Luxury Real Estate

Courtesy of Ebby Halliday Realtors

 It’s hard to surprise someone like Ross Perot.  But yesterday, it happened. 

Ebby, along with 1,000 other close friends, colleagues and family members surprised the two-time presidential candidate at Dell Services headquarters in Plano - almost three weeks before his actual 80th birthday on June 27.  Everything was going as planned and right on time for the surprise, until Mr. Perot asked to stop for yogurt on his way back to the office.  Luckily, he put his craving aside for what he thought was an important meeting with Michael Dell.

When he arrived, in addition to seeing Michael Dell (via video), he also found a cafeteria full of birthday well wishers.  Among his gifts, he was presented with a bound book of more than 1,000 birthday wishes from the likes of former President George W. Bush, Barbara Walters, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.  He also received video messages from comedians Dana Carvey and Jay Leno.

Ebby wrote a special song for the event, which she performed with her signature ukulele:

We celebrate a really great gentleman
Whose name all of us know
He never messes with Texas
His name is H. Ross Perot!

In June he’ll be a young 80
He has lots of “get up and go”
His good deeds are mighty weighty
Third verse same as the first and so …

We celebrate our favorite gentleman
Whose courage we do know
Had he been there when it happened
He might have even won the Alamo!

Mr. Perot is known for being quite the prankster, and while he is one of Ebby’s closest friends, she also had another motive for wanting to help plan his birthday surprise  - payback.  Recently, Ebby arrived home to find a 9-foot-tall-naked-lady topiary on her front porch, compliments of her good friend Ross.  The statue now resides in Ebby’s backyard (see below) and after yesterday, it’s pretty safe to say the two living legends are now even. 

To read the full report from yesterday’s birthday bash, check out the article by Cheryl Hall in today’s Dallas Morning News.

Courtesy of Ebby Halliday, REALTORS

DALLAS, TX (April 22, 2010) – As Part of its 65th anniversary year, the Ebby Halliday Companies recently launched a new luxury home magazine named Grand Vie: Luxury in Living to showcase high-end properties throughout the area to luxury buyers and sellers. Ebby Halliday is the luxury market leader, selling more million-dollar homes than any other company in North Texas.

“Grand Vie embodies luxury living as each issue presents some of the area's most incredible homes,” says Mary Frances Burleson, president and chief executive officer of the Ebby Halliday Companies. “Our inaugural spring edition is being distributed to approximately 30,000 of the finest homes in the area. And, with the explosion in online media, a state-of-the-art digital flip version is available at grandviemag.com, which anyone in the world can access.”

Highlighted in Grand Vie are more than 125 of the most exceptional properties currently on the market from Highland Park and Preston Hollow to Lakewood, Frisco and Southlake. Featured brands include Ebby Halliday, Realtors, Ellen Terry, Realtors and Dave Perry-Miller and Associates. Homes in Grand Vie are priced $750,000 and higher.

“The elegant design, gorgeous photography and consistent presentation of luxury properties will make an impact with buyers and sellers,” says Randall Graham, vice president and director of marketing. “The sales professionals representing these properties are luxury market leaders and share a passion for real estate. It's their experience, service, ethics and character, along with the finest resources, that create their undeniable competitive advantage.”

A Grand Vie preview party was held at Cole Haan in Highland Park Village in March. Attendees were given a sneak peak of the new magazine and enjoyed wine and exclusive discounts at Cole Haan.

For more information on Grand Vie Magazine: Luxury in Living, please visit grandviemag.com.

ABOUT EBBY HALLIDAY

Dallas-based Ebby Halliday, Realtors (ebby.com) is the largest independently owned residential real estate company in Texas and ranked 10th in the nation. The 65-year-old company, with approximately 1,600 sales associates and staff in 30 area offices, participated in nearly 13,000 property transactions in 2009, exceeding a sales volume of nearly $3.5 billion. Ebby Halliday is one of the oldest and most respected full-service residential real estate firms in the country, offering brokerage, leasing, mortgage and insurance services. In addition to Ebby Halliday, the company acquired Ellen Terry Realtors (ellenterry.com) in 1995, added Home Team Mortgage Company (yhtm.com) in 1996, Home Team Insurance (hometeamins.com) in 2003 and Dave Perry-Miller & Associates (daveperrymiller.com) in 2007. For more information on the company, please visit ebbyfamily.com.

