Real Estate Market News

Luxury Second Home Fractional Sales Heating Up: Calistoga Ranch Sells Out

By Candy Evans | April 11, 2013 |

In California, they have even sold out of the most famous outdoor showers in the world!  The  award-winning Calistoga Ranch in the Napa Valley has sold out of its private residence club offering. It seems Americans love their vacation homes again. Vacation home sales in the United States increased 10.1 percent in 2012. 553,000 units…

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The Floor Report: How About Floors Made of Sand in Your Second Home?

By Candy Evans | March 27, 2013 |

I saw these coolio floors in a restaurant down in Nassau, The Bahamas, where we visited second homes this past weekend. This is the floor at a beach club restaurant called, appropriately, “Footprints”. Yes, the entire floor is made of sand. No, they don’t vacuum it but rather sweep and rake it nightly. The restaurant is adjacent…

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Buy This Ranch and You Will Instantly Become a Super Country Western Star???

By Candy Evans | February 20, 2013 |

That’s why, I guess the folks promoting this nice little ranch in Van Alystyne, Texas put this guitar crooner on the website for the ranch.  Like, front and center. Five bedrooms, four and a half baths, this place is billed as 30 acres of a horse rancher’s paradise with an executive home, pool, hot tub,…

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T. Boone Picken’s Most Romantic Home in Dallas Would Make a Great Empty Nest Texas Retreat. But No Windmills…

By Candy Evans | February 14, 2013 | Comments Off on T. Boone Picken’s Most Romantic Home in Dallas Would Make a Great Empty Nest Texas Retreat. But No Windmills…

T. Boone Pickens may be a legendary Texas oil and gas executive, and a huge force behind wind energy, but there are no windmills on his Preston Hollow estate in Dallas, Texas. There are gardens, sculpted and manicured French gardens that will make you think you are in Versailles so much that “mais oui” will roll right off your tongue! He is now selling his Dallas estate in the heart of Preston Hollow for $7 million. And it is not listed in MLS. The home was built in 1996, but then when T. Boone and his wife, Madeleine bought it in July, 2005 for about five million, it was redone to the max. And I do mean the max. From a four bedroom home with a master on the first floor, it was taken to a three bedroom home with an expanded second floor master. In fact, the new master bathroom is so large it features a writing desk — what a splendid idea! The new master closet is larger than most starter homes.

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Tom and Cinda Hicks Put Dallas’ Famous Crespi Estate on Market for $135 Million with Douglas Newby

By Candy Evans | January 28, 2013 | Comments Off on Tom and Cinda Hicks Put Dallas’ Famous Crespi Estate on Market for $135 Million with Douglas Newby

Looking to find a little estate in the Loire Valley but your spouse wears a “France Sucks” tee? You can have 25 acres that resemble the French countryside and a 48,000 square foot estate so perfect you may never wish to leave. The 25 acre estate of Thomas O. and Cinda Hicks on Walnut Hill Lane and Hollow Way Road in Preston Hollow just hit the non-MLS market for a whopping $135 million. For more photos and all the scoop, check out the site of Douglas Newby, who is the agent.

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Tourists Are Returning to Hawaii, and So Are Vacation Home Buyers – Honua Kai

By Candy Evans | October 22, 2012 |

Tourism is up in Hawaii, which is a very good sign for Hawaiian real estate. The number one reason buyers purchase a vacation home in any location is because they love it. It goes like this: visit the location, love it, feel like you never want to leave. This is the point where buyers start…

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