D

D Sale Of The Week, Ctd. A Hand Sprayer In Every Tub

A master without a deep soaking tub is, well, camping. I used to say no marble around the tub is camping, but that was until they came out with these great ergonomically perfect tubs, like this one in Ed’s Pathfinder listing/home.

Which reminds me of my biggest pet peeve: soaking tubs without hand-sprays. People, please, do not save $100 by skimping on the hand-sprayer. Serious bathers do not live by running water alone. You need the sprayer to rinse off hair, bods and clean the tubs. As my hero Joan Crawford would surely have said, NO SOAKING TUBS WITHOUT DIVERTER SPRAYS EVER!

3525 Turtle Creek Update, Inquiry

Inquiring minds are asking me:

Did 3525 Turtle Creek ever obtain Landmark Status?

What about that multi million dollar assessment to improve the interiors and exteriors?

What is the total number of units in the building?

What physical changes are proposed for the exterior elevation?

Has anyone agreed on anything?

Highland Park Village Regent’s Theatre Closing?

Please say it is not true! If that theatre closes, I say 10% decline in Highland Park property values… agree????

Bush To Office At Sherry Lane Place

That’s 5956 Sherry Lane, two streets south from Dave Perry-Miller’s office at 5950 Berkshire Lane, where the former president will take up 5328 square feet of temporary office space.  So the good folks at 5950 WERE lying to me when they told me the President would not have an office there. (Thanks and kudos to all my sources who told me he WAS.) He is indeed — only it’s temporary. Only one who tells the truth around here is Jeff Staubach. Love you, Jeff. Heading out to shoot some photos.

Update: Steve Brown ran this story on Jan. 15, the day I left for Cabo.  

More Company Coming To Dallas Dirt: Meet Worth Ross

Does the maintenance and repair of your home and investment properties drive you to drink? How would you like to manage properties — multiple — like 300 plus? That’s how Worth Ross spends his life 24/7, managing multi-family from posh single family rentals to the most upscale high rises on Turtle Creek. From saving homeowners hundreds in monthly association dues to boiler breaks to frozen water pipes, Worth has seen, heard and repaired it all. (Not himself, but I hear he has the best repair Rolodex in town and I just may get sticky fingers.) I thought we needed the voice of facility management experience right about now — and Worth will be sharing his deepest property care secrets with the readers of Dallas Dirt. (Feel free to send in questions. Here’s my first: how to save money, any, on energy costs. Specifically, the cost of crude is down so why haven’t Glacial Energy and TXU lowered our utility prices?) Hey, what works for Turtle Creek works for a home on say, Daria Place. Excuse me while I go make sure all our exterior faucets are frost proof: it’s so cold I need a mink just to read the thermostat.

Garbage In, Garbage Out

I agree with Tim: James Ragland’s column on Preston Hollow, where I live, is a waste of paper that Belo should not waste. We explained the deed restriction “non-issue” that Huffington was trying to “stir”. Item 11 in the deed restrictions that cover the President’s new property (properties) on Daria Place was NOT an issue in 2000. Nor were racist-toned covenants an issue when he bought the family’s home on Northwood in the 1990’s. That racist language has been illegal for many years, but because it was written into legal documents, the graphs could not vanish. The Texas legislature passed recent legislation that enabled homeowners to amend racist language in deed restrictions, which is why many home associations chose to alter them. Real estate reflects history, and truth be told our history is loaded with discrimination… and garbage. Until the 70’s, women could not obtain mortgages or buy homes on their own. They couldn’t even obtain credit cards in their names. We were considered our husband’s chattel. I would not be surprised to find deed restrictions somewhere saying it’s illegal for women to own property — unless they reside in the back-house kitchen.

If Ragland’s point was to give a thumb-nail sketch of Preston Hollow, then I suggest you find a copy of Eva Potter Morgan’s “Preston Hollow”. Preston Hollow was briefly incorporated as a town after an election on November 18, 1939, the voting taking place in the real estate office of Mr. Ira P. DeLoach, also the man who hired Ebby Halliday. Her name and company now occupy what was the town hall of Preston Hollow, the “little white house” at the corner of Northwest Highway and Preston Road. Initially the notion of incorporating PH into a town was controversial, the heart of the discussion being fiscal concerns and higher taxes with annexation. But it was one of humanity’s most basic dilemmas — sanitation — that united Preston Hollow with Dallas while the Park Cities would remain the Golden Bubble in-between:

(more…)

I Heart Amanda Tackett!!!

As does the rest of the world — the D Home Blog (hi guys!) reports that Amanda’s wonderful columns on her Dream House for D Home won bigtime at Saturday’s Katie Awards celebration. The first time I read a story by Amanda in our brother pub, D, I almost wet my pants with laughter. Amanda, you go girl! You are the best!!!

Green Realtors

About 100 instructors and 250 Realtors took the brand-new sustainability training at the National Association of Realtors convention this week.  It was standing room only for the 15-hour core class–turns out Realtors are thinking this is the wave of the near-future and are falling over each other to get the designation.  A good thing, I think.

In addition to the core class, there’s a choice of electives–residential, commercial or property management–that can be taken in person or via webinar.  It is a HUGE amount of information.

