Natalie Winchester with Ebby Halliday Southlake has listed 515 Fisher Drive for $649,000.
As one of the safest communities in the country, and home to the only golf course designed by Ben Hogan, there’s a lot to love about Trophy Club. This week we showcase two exceptional Trophy Club treasures, each with prime locations and square footage, but with price points that are miles apart. Which would you choose the clubhouse path splurge or the move-in ready steal?
2 Skyline Drive Trophy Club is currently listed for $475,000.
Get out your pocketbooks folks, this one will go fast! Feast your eyes on this impeccably remodeled family home in idyllic Trophy Club, just listed for $475,000, by Mindy Niehaus of Century 21 Nathan Grace Fine Homes & Estates.
Here at CandysDirt.com, we love a good before and after, and this one does not disappoint! Niehaus, who happens to be the original buyer’s agent for the current owners, is helping them sell it now, and put us in touch with the sellers, Brittany and Kemp, to get the story behind the home’s magnificent makeover. Let’s start with a side-by-side comparison, shall we?
Over on Culturemap, Marc Lee writes that embattled restaurateur Bill McCrorey has his delicious Preston Hollow estate home on the market after purchasing it just two years ago. Marc reminds us that McCrorey, who owns Rare (haven’t been there) as well as Republic, Las Colinas Prime and Blackfinn Saloon, has been in court fighting the recent breach of contract lawsuit filed against him and his partner, Thomas McMurray, by their former administrative director, Cade Mannetti, alleging fraud, failure to pay salary and failure to maintain health insurance.
Well, I really like the house — 11,000 plus square feet of Italianate with oodles of formals, dark chocolate wood floors, beams, seven bedrooms and ten baths plus formals everywhere, exercise room, media room, and a great kitchen, of course. Love the way Marc describes the study:
It’s easy to imagine Don Corleone meeting with his consigliere in the dark corners of the club room. Its high vaulted ceilings, wood panels and exposed trusses make it clear that no funny business goes on here.
Kiss my ring! There is a great pool and huge pool/guest house with a full kitchen. There is also a wine cellar, which I would sure hit every day after court. Please note that this home backs to the tollway on Hathaway, but since the 1.44 acre lot is so big, the trees cushion the noise. On the market for $5,500,000 with Dave Perry-Miller’s Marlene Jaffe. If McCrorey bought the place two years ago, he’s probably going to pocket a nice little profit.
You do recall former NBA champ Michael Jordan.¬† Not only is he known as “the greatest basketball player of all times” but he is gaining a rap as the greatest home builder of all times! Jordan is completing a 28,000 square foot mansion in The Bears’ Club, Palm Beach County, Florida, near where Tiger Woods just completed his grand estate. The builder: Lavelle Builders out of Jupiter, Fla. Of course, Tiger’s estate is surrounded by water on three sides to,¬† perhaps, keep the paparazzi (among other things) at bay. Jordan’s mega-mansion, which is still under construction, is not even close to the water. But it now goes down as one of the largest, most expensive homes ever built in Florida that is not on the water, says real estate agent Jeff Lichtenstein of Christie’s Great Estates and Illustrated Properties. Lichtenstein knows of what he talks: he sells real estate in the Palm Beach area, which is notoriously filled with high net worth people who like to enjoy a second or third home here because here they have it all: a backyard marina for their yachts, sea, beach, and plenty of gorgeous Florida sunshine.
Oh yes, and I almost forgot: golf.
Though waning with the general population, the wealthy still love to tinker on the greens. Jeff’s father, Cary Lichenstein, was a golf rater for GolfWeek Magazine and has been playing since he could walk. In fact, he lives so close to Jordan — in Admiral’s Cove – the elder Lichenstein could lend a hammer or nail to the twenty million dollar project.
The Jordan home will have 11 bedrooms, sits on a three-parcel site right in the backyard of the uber exclusive (and hard to get into) Bear’s Club. Let me put it to you this way: it costs $350,000 just to call yourself a member of the club. The area is loaded with courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, but he personally plays at Bears Club — so basically this area is golf nirvana and the membership list is a regular Who’s Who…¬† stars, Fortune 400 execs, and the Nicklaus family.There are 55 residences ranging from $4 million on up to, well, probably Jordan’s home. When complete, Jordan’s mansion will be a contemporary with Spanish-style roof — this I have to see. It will have four separate structures: A main house, a guardhouse, a guesthouse and a poolhouse for the mammoth swimming pool. In other words, the largest spread in the ‘hood.
Neighbors once included chanteuse Celine Dion, who ran into a few problems with her HOA over her desire to add a commercial recording studio or music room to her property — deeds are so tough in this ‘hood that even if a home burns down, you have to re-build it to look just like the original home. I mean, can you imagine the disaster if a Mediterranean went up right next to — another Mediterranean?
