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Home remodeling - keeping up with the Joneses
Published by Dallas Morning News, 10:13 AM CDT on Monday, April 9, 2007
Stewart Lytle
slytle@dallasnews.com
Sonny and Judi Moyers have no intention of selling their Starwood home in Frisco. But the top Frisco Realtors with Ebby Halliday Realtors last year are paying the Home Artisan Authority $40,000 to $50,000 to gut and remodel their kitchen, as if they were.
The reasons: to enjoy their home more themselves, but even more to keep its value competitive with other homes in the upscale neighborhood that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and family developed.
Every day, the Moyers, who have been in real estate for most of their careers, including Ms. Moyer’s 24 years with Ebby Halliday, are marketing homes that have the latest and most popular features and color schemes. They also work with clients who have waited to update their homes until they are trying to sell them.
“That can be a huge mistake,” Mr. Moyers says. The renovations needed before the sale are often more expensive, compared to doing them along the way, forcing the seller to put the home on the market at a higher price. And after the new paint, countertops and flooring goes in, they say, “Wow, I wish I had done this years ago.”
So for their 4,000-square-foot home, which they bought eight years ago, the Moyers turned to Tyler Wood and Jim McBride with Home Artisan Authority in Denton.
“We interviewed five contractors. And Tyler was by far the most organized and impressed us the most,” Mr. Moyers says. Mr. Wood came not only with his insurance certificate and license, but also with a detailed plan of what he and his business partner, Mr. McBride, would propose for the Moyers – including opening up the kitchen by removing a wall and an underused closet.
Mr. Wood looks like he could pick up the new 42-inch stainless-steel refrigerator by himself. At 300 pounds, he plays rugby on weekends. It was rugby that brought him together with Mr. McBride. They play on an undefeated team that is in Austin this weekend competing for the state championship.
The two close friends have been working together for more than two years building and rebuilding homes like the Moyers’. They have done about 100 projects of all sizes and six to 10 as large as the Moyers’ kitchen redo.
This is their last year to play rugby. “After 24 years of contact sports,” the 32-year-old Mr. Wood says he feels he has broken or dislocated enough bones and donated enough blood. On Wednesday, he was having a dislocated rib repaired so he could play this weekend.
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The Moyers are nearing the end of their project. Mr. McBride, who oversees the onsite contractors on projects, has put in hardwood flooring, removed the dividing wall and the small closet, expanded the island with a tan granite countertop, installed the refrigerator, a Viking six-top stove and a double oven and replaced old baseboards with the more popular 6-inch baseboards.
He has assembled a group of subcontractors that have been with them for years. The secret to their loyalty: “They know we will pay them,” Mr. Wood says.
After all the dust and disruption of the project, the Moyers are the first to say they are so pleased with the result that they are recommending Home Artisan Authority to their clients and other Ebby Halliday agents.
That brings a smile to the rugby players’ faces. “If you can please (the Moyers), you can please anyone,” Mr. Wood says. Their philosophy: “No matter how much money we make on a job, if there is not a referral at the end, then we lost money on that job,” Mr. Wood says.
The Moyers’ advice to other homeowners: Ask the contractor for recommendations. Don’t assume walls can’t be moved or closets removed.
Stay up on current trends and features. Visit model homes by quality homebuilders or existing homes that offer the latest styles.
And don’t just go with the lowest bidder without checking references and doing the homework.
“With cars and construction,” Mr. McBride says, “you get what you pay for.” |
