76. Jessica Conrad on San Antonio's Housing Market

Bob Rivard [00:00:03]:
Welcome to Big City Small Town, the weekly podcast all about San Antonio and the people who make it go and grow. I'm your host, Bob Rivard. This week's guest is Jessica Conrad, a San Antonio Realtor with her own podcast, by the way, that's titled attainable housing. That's on empower house radio live. She's also an air force veteran, and now she's the emcee of the semi annual Pecha Kucha Creative Presentations, the latest edition of which was recently staged at the Carver Cultural Center. Presenters included our very own podcast producer, Maura Bobbitt, talking about the many personal environmental benefits of green burial practices for loved ones who die. Congratulations, Mara. You killed it.

Bob Rivard [00:00:48]:
Well, Jessica Conrad, welcome to the program.

Jessica Conrad [00:00:51]:
Thanks for having me.

Bob Rivard [00:00:52]:
You are a transplant to San Antonio, which we'll talk about in a minute, yet you've become a minor celebrity of sorts between your podcast and your Pecha Kucha stage work. You're a competent talent on stage for an evening event like Pecha Kucha, and yet you make your living by day as a realtor. And you came to San Antonio after an eighteen year career in the Air Force. So we wanna hear all about your life and work today.

Jessica Conrad [00:01:19]:
Okay. Cool. Eight years.

Bob Rivard [00:01:21]:
Eight years. Okay. In

Jessica Conrad [00:01:22]:
the Air Force. Yeah.

Bob Rivard [00:01:23]:
That's a good correction because I wondered why you didn't stick around for twenty and get the, the full benefit.

Jessica Conrad [00:01:28]:
Yeah. I came to San Antonio when I was stationed here when I was active duty at Lackland. And when I got out, I contemplated moving to Florida to be close to my mom. And at the last minute, I sort of just changed directions and decided to stay. I really love it here, and now I consider it home. So How

Bob Rivard [00:01:47]:
long ago was that?

Jessica Conrad [00:01:49]:
That was in 02/2010.

Bob Rivard [00:01:50]:
Okay. And you're from Florida or from somewhere else?

Jessica Conrad [00:01:53]:
I'm from Atlanta originally. I was born in DC. My parents would kill me if I didn't say that. And I grew up in Atlanta, so I graduated high school there, and then short stint in college in East Tennessee, and then I joined the air force.

Bob Rivard [00:02:06]:
Wow. Atlanta and San Antonio are very different cities, both minority cities. Atlanta, African American, and, here in San Antonio, Hispanic. So as an African American, what's it been like to be from Atlanta and to adopt San Antonio as your home?

Jessica Conrad [00:02:23]:
Yeah. So I think growing up in Atlanta and and the reputation that it carries is, yes, and and true it is true, in fact, that it is a majority minority city. However, we did have a large and we still do have a large population of, refugees and immigrants there. So growing up in Atlanta in the metro area, I was exposed to so many other cultures and lots of, Central American, South American, Mexican culture as well. And so it's not it doesn't feel foreign to me, to be in San Antonio as a as a as a black person, but I also made it my mission early on to understand the repercussions of some of the development here and how it unjustly impacted our African American community here.

Bob Rivard [00:03:11]:
Well, I'd like you to talk about that both from your personal experience because you and I, as we were getting to know each other off mic, you told me that you live now close to Culebra on I 10, which is a distinctly Mexican American neighborhood and, in fact, one where many of the people are Spanish language, dominant on the West Side. And yet you've also lived out near Alamo Ranch and which is about a sprawling suburban vehicle environment as you can get. You can't walk anywhere out there. You've gotta be in a car. So you've gotten to know more spots in San Antonio than a lot of people that are from here.

Jessica Conrad [00:03:45]:
Yeah. I definitely felt like more of an outsider out 16 o four, in Alamo Ranch than I do living in the city center. It's been really interesting moving to my neighborhood because I think I might be one of the only black people who live in my immediate area, but everyone's been so and everyone's been so welcoming. I found it sort of a really nice groove with my neighbors, and I really do identify with a more genuinely suburban, urban suburban sort of lifestyle where you are close to the city, but you do see older folks, multi generational living with many generations living in one household. So it's been really nice.

