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Category Archives: Our Team

Pigs with Lipstick? Not Our Pigs.

It’s what’s on the inside that counts!

The “pigs” here being houses

I talked to someone a couple of weeks ago who knows some other “house flippers” in this business. That conversation has really been churning over and over in my head. The premise of the conversation was that we at Hermit Haus spend way too much money rehabbing the houses that we buy and how that cuts into our profits. Our houses are really expensive, and we could sell them cheaper and faster if we just did it the way their friends do it. The flippers they know will go in, paint, and add some stainless steel appliances for an updated look. Then the house goes on the market “as-is” or as a rental that is just never quite right. I see that as a problem for obvious reasons, but that also goes against our core values as a company. 

Why is it an issue?

I know someone who lives in a flipped house. They rent it (thankfully) and have had nothing but headaches since they signed the lease. The drains always run slow; the HVAC has to have work done on it every year in summer and winter, because it quits working; the roof leaks; a ceiling has had to be replaced; the windows are painted shut…the list goes on and on. But the house sure is pretty!

That is a prime example of lipstick on the pig. The landlord is just lucky that the people I know actually care about the house. If a landlord doesn’t care about the house, why should the tenants? If everything is always breaking in the house, why should the tenants bother to make rent on time, or even report problems? Then the landlord is shocked when the house is trashed, or they have to evict for non payment. This of course isn’t always the case. Sometimes people just trash houses and don’t pay. However, keeping a nice, safe house that is priced accordingly will draw the right people and eliminate a lot of the chances for bounce tenants (tenants who move a lot) to crash our house next.

Yes, we experience some profit loss up front because we WILL fix that roof before anyone moves in. We also experience tenants who see that we will fix problems and are more likely to pay a little extra for a house that is very nice and well kept. Our experience has proven that there is a person who is willing to pay a little bit extra for a nice and safe place for family. They also pay on time, and report even the little stuff so we can fix it before it is a big expense. Some tenants have even covered the small problems themselves. They are not required to do that, but it is part of our relationship.

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Fixing My Burnout. And a Surprise at the End of this Blog!

I couldn’t bear to look at my keyboard a couple of months ago. And it loves me.

Oh the lovely burnout we often experience with work and other activities that keep us on the move at a constant. I’m no life expert, but I have hit burnout many times. This last time was different, and I want to share why. I hope this will reach someone who finds my own experiences helpful. I will go over the last two. One that didn’t work out, and one that did.

Burnout #1. I had been a non-stop volunteer for several years at a nonprofit. I was constantly on the run. Very little sleep, wasn’t seeing my doctor, wasn’t eating right (I gained about 100lbs thanks to fast food), and generally was running on caffeine and fumes every day. No amount of sleep helped, because my soul was tired. I was also a full-time college student, with four kids, four dogs, and a household to manage. I was hitting 100 hours a week most weeks, and not seeing my kids or dogs. That was hard. I ended up crashing and burning HARD when the burnout hit, I couldn’t stand the thought of doing one more hour. I trudged on until the dread in my chest absolutely collapsed my whole schedule and world I had built all around me. I was powerless to stop it. I quit. I slept for almost two weeks, and I don’t remember a thing about those weeks. After some R&R, I felt better. I became myself again, started eating better, spending more time at home, and my soul was recharged! I have not gone back yet. I plan to, but now is just not the time.

How does this fit in with my work now?

Well, I will tell you! In May-June-ish, I started feeling that same overwhelming feeling. I felt the weight of the whole world I had built resting on me. My soul was tired once again. I thought, “Man, I need to take a vacation!” So I planned one for July. It fell through. Now what? Well instead of letting everything crash around me and quitting again, I took a long, hard look at why I felt this way. After I established that time was once again the culprit, I sat down with a pen and paper and mapped out a schedule. I also looked very hard at why I do this job every day. I looked at what all has gone on in my life the last couple of years that has led me to this place of burnout.

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When? Okay. But WHEN?

Here is the open door to the downstairs bedroom, and the closed closet door! YAY!

“When will Rattlesnake be finished?!!”

It’s the common question I get, and the answer is “very soon.” We have hit some snags, and we have hit some bumps in the construction process (not any fault or blame to be laid, just part of the process) and we are now moving forward.

Cabinetry update

The fancy cabinets have changed. A lot! My Dad is going to build the cabinets with me. It will be a project that will put a piece of him in the house that I plan to buy and live in for the rest of my life. He even has some shelving that was Mom’s that can be used. How perfect is that? My Dad and I have done many projects together. Some have been this kind, some have been automotive. I have the little hands, so if it is a tight space, he just tells me what to do. I have felt every happy emotion you can feel since I talked to Dad about building the cabinets. So that is now handled. Next is the floors. Ugh.

What to do about them there floors?

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Heat and Money Cause Rattlesnake to Stumble

Here’s stalwart Melissa, working on the stairwell. That’s got to be really hot!

The Heat Takes Its Toll

You may have heard (or experienced, if you are in central Texas) that it’s really hot right now. I think anything over 105 degrees is scary, and it’s been that way for a few days. Last week was only marginally better, and through some kind of miscommunication, Mandi somehow ended up being assigned to paint the interior of the Rattlesnake house, rather than going on vacation as she had originally planned.

She started out with gusto, recruiting her friend Melissa to help out. They figured they could crank all the painting out in two days, since they were using a color very close to the primer color.

It all went fine on day one and on day two until Mandi started to feel real weird. She kept on drinking water and aiming the fan at herself, but she felt worse and worse.

She had overheated, and came really close to heat stroke. The thing is, she had never had a problem with the heat before, so she was baffled.

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Rattlesnakes and Migraines (no relation)

This is FLOOR TILE! We also have vinyl planks for the rest of the house. Could that mean we get floors soon?

Hey, Mandi, How Are You?

Quick update for those following the saga of my migraines. I got some new medications; one is preventative and one is a rescue medication for the breakthrough migraines. The rescue med was tried Monday July 9th, and went into the “Do Not Use EVER AGAIN!” pile on Wednesday (July 11th) morning. It knocked me out through Tuesday.

Lee came to check on me because no one had heard from me. Imagine my surprise when he said, “It’s Tuesday.” and I said, “What? It’s not Monday?” I think it worked as far as knocking out the migraine, but it knocked my conscious mind out for two days too. Had some interesting dreams. One highlight was trying to fix a door at the ranch with Sue Ann. Harvey and Brody (dogs, not her kids) chewed up a heavy metal door (Yeah, I don’t think they really could, but in dreams, anything goes) and Sue Ann and I were trying to fix it with wood putty before Lee got back from vacation. Why he went without Sue Ann, I don’t know, but that was the situation. Anyway, I am just tired this week, but doing pretty well. I just wish I knew if we managed to repair that door in time.

Now everything in the house is WHITE. Even the floor is primed.

What about the House?

While I was knocked out, Chris and Garry (we have been misspelling his name all this time. I’m so sorry!) were hard at work on the Rattlesnake House. It has been textured and primed! She looks like a real house again, doesn’t she?! We are still very happy with the progress.

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