There is just too much to know for each locale.
I value your input from our earlier discussions, and Salem did hit high on our list.
The zoning issues do not hit me too high on the concern list for Oregon as I think I can pretty much walk around that with Ag exemptions. As far as prices, that is not/was not an issue on our sort criteria. There is no bargain in buying into cheap and trash.
But we do have some concerns regarding Oregon schools. Oregon never seems to hit too high in that regard. I do recall them shutting down -- was it last year? -- because they ran out of money. Just a quick sort scores Oregon at number 40 out of 50 (yeah I know you know there are 50 states. ) Not saying this is any best list -- Smartest State 2006-2007 -- but in the bottom half is not really the place to want to be finding yourself.
I did follow from one story a couple of years ago that Salem has an internet based High School that seemed interesting for innovative thinking. But it seemed mostly directed for mis-fit kids and we are hoping the kids will not be affected in that regard as severely as are Mom and Dad (me and Heather, as it were )
So just that I am understanding, this is way outside the scope of work that a normal real estate person does. Is that correct?
What you have described would be outside the scope of what a typical real estate professional would do.
A typical real estate professional (whether commercial or residential) would be licensed in a particular state (or multiple states if the area bordered two/three states). He/she would specialize in locating available properties within that particular area. I can't see how it would be cost effective to obtain licensing in every state (or even more than one or two).
I value your input from our earlier discussions, and Salem did hit high on our list.
The zoning issues do not hit me too high on the concern list for Oregon as I think I can pretty much walk around that with Ag exemptions. As far as prices, that is not/was not an issue on our sort criteria. There is no bargain in buying into cheap and trash.
But we do have some concerns regarding Oregon schools. Oregon never seems to hit too high in that regard. I do recall them shutting down -- was it last year? -- because they ran out of money. Just a quick sort scores Oregon at number 40 out of 50 (yeah I know you know there are 50 states. ) Not saying this is any best list -- Smartest State 2006-2007 -- but in the bottom half is not really the place to want to be finding yourself.
I did follow from one story a couple of years ago that Salem has an internet based High School that seemed interesting for innovative thinking. But it seemed mostly directed for mis-fit kids and we are hoping the kids will not be affected in that regard as severely as are Mom and Dad (me and Heather, as it were )
I am not sure that corporate relocation could help you on such a local level. We are talking about purchasing a residence with an attached business?? It would be worth a phone call or email.
I am aware of that particular ranking study that you showed. Oregon used to be close to top 10, but Measure 5 was passed in 1991 and it decimated school funding. Portland was hit the hardest with Measure 5, being an urban setting. Portland schools have had a multitude of issues, and yes they have closed them early once or twice due to lack of funding. Some of the best schools in Oregon (according to report cards issued by the ODE) are still located in the Portland area despite the funding issue. If you visit the Oregon Department of Education Website and look at the report cards, it will give you a rundown of each school. It's a great resource.
We have a couple of internet based schools here, and I believe a new one (or maybe 2) is trying to get charter status in Portland. The one high school currently online is an "alternative" program, but I know there is a push to create a different kind of online school.
I don't think any urban school in the state could give you a less than 1:20 ratio. That would be private school territory here.
If you are considering GA, you would love it. Atlanta is booming right now and we love it here. Taxes are really low, schools are great (if you look in the right places - Gwinnett County), and you get HUGE houses and yards for the money. And, the cost of living is fabulous. You can't beat it.
Call Danthika Borst with GMAC Metro Brokers. She worked her butt off for us and we recommend her to everyone who needs a realtor. Her number is 404-843-2500.
I am not sure that corporate relocation could help you on such a local level. We are talking about purchasing a residence with an attached business?? It would be worth a phone call or email.
Good description. See? you "local only" RE folks are better at this than you might have thought. "Residence with attached business" again would be a term that I did not know to use.
Since we are doing an online real estate therapy session, let me re-start with what we have and why. Currently I have 3 acres in South Dallas. It has two old (50 years old or so) warehouse buildings on it. We turned one into a house and the other I use as my "shop." I am an engineer who does what are called "Design / Build" projects for weird folks in weird places.
That kind of makes it so that it does not matter where I am located for business purposes, as my joke version is that I usually drive at least 500 miles (the various project location) to work. In real day-to-day practice, I tend to commute about 100 feet out the front of one warehouse door to the other one to play with toys.
I am presently doing a lot of energy projects, and am anticipating shifting toward energy/agriculture projects -- which is why I think a larger playground and Ag exemptions for property use in Oregon will make the intended use not an issue.