Bob Rivard [00:04:31]:
I'm curious how you chose Alamo Ranch in the beginning. And let me preface that by making a criticism that I've heard from a lot of people that are transplants to San Antonio about realtors. And people start in the suburbs distantly and then move and gravitate toward downtown in the urban core. And when I ask them why they move to wherever they move first, they'll tell me that realtors push them out there and told them that's where all the good housing was, that downtown was dangerous or that there was no parking or whatever. And, they discovered once they got their two feet on the ground in San Antonio that all of that was misleading. And in fact, where they wanted to be was in the more vibrant urban core.

Jessica Conrad [00:05:15]:
Yeah. So, I mean, I could go on and on about this. Please. I would agree with your criticism. I would say and initially, the reason why I moved that way wasn't because of a realtor. When you move duty stations in the military, they give you a sponsor, which is usually someone that works in the office where you'll be working. And they kind of you can ask them questions, you know, where do people live, what's convenient to base. And so being sort of 1604 in Calabrio was, in fact, very convenient to base when you're having to go to work at five and 05:30 in the morning.

Jessica Conrad [00:05:48]:
However, as a realtor, I can share with you, which is something I I was I wanna talk about on my on my show as well, is that especially with interest rates climbing as they had and now they're starting to fall gently, a lot of builders are offering compensation to realtors that is above what many would consider industry standard. So sometimes you'll see as a realtor, a builder will send you an email with their available inventory, and somewhere in the email, it will say we're offering x amount of compensation. And that number is larger, probably almost double what it would be for existing construction, just a normal seller, selling their home and offering compensation to a realtor. So that's one thing. Another thing

Bob Rivard [00:06:41]:
Is that fair? And is that legal? Is it ethical?

Jessica Conrad [00:06:44]:
It is legal. Fair is subjective. And ethical also I I mean, myself as a realtor, I have many qualms with new build or master plan communities besides their locations. But when you're moving to a new city and you don't know you don't know what's going on or what, you know, what sort of vibe there is and you're hearing all of these things, of course, it makes it seem scary to move to the city center. But I think, more importantly, it's important to get to know your clients. I mean, it's a very big decision, and it's not something that, oh, you know, you can say, I don't like this house. I'm gonna sell it in a year. You're not gonna make any money.

Jessica Conrad [00:07:24]:
In fact, you probably lose quite a bit of money. So I definitely try to get to know my clients and know what they like to do, the things they like to do. I talk about where they used to live and say, is that something you're looking for now, or are you ready to be on the Far West Side, devoid of any real culture?

Bob Rivard [00:07:43]:
Well, I'm gonna press press on that a little bit because it seems to me that there ought to be an obligation on the part of realtors to disclose to clients. I'm gonna make double the commission if I can push you out into the suburbs here to a new subdivision versus if you buy an existing home closer into the urban core.

Jessica Conrad [00:08:04]:
Yeah. Right. So, again, I'm I'm not usually that's not my market, honestly. Understood. My market is definitely existing construction. I think a house that stood this test of time for a hundred, seventy, eighty years is a a much more sure investment when you have a mature neighborhood. But, yes, they should be disclosing that they're getting, you know, increased compensation when they're showing these properties. It is written into the contract now how intensely they're going over these contracts with their clients, I couldn't say.

Jessica Conrad [00:08:37]:
It's written into the contract. Compensation is a blank spot in the contract that is fillable, both on the selling side and the buyer side. So, yes, there should be full transparency, which I don't also I also don't like that term because it implies that you're not transparent all the time. But, yes, there should be transparency when we talk about compensation for realtors for sure.

Bob Rivard [00:08:58]:
Talk about your industry a little bit and the, issue of compensation because traditionally, as I understood it, realtors are competing for a 6% commission on a standard residential sale. And often enough, 3% goes to the realtor representing the buyer and 3% to the seller. There have been legal challenges to that and to the national organizations that perpetuate that system. And if I'm not mistaken, that's been struck down and there's more of a free market approach that is going to develop, in the future. Is that is that correct? And will that change your compensation and how you and other realtors operate?

Jessica Conrad [00:09:39]:
Sure. So, yes, many people have heard about the National Association Realtors lawsuit that, started last year. And as a result, there have been several changes that have come down. The main change well, a few of the main changes are one prior to the judgment in the lawsuit when realtors went on MLS, which is the multiple listing service, which is what we sort of our Zillow, if you will. And when we would go on, we could see, okay, the price of the house, how many bedrooms, we could see the taxes, and we could also see the commission rate that the sellers were offering if you were a buyer's agent. So let's say 3% or two and a half percent. You couldn't always see what the seller had agreed to as a whole. So that has now gone away.