By Robert Lockard

Monica Duff, the Vice President of Operations for John Daugherty, Realtors appeared on the June 18, 2008 episode of Great Day Houston.

Click here to watch the nine-minute video. She discussed great ways to sell homes, the current real-estate market and many other topics concerning real estate in Texas. John Daugherty, Realtors is a member of the Luxury Real Estate Board of Regents.

Editor’s Note:
Robert Lockard is the Public Relations & Media Specialist with LuxuryRealEstate.com. I am Robert. I create all of Luxury Real Estate’s newsletters, write the editorials in LuxuryRealEstate.com Magazine and much more. By the way, John Daugherty, Realtors recently recorded their best June in the company’s 41-year history. All members of Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate are welcome to share their good news on the Luxury Real Estate Blog and in the Week in Review.

By Staci Colville

I received the following two reviews from Diane Dopson and Nancy Hardie of Diane Dopson Properties. These two members joined us from Austin, Texas. Here is what they had to say about the 6th Annual Spring Retreat:

Nancy: “It was a wonderful experience to network with top agents all over the U.S. Everyone was very interested in sharing ideas and marketing ideas and opportunities to refer clients when they are moving to a different city. The weather was ‘California Perfect’ and the hotel was a 5-Star, without a doubt.”

Diane: This conference was one of the best ever, with lots of upbeat, positive comments, great topics and discussions and lots of valuable information. The hotel was one of the most beautiful I have ever stayed in!

I had the pleasure of meeting these two spectacular ladies in person and I must say what a treat it was! They have some beautiful listings on their website www.dianedopson.com. The picture above is of one of their beautiful listings.

Thanks, Diane and Nancy, for joining us!


Editor’s Note:
Staci Colville is an Account Manager with LuxuryRealEstate.com. She helps members take advantage of the various services of LuxuryRealEstate.com. I’d also like to thank these wonderful members for their kind comments. It’s so wonderful to hear such positive feedback about our event. Be sure to sign up for our next exciting networking opportunity, the 13th Annual Luxury Real Estate Fall Conference in October.

By Staci Colville

I am piggybacking on the fabulous blog by Meghan. I am an Account Manager here and some of my very favorite members are from Texas! I am a native Texan, born and raised in Houston, where my sole sibling (my brother) is a very successful swimming-pool builder. My folks are alive and kickin’ in Dallas (the Big D). Although I live in Seattle now, Texas will always hold a special place in my heart… our family car has our favorite bump sticker on the back: “If God weren’t a longhorn, then why is the sunset Burnt Orange?”

I have, sadly, lost my accent since my move north, but hopefully it will come through in this blog! I am fixin’ to tell you about some of my super-great Texas members.

First, David Griffin & Company Realtors, located in Dallas and representing the Park Cities. Be sure to check out their website, www.davidgriffin.com. They have some fabulous listings. Two of my favorite properties are the Premier Estate of Old Preston Hollow, which is just stunning and listed by one of my favorites, Mr. Ralph Randall! My other favorite is Preston Hollow Estate, listed by another favorite, Mr. Ken Martin. Howdy to you, too, Liz Mosesman!

In the fabulous city of Rockport, Texas, I would like to give a shout out to Vicki Petluck at Key Allegro Real Estate Co., www.keyallegro.com. Rockport is on the Texas coast and it’s a great winter location for many Midwesterners who become “Snow Texans” in the winter.

Finally, a friendly Howdy out to my friends at Diane Dopson Properties, located in the great city of Austin. Jamie, Nancy and Diane are just darling. Be sure to check out their website, www.dianedopson.com.

In closing… don’t mess with Texas because “The eyes of Texas are upon you, all the livelong day!”


Editor’s Note:
As she mentioned, Staci Colville is an Account Manager with LuxuryRealEstate.com. She helps members take advantage of the various services of LuxuryRealEstate.com. What an enthusiastic blog entry. In case you’re interested, Staci used the word “favorite” six times in this blog entry. Also, I was actually born in Humble, Texas, which is a suburