Services for Jerry Owens

Marta Stafford, Riverbend Gallery manager, sent word today about memorial services for Jerry. There will be services this coming Monday, Feb. 25, at 2.00 pm at The First Baptist Church of Richardson, 1001 North Central Expressway, Richardson, Texas. A memorial service has also been organized in Horseshoe Bay for Wednesday, February 27th, at 10am at the Church at Horseshoe Bay, 600 Hi Ridge Road (phone 830.596.7071).

Letters of condolence may be sent to his wife, Suzanne at PO Box 4123, Horseshoe Bay, Texas 78657. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the church (address above) or to The Highland Lakes Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, PO Box 1275 Marble Falls, TX 78654

Our thoughts and prayers are with Suzanne & the family.

In Memoriam

As some of you know, I show my artwork at Riverbend Fine Art Gallery in Marble Falls. It's a wonderful, nuturing enviornment and I'm very honored to be included in their family of artists.

We received very sad news today that the gallery's owner Jerry Owens passed away yesterday afternoon. His wife Suzanne, his family, & friends feel the loss deeply and I know would appreciate your prayers and good wishes.

Below is a copy of the note gallery manager, Marta Stafford send to friends of the gallery. She called each artist today to personally tell us the news. It was a terrible task & I know she & Lori, her assistant would also appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

2.21.08 On Wednesday, February 21 Jerry Owens, owner of the gallery, died at home with Suzanne at his side. We feel as though we have lost a best beloved family member. He was gentleman and an art lover who could combine his intelligence with humor and sensitivity. Jerry's contribution to the community is quiet, yet deeply felt by many. He lives on in our thoughts as we wish him and his family a healing peace... This is his message for you:

Valentine's Day 2008"Home from the hospital today. What a glorious, if exhausting trip! Nine days in there seemed like at least nine years. There was going to be blood on the floor, and not mine, if they did not let me out of there. They say that time helps you to forget and I certainly hope it is true. The bottom line is, I am alive and hopefully soon back to near normal activity, and the cancer is not likely ever to come back. There is a lot of strength to recover, and some adjustments, but life should be near normal for an old dog at 74.

I owe so much to so many, I don't know where to start. I won't try to go down the list. You know who you are and it for sure includes every soul who has said a prayer in my behalf. Suzanne, of course, is my rock, and has been there every step. She is my beacon. I love you each and every one. God bless." Jerry

Mastering the ART of Real Estate

When we first came to Horseshoe Bay, I was completely enchanted with the natural beauty of the development and how well the Hurds & later, the Jaffes, had preserved it. The low water crossings that are so emblematic of the Hill Country are used frequently and I feel like a kid when I drive or walk across them. When a new client cheers as we go through the first time, I grin just as much as they do!

Horseshoe Bay neighborhoods are charming & each has it's own personality, but trying to learn your way around here is NO SMALL TASK. Roads follow the golf course or the lake's shoreline and both meander every which way. My "navigation" system was completely turned around our first few visits here. In order to help my clients decipher the spaghetti we call a road system, I'm working on printing a new map. Kelly Cauble, of Homeview.net is doing it for me & I've decided to use some my original paintings instead of photographs for the artwork. It goes along with my theme of the "Art of Real Estate." It’s also a wonderful way to get to paint & not feel guilty.

I know from teaching art and from working on location, people are intrigued by the process of painting, so I thought I'd post a few pieces as I work on them. These paintings are a combination of media: both watercolor (because it's fast) and colored pencil (for detail). I do a lot of multi-media when I'm on vacation. I usually work small, so they're very portable & I can take a bag with me that's a traveling studio.

The last photo, above, is the starting point. It's a simple pencil drawing & the blue color you see is the masking medium used to "save" the white paper underneath. It's rubbed off when the watercolor is completed. In traditional watercolors, no white paint is used. When you want a lighter color, you add more water to the pigment which makes it more transparent. Pale paint on white paper is how you get highlights in watercolor. To get the color "white" you simply don't paint on that area & let the white of the paper show through. Darker values are achieved by adding more pigment & less water.

The second photo is the "under" painting of watercolor only. By doing all the big blocks of color & establishing the lights and darks I can do a painting of this size (about 6" x 9") in about 3-4 hours. It takes about an hour (and twenty years) to do the watercolor portion.

Photo number one is the finished piece. I've added the colored pencil, which is semi-transparent. Pencil is great for detail and is applied in layers over the watercolor. They're wax based, so you can't add watercolor on top of traditional colored pencils.

The finished piece is called "Sandy Creek Spring.” I used two photos (artistic license) for references that I took last spring in the Trails of LBJ. The vantage point is at the corner of Trails Parkway & Rock 'N Robin, overlooking the Sandy Creek arm of Lake LBJ.

The maps should be completed and ready for mailing in about four to six weeks. Please e-mail or phone if I can send you one. The easiest way to contact me is on my web site. If you'd like to see more of my paintings, go to my art site & to find out more about investing in Horseshoe Bay, check out my REAL ESTATE web site www.JanBusse.com.