Jessica Conrad [00:10:25]:
So what that means for buyers and their representation is that, one, you basically have to negotiate your own compensation. That compensation can come from the seller. Conversely, if the seller says I'm not offering compensation, I'm, you know, I'm only paying my listing agent, then that buyer's agent has the opportunity to go to their buyer and say, hey. I know you're putting down, you know, 5% or three and a half percent, or I know that you're using a down payment assistance program because maybe you don't have the funds to put down. But in order for me to participate in this transaction, you will have to compensate me.

Bob Rivard [00:11:10]:
Oh, that's a tough sell, isn't it, for buyers that expect the seller to pay the commission?

Jessica Conrad [00:11:20]:
Industry completely. And so it's been and these changes only took effect on August 17 here in San Antonio.

Bob Rivard [00:11:27]:
So it's all very new, and we it it needs to shake out yet. But let's just say that I have a $500,000 house that I wanna sell. Can I call you up and just say, I'm not paying more than one and a half or 2%? Take it or leave it. Will I get a realtor, or will people say, we're not gonna do that?

Jessica Conrad [00:11:45]:
Well, I'm sure there are realtors out there that would say, okay. I'll take it. But when it comes to being able to sell that home appropriately and the amount of work that goes into it, the amount of hours that we spend marketing, the services that we provide to the seller to be able to guide them through the transaction, I think that you would get a realtor. You might not get a good one.

Bob Rivard [00:12:11]:
And and there's there's costs involved in representing the seller, aren't there, in in marketing and advertising the property and making sure that, that it gets out to be widely seen by potential buyers.

Jessica Conrad [00:12:22]:
Exactly. And, on top of that, if we're talking about I never like to say the rule, but I I do like to refer to it as industry standard because for a long time, 6% from the sellers since they were the ones actually receiving a check and the other party was the one paying a check, essentially. I like to say that moving from 3% to one and a half percent is a big dip. And also with interest rates the way that they are, it would be then a little bit more challenging for a realtor to be able to make up that income because then their volume would have to increase. And we have less homes entering the market for sale, and we also have a reduction in buyers as well. So I think it's important that we're really careful how we move forward in this. I think they're putting a lot of a lot of the responsibility on the way that this moves forward in the hands of listing agents and buyer's agents. I always say if you're a listing agent, don't forget that the next transaction, you might be a buyer's agent and vice versa.

Jessica Conrad [00:13:24]:
So the other option is that buyers can represent themselves if they can't afford to pay, to compensate their realtor and the house that they're interested in isn't offering compensation to their realtor. I am a realtor. I represented myself during my own transaction of purchasing my home, and I couldn't imagine doing it without the knowledge that I have. And I think it's just a very irresponsible way to go about purchasing a home. I think you don't know what you don't know, and it could be a very expensive mistake not to have representation.

Bob Rivard [00:13:58]:
Yeah. I think we rely on realtors to, establish what fair market rates are, the comparable recent sales. Everybody has to get an engineer to inspect the house and make sure what they're buying is not a problem. And, having a, you know, a a trusted partner who's in the business, I think, matters a lot. So I think you guys play a valuable role. It's just interesting that it's no longer gonna be at a fixed rate.

Jessica Conrad [00:14:25]:
I mean, technically, it never was at a fixed rate. Like I said before, it's a blank space in the contract. So depending on what the seller's needs might be, maybe they're purchasing another home, so they need to get as much they need to net as much as possible in order to go into their next home. They might ask for a reduction in rate, to compensate the listing and buyer's agents.

Bob Rivard [00:14:48]:
But it was a de facto six percent

Jessica Conrad [00:14:50]:
more than Yeah. More or less. More or less. But that also is was the catalyst to the lawsuit was that these sellers weren't made aware that they could negotiate a different rate. Now the lawsuit didn't start in San Antonio. It started in California, and there were some other ones that came out of Michigan and different states kind of piled on. But we're talking about places that the average home price is well over, you know, a million dollars. And so they're saying to themselves, well, I didn't know I didn't have to pay, you know, $60,000.

Jessica Conrad [00:15:22]:
I could have paid, you know, $30,000. That sounds fair to me for the work that you did. So I think it's more a lesson that we as realtors need to make sure that we're educating our clients in the way that things actually work and not sort of, you know, lying by omission, in order to gain business.