Sad part is we also have 25 acres of grown-up unused farmland in East Texas to play on, but the schools in the area are rated "academically unacceptable," (the lowest rating in the Texas scoring system) and the area is so hillbilly that there do not appear to even have the private options.
Which is also the problem in where we are in Dallas. It is former industrial area, and socially bottomed out, with Meth houses down the street. The schools fit the area -- not in a good way. It was an interesting playground for college days and after, but it is a wasteland as far as fit-for-family things.
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I am aware of that particular ranking study that you showed. Oregon used to be close to top 10, but Measure 5 was passed in 1991 and it decimated school funding. Portland was hit the hardest with Measure 5, being an urban setting. Portland schools have had a multitude of issues, and yes they have closed them early once or twice due to lack of funding. Some of the best schools in Oregon (according to report cards issued by the ODE) are still located in the Portland area despite the funding issue. If you visit the Oregon Department of Education Website and look at the report cards, it will give you a rundown of each school. It's a great resource.
Good to know the background. And I guess you follow that I did not mean that I thought there was anything magic about that ranking system or list. It is just a sample, and across various measuring systems and lists, you can see patterns of who clusters where and then -- like you are saying -- there is always a story of how they get there.
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We have a couple of internet based schools here, and I believe a new one (or maybe 2) is trying to get charter status in Portland. The one high school currently online is an "alternative" program, but I know there is a push to create a different kind of online school.
Yeah, "alternative" is now the buzz term for "them kids aint quite right," huh? I suppose it is taking over from the term "special" which has become not so special anymore. Still get to tease friends from Special Forces about that.
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I don't think any urban school in the state could give you a less than 1:20 ratio. That would be private school territory here.
What the pattern tends to be in the bottom-end school areas is that there is mass public not-so-good; some upper-end private; and sometimes an exclusive upper end area that tightly controls a single upper end public school.
It is sort of funny when I work in one of the top-of-the-school-list states, and start a discussion about kids and schools. Since I have been "shopping" for a couple years now, and I jump all over the country while working, I tend to chat with the locals about this type stuff. In the "good schools" states, this is what I hear -- "What are you talking about, Phil? They are all good, they are public schools and the state keeps track of all that." They do not comprehend that the states on the bottom have "pits" that are way, way, down there.
I guess it comes back to a reflection of the community's values. Take Mississippi -- always near the bottom for schools but they have GREAT highway rest-stops / restrooms. Look like little Mansions. Gotta put on the Big House show. But for the local Blacks and Poor folks -- y'all take a crap behind your fall down stick school house yunno ya aint gonna make it past 8th grade, anyway.
And for all the areas that are at the bottom, there is like you mentioned, a path around for the upper end folks. Various private schools, and some states even run an exclusive "Governor's School" for the kids deemed worth an education.
Community Values. Probably the funniest/sad version of this I have ran across is a Bumper Sticker in New Mexico. It read "New Mexico! First in Nuclear Weapons; Last In Education. See the Connection?"
I guess it is partly the Community Values part that makes shopping for where home should be difficult for us. Real estate marketing seems to know all the locations and real prices, but none of the values.
Just joking with Heather about this -- we decided maybe we should be asking "Where would Ralph Nader Live?"
Have you considered Dripping Springs and environs Yeah, I know, it's in Texas, but the schools are well rated generally by parents and there is rural property of the size that you indicate you're interested in available.
Add to that, people in that area (and in Austin and the surrounding area) are very interested in the kinds of projects you say you're working on so there's a demand readily to hand.
By the way, I attended Highland Park schools long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away. They were rated in the top ten schools in the nation at that time, and they just about destroyed any interest in school that I had because the way they got that rating was to teach to the test before teaching to the test was school - you were supposed to take in the information and regurgitate it in the form that was wanted on the test, and never, never, NEVER actually think about what you were learning. That's hopefully changed by now, but the point was, ratings not only often don't tell the whole story, but they can actually lie. Thus my link to the site where parents with kids in the school can give reviews and talk about WHY they do or don't like a particular school district or school within the district.
Have you considered Dripping Springs and environs Yeah, I know, it's in Texas, but the schools are well rated generally by parents and there is rural property of the size that you indicate you're interested in available.
Add to that, people in that area (and in Austin and the surrounding area) are very interested in the kinds of projects you say you're working on so there's a demand readily to hand.
