Bouncing in The Clovis Bubble

Well, while the rest of the world sits and waits for housing to recover, for the swine to recover, for the banks to recover.... Clovis, New Mexico is bouncing along like several other small pockets of life in this big world.

We are in a unique situation because of growth at Cannon AFB and in several surrounding industries. We actually have help wanted signs around town, people are moving in, buying their first homes, fixing up existing homes, and business is booming. We are down to 275 homes on the market in Clovis -down from over 400 a year ago -in a town of 45,000 people, and we have more people being transferred in daily.

If you like to build houses, if you are a skilled subcontractor, please come to Clovis. We need you! Give me a call 575-799-9500. I'd love to put you to work. But please don't call if you just like to develop postage stamp sized lots with identical tract houses. We have a serious need for affordable housing ($150,000 - $200,000) but there must be some way to build decent homes with decent yards in communities with something other than lots in a rectangular grid.

It has been reported to us by the government that we need 2000 new housing units to be built in the next two years, to accommodate those that are being transferred to Cannon and their families.

We need to revamp our land use plans, we have a great opportunity to build a city and I hope we don't waste it for what is most cost efficient.

I would like to see green spaces, jogging trails, playgrounds, and amenities like you see in other areas of the country. People moving to Clovis are expecting more and hopefully we will deliver.

While I am writing my wish list maybe New Mexico could give home builders a break with the gross receipts tax they charge. Paying sales tax on a home like you would a box of chocolates is not helping things.

Katharine

The Shiny Things

Have you ever been struck blind by the shiny things? Those are the things that catch your eye and inspire emotions and plans and divert you from your original purposes and goals. This isn't always a bad thing. Changes are good. You just need to be aware if it is a trap that you or your buyers fall into on a regular basis.
I was previewing a home recently for a long time customer who was moving back to Clovis after living in Dallas for a few years. I'm sure this hometown girl is a little jaded by the things the big city offers in housing but I still get enamored of the little things that make houses special around Clovis.
So anyway, Here was our conversation:
Lori: So did you go see the house on Kearny?
Katharine: Yes, It was beautiful! It has beautiful granite countertops!
(Then the truth comes out)
Lori: So does it have a big island like I like?
Katharine: Ummmm....it has granite countertops!
Lori: What about the slideout drawers, does it have the drawers like I like?
Katharine: Well, it has really pretty granite countertops.
Lori: does it have a walk in pantry?
Katharine: It even has granite countertops and a sink in the laundry room.
Lori: Does it have double sinks in the hall bath?
Katharine: Not sure, but it has granite in the hall bath too.
Lori: (Laughs) So what was the granite like?
Katharine: It was beautiful... tan with dark brown veins and some little purple flecks. It was lovely.
I was stuck by the shiny things. This isn't a new thing. This is the reason that we stage a house with Shiny things like a fancy place setting, a floral arrangement, a nice rug or fluffy white towels. To give buyers something new and pretty to look at to give them a feeling of value. Not to deceive but to enhance and ,yes, distract from some of the more mundane, maybe not so pretty things about a house.
Shiny Object Syndrome is a real problem that many agents deal with. It causes us to have to lose focus and chase after the new, the shiny, the fast computer, the cool cell phone, the best flyer template, we spend our time searching for new and better instead of getting it done with what we have. New is great, just don't get distracted and believe that one new shiny object will cure all of the clutter on your desk, make your closing happen faster, keep track of your clients and write thank you notes too.
We aren't squirrels. I was suprised that after all of the thousands of houses that I have seen and hundreds that I have sold that something silly like pretty counters could distract me but I guess I'm mortal after all.
I had to go back to the house on Kearny and call her back and go on and on about the slide out drawers, walk in pantry and decently large island, that, and to run my hand over the hard, cold, solid granite with the little purple flecks.