Note To Kids: My Time To Go, Plop Me At The Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences, San Francisco

This article about how Marie-Dennett McDill, an east coast socialite, spent her last days on earth at the Carlyle Hotel, nearly made me cry. So much I called our attorney and re-drafted our will. When it’s my time to go, I want my kids to plop me at The Ritz, preferably in my San Francisco fractional ownership. Cannot get closer to heaven on earth. (more…)

Trulia Launches Special Site To Deal With Real Estate Market Crisis

Even as they beef up partnerships with more Realtors and organizations. Zillow is adding home services to its blog, becoming more of a Craig’s List for homeowners — very smart, homebuyers spend like crazy when they first buy a home and this is the time when they most utilize home service contractors. (Swear my husband had an affair with a gal named Home Depot when we bought one of our homes.) Not sure yet that Dallas is in any crisis mode — but I do know that we are about to see a shift in the rental market, which I spoke with Worth Ross at length about today.  Besides working with homeowner associations, Worth manages 750 single family homes in the Dallas Fort Worth area — yikes I think two are sending me to an early grave! He’s been in the business since 1984, he lectures, he clearly knows what he is doing and we will be hearing lots more from him on this blog!

Dallas Best Market For Real Estate Investing: SimplifyEm

So reports the Dallas Business Journal today, quoting Dallas-based HomeVestors of America, Inc. — the people behind the “We Buy Ugly Houses” slogan/signs. (So tempting to carry those in the back of my car!) I have heard this from others outside the state, including Narinder Sandhu, President/Founder of TreXglobal. Narinder, a Silicon Valley software engineer, was a VP at Intuit responsible for product strategy and development for Intuit’s payroll biz –one of their fastest-growing segments, he says. Narinder’s company, TreXglobal.com, has created a fabulous software program in SimplifyEm.com to save property owners hours of book-keeping headaches. (Let’s face it, when you own rental units as opposed to stocks, you don’t have to help foot the bill for the company’s $400,000 retreat prior to the stock’s flush down the commode.) Narinder, who owns rental properties in Dallas, says we have become a Real Estate darling for investors who are pulling out of places like Phoenix, Vegas and Florida… or who (whoops) maybe got burned there. In any case, his program makes it easy-peasy to track expenses. Easier even than Quicken. (Way easier than Quickbooks.) Takes less than a minute to set up and come tax time, just click and print off that schedule E.

Since I have investment properties, I am going to try SimplifyEm.com and will soon offer a review.

Terrell Owens Owns $2.5 Million In Dallas Real Estate

I knew he had two units at the Azure, didn’t know about the townhouses near Fair Park. His FA, Jeff Rubin, says it’s all investment property (even, we presume, his Azure units). You go, T.O, but be careful. Ask me today if I’d rather have $35,000 in Dallas Real Estate or 500 shares of AIG, guess what the answer is.

Always A Bridesmaid, Never A Bride: Why Won’t This House Sell?

Reduced $100,000 from $1,495,000, over 5000 square feet of new solid construction,  and I think it’s adorable. Great street, great ‘hood, great look — Hill Country chic. So the builders want to know what gives. Similar props have sold like hotcakes in Lakewood. OMG, is Lakewood hotter than Preston Hollow? I don’t know. What do you think? (P.S. Dear President and Mrs. Bush — this is your style!)

Why I Hate Homeowners Associations

As punishment, those who tried to fine this man should have to tear down their houses.

Who Creates Street Addresses?

Always inquisitive, those D guys across the aisle … questions like “what are those little mini houses erected in front of homes being built” and now, from Adam McGill, “What — or who — determines how many digits are in the number of the addresses of houses on a street?” Cute kids, always asking questions. Journalists should ask questions. Why, for example, do the numbers get larger going east in Dallas but smaller going east in Highland Park/University Park? (Drives me nuts, actually, why could they not coordinate this?) Surely someone in the Real Estate world has our answers…

Interesting Correspondences

We get some very interesting emails here at D as a result of the blogs, but I think this one takes the cake — this reader’s solution to upper level management who plays too much golf:

“The best way to treat those so-called upper level management doing nothing other than playing golf and took a great sum of money is to take them to the Japanese restaurant. Not for feeding them food, but have the sushi chef slices them like a sushi. It sounds bad but that’s what they deserved”.

Now what about husbands who play too much golf?

Jessica & Tony Update

Yes, she is helping him select furnishings for their Irving home most definitely. My source is sworn to secrecy but let’s just say the darling duo has already started shopping in Dallas for their new Irving home.

Guess The ‘Hood

If I seem less prolific, it is because we are all working hard on the October issue of D Home. I am working on (surprise surprise) wonderful neighborhoods in our city where you can find great values from the lower $200K to $2 million: something for everyone. So I found this STEAL — brick house, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, with this back yard salt water pool for $245,000 and I ask you, where did I find it in Dallas County?????

Live In A McMansion, Totally Free

I have known people who do this — live in a home that is on the market for free. Obviously it is better to keep any vacant home on the market occupied and decked out with furniture. One such company is CASTLE KEEPERS, but you can be sure of one thing: these companies vet whoever they put in that house as if they were hiring for the Secret Service. You have to have the home neat and tidy 24/7, your furnishings must be approved, and you have to be ready to show the place instantly. Also, if the home sells, you are out of there lickey-split. Still, if that’s the price you pay for free rent in a million dollar home, that’s a pretty good deal.