By the way, I attended Highland Park schools long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away. They were rated in the top ten schools in the nation at that time, and they just about destroyed any interest in school that I had because the way they got that rating was to teach to the test before teaching to the test was school - you were supposed to take in the information and regurgitate it in the form that was wanted on the test, and never, never, NEVER actually think about what you were learning. That's hopefully changed by now, but the point was, ratings not only often don't tell the whole story, but they can actually lie. Thus my link to the site where parents with kids in the school can give reviews and talk about WHY they do or don't like a particular school district or school within the district.
I personally like all the area of which you are speaking. Have done some renewable energy type work down that way, and have folks I might be helping on design level type work in the area, as well.
Overall, Texas has been good to me, and I believe I should be good to Texas.
Heather on the other hand goes back 7 generations in Texas, even with family at the Alamo (on the winning side of that battle ) and says (only sort of joking) we can live anywhere BUT Texas.
I came here as a High School drop-out with an attitude and played Army in and from here, and did a BS, MS, and ROTC from here. All thanks to a great University system that was wisely built and started with folks with foresight over a hundred years ago and chiefly funded by the local resources -- oil. I am even set for a free PhD., any time I want to spend a couple years on it.
But I see that value system that created that being destroyed by corporate greed models.
I guess putting that down into real human terms in what concerns me is that Community Values (my new Buzz Term rant, I guess. ) thing I was going on about in regards to the schools and in the larger picture, is how that plays out in the life of the community. But it is not just schools. I guess thinking about kids and the future do that to you.
The low-tax, gimme-more-now, screw-the-next-guy, corpRat thinking is sort of seeming like a mass mental illness to me now.
Nov 25, 07 - 1:24 AM Has anyone noticed the last oak tree on Mercer about to be gone?
I understand the need for the new sewar line but it seems to me you would want to save a little something special for whats left of our downtown.
How much effort (or thought) would it take to avoid one tree?
Gateway to the Hill country my eye'.
Gateway to the next 5 miles of strip centers.
If you want one last look at what may well be the last giant oak tree on Mercer you'd better get on it. By the looks of the paint lines and the progress made it should be gone by the end of the week.
Email: putawaywet@metcrawler.com
~Ivy~
Feb 19th, 2008 - 8:24 AM Re: Has anyone noticed the last oak tree on Mercer about to be gone?
I don't think anyone cares anymore. I was born and mostly raised here, my family has been here for 4 generations now and I'm terribly upset at all the changes going on around here. The history of this town and it's families are going to pot. This town will be totally different by the time Home Depot, HEB, Walgreens, etc open. I just wish all the Cali people would go back home and take their wild fires with them. This place doesn't matter to outsiders. They are coming in, building, then selling to more outsiders and frankly I'm tired of watching my heritage and my childrens heritage get sold for a profit. We will not benefit from it, but no one really cares anymore. As long as they have their pretty house on their pretty acre they are happy until a bigger, better offer comes along. Sound a little disgruntled? Bet on it.
Email: ivy_trick_mess@yahoo.com
J
Feb 20th, 2008 - 9:13 AM Re: Has anyone noticed the last oak tree on Mercer about to be gone?
Ivy,
I'm from California, and I agree with you. We moved here because there wasn't a Starbuck on every corner, and now all these new people seem to want to turn DS into Round Rock. My biggest pet peeve--why does everyone need FLOODLIGHTS on all night? We have animals (chickens and donkeys) and we don't need the whole dang place lit up all night.
We thought we were getting away from all the self-important, incosiderate snobs near San Francisco.
From my point of view, the John Bradford who started that thread is not a mal-content who represents bad for your area. He is the only hope for it (and much of America). It is a huge positive that he still exists. Hope for the flowers, as it were.
Back towards the Highland Park model. I am not citing it as good thing in anyway. More of a symptom as much as anything.
There are massive corporate and money interests on the line in that game. HP ISD have even been involved in cheating to maintain the status by declaring the bottom xx% or so of the district as special ed and ducking the test for their dummies. There are billion$ at risk in the make believe property values. By just crossing a road into the Highland Park school district can make a house triple in value.
This is because folks that have done the math figured out with Dallas ISD being such a crap hole, it is cheaper to buy a near million dollar house in HP instead of a $250,000 in Dallas and pay for private school if you have kids.
To maintain that Big House / Plantation model it is needed that Dallas ISD remain a crap hole, and things are made so. This is not an accident. It is all very profitable to the upper end. It is also god-awful Community Values. Drilling you for "THE TEST" and not really educating you (your cited HP personal experience) was just part of maintaining life on the Plantation. In the end the owners become slaves so the system as much as the field hands.
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Only two serious school districts in the area are Highland Park and Southlake-Carroll. We have both of those on the maybe list due to the schools, but it is a severe mis-match on the rest of the sort criteria.
