How About a Spa 24/7 for a Vacation Home? Living at Austin’s Barton Creek Resort & Spa Is Life Just Like That

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?

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You Need a Penthouse With a Pool for Your Second Home in Dallas!

Written by Candy Evans on May 15, 2012

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.

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Fernando Alva, Dear Dallas Realtor Friend, R. I.P.

Written by Candy Evans on May 10, 2012

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.

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Hot Dallas Agents: Richard Soto of VIP Realty is Kind of a VIP Himself!

Written by Candy Evans on May 10, 2012

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!

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Champ d’Or Sure Gets Around: National Exposure for the North Dallas Manse that Took Ten Years to Sell

Written by Candy Evans on May 8, 2012

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.