Jordan paid $4.8 million for the land and is spending an estimated $7.6 million for the construction. The Lichtenstein boys estimate that the total booty will top $20 million, and they worry a bit about re-sale value:
“It would be interesting to see what the Jordan home resells for, being that its location, while great for MJ’s privacy, is not ideal for resale to the usual trophy-and-yacht buyer,”says Jeff.
Only his banker knows for sure!
Gaynelle Henger, one of our favorite agents/managers/real estate pros, just keeps on giving us a reason to keep up with her!
The former Ebby agent was Dave Perry-Miller’s Preston center office manager for three years. Last April, she left Dave Perry-Miller to join the newly branded Coldwell Banker Global Luxury Preston Center, where she brought agents in by the truckload. Just last October, though, she jumped ship over to The Collective, which of course just merged with New York City-based Compass Real Estate. Word came last night that Robbie Briggs brought Gaynelle in to manage two offices after losing manager Bryan Pacholski. Bryan is now working in agent development at The Collective/Compass.
And there you have it, four brokerages in 14 months. The great thing about agents is that they jump one ship for another all the time, and all remain professional, even friends, about it. As an agent once told me, you never know when you will work a deal with an agent you once sat next to: don’t burn bridges! (more…)
The ABA Southlake team: Gabriella Miller, Jennifer Spielvogel, Tonia Beard, Dona Robinson, Allie Beth Allman, Wynne Moore, Perry Moore. Susan Mathews, John Martini
More evidence of the red-hotness of the real estate market in North Texas.
For the first time, Dallas-based Allie Beth Allman & Associates is expanding out of the city and out of the county, to head into the lucrative but competitive Southlake, Colleyville, Grapevine, Keller, Trophy Club and Westlake real estate markets.
Comes word Monday that Allman & Associates is leasing offices in the new Granite Place building at Southlake Town Square. The 14-year-old real estate firm plans to serve those aforementioned markets from the new location.
“It’s near the hotel where everyone stays when they come to Southlake looking for a home,” says the firms’ namesake, Allie Beth Allman.
Veteran sales groups will be heading the new office: Dona Robinson and Wynne More are bringing two seasoned sales groups to the new location. This is a significant move and attention alert to the two other major Dallas real estate players in Southlake: Ebby Halliday, with a 12,000 square foot new Southlake office that opened and upgraded in 2014, and Briggs Freeman Sothebys, who has had a Southlake office for several years.
Dona, Wynne and John Martini moved to ABA from Briggs Freeman Sothebys’ Southlake office.
Clearly, the leading Dallas companies want a piece of the North Texas suburban pie and they are getting it.
The other significance of this move is that Allie Beth Allman sold to Berkshire Hathaway about two years ago. When a brokerage is sold, savvy buyers dole out the cash over a contracted period of time with certain stipulations designed to retain top producers in house. Allie Beth is getting straight “A’s” in this department: not only is she retaining top agents, others are signing on. That has not been the case with other recent brokerage sales where acquisitions have left agents feeling like, in one agents’ word, “we went to sleep at Neimans and woke up at Walmart”.
The prospect of expansion was mentioned back when the Berkshire deal was consummated. I have no doubt we will see more Allie Beth Allman offices across the ponds west, north, and east.
Here is the company press release which, in her charming way, Allie Beth told me she had just typed up on the typewriter:
Mayor Rawlings may be paying $53,513.78 in property taxes yikes!
In a refreshing move from the norm of most politicians, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings says property owners may be due a property tax break.
“I would love to look at a tax-rate adjustment,” said Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings at last week’s council meeting.
Rawlings is hoping he has enough support to lower the tax rate, because higher taxable values could mean the city collects more revenue than it needs.
“We want to take as little money away from them and give them the services they want,” Rawlings said. “And that’s what these 15 people are going to try to do in the next three months.”
It’s a move realtors would like.
I think the Mayor meant to say “and STILL give them the services they want.” Because it seems that every time we turn around, the City has no money for this or for that. Also seems like they are not doing their due diligence on some deals, like awarding that 7 year, $450 million electricity contract to TXU Energy. So much didn’t pass the sniff test there: (more…)
Isn’t she just adorable? We love Mindy Niehaus, a go-getting Realtor with Nathan Grace Real Estate, because not only is she absolutely lovely on the outside (just look at that hair!) but she’s a real beauty on the inside, too. Mindy learned about the real estate business from the best teacher there is: her mother. She took that drive and ingenuity from her time in fashion and her patience from her time as a teacher and became a Realtor that is scoring referrals like good deals during a sale at Nordstrom’s.
Not only that, but she has a killer sense of humor; it’s a trait almost required of Realtors nowadays. In that way, she reminds us a lot of Jeff Lindigrin at Great Western Home Loans. What has your lender done for you lately? See what you’re missing by calling Jeff Lindigrin at Great Western Home Loans today.
Jump to get the scoop on Oklahoma transplant Mindy Niehaus and what she loves about North Texas!
