Sondra Meyer

For the last week or so, I've had to stay away from Active Rain. It was hard, I was tempted, but I had been a bad Realtor. A real bad Realtor. Since I was a naughty Realtor, I've had to do some catch up work....Actually, a lot of catch up work. What did I do wrong?

I neglected to pay attention to what was going on in the community that I call home. What? How could that happen? Although I sell a lot of property in Bryan, because you get more house for the money, I actually live in College Station. (Bryan and College Station are commenly called twin cities - not identical twin cities). Anyway, business and life have been great the last few years. College Station has been growing and growing. So, much that the city paid for a consultant to come in and do a growth management study. Although it just hit my radar a couple of weeks ago, the study was released late last summer.

If I am understanding the study and the subsequent actions correctly, the study suggests that the City of College Station needs to aggressively annex and to control future growth, amongst other things. The current proposal is to limit a landowners, who have property in the 3 1/2 mile area outside the city limits, ability to subdivide their property into parcels smaller than 20 acres each.

Given land prices in this area, if that ordinance passes, it will curtail the average person's ability to buy/build a home in the country. I've also sat through a couple of hours of listening to people, that are in tears, trying to explain to the city council that if they are annexed, they will have to sell their homes because they can not afford city taxes. I'm scrambling to understand "Why?" Why is the City of College Station doing this?

Had I done a better job of keeping up with the politics of my city's government, maybe I wouldn't be wondering
"Why?" or even worse, "Is it too late?" I know that we each have only 24 hours in a day. Those 24 hours don't go to far. But, I'm learning the hard way that if we don't stay involved with our city or county governments, we are potentially hurting our customer's and client's ability to have a piece of the American Dream - a home of their own or a home in the country.

Get involved. Stay involved. At a minimum....VOTE.

I think one of my favorite things about getting a new listing is taking the pictures of the property.

I enjoy REALLY looking at a home or a piece of land, trying to figure out would be the best shots. Typically, I will take an entire roll of film, or in the age of digital cameras - I'll use up all of the available shots. Afterwards, I sort through the pictures, deciding which ones "best" highlight the property. For me, the ultimate compliment is when my pictures remind my clients of why they love their home or land.

I'll admit, some places are harder to photograph than others. I've noticed that lots and small tracts of acreage tends to present some of the biggest challenges. Looking at the MLS and Realtor.com, it appears many agents don't even attempt to photograph these types of listings. Many agents will have just one shot - the view from the road. Often times, it is just a bunch of trees or a wide open spaces.

With hard to photograph listings, I try to look a little closer. I try to put myself in the buyers shoes. If I was buying the property myself, what about it would appeal the most to me? For example, I have a listing at 322 Doe Run in Caldwell, Texas. It is 3.44 acres, mostly wooded that is situated on a corner that is selling for $14,500. When I was taking pictures, I didn't want it to be just another lot listing. I wanted to show that it is a special place. Even if the amount of acreage is too large or too small, I'd still like to show what property in this area offers. Maybe someone might decide the Bryan College Station, Texas area would be a great place to raise a family or to retire at. (Hmm...that's part of the underlying purpose of many of my posts on AR.)

I'll share some of the pictures I took. The first two pictures are a little more on the "boring" side but they will give you a good idea of what I was trying to work with: A tract of land on a nice, quiet country road.

Here is a view of the property from the road, which I have taken at an angle. It allows the view to see more of the property from this angle.

I think the trees look nicer from this angle.

Below is another view from the other road.

Both of these pictures serve a purpose of giving a realistic, street view of the property. However, when a buyer or even an agent is flipping through numerous listings, I'm not sure that they alone will sell the property alone. (Actually, this is not a bad looking country road.)

As the listing agent, I want to try to get the potential buyer involved with the property somehow.

So, I get out and start walking the property, taking pictures of what ever catches my fancy.

I took 25 pictures of this 3.44 acre property.

<This one ended up being my favorite and I use it as the primary picture.

Personally, I've always been drawn to meadows and cleared spaces (clearings). My eye tends to follow the trail into the distance. It makes me want to find out what is at the end of the path. What do you think?

Given that I'm a horse person, I find myself wondering - is there enough room to ride horses? Obviously, not all buyers are horse people, so I try put myself in their shoes.

Could this be a nice homesite? I want potential buyers to ask questions. I want them to want to make the drive to see the property.

Although this picture is nice, what else would a buyer possibly find captivating about this property?

Well, there are lots of trees.

Beauty abounds in nature.

Some people might find this picture relaxing. Some might find it interesting.

Some might say, "Well, it wouldn't be too hard hard to clear that yaupon (the brush) out with a dozer." That could be a nice shade tree.

Wildflowers

Although it was not spring when these pictures were taken, there were still wild flowers to be found.

I could see a family buying this place and going out there on the weekends. If they had children, I know that the children would enjoy picking flowers.

Although I have been teased about this picture looking like dog poop, if you will look at it closely, you will see that it is a

Deer Track >>>>

People always seem to notice tracks. And what could be more fitting, deer tracks on Doe Run?

Since this property is part of the Beaver Creek subdivision, I decided to take a picture of one of the lakes that all of the residents are allowed to use.

Not only do the residents have access to their 3.44 acre retreat, they can go fishing whenever they want.

On my actual listing, I placed this picture last. I also made sure to clearly indicate the use of this lake is a benefit of buying within the subdivision. I do not want to confuse anyone and make them think that this is on the property or is a view from the property.

Well, hopefully, this will give you some ideas about what kind of pictures that you can take for land/lost listings. You may have to go out more than once to take pictures, but to me... that is part of being a listing agent. If you don't like to take pictures, find somone who does.

Bottom line: Always put yourself in the buyers shoes.

Good luck.

Do you love your airport? On Christmas Day, I decided that I love our airport. I'm a native of the Bryan - College Station, Texas area and I think it is an asset to our area even though there are major airports within driving distance. If you drew a triangle between Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) and Austin, we'd be in the middle more or less.

As a single mother, I've come to dread Christmas morning. That is when I have to take my two boys to the airport, put them on a plane, and watch them leave for Atlanta, Georgia so they can spend the rest of their Christmas break with their Dad. They are always excited, but as a mom, I'm not. Initially, I'll worry about, "What if the plane crashes?" I ask God to look out for them. As they board the plane, I always find myself on the verge of tears. The mere fact that they are not going to be around leaves me with a sad, empty, quiet feeling. We won't bicker about which radio station to listen to. The house will be empty. The Christmas tree with no presents under it will serve as a reminder that our Christmas together this year has come and gone. I've been through this process more times than I can count. Even though I spend the better part of Christmas day with my family, I still find myself sad.

<See? Off they go.

So, why did I decide that I love our airport this year? Well....I needed to find something to keep me from crying in the 36 minutes between the time they boarded the plane and when it actually took off. Easterwood Airport is a nice, clean airport that is located just a mile or so from the Texas A&M campus. Actually, the airport is owned and run by Texas A&M. As an Aggie, why wouldn't I love that? But there is more:

When the boys were younger, we had to get up in the wee hours of Christmas morning, drive two hours to Houston Intercontinental, so they could take a direct flight to Atlanta. This is the second Christmas that they have been able to fly out of Easterwood Airport in College Station, which about 15 minutes from our house. Although they will have to switch planes in Dallas, they are able to stay up a little later on Christmas Eve and play with their gifts. This year, it was new XBox games.

< Sean and Phillip by the Christmas tree at McKenzie Terminal. It was still dark outside when we arrived at the airport this moring.

Continental and American Airlines are the two carriers that service this airport. American Airlines flies into DFW. Continental flies into Houston. With gas prices what they are now, the cost of the ticket for this part of the flight is offset by the amount that I save in gas, not to mention my time.

Easterwood Airport is small enough that we can turn into the McKenzie terminal from the highway and be standing in the check-in line within 5 to 10 minutes. The lines for both the check in and the security clearance area are comparatively short. After the boys have gone through security, I can still see them through the windows prior to their boarding the plane. When it is time to leave, I've only got to walk a short distance to get back to my truck.

I'm a horse person, so yes, I drive a truck. Trucks can be really hard to park in little spaces. The terminal's parking lot is never so crowded that I can't find a big open area to maneuver into. In Houston, I may spend 10-15 minutes just looking for a parking space. At, I wouldn't even attempt parking a truck. As a passenger flying in at other airports, you frequently have to take a bus, just to get to the rental car places. At Easterwood, the two rental car companies share about half the parking lot.

If you fly American, you will have to go downstairs to claim your baggage. With Continental, you walk into the building directly into the baggage claim area. No stress. Simple as can be.

I love our the convenience that our airport offers. I'm proud to call it OUR airport. Do you love your airport?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

As I was driving by Hensel Park last weekend, I saw the golden glow of the sun on the pavilion. I ended up deciding to turn around and take a picture with my digital camera. Hensel Park, owned and operated by Texas A&M, is located on South College Ave. at the north edge of the College Station city limits. Granted, that is the Aggie north. Aggie north, south, east and west are dependent on where something is in relation to the railroad tracks, Texas Avenue, Northgate and Southgate. Any, getting back to the point, the City of Bryan sign on South College Ave marks the back boundry line.

Now is this pavilion REALLY beautiful? I almost hoped that I wouldn't get caught taking these pictures. My friends that work on the A&M campus would likely think that I've lost all sense of reasoning. It wouldn't surprise me if most people that live in Bryan and College Station were not even aware of the pavilion's existence.

Is this pavilion beautiful? As I snapped pictures of it, memories of time spent in the park over the years came back. I decided that the pavilion was beautiful because it is the distinguishing characteristic of the park.

Walking down memory lane:

I grew up in College Station. As a girl, I remember getting to have at least one picnic on the last day of school at Hensel Park. The pavilion's cover amplified the sounds of school kids laughing and playing. I also faintly remember people trying climb onto the roof. I remember my Dad flying kites with us there.

As a college student, I used to play ball with my dog in the field. I discovered that the park also had trails through the woods. Nothing to spectacular, but it was a nice diversion one afternoon.

My grandparents lived about a mile from Hensel Park. When my boys were little, my grandpa would regularly take them to the playground there. I didn't even think to take pictures of the playground. Maybe it is because the playground equipment is new and modern. The old see saws, swing sets, and merry go round type things have long since been replaced.

I've driven by that park millions of times on the way to my Grandparent's house, on the way to the feed store that was located in downtown Bryan, and on the way to my first real job at the Bryan Police Department. That pavilion in Hensel Park is part of my hometown. It is part of my memories. It has always been there. I hope nothing ever happens to it. I think it is beautiful.