Gentlemen, Start Your Engines.

Private motor clubs are all the rage with well heeled auto buffs, and there are several in Texas: MotorSport Ranch, southwest of Fort Worth, and Eagles Canyon Raceway near Decatur. In an article last week, the Austin American Statesman reported a new, $13 million private motor sports club with two high-performance racecourses is in the works for an unspecified location in the northern part of Blanco County. (See posting for 02/05/08 titled "Wish You Were Here!")

The Blanco project, called Bergrennenring, which is German for “Hill Race Circuit,” is negotiating to purchase 250 acres near the city of Round Mountain, about 17 miles southeast of Horseshoe Bay, on Hwy 281. See a Map of the area. With a $25,000 initial membership fee and the high-end automobiles required, the club will cater to the same clientele as those of Horseshoe Bay Resort, Skywater, & Escondido.

Boerne-based Motorsport Resorts International confirmed they were negotiating to buy a site, but it would not disclose the exact location. They will say that the proposed property now lies somewhere in the city of Round Mountain's future growth area or extraterritorial jurisdiction. The high-end homes and resort facilities which were originally part of the plan, have been dropped for now. They hope they may be able to enter into agreements with nearby resorts, such as Horseshoe Bay. The developers hope to break ground in the latter part of this year on the first phase of the project. It could open as early as 2009.

Not everyone is pleased with the project. Round Mountain residents who think they may be potential neighbors are concerned about environmental issues such as noise & water pollution both during construction and thereafter. Developers promise to address the concerns through noise abatement measures and claim fuel will not be sold on the premises, eliminating the need for oil & gas storage tanks, which could cause a problem for ground water.

Blanco County resident Dave Collins, who is also president of the local environmental organization Preserve Our Water, remains concerned. The Statesmen article quotes him: "I've seen too many instances where noise abatement was promised and not delivered," he said. "I'm still concerned about the potential damage to surface and groundwater, both from the construction activities and from runoff during the use of the facility."

For more information about REAL ESTATE in Horseshoe Bay & the surrounding area, visit my web site: www.JanBusse.com

Spring Has Sprung!

Spring has sprung in Horseshoe Bay! Our temperatures have been consistently in the 60’s & 70’s over the last several weeks and we’ve even hit over 80 several times. Once we can start watering our lawn again, things should be turning green pretty quickly. Since my husband & I live on the lake, our sprinkler system feeds from LBJ & we’ve turned it off until lake levels are back up to normal.

The LCRA will begin refilling Lake LBJ will on Feb. 25 and should be completed by Feb. 27 unless an emergency requires LCRA to refill the lake earlier. Refilling Lake LBJ is expected to draw Lake Buchanan down about one foot. I’m planning on taking photos during that time for posting to the blog & my web site.

With Spring, in Horseshoe Bay especially, comes golf. The Southern Texas PGA Senior Series is leading off their ten tournament schedule on March 17-18 at Horseshoe Bay Resort. The STPGA Senior Series is open to golfers aged 50 and above as of Nov. 1, 2008. Annual membership dues are $125 and include eligibility for Senior Series tournaments plus special branded merchandise. It’s open to both professionals & amateurs. Professionals playing in Senior Series events compete for cash; amateurs for merchandise certificates. Golfers who finish in the Top 6 on the season-ending points list earn spots in the field at the 2008 Texas Senior Open Championship. Check out the entire schedule.

Wish You Were Here!

Horseshoe Bay is perfectly placed. With a lifestyle of outstanding resort amenities, unspoiled waterfront, & breathtaking Hill Country vistas, our economic climate remains strong while much of the remaining U.S. struggles. Our two closest, Austin & San Antonio, continue to receive strong economic forecasts. The fastest growth corridors for both cities are taking place TOWARD Horseshoe Bay. We can’t help but reap the benefits.

Forbes Magazine has ranked Austin as the NUMBER ONE fastest growing large metropolitan area in the United States. Forbes cited Austin's high-tech industry (with key employers such as Dell, IBM and Apple) and the University of Texas, which provides the area with a steady stream of talent. Austin is the self proclaimed “Live Music Capital of the World,” & has a thriving film industry & art’s community.

Austin's projected gross domestic product growth by 2012 is second only to Mobile, Ala., and first among the largest 100 metro areas in the country. Metro area Austin's population is expected to grow nearly 15% by 2012. In projections run for Forbes by Moody's Economy.com, Austin’s GMP by is expected to grow 32% during the same time frame.

Horseshoe Bay’s next closest metropolitan market, San Antonio, barely missed the list because, according to Forbes, they're expected population growth is lower. However they still ranked #6 in Fortune’s “Top 10 Places to Own Real Estate” showing solid appreciation while much of the rest of the U.S. endures hard economic times.

