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Hole In The Wall? No Problem, Just Stuff It

Here’s what you won’t see on the jazzed-up internet graphics: a new way to recycle styrofoam. I saw this in a home on the market in Northwest Dallas. Here’s what you see on the internet. But wait, it gets better.

Dallas Real Estate: Can Over-Zealous Home Inspectors Kill The Deal?

Good piece on Inman about an overly-picky home inspector who killed a deal over a stucco crack and carpet stain. Home inspections are not required in Texas — unless required by the lender. We had a home inspector once who failed to note that the wiring in all the light switches was worn and about to spark — I asked for my money back, called an electrician and have not been bullish on them ever since. But carpet stains? Hairline cracks? When is too picky ridiculous? Oh and about that gas smell: if you call and report a gas smell, be prepared for your gas to be cut off immediately until an inspector comes out to check the line. Way better safe than dead sorry.

D Sale Of The Week: This House Is Ready To Rock And Roll And Deal

At last, the long-awaited The House by Starck and Yoo at Victory Park is complete and ready for move-in. This is Victory’s final and most dramatic chapter, at least for a while. Yes, it’s another high-rise condo—with 28 stories of units to sell—but this one boasts the whimsical influence of Philippe Starck, including a white-draped lobby with a huge, gleaming, silver mailbox cluster that is reminiscent of school lockers, but the whole unit is on legs. Plus, the pool deck is one of the most glorious I’ve seen. This is going to be what we called a “meat market” when I was single. You won’t dare appear up here without plenty of lipo, though the broad lounge cushions may camo the cellulite. But here’s the best part: broker David Griffin says the Germans mean business. (The German real estate fund US Treuhand has taken the reins of Victory and hence is selling these units.) They are ready to cut a deal, which means you can own a house at The House for less than $400,000—one bedroom, one-and-a-half bath, about 1,000 square feet—with an impressive finish-out with a European feel and generous closets. The building amentities will spoil, from the work-out room to the apartment for overnight guests. As for financing, well, just how deep are those pockets? Let’s make a deal.

Dallas Real Estate Love In The L-Streets: Here’s Why Lakewood/Lake Highlands Rocks

Traditional or mid-century modern? I don’t know, but she has hardwoods, a renovated kitchen with light wood cabinets, 2370 square feet, four bedrooms, 2 baths, a wall of glass facing the creekview, and will only set you back $279,900! Check out 10836 Colbert Way in the uber hot L Streets — this home would be perfect for a first time home buyer looking to cash in on that $8000 tax credit and may be eligible for FHA financing. That plus the agent, Ed Murchison, is one of my faves in Dallas.

To get a better taste of Lake Highlands, check out this article I wrote for D Home: Neighborhood Spotlight: Lake Highlands

Open House Porn: It Was A Beautiful Weekend For Falling In Love With A Home…

Sorry! I lied. Except for the wonderful evenings, it was not a good weekend for any weekend fun or romance, well not ’till Sunday anyhow! If you are looking for a new home  –or not,  you just like to hope and dream like me — here are a few highlights from “Emily’s Weekend’s Open House Smorgasboard”:

3704 Stratford Avenue:

This home is right up my alley. I am a recently transplanted Highland Parker, originally from New York, and this reminds me of the homes I grew up around. It is tucked away from the street behind a natural setting of trees and bushes. Everything is kept simple yet beautiful, from the architecture to the interior decoration. Even the pool area. If you are a person that likes to be close to your favorite restaurants, friends, the grocery store, and so on, but when you are home you like to feel a million miles away, this is the home for you.

3512 Euclid Avenue:

Mi piacerebbe visitare l'Italia un giorno di questi! Translation: I would like to visit Italy one day. For now, I will just visit this Tuscan style home right in the heart of the Park cities, and you can come too! Between 3:00 and 5:30 on Sunday, August 2nd, Briggs Freeman has the pleasure of giving an open house for potential buyers and real estate lovers (or real estate voyeurs). I hate to pick favorites... but this is my favorite. You have to see this one yourself so put on your Sunday best, grab your umbrella, and get on over to Euclid Avenue. Faccia come se fósse a casa sua (Translation: Make yourself at home). Better yet, don't just make yourself at home, make it your home!

3524 Wentwood:

This traditional University Park home has three of my favorite things: hardwood floors, saltwater pool, and a large second floor deck. I would happily give my left kidney to live in this home. Unfortunately, I think the cost runs more around two kidneys, a liver, and a leg, but it's worth it!

Should I Measure Square Footage ?(Ctd.) And Local Appraisers

I want to highlight these comments because next week, I’ll bring you a story on the madness surrounding real estate appraisals courtesy of our (now) over-reaching government and how it is putting some buyers out on the streets…

1. It’s important to hire an appraiser familiar with your area. I had an appraiser from Balch Springs assigned to appraise my house in Bluffview/Shorecrest. He was lost.

2. More important than the number of square feet is how well thought out the floor plan is. If you have 6,000 square feet, but 3,000 of those are in the ‘big, grand’ but unuseable entry space, then you really have a 3,000 square foot home. Ask yourself, “How am I going to live in this space each and every day?”

 

Dallas Real Estate Open Houses: Check Out These Babes

This one is $3,295,000 at 5551 Edlen and a total bargain in the honeypot of Old Preston Hollow on those 3/4 acre lots. Go here, then meander over to the Creeks of Preston Hollow — one of the few times the gates will be open so you can peek inside. Here’s what’s open from Briggs Freeman, though I’m dissappointed that mega manse on Preston Road – the one the guy bought for his fiance for about ten million, then she said she didn’t want it — is not one of them. Darn it.

D Sale of the Week: Posh and Perfect Perch on Princess

God knows I love houses, and there are many in the Naked City that make me want to chain myself to the bedpost. Forever. But 3757 Princess Ln. just won my heart. This home is so gorgeous that I’ve heard even the appraisers are fanning themselves. It’s a pristine, 4,092-square-foot, post mid-century ranch built in 1972. Last year it was gutted by a dynamic design/contractor duo who have it finished to perfection, with careful attention to detail and smooth, clean design. The formica-worshipping kitchen was completely removed; stone taken from around the great room fireplace (replaced with granite) lines a tree in the lush backyard. The east wing offers three large bedrooms and two full baths; the west wing has two bedrooms, including an enormous master with sitting room, formerly bedroom No. 6. In between formals, kitchen with mammoth granite slab, glassed-in sun room with stained concrete floor—it is light and airy everywhere. $624,900. Agent: Alice Simonton for Ebby Halliday: 972.380.3202