You know that feeling when you sink into a wonderfully padded (and warmed) massage table, the scent of Hill Country lavender in the air, relaxing soft music that takes you away from life as you know it for 50 blissful minutes? Wonderful, isn’t it? Recently, we stayed at the Barton Creek Resort & Spa in Austin and I had just such an experience: a fantastic massage (one of the best I’ve ever had, in fact) after a serious morning work-out in the 11,000 square foot fitness center while my husband golfed on one of the four golf courses. Have no idea which one, I was in heaven. His choices: two by Fazio, one by Arnold Palmer, one by Ben Crenshaw. And then, upon leaving the property after check-out, gazing across the soft hills of Austin, I realized that you could have this life 24/7. You could either check into the resort and just live there, or buy one of the many gorgeous homes surrounding the resort in Barton Creek. I mean, this is Austin: why NOT a second home retreat in the Lone Star capital circling one of the nation’s most beautiful spas and golf clubs?

Even Forbes called this penthouse out as one very special place. Why not make this your second home getaway in Big D? Who needs a resort when your home is a vacation retreat? I first wrote about this penthouse-to-end-all-penthouses last summer, when Greg Brady, former president of i-2 Technology once (and probably still) the Mark Zuckerberg of supply-chain management, was offering not just a BMW Z8 in at closing but a week on his yacht, the Noble House, to whoever would hand over eight million dolla — actually, $7,999,000 big ones. Then listing agent Babs Holder reduced the price to $6,490,000, kept the cruise. Unfortunately, no bites, even for a big fish. Now it’s listed with Marilyn Hoffman as I may have mentioned a couple weeks ago, the list price has scooted up to $6,800,000. And I wonder if that STILL includes the cruise or car.  No mention of that on the Forbes slideshow, but sure am glad to see a Dallas condo up there on the bigscreen.

Fernando M. Alva was a dear friend. I had not seen him for about nine months, but on  Wednesday afternoon, May 9, I had a fleeting vision of him in my mind as I worked on a blog post. Call him, I told myself, call him later on today and connect.

Meet Richard Soto, owner/broker of  VIP Realty here in Dallas. Richard has an interesting story: he is an agent who spends more time on marketing and SEO than he actually does selling. That’s because Richard is an extremely tech-savvy agent, and he knows where his business comes from: the web. Whether it’s Dallas homes for sale, Fort Worth real estate or Dallas Condos, Richard always tries to maximize his listings’ SEO, he says: that’s job one!  In fact, our interview was conducted via video shot at Richard’s desk when he was down in Houston, then emailed me. Love it!

Thought you might enjoy seeing the national/international post I wrote for Concierge Auctions, on our illustrious Champ d’Or, they being the folks who spurred the sale of our most famous or infamous mansion to date.

Real estate rules. But have I ever told you my story, why I am so obsessed with real estate and why I blog? It goes like this: I was a journalist, a magazine journalist, who covered real estate as a journalistic beat, then got hooked. I realized that blogging about homes and featuring them on the web is really the only and best way to market homes. If you disagree, I want to know. And I may challenge you to an ad dual. Agents in Silicon Valley don’t even bother with print any more: 89% of buyers search for homes on line, and internet buyers’ incomes are 25% higher than traditional print buyers. By the time a certain listing is printed, that home may have a price change or even be sold, if anyone ever reads it. In fact, the homes we feature are selling sell and when we write about a home, the open houses are overflowing. This one sold four days after our posting. From a reader in Plano: Continue reading →

As you know, there is a contest for everything, even, it seems, private residence clubs. The Fairmont Heritage Place, Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco has snagged the #1 ranking for Best Private Residence Club in North America from the 2012 Fractional Life Awards. The award is designed to recognize the best all around fractional residence based on location and amenities. What’s so great about Fairmont Heritage Place, Ghirardelli Square? Easy — Ghirardelli square and the restoration of a former chocolate factory. That’s right, the residences are in the once world-renowned chocolate factory where the dark magic was once created and packaged.

Gulf Shores. Destin (Watercolor, Seaside, Alys Beach and Rosemary Beach). Port Aransas — Cinnamon Shore. Galveston. Fredericksburg and The Texas Hill Country. South Padre. Lakes such as Cedar Creek, Cypress Springs and my newest passion, Lake Richland Chambers. Those are the favorite vacation spots for Dallas/Fort Worth, at least according to a recent piece in the Wall Street Journal that tells us buyers are once again snapping up second homes.

Could they be buying it as a second or third home?

Champ d’Or closed Monday, April 30, according to Laura Brady of Concierge Auctions. Which means it is official: Shirley and Al Goldfield no longer own the Hickory Creek mega mansion they have been trying to sell almost since the day they completed the 40,000 square foot plus home. Talk about things you might regret: I saw Realtor Marilyn Hoffman a few weeks ago at the patron party for the Dallas Art Fair. She told me she once brought Mr. Goldfield an offer for $44 million he turned down. Another high profile agent tells me he was almost kicked out of the house when he offered to take the listing for an asking price of no more than $29 million back in 2009. We know Champ sold at auction a month ago at a reserve starting at $10.3 million, which means that was the minimum bidding price. Do you recall the story I wrote with another luxury real estate auction house when I asked what would happen if the reserve was not even met?

Just in case you feel like cheating on your second home this weekend, I wanted to point you in the right direction: 3809 Southwestern. Have you ever seen a cuter listing? This angel looks all neat and traditional on the outside, but oh boy she is a sexy vamp on the inside! We love that the home was first built in 1939, hence it overflows with charm and character despite significant interior remodeling. In fact, once inside, you will see no evidence of 1939. It’s 2012, baby. Here’s another plus: this home belongs to a Realtor. Continue reading →