Thoughts about real estate, franchise industry, and otherwise
Big Thanks to Candy Evans of D Magazine
I received an email inquiry this morning from a gentleman who mentioned he found out about me from the D Magazine Home and Garden Blog. After a quick search, I discovered that Candy Evans, a Real Estate editor for D Home and Garden was kind enough to post a link to the "Why Buy In Frisco?" article on my website.
Big Thanks to Candy Evans!!
The BEST new-construction deal I have ever found
I was with some of my new friends/clients again this weekend. I have been looking for a new home with them since October. It is now the right timing for them to actually make a purchase. We found a brand new, never lived in home in a great neighborhood in west Frisco, over 4,000sf and fully loaded with hand-scraped hardwoods throughout the downstairs, huge gameroom with wet bar and a full-size media room.
The house was listed at $412,000 and I negotiated it down to $355,000. That is $57,000 off! That is officially the best deal I have found since I got my real estate license. When I checked the comps, there was one other that sold in the neighborhood for $380k. The rest were all over $400k for comparable sized homes.
It is a good time to buy new construction if you know where to look!
Website was down
Not real sure why, but my website exceeded the allowed bandwidth usage yesterday. I checked the logs and I did have little higher than usual traffic but I can't attribute it to anything in particular. Hmmm. If you came to the site yesterday, I'm sorry if it was down. I have doubled the bandwidth and hopefully it won't happen again. Actually, I hope it does. That means I will have doubled my website traffic!
BTW, thanks to everyone who sent very kind remarks about the new look. I am happy with it, too.
Wal-Mart is Now Open in Little Elm
It's official, Little Elm and nearby Frisco have given birth to a new, bouncing baby Wal-Mart at the intersection of Eldorado Parkway and Hwy 423. Parents and child are said to be doing well.
Although it opened this past Tuesday, TW and I didn't make it over until last night, Friday, around 9pm. It was insane... low, low prices and long, long lines.
The location will give Little Elm residents and Frisconians along the Eldorado corridor a more convenient place to shop for grocieries and various sundries. Hopefully, Wal-Mart's cousin, the gas station, will be coming soon. We could use one closer than Main/Teel or Main/423.
Meanwhile, Target continues to make progress a few miles east at Eldorado and Legacy.
Realtor Tour and Open House
We had a realtor tour on Wednesday. That's where several agents from our office carpool and look at homes that we each have listed for our clients. It's a good feedback mechanism for both the agent and the sellers. It helps get some other perspectives.
I had 8180 Nicholson on the list. No suprises, everyone loved it. There is no doubt in my mind when the market picks up around here, it's gonna sell quick. We are holding an open house for it tomorrow from 11am to 2pm. Hope we have a good turn out. Traditionally, open houses aren't very successful out here. We'll cross our fingers, though.
It’s been slow for a couple weeks…
It's been pretty slow for the past couple weeks. I am a little suprised because it picked up significantly at the end of March. I had so much business I could hardly keep up. However, for the past couple weeks it's dropped off just as quick. I have spoken with several new home builder reps and it's the same for them. Still predicted to be a great year for real estate in Dallas though. Woo hoo!
Quail Run - Allen, TX
TW and I stopped by this new subdivision in Allen a few days ago. It's a nice neighborhood. Landstar and Drees are the only two builders here, which will make for a really nice looking area. Good size park and community swimming pool in the middle. It also had playground equipment, basketball court, and soccer goals. Prices are typical for these types of builders, upper $200's to mid $400's. As usual, the subdivison is broken in to two different "products", which is determined by their lot sizes.
One side is 55' x 110' (6,050sf) and has rear entry garages. The other side is 65'x120' (7,800sf). They have some really good price incentives right now, which I suspect will go away during the summer when things really pick up.
It's definately worth taking a look at it if you're interested in Allen. 214-773-0567.
It is really growing!
I was driving around today and it really hit me how much west Frisco is growing. I'm really excited!
The new Wal-Mart is almost done off of 423/Eldorado. Should be open in April.
The new Super-Target is making good progress. TW and I are really excited about that one. It's practically in our back yard!
Market Street is starting to make it know to the public that they are coming to town (right across from Super Target!)
Rudy' BBQ and Comfort Suites off of the Tollway is stirring up dirt
Studio Movie Grill has broken ground next to Poppy's
It’s official… We’re a team.
After some time of discussing the timing and feesibility, my wife has resigned her position as Transaction Coordinator/Exec. Admin for her dad and has decided to work with me! Woo Hoo!
It's nice to be in a position where we have the option for her to work or not.
She'll be helping me some with transaction administration, however, her primary role will be Business Development. I think she'll be really great at it. Mainly, she'll help me acquire new clients through a variety of marketing efforts, networking, and organization.
I'm really excited!!
Settling in
We officially moved to our new REMAX office last week. If you're not aware, The Gunder Group (me, my wife, my father-in-law, my mom, and my mother-in-law) have moved from RE/MAX Dallas Suburbs to RE/MAX First Realty off of 423/Eldorado in Frisco/Little Elm.
It's going ok. There are definately some adjustments to be made. It will be a seamless transition for our clients. It will take some getting used to for us, though. Excited about the location. And, not that I was ever there, but it will save us a good 20-25 minutes drive time to Plano.
New Website (v2.0)
I've been wanting to update my website for some time now. Unfortunately, "free time" is a mythical creature from a time long, long ago. So, I am trying to add bits and pieces as I can.
The goal is to provide a more informative and insightful website for people who are considering moving to the North Dallas area. A large percentage of my clients are from other states and want more detailed information about this area. Understandably so. Buying in Dallas metro can be very different than buying in other states. I find that I do a lot of educating about the process and things to be aware of when buying a home here. It's different. Texas is unique.
Hopefully, this website will answer a few questions and provide relevant information that will help people who are new.
In future rollouts, I would like to include client input as well. It's one thing to hear it from a Realtor. I see value, though, in hearing from others who are have recently been through the process giving advice of things that were new to them. It could really help enhance the buying process.
In the meantime, as I get a few minutes here and there I'll be adding new content. Hopefully, I'll be able to make the changeover by late spring or early summer.
