Luxury Clues

What Appliance Uses the Most Water?

I recently heard this question raised on a television program and was surprised at the answer--it's your toilets! If you have clients who are remodeling a luxury property, who are building, or are committed to keeping our environment "green," a good choice are the "duo toilets" that are popular in Europe.

The way they work is that they have two buttons--one for a full flush and one for a half flush. In the U.S., the maximum amount of water that a new toilet can use is 1.6 gallons. The low setting only uses .8 gallons. These toilets are not available at places like Home Depot or Lowe's--you'll have to go to a plumbing supply. Neverthless, they're a great way to upgrade as well as to conserve water, especially in those areas that are being hard hit with a drought.

Posted by Bernice Ross, www.ListenandLearnRealEstate.com, a library of over 85 real estate training podcasts for less than $1.00 per day. If you want the best real estate training in the business, visit us at www.RealEstateCoach.com. No long term contracts--join for one month and see for yourself!

Bricks and Stones

A popular style here in Texas is to mix brick and stone together (along with some stucco) to achieve a more substantial look. Of the two builders in our community, one of them does mostly stucco (cheaper) and the other usually provides a complete stone facade on the entire house. Sometimes these combinations look great and other times, they're a disaster. Going entirely with stone can add $25,000 or more to your costs depending upon the square footage as well as the height of the structure.

For example, the house in the pictures has a fairly attractive combination. Two doors up the street, (house done by a different builder), they used quite a bit of stucco. Where they did install stone, they installed two different colors of limestone (i.e. they didn't take them from the same batch--cheaper again) and they used two different colors of grout. One was white and the other was dark. I don't know if the owners are aware of it, but this again goes to the issue of paying close attention to what the contractor does. Even more importantly, you must pay close attention to the work because if you don't, you'll end up with results that may be disappointing.

(Watch for a future post to show the completed facade with the stone and brick combination)

Posted by Bernice Ross  Photos by Byron Van Arsdale