Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post Community Service Entry 2021

Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post provides impactful coverage of affordable housing in 2021 Series submitted for 2022 Joyce and Fred Latcham Community Service Award

Affordable housing has been an issue in Fredericksburg, Texas, for decades, and in 2021, it only got worse.

As home prices continued to skyrocket, the already high cost of living skyrocketed. At midpoint, the average cost of a home exceeded half-a-million dollars. Apartment prices also doubled, with the average cost being around $1,500.

This not only had an impact on people trying to make a living, but it also impacted employers like the school districts, the hospital and even the city trying to keep a full staff.

The Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post’s employees also felt the impacts from this housing crisis, and felt a need to keep its readers informed about its impacts by talking to real estate agents, government officials and business owners.

We also told the stories of individuals who were being personally affected.

To read more of The Standard’s coverage, scroll down.

Local Business

Gillespie’s rural land rush is on

April 21, 2021

Politics and pandemic fuel an urban push to buy Hill Country real estate, driving prices up

FredericksburgStandard

Standard-Radio Post reporter

A6

By Madalyn Watson

MY 2 CENTS Penny McBride

Delegating can help your team members soar

F

ollowing a week of vacation, the subject line of an email caught my eye. It read “Delegating Work” and was received from Chamber member Doug Hall with W.D. Hall Company. Maybe the subject line stood out because I would have loved to delegate a week’s worth of email replies to someone else!

Kidding aside, I took the time to read the email because the act of delegation has always been feast or famine for me. At times, I have done it well and at other times, I have made myself and others miserable with it.

Doug’s email newsletters are always outstanding, but this one especially hit home. He always makes good use of generative questions that allow the reader to step outside of their paradigm. And, in this case, he questions why we choose to do certain tasks that are not the best use of our time and talent and the toll (emotional, physical and financial) of continuing to do the wrong things.

I especially like this passage from his email: “Delegation is an acquired skill. It involves entrusting another person with a task for which the delegator remains ultimately accountable. It is the assignment of authority and responsibility to carry out specific activities. Hurdles to good delegation are often the owner-manager’s need to micromanage and the ‘I can do it better myself’ attitude.”

Trust is the very heart of delegation, which I believe is the reason every person will struggle with assigning tasks to others at some point. It makes me think of watching a trapeze act and trying to identify with the roles.

For most, the idea of being the reliable, strong person who catches the other is easier to imagine than being the one who leaps from a safe perch, arms outstretched, blindly trusting he/she will be caught. Yet, without both, there is no spectacle to behold.

No one likes what I call the yo-yo delegator. You know, the person that asks for help or assigns duties only to turn around and do it themselves.

A couple years ago, I signed up for a new volunteer role in an organization. I read the training checklist that had been supplied to me and arrived early the first time I was to volunteer for in-person training and shadowing.

When it came time to perform the role, the person says to me, “Why don’t you have a seat and just watch the first time.” Fair enough.

The duties were pretty simple, but I appreciated the opportunity to be sure. Two more times, I went and two more times was told to sit and watch.

McBRIDE ▶ A7

Amid the pandemic and political differences, droves of people from big cities are buying land in rural Texas communities. And Fredericksburg as well as the rest of Hill Country, is becoming a favored destination.

A total of 552,707 acres in Texas was purchased for a record $1.69 billion in the latter part of 2020, according to research conducted by the Texas Real Estate Research Center.

Mimi Bartel, associate broker at Century 21 the Hills Realty and co-owner of Property Management Services, said there are two main, pandemic-driven reasons people are leaving urban parts of Texas in favor of cities like Fredericksburg.

“People have learned they can work from home. They can telecommute,” Bartel said.

“And then the second reason is that they are trying to get away from the cities where there’s such a large concentration of people and get to an area that’s maybe safer.”

Bartel said social and political tensions in bigger cities have also been a motivating factor in this migration.

“Another reason people are coming here is because of the social unrest in some of the cities. Again, that has to do with moving to a safer environment,” Bartel said.

A safe haven Dennis Kusenberger, broker and owner of RE/ MAX Town and Country, said his clientele are looking for properties in the Texas Hill Country for political reasons, as well.

“A lot of the calls that we get are from out of state, especially California, a couple from Washington state and Oregon,” Kusenberger said.

Kusenberger said Gillespie County has always been a safe haven, one that people seem to need now more than ever. A lot people moving to the Hill Country are from other states and are seeking refuge from communities they no longer feel at home in.

“There are a lot of people moving here from out of state, a lot of people moving from large cities to get to a Fredericksburg lifestyle, where it’s slower, it’s more conservative, it’s just not the hustle of the big city life,” Bartel said.

Market drivers Bartel referenced statistics compiled by the Central Hill Country Board of Realtors that showed this increasing trend in the city of Fredericksburg.

