Beach Homes
Late last summer, 2011, we were in Sonoma County, California where I toured a most amazing property called Mayacama. I credit finding this property to my trusted veterinarian, Dr. Barret Jiranek here at Lover’s Lane Animal Medical Center (Dallas). Or maybe I should give my precious Doodle Bree the credit. She had an ear ache,…
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“The sales market — this is probably the strongest season we’ve had in probably five years,” said Jennifer Shalley, research director at Windwalker Real Estate based out of Nantucket, Mass. “It’s a really, really healthy market. A lot of buyers have been waiting.”
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As my site’s tagline reads, “you can never have too many homes.” Apparently, many buyers and homeowners agree. The latest Investment and Vacation Home Buyers Survey from the National Association of Realtors reported that vacation-home sales rose 7 percent in 2011. In all, as I may have told you, vacation-home sales accounted for a healthy…
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Is this the private Dallas water park that braces built? And would you even consider putting in a water park in a private home? Texas Drills Down on Medicaid Dental Fraud” (sub. rec.) is a headline in today’s Wall Street Journal. What do they mean by that? Possibly the business practices of people like Richard Malouf who is…
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Our Miami correspondent, Andrea Kavanagh, is back and house-hunting for us! Calling all billionaire art aficionados and free-spending, globe-trotting investors! Miami is all a buzz over Ocean Drive’s most infamous residence to hit the sizzling hot real estate market at a whopping $125 million. Casa Casuarina, also known as the Versace mansion, is an iconic…
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Happy Fourth of July, 2012. We live the American Dream of real estate here in Texas more than anywhere. Maybe it’s because we learned our lesson back in the 1980’s — R.I.P. Danny Faulkner. Not only did we learn, we RETAINED. When I was in Denver at the National Association of Real Estate Editors Conference last month, Mark Fleming, the dashing economist for CoreLogic, told me over drinks that what saved our butts this time around was our state set limits on HELOCs, or home improvement loans. In Texas, we are limited on what we can borrow against our homesteads. That is what kept many of us from over-borrowing, so when the market fell we were not left with underwater loans*. I walked into our bank yesterday, Comerica, which I LOVE — who else sends you a thank-you note when you pay off a loan? But more than three people asked if they could offer me a home-improvement loan in the course of one hour. You know me, I’d buy a second home in a heartbeat! Our laws in Texas saved us, said Mark, in spite of ourselves.
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