Bob Rivard [00:15:40]:
Let's pivot to the local market, Jessica. And and I want you to give advice to our millennial and Gen z listeners. Yes, interest rates came down. There was a lot of excitement. If you're if you're well-to-do and invested in the markets, you're doing very well. But for the, first time home buyer, a thirty year mortgage that's at or near 6% may not be, something that's that's within their financial means, particularly, putting down a down payment and then paying that monthly mortgage rate that, is significantly more than it would be compared to, say, three, four years ago when people were getting rates for less than 3%. I'm at an age where I've seen multiple cycles up and down and so I know that eventually things will return to a more, affordable basis. But if you're if you're, of a certain age and trying to buy a home, which is the classic American way to acquire wealth and build your place in the middle class, what's your advice to people right now? Because they're driven into the rental market and the increased number of people in the rental market, due to their inability to buy homes, at least for a period of time, drove rental prices up.

Bob Rivard [00:16:59]:
And so people are paying a pretty stiff monthly rental amount that, makes it more difficult to save money. And in often, times people are spending more than 30% of their disposable income, which is not healthy. What should people do?

Jessica Conrad [00:17:16]:
Well, I think it's important to ask yourself what sort of lifestyle you want. I think for people younger than me, I'm in my forties. You know, it's all about experiences and what you can afford to do. And owning a home, though it is a dream for many, I would also be remiss if I didn't say that it's expensive to own a house. It's it's not just paying your mortgage and your taxes and your insurance. If things break, there's no maintenance man to call. You might have a home, a home warranty program that offers, for a small fee, they'll send out the appropriate tradesmen to come and look at your problem.

Bob Rivard [00:17:58]:
That's on new housing?

Jessica Conrad [00:17:59]:
No. You can get a home warranty on any you can get a home you could get a home warranty now on your on your house. And if your refrigerator breaks or whatever appliances and systems are covered in the contract, they'll send someone out. The service fee is usually somewhere between 60 and maybe a hundred dollars depending on the company and the service contract that you have. So that's one thing. The maintenance and the upkeep is is expensive. It's a lot of responsibility. You've gotta cut your grass.

Jessica Conrad [00:18:25]:
You gotta, you know, maintain your home. And that might not work for a lot of people. Also, I think people you know, young people don't understand is or don't know as well that there are down payment assistance programs that are offered by the city, the state. They have some for teachers. They have some for first responders. And so that's also an option if you don't wanna pay that cash upfront if you qualify for those programs, which typically have income limits depending on the size of your family.

Bob Rivard [00:18:52]:
How do people find out whether or not they might, qualify for such a program? Is there somewhere to go to research that?

Jessica Conrad [00:18:58]:
Sure. So the city of San Antonio actually has a first time homebuyers, section on their website. When you go to purchase a home, the first thing you always wanna do is talk to a lender. So if you bank somewhere, you can talk to a mortgage broker there. And there's also independent mortgage brokers that we hear about, like, this is not one that I recommend, but, like, Rocket Mortgage and things like that. But you can talk to them and they'll let you know. Sometimes lenders themselves offer first time homebuyer programs as well. So you can talk to them and they'll sort of walk you through that.

Jessica Conrad [00:19:30]:
And then just knowing what you also knowing that, you know, people sit on Zillow and shop for homes with a glass of wine and, you know, you get these, yeah, sure. The home that you want might be $500,000. If you look at the people living in those $500,000 homes, those probably weren't their first homes. So you don't have to buy your first home starting at the top. You can buy a home that makes sense for you, that you can afford in that at that time. And if you can build equity, do little projects that make it nicer, you know, replace things that need to be replaced over time, then when you go to sell that house, you might then be able to afford your dream home. So it's a slow process. I always you know, we're we talk about buying a home in terms of in terms of a thirty year mortgage, so you have thirty years.

Jessica Conrad [00:20:23]:
Sometimes we want what we want right now, and if we can't have that, we'd consider it unfair. But I would also argue that your first home doesn't have to be your forever home, and it really just is an investment to get your foot in the door and to get into the market.

Bob Rivard [00:20:36]:
What do realtors think is the point in interest rates where the market will come alive? Is it all the way down to 4%? Let's just say we're at 5.9 or 6% right now. How much does it have to drop before people are really going to, jump back in?