“Last March 2020, we had 19 sales within the

A residence within the city limits of Fredericksburg, located on Stone Canyon, had a listed price of $599,000 before it was sold. The listed price for the four-bedroom, two-bath home falls into the recent average sale price in the City of Fredericksburg, which has increased by 39% in the last year. — Submitted Photo

city of Fredericksburg,” Bartel said. “And the average sales price was $410,223. This year, during the month of March, we had 32 closings in the city of Fredericksburg and the average sales price was $572,512, or a 39% increase.”

By widening the scope to include all of Gillespie County — ranches and large parcels of land, the increase is steeper.

During March 2020, there were 33 closed sales in Gillespie County with an average sales price of $451,275. In March 2021, 58 properties were sold in the county. The average sales price was $777,064, or a 72.2 percent increase according to a snapshot compiled by the Texas Realtor Data Relevance Project.

Bartel said the realty market “has exploded since the pandemic.”

Kusenberger said the recent increase is not the end for Fredericksburg’s trend upwards.

“I don’t think we’re seeing the top of the market at all,” Kusenberger said. “Fredericksburg has always been a destination.”

Rental popularity In recent years, the attraction of Fredericksburg has drawn hordes of tourists, opening up a market for short term rentals and Airbnbs in the area.

“Another thing that I have really had a run on here lately is short-term rentals,” Kusenberger said. “It seems like every other call we get, they’re wanting a home within walking distance of Main Street that they can use for short-term rental, Airbnb.”

Bartel, however, said more people are looking to move to Fredericksburg permanently now that they have the ability to work from home.

“I think that we’re seeing an influx of people making Fredericksburg as their permanent home,” Bartel said.

The increase in demand for property in rural parts of Texas, including the Hill Country, will increase property prices.

“There’s more people looking than we have properties to fill their needs,” Bartel said.

Limited supply Kusenberger said the options for people wanting to buy in the Hill Country are very slim. He said the old expression “they’re not making any more land” has “probably never been truer than it is right now.”

The prices of property continue to grow due to demand as well as several other factors influenced by the pandemic.

“The prices are escalating not only because of supply and demand, but because building materials have escalated in price,” Bartel said. “And so that is driving up the cost of building, never mind, the real estate, that dirt that is under that construction.”

Bartel said a way that Gillespie County could become more affordable is by getting the private sector involved. Bartel also said federal housing grants could also help.

“Everybody wants a safe and secure home,” Bartel said. “That is critical to the quality of life and it’s difficult to get right now.

Sales tax holiday for emergency supplies With the potential for severe weather approaching, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar reminds Texans they can purchase certain items tax-free during the state’s sales tax holiday for emergency preparation supplies, which begins at 12:01 a.m.

Saturday, April 24, and ends at midnight Monday, April 26.

“While we can’t know when the next flood, tornado or hurricane may strike, we can make sure our families, homes and businesses have the supplies they need to face these and other emergencies,” Hegar said. “This tax holiday can help Texans save money while stocking up for emergency situations.”

The Comptroller’s office estimates shoppers will save more than $1.8 million in state and local sales taxes during the tax holiday, which was approved by the Texas Legislature in 2015.

There’s no limit on the number of qualifying items one can purchase. They include: • Household batteries, fuel containers and flashlights priced at less than $75; • Hurricane shutters and emergency ladders priced at less than $300; and • Portable generators priced at less than $3,000.

For purchases made online, note that delivery, shipping, handling and transportation charges are part of the sales price.

If the emergency preparation supply being purchased is taxable, the delivery charge is also taxable. Consider these charges when determining whether an emergency preparation supply can be purchased tax-free during the holiday.

For example, if the purchase of a rescue ladder is $299 with a $10 delivery charge, the total sales price is $309. Because the total

sales price of the ladder is more than $300, tax is due on the $309 sales price.

Several over-the-counter selfcare items, such as antibacterial hand sanitizer, soap, spray and wipes, are always exempt from sales tax if they are labeled with a Drug Facts panel in accordance with federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations.

Purchases that do not qualify include: • Batteries for cars, boats and other motorized vehicles; • Camping stoves and camping supplies; • Chainsaws; • Plywood; • Extension ladders and stepladders; and • Tents.

A list of supplies that may be purchased tax-free can be found at https://comptroller.texas.gov/.

DBA filings in Gillespie County The following individuals have filed “Doing Business As” documents since April 12 with the Gillespie County Clerk’s office: • Broc Graef as BT Custom Welding.

• Amanda Stableford at Callin’ Cards.

• Christopher Vetti as Madhouse Productions.

• Rachel Hood as Fredericksburg Balloonery.

• Danny Powell as River’s Edge Cottages Texas.

• Colby London as Wine Country Window Cleaning.

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