Super Bowl Blast!
Want to party with Michael Phelps, James Brolin and Common? Here’s your VIP ticket inside one of Super Bowl 51’s best bashes, the CityBook-sponsored Big Game Big Give blowout!
Feb. 6, 2017
HOW DID YOU get to where you are today? I was raised by a family that had a strong work ethic coupled with high moral standards. I was pretty much given the groundwork - I just had to put it in play!
Whom do you credit? I’ve had a lot of help and guidance building my career froam people like Cathy Cagle, and the late Tony Vallone as well as my friends and family. They have always been supportive and are my biggest cheerleaders. Real estate is a relationship business and it’s important to remember that at the end of the day.
I started in residential real estate as Cathy Cagle’s assistant and now I’m lucky enough to be her partner on our team. She saw something in me and took me under her wing. We both have the same drive and views on what is important in our industry: our clients, loyalty, honesty, and transparency. I’m forever grateful for her mentorship.
What lessons have you learned that might enlighten and inspire others? Every day is something new and every transaction is different. Each client’s home search or sale process is a different journey. It’s my job to make sure they have a desirable outcome while always keeping their best interests in mind.
What’s new in your life or work that you’re excited about? We are preparing for a busy fall! We have some gorgeous new listings going live and buyers who are ready to find their new homes.
713.299.9888
sarah.callaway@greenwoodking.com
@caglecallaway.gk
MORTGAGE RATES ARE high. So is the cost of living. Life milestones are coming later. The reasons that millennials are, according to society, "behind" previous generations when it comes to home ownership are finally crystal clear (and they have nothing to do with avocado toast, thankyouverymuch). But what do the statistics say about home-buying in Houston?
The millennial generation, defined as individuals born between 1981 and 1996, has reached a point in life in which buying a home is cited as a top priority. Thanks to the brutal combination of high interest rates and low inventory, though, it's become a daunting task. But a recently released report details this generation's level of participation in real estate markets across the country.
Construction Coverage, which covers building, insurance and real estate news, says that millennials accounted for the majority of home purchase loans in Houston last year — 61.5 percent, compared to 56.9 percent nationally. States with the highest percentage of millennial homebuyers were California, Texas, and a majority of the midwest and northeast. States at the bottom of the list included, in a post-Covid plot twist, Arizona and Florida.
The median loan amount for mortgages taken out by applicants ages 25-34 in the Houston-Woodlands-Sugar Land metro was $315K, and shot up to $365K for those ages 35-44 — higher than any other age group. The median interest rate for the nearly 30,000 combined transactions was 6.5 percent.
The loan-to-value ratio, defined as the amount of the mortgage compared to the sale price of the home, was a whopping 87 percent for the 25-to-34-year-olds, and 80 percent for 35-to-44-year-olds. A contributing factor may be that many are first-time homebuyers, and have less equity to apply to new mortgages; in addition, many already have young and growing families, and need more space than previous generations' "starter homes" would have.
So what does this mean? In order to cope with rising home prices, millennials are taking out larger home loans than ever before, nationwide and here in Houston.
NOSTALGIA RUNS HIGH at new Buttermilk Baby in M-K-T Heights, where classic Carvel ice cream treats — a rarity in restaurants — are paired with a menu of buttermilk biscuits, chicken sandwiches and burgers.
Known for its portfolio of upscale and elegant restaurants, the concept represents a new path for Berg Hospitality Group: an all-day family-friendly hangout invested with equal parts Americana and modern-dining know-how. Think of it as a homage to vintage soda-shop ambiance with retro southern fare fit for Instagram fame!
"Buttermilk Baby is a fusion of our traditional fine dining with fast casual to create a new concept of dining I like to call ‘cool casual.’ It’s a place where kids of all ages can get home-cooked comfort food made from top-notch ingredients and just enjoy being a kid again,” says Benjamin Berg, founder and CEO of Berg Hospitality Group.
Buttermilk Baby is the Texas debut of Carvel, the cult classic ice cream brand founded in 1934. As the country’s first retail ice cream company, Carvel is best known for creating The Original Soft Serve, as well as for its iconic ice cream cakes and signature novelties. Carvel’s ice cream cakes, including the Fudgie the Whale character cake, along with 10 flavors of soft-serve and the brand’s fan-favorite Flying Saucer ice cream sandwiches are also on offer.
Chicken fingers at Buttermilk Baby (photo by Brian Kennedy)
Bailey's-and-Oreo boozy shake
Photo by Kirsten Gilliam
Carvel soft serve
Smashburger at Buttermilk Baby (photo by Brian Kennedy)
Start the day with a breakfast of champions: cinnamon rolls, buttermilk biscuits with sausage gravy, buttermilk pancakes and biscuit sandwiches filled with eggs, honey ham and buttermilk-brined fried chicken. The menu also features Ben Berg’s favorite breakfast: an everything bagel with cream cheese and bacon, coined “Ben’s Biscuit.”
Roll up your sleeves for lunch and dinner signatures like diner-style smashburgers, patty melt, chicken finger basket, and a variety of chicken sandwiches (buttermilk, southern-fried, grilled, mushroom-swiss). Smashburgers, hot dogs and corn dogs are made with Texas wagyu beef.
New York-based design firm ICRAVE and longtime Berg collaborator Gail McCleese of sensitori teamed up to produce a dining wonderland where guests are greeted by pink cloud-shaped swings floating from a rainbow-colored arch entrance. You can’t miss the life-size carousel horse, the giant ice-cream-sundae statue (complete with rotating cherry on top), neon signage, and a pastel color palette running through the 50-seat dining room. The kid-friendly ice cream bar has seating for 10.
To drink, adults can sip on frozen frappes, coffee and a limited selection of beer and wine. Carvel’s soft serve ice cream is also incorporated into the menu through the concept’s “boozy shakes” in a variety of adults-only flavors including Espresso Shaketini, Bailey’s Oreo Cookie, and Piña Colada.
Cheers to that!