As an example of this growth, Galo Properties http://www.globest.com/ will soon begin construction on a $200 million, 77-acre town center just northeast of San Antonio. Cibolo Town Center’s first phase will include a 129-room Cambria Suites Hotel and 174,000 s.f. of retail space. The project is expected to have 600,000 to 800,000 s.f. of retail at build out.

Construction will be underway by the end of this year at I-35 North and Weiderstein Rd., which will be renamed Cibolo Pkwy. The first phase is slated for a late 2009 or early 2010 completion.

Horseshoe Bay is what I call the third point in the Hill Country's "golden triangle." Giving us all the convenience of two thriving metropolitan areas and the affordability of small town prices, our equity appreciation rivals almost any other market in the U.S. If predictions by some of the nation's most prestigious publications prove true, we are perfectly placed for a long time to come.

Is YOUR Retirement program this good?

We knew it was the tip of the iceberg, but frankly, the more I learn about the PEC Board’s flagrant disregard for their responsible stewardship of our Co-op, the angrier I become. My modest sized home had an electric bill last month of over $400 – we’ve had unseasonably cold weather this year. When we retire, neither my husband nor I will have the same benefits of some board members of our local PEC.

Yesterday’s (02/03/08) Austin American Statesman revealed an … "emeritus" program that would provide lifetime pay and benefits after a director's active service on the board ends. The program was used to assist at least one former director, Charles Winters, who stayed on the Pedernales payroll after entering a nursing home in the late 1990s. Winters died in 2005. Family members say he suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a debilitating lung condition." The existance of the program was completely undisclosed to co-op members.

There have also been questions regarding another employee who left her job as Pedernales General Manager Bennie Fuelberg's assistant and moved to Louisiana two years ago. According to Fuelberg's testimony late last year in a lawsuit brought by Pedernales members, she also still collects full salary & benefits without providing any service to the co-op.

Staff members are eligible for a generous retirement package from Pedernales that includes a defined benefit plan and a 401(k) plan with a 5-to-1 COMPANY MATCH. According to the Statesman article: “Charles Elson, professor at the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware, said emeritus board members are rare in both the for-profit and nonprofit world, and are almost always honorific — without compensation. ‘To pay and get health insurance is highly unusual,’ he said. Greg Boudreaux, a retired executive of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association who consults on governance issues, said emeritus positions are usually granted in 'recognition for directors that have made a significant contribution to the co-op' but do not come with pay."

Last week, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst authorized a Senate study of Pedernales' lax oversight by its board of directors. The study and hearings will be conducted by the Senate Business and Commerce Committee, which Horseshoe Bay resident, Sen. Troy Fraser (R) heads.

In January, Pedernales Electric Co-op became the subject of a preliminary criminal investigation by the district attorney for the Hill Country area that includes Johnson City. SIC 'EM BOYS.

Investing in Real Estate; Building Net Worth

HousingPredictor.com has forecast Austin as the number one spot in the nation for investors! It’s impossible to obtain forecasts for Horseshoe Bay; we’re just too small a market today, and very much of a niche/resort area. But our closest metro area, Austin, was once again getting raves from another independent study for economic & real estate growth. Rated #1 in their Lucky 7 forecasts for 2008 are intended for investors willing to take a RISK buying real estate for QUICK PROFIT.

Looking at 250 local housing markets in all 50 states, they are betting on quick profits in these seven markets. They advise being able to handle mortgage payments for longer than the 12 month minimum sometimes suggested. Austin earned the #1 spot because of it’s vibrant economy, growing high tech industry, & booming population.

I initially got interested in real estate as a profession because my husband & I love to remodel houses. What started out as a necessity when we were young & poor became a great way to leverage ourselves into nicer homes & build more equity faster. Because we’ve lived all over the country, rarely staying longer than 5 years in one house, we found some tried & true methods that work for us:

· SET A BUDGET & STICK TO IT! Make sure you get a good inspection so you know what you may come across & allow for the unexpected by at least an additional 10-20%

· COSMETIC FIXER UPPERS ARE THE BEST PLACE TO START if you’re a neophyte

· DO THE MAJORITY OF THE WORK YOURSELF, if possible; but know when you need to hire the work done by a professional. I've learned not only to strip wallpaper & paint, but to patch dry wall, install lighting fixtures, & set toilets: much of what needs to be done for cosmetic changes only.

· FIND DEPENDABLE CONTRACTORS, recommended by people in the business -- local real estate agents are the perfect source. CHECK REFERENCES!

Studies indicate the majority of America’s wealthiest people make at least the largest portion of their money through investing in real estate. Most investments, however, are for 10 years or longer. Another way to help add to your bottom line is to “slow flip.” By living in a home for a minimum of two years, you have serious tax advantages. Up to $500,000 of profit is tax exempt under most circumstances. Make sure to talk to your CPA about the restrictions.

Horseshoe Bay has many homes in need of remodeling, but prices aren't always indicative of the amount of work needed. If you plan to buy a home to redo, talk to your agent about how much you plan to spend on the remodel & how long to plan to live there before putting it back on the market. Planning is imperative if you expect to make a profit.