Jessica Conrad [00:20:52]:
I don't have a crystal ball. We talk about it often. Because we saw such low interest rates during the pandemic, and I think any realtor in San Antonio will tell you that we tried to convince everyone that we knew to buy a home. I bought my first house when I was 23 in Charleston, South Carolina. My interest rate was 6.7%, and I had a $200,000 house. So to me, 5.8 is good. That's a whole percentage drop. You can buy down interest rate points.

Jessica Conrad [00:21:21]:
It's usually a thousand dollars per tenth of a point. So for for anyone waiting for the interest rate to drop down to four, I fear you'd be waiting for the next pandemic. It it's unprecedented that we had interest rates that low. I actually had, some clients of mine at that time. They bought their house in 2021, and they got their interest rate down to 1.75. Wow. So we're not really I wouldn't anticipate that we're gonna see that again.

Bob Rivard [00:21:54]:
Well, one thing my wife, Monica, and I learned very early on when we bought our first house, and that was in 1985, just to date myself, was the financial advice that if you can live a little more conservatively on your disposable income and put a little bit more down every month than your actual mortgage payment, you're paying down your interest rate. Your interest rate at the end of the day will be lower than the official interest rate because you're paying into the into the, principle of the loan more quickly than the loan agreement. And and so people that can add a little bit every month will find that that, helps them create wealth.

Jessica Conrad [00:22:35]:
So the rule of thumb is that if you make one additional mortgage payment a year, and that full mortgage payment will go only to your principal. So when you go on your loan servicing website, you can delineate that you want that just to go to

Bob Rivard [00:22:49]:
your principal. That.

Jessica Conrad [00:22:50]:
You have to declare that. If you pay one extra mortgage payment a year, you will pay your home off seven years faster. And if you make two additional mortgage payments a year, you'll pay it off twelve years faster. So that goes along with what you're saying.

Bob Rivard [00:23:06]:
That's significant now if you just think about the first one payment is how many years, Fashin? So you would multiply seven times 12 times your mortgage payment. That's how much money that you would save over the life of that mortgage. That's astonishing. Mhmm. And if you could do two, it would be twelve years times twelve months time your mortgage payment, which is you know, that's a 6 figure sum either way probably for most people.

Jessica Conrad [00:23:32]:
Yes. And so I often advise my clients, you know, when they close or when we're going through the process, I'm like, you know, if you get a really good tax return, you can use that as your extra mortgage payment. A lot of times, you'll get a little bit of a rebate from your homeowner's insurance off of your escrow account because they've overestimated how much homeowners insurance or how how much your taxes are going to increase that year. So you'll get a little bit of a a rebate sometimes in January or February. So if you put that towards your principal, it's things like that. A lot of I I try to get them to imagine that it's not necessarily only coming out of your income, but sometimes we get these little gifts of money in other forms that you can use that to put towards that extra payment every year. Yeah.

Bob Rivard [00:24:19]:
So for our listeners that want to take an even deeper dive into this, Jessica, you have your own radio program, attainable housing, basically a podcast on live radio. It's on Empowerhouse Radio.

Jessica Conrad [00:24:34]:
Yes.

Bob Rivard [00:24:34]:
Explain to our readers what Empowerhouse Radio is and when they can listen to your program, or I assume they can go onto a website and listen to it, on demand.

Jessica Conrad [00:24:46]:
Yeah. So you can go on to empowerhouseradio.org. It's a nonprofit. We are on the FM dial on +1 015. It's a community radio. So it is a subcategory, sub organization, adjacent organization to Empower House, which is a community driven program that assist black and brown, started out assisting black and brown women with, health services. And now they've moved into radio, and so we have poetry, we have music, all sorts of programs, artist programs, youth programs as well. And so my program talks about attainable housing because we are deep in the weeds of a housing crisis here in San Antonio.

Jessica Conrad [00:25:35]:
Even to to find a place to rent is is becoming very expensive and far and few between if you're looking at a particular area. So my radio program seeks to address all of that and also keep our community educated on things that are happening that you may not otherwise know about if you're not deeply entrenched in local policies and politics and zoning and things like that.

Bob Rivard [00:25:58]:
And for listeners like me that had not heard of Empowerhouse, let me just say that it's formerly the Martinez Street Women's Center, which is a pretty, well known, nonprofit over the years. It was formed in 1999 to improve reproductive health services and access for women, primarily brown and black women, as you said, on the East Side Of San Antonio, but it's expanded that mission. It's involved now in education and, community affairs, advocacy, a whole range of of, you know, community based services for for its clients. And where on the dial is that?

Jessica Conrad [00:26:33]:
It's on one zero one point five FM.

Bob Rivard [00:26:35]:
Which is familiar to people because it's formally

Jessica Conrad [00:26:38]:
Kona.

Bob Rivard [00:26:38]:
Kona Radio. So there you go. And when do you actually go on air?

Jessica Conrad [00:26:43]:
I go on Tuesdays and Sundays. Tuesdays Twice

Bob Rivard [00:26:46]:
a week. Mhmm.

Jessica Conrad [00:26:47]:
So it's the it's usually the same episode. It repeats. But Tuesdays at three and then Sundays at two.

Bob Rivard [00:26:52]:
So is that radio work, Jessica, how the, organizers of Pecha Kucha found you and decided that you would make a great MC to replace the legendary Randy Beamer?

Jessica Conrad [00:27:04]:
Not quite. Not quite. I am an avid Pecha Kucha attendee, and I saw one of the organizers and just said, hey. If you guys are ever looking for a host, I would love to throw my hat in the ring. And part of the deal was that you have to present before you can host. And so, I presented, last year, and it was great. And I had a wonderful experience. And then the host before me, Anthony, he moved to Portland.

Jessica Conrad [00:27:32]:
Very excited for him. And there was an opening, and they said, well, would you like to do it? And I said, I would be honored, and there I was.

Bob Rivard [00:27:39]:
Well, great. If there are any listeners out there that still don't know what Pecha Kucha is because it is, phenomenal, and it's been it's been in our city now for any number of years, We did a podcast episode with the organizers not too long ago, and you can go to bigcitysmalltown.com and find that episode and learn a lot more about about Pecha Kucha. So that's gonna be twice a year now post pandemic. We have, the next one coming up in December, I think.

Jessica Conrad [00:28:09]:
Yes. December 4.

Bob Rivard [00:28:10]:
Oh, it's already have a date? Where is it going to be staged?

Jessica Conrad [00:28:12]:
I don't know yet.

Bob Rivard [00:28:14]:
The Carver Cultural Center was amazing.

Jessica Conrad [00:28:16]:
It was wonderful. I do love the Mission of Pachacucha, how they sort of rotate venues. So you get sort of a little mini tour of all of these these different spots around San Antonio. It's just such a wonderful program. And I feel like every time I leave Pachacucha, I feel more in love with San Antonio than I did when I walked in.

Bob Rivard [00:28:36]:
Well, that's terrific. What do you do, in your downtime? I know you have a 16 year old chihuahua, and, we like to mention pets on pet big city, small town. And, that's a long lived pet, which is great.

Jessica Conrad [00:28:50]:
Yes. My constant companion. I my father actually just moved to town last year.

Bob Rivard [00:28:56]:
From where?

Jessica Conrad [00:28:57]:
From Atlanta. He's, retired from the post office. And so I spend a lot of time with him. He likes to play pool, so we go and go to different billiard spots around town and play pool.

Bob Rivard [00:29:09]:
Are you good?

Jessica Conrad [00:29:10]:
I'm not good at all. I'm right handed, and I shoot pool left handed, so that's a whole another area.

Bob Rivard [00:29:14]:
That's weird.

Jessica Conrad [00:29:15]:
That's it's very strange. And then recently, I found five kittens, in the crawl space under my house. And so I'm fostering five little kittens now, and so that takes up a lot of my time. But in my spare time, I really just love going around the city. I like being on the river, Museum Reach, Mission Reach, all of those spots on the river that are a little less crowded, a little more nature based. And I try to volunteer as much as I can. So I'm volunteering at the refugee center and the medical center. I just Good for you.

Jessica Conrad [00:29:50]:
Yeah.

Bob Rivard [00:29:50]:
What's that like? Talk about that a little bit.

Jessica Conrad [00:29:52]:
Well, I just recently started, but their, main focus are refugees from Afghanistan and Africa. And so I think what I'll be mainly focusing on is a women's group, where we do crafts and just get them together. But there's also a food pantry, so they work very closely with the food bank here in San Antonio, and they also provide a lot of supplies for the children of the refugees as well. So, yeah, just helping out wherever I can. I just volunteered at the Monarch Festival this weekend. Yeah. Just getting involved in my community. I'm I'm just a very enthusiastic community member.

