Chic vs. Geek: Brown is the New Green

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Due to the ongoing drought, the Santa Clara Valley Water District has restricted homeowners to watering their lawns no more than two times a week. So what can you do to maintain your curb appeal?

CHIC (PEARL)

There’s never been a better time to rethink and renew your yard and gardens with succulents, cacti, and other plants built to withstand the West Coast heat with a minimal amount of maintenance – and water. But don’t dig up your lovely lawn without a plan! Contact us for tips and referrals to quality landscaping professionals.

GEEK (KEVIN)

If years of shrinking reservoirs and rising water rates haven’t convinced you to convert your lawn to hearty native plants, I don’t know what else will. So the best advice I can offer is to invest in reseeding your lawn with bermuda, fescue, or another type of drought-tolerant grass. Here’s a helpful review of the options.

Chic vs. Geek: Responding to Buyer Love Letters

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We’ve talked about the pros and cons of sending “love” letters to sellers to highlight all the reasons you’re the perfect buyer for their home. But what are the do’s and don'ts for a seller who receives one?

CHIC (PEARL)

While they may seem harmless, buyer “love” letters can get a seller in trouble because they often include personal information that could reveal characteristics of the buyer like race, religion, or familial status. Why is that a problem? That information could create a conscious or unconscious bias in the seller’s decision to accept or reject an offer, which would violate fair housing laws.

GEEK (KEVIN)

At the end of the day, your decision to accept or reject an offer has to be based on objective standards, like the offer amount or the ability to pay in cash. We always let sellers know up front that we will never deliver buyer love letters, and we advise them to document the basic facts of every offer they receive and their objective reasons for saying yes or no to every prospective buyer.

Chic vs. Geek: DIY with the Geek!

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Pandemic inflation has labor and material costs soaring, so the Geek decided we should build our own closet organizer. What are the pros and cons of doing it yourself?

CHIC (PEARL)

When it comes to home improvement, I’m a big fan of hiring professionals. After all, if you’ve invested your life in your home, you should want to get the job done right the first time. I’m lucky enough to live with the Geek, and he’s a pretty handy guy! But if you don't have your own wood shop, you can always order something custom from one local shop or another.

GEEK (KEVIN)

I knew this project wouldn’t be as easy as the show racks we saw in the store, but considering a custom closet would cost us $6,000-$7,000, I was ready to go DIY, and the Chic was willing to let me do my best. Of course, eight sheets of plywood ran us about $1,700 (twice as much as a year ago), so no matter who’s doing the work, it’s going to cost you a pretty penny.

Chic vs. Geek: Buying or Building?

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We often meet buyers who are debating between buying an existing home and building a new one. Some buyers start out looking for a fixer-upper and end up building their dream home because they couldn’t find the right fit with their budget. What are the pros of each approach?

CHIC (PEARL)

Buying an existing home has obvious advantages like a short turnaround from closing to move in. It also gives you a chance to settle into a new home and a new lifestyle if you don’t want to make remodel decisions right away – or if you don’t have the money for renovations right now. You also have the chance to walk through the actual home instead of picturing it from blueprints, and you’re generally moving to an existing neighborhood with established services and local schools.

GEEK (KEVIN)

It may be faster to move in and get settled in a resale home, but if you truly want to live in your dream home, there’s nothing better than designing your own living space from scratch. You can personalize each and every nook and cranny and take advantage of all the latest features to maximize energy efficiency and save money over the life of the house. And plus, you get that “new car” smell and the satisfaction of knowing that you won’t need to replace any major appliances for a long, long time.