Well, it looks like my goal to blog more frequently didn't quite work out. My last post was for my brother's wedding in December of last year, and A LOT has happened since then. In my defense, Spring is the busiest time of year for real estate, and that was when I wrote my last post, so that's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it!
Two days ago I woke up with intense lower back pain so bad I could barely move, forget about walking, so with my parents' help I went to the hospital to get checked out. They determined that it was most likely muscle spasms, shot me (literally) full of pain killers, and sent me home. Right now I am on bed rest while my back heals, so I'm putting the down time to good use and updating my personal and work blogs.
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| Paul and Jessica's prego announcement. |
Since my last post about the wedding, things have been happening at rapid-fire speed it seems, especially for my brother and his new wife! Early this past Spring they found out they were expecting their first child AND decided to purchase their very first home together. I was lucky enough to get to be their Realtor for the purchase, and got right to work helping them find the home that they would spend the first years of their married life in, and bring their baby home to!
Initially they were looking in the rural areas surrounding the nearest cities of Menifee, Murrieta, and Temecula. Their one big request was that they wanted some acreage so they could keep animals and grow trees and plants for food, and have more privacy. In addition to this they hoped to find something that, with a little bit of work, would provide them with great resale value (my little brother is a pretty smart guy!). We had looked at several homes without much success. Even though the areas we were searching were rural, since they were still close to larger cities, you couldn't get much for the money. My real estate office is located in a small rural community East of Temecula, called Aguanga (pronounced Uh-wahn-ga), but they felt that this area was too far a drive from Jessica's job in Corona.
After looking at several homes and not finding "the one" they were getting discouraged, and felt that maybe they should just move out of state. At this point, I asked them if Jessica transferring to a work location closer to Temecula would be a possibility, so that we could expand their search to include Aguanga. I monitor the housing inventory pretty closely up there and had seen numerous properties that I knew they would have loved come up for sale and get snatched up. Not only were the properties physically what they were looking for, but they would also offer them the opportunity to increase their equity through price appreciation, and ultimately achieve their goal of making a profit when they decided to sell. After showing them pictures of some of the properties, they were convinced that it would be worth it for Jessica to transfer. It wasn't long before they had picked out a few homes as top contenders. One in particular had EVERYTHING that they wanted- acreage, great views, and a nice home in a quiet neighborhood. It also had animal facilities already in place, mature fruit and nut trees, and a fully automated irrigation system for the gardens. We put in an offer, and after some intense negotiations and an adventure-packed escrow, Paul and Jessica became proud 1st time home owners! While the sale was a challenge, ultimately it was a huge success, and I couldn't be happier for them. There is something deeply satisfying about helping someone buy a home, and the feeling is only amplified when it's their 1st home and they are family as well.
In other work-related news, I have become the office photographer of sorts, on top of my regular duties as an agent. I have really been enjoying getting a brief glimpse into the lives of our wonderful clients and helping them sell their homes and move on to the next chapter of their lives. I have always had something of an obsession with homes and home design, so getting a chance to combine that with my other obsession, photography, for my job has been a dream come true. While other teenage girls were pouring over the latest issue of Teen Magazine or the Delias catalog, I was combing through Better Homes and Gardens and any other home/design magazine I could get my hands on. Not to say that I didn't read my fair share of Teen Mag, but my heart was always more drawn to the architecture, landscaping, and cozy design themes of the other magazines. I believe that it stems from the fact that we moved a lot when I was a young child, and I never quite felt "at home" anywhere. I am also something of a home body anyway, and most of the time would rather be curled up at home with a good book or movie and a glass of wine than doing anything else. Regardless of where it originated, the idea of "home" has always been one of my favorite things. Here are some of my favorite shots of the properties I've photographed so far.
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| One of the first properties that I shot in Lake Riverside. The owners took extremely good care of the place, and the home is the definition of "pride of ownership". |
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| It really could have been a model, even though they had owned it for several years. |
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| Having people invite you into the most intimate parts of their life and home requires a great amount of responsibility on my part and trust on theirs. |
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| Beautiful views from the front porch of another Lake Riverside listing. |
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| Home owners are sometimes self-conscious if their home doesn't look like a model, but to me, there is nothing more beautiful than a well lived in home, filled with evidence of happy memories. |
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| One of the nicest things about shooting listings in Aguanga, is that with all of the hills and rocky outcrops, there is usually a place to get a semi-aerial view of the properties without the use of a drone camera. I still want a drone, but at least it isn't 100% necessary to get a decent shot of the homes. All I have to worry about is not breaking a leg getting down or getting bit by a snake! =) |
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| Loved the deep red wall contrasting with the black bar stools on this breakfast bar! |
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| One of my favorite parts of shooting different homes is seeing all the unique furnishings. The bed and the antique high-back chair to the right of it were both very cool. |
This particular home belonged to a military family, and they were obviously very proud to serve. I snapped this shot of the flag in their back yard just a few minutes before sunset.
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One of my favorite shoots thus far. Not only was the lighting perfect due to it being cloudy that day (it actually started pouring the second I got done), but the whole property was gorgeous and well kept.
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| The cloudy skies made a perfect backdrop to the exterior photos. |
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| The mare motel was easily one of my favorite features. The horses were total hams and kept trying to get in every shot. |
Inside the mare motel. You can see the adorable miniature ponies on the right hand side.
Inside the Quonset hut below the arena was like being inside of a giant barrel. Loved the colors and lines in this photo.
The kitchen and dining room in this home could have been pulled from the pages of a design magazine! I love to cook (and eat for that matter =P), so I naturally fell in love with this area of the house and kept coming back to it for "one more" shot. It just exudes warmth and welcome.
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| Right off the kitchen through French doors is the guest bedroom. Another warm and inviting space. |
The master bedroom featured this gorgeous custom bed. Are you noticing a theme?? The seller is wonderful lady with a serious passion for horses, and one of the most well kept homes in Lake Riverside. Not surprisingly, this home was off the market in less than a week.