Bob Rivard [00:30:28]:
Well, I have to, do a humble brag here and say that my wife, Monica, was the founder of the Monarch Butterfly Festival pollinator festival, and Maura here was working day and night at it along with our other producer, Ashley Bird, who has taken over the festival for my wife and now in its ninth year. And, I was there for all of the Friday events. I was out of town Saturday, but I was told that almost 10,000 people showed up at Brackenridge Park, which is just astonishing. And I know there was a butterfly release of several hundred monarchs and that were tagged and making their way now to to Mexico. And and, it's a great event in our city, and we're very fortunate that we live in the so called Texas funnel, and all those migrating monarchs are passing through our way this month on their way south.

Jessica Conrad [00:31:17]:
Yeah. There's no again, there's just no better feeling than seeing, you know, the people of San Antonio and our community come together for such a worthy cause. And it's also free, which also makes things just so much more accessible. And so the kids were so excited, and there were, you know, lots of vendors and opportunities there for the parents to get involved as well. City of San Antonio was giving away plants. Saws were giving away trees. Like, it was just beautiful. It it's a beautiful event, and I hope it continues for many, many years.

Bob Rivard [00:31:49]:
I think some of the magical events in our city, Jessica, are the free ones. And, you know, hats off to the sponsors that make that possible because we live in a city with one of the highest poverty rates in the nation, and beyond people that are living below the poverty line. The fact of the matter is a majority of our population is working class and they're one paycheck away from trouble. They're working hard. Many of them are working multiple jobs and they have the right to recreate alongside all the rest of us, but they can't afford to do it if it's expensive, particularly with children. So the more free events that we establish in our city, I think, the more equitable, city that we are for for everyone, and and that's, one of the great events that didn't exist nine years ago. You know, the San Antonio Book Festival is coming up in the spring. That is also free, and it attracts thousands of people, and it too did not exist twelve years ago.

Bob Rivard [00:32:47]:
And so, these events can be created by by people, from nothing, and, they can change the city for the better. And I'm glad you mentioned that. And since, I mentioned my wife, Monica, if she's listening, you have five kittens that you're gonna need to find a home for. And I lost my beloved cat in the pandemic, and I've been lobbying for a kitten since then. So it seems to me that this is karma, and it's time for me to take one of those kitties off your hands and give it a new home.

Jessica Conrad [00:33:18]:
I would love that. I would also like to thank, the Footbridge Foundation for sponsoring these kittens and their health care and getting them up to speed. It's a wonderful organization here in, San Antonio in Southtown, and they really do amazing, amazing work here. And it's been wonderful working with them. It's been been seamless, and the kittens are all really healthy, and we're all very grateful.

Bob Rivard [00:33:42]:
Well, that's a great nonprofit, the Foodbridge. And, what are they doing, or what did they do for you?

Jessica Conrad [00:33:48]:
Yeah. So I found these kittens. I didn't know what to do with them. And, I got them registered with Footbridge, and they're providing all of their food. I I've found them when they were two weeks old, so I was bottle feeding them for two weeks. And so they provided me with formula and toys. And now that they're older, they're on dry food. They're also, paying for all of their medical care, so all of their vaccinations, as well as getting them fixed here maybe next week when they're two pounds.

Jessica Conrad [00:34:18]:
And so, yeah, it's been great. The communication was really lovely, and they do a rigorous background check to make sure that the homes that the animals are being adopted into are safe for them as well. So Well,

Bob Rivard [00:34:30]:
that's terrific. Yeah. We're almost out of time, Jessica. So I wanna tell you, thank you for coming on to Big City Small Town, and I wish you good luck in your work as a realtor.

Jessica Conrad [00:34:39]:
Thank you for

Bob Rivard [00:34:39]:
having me. And, my hope as we sign off here that you'll show me some kitty photos.

Jessica Conrad [00:34:44]:
Absolutely. Thanks for having me.

Bob Rivard [00:34:49]:
That concludes this week's episode of Big City Small Town. Thank you to our presenting sponsors, Weston Urban, building the city our children want to call home, and Geekdom, helping business entrepreneurs move successfully from idea to start up. Special thanks to our producers, Ashley Bird and Maura Bobbitt, and our audio engineer, Alfie de la Garza of Sound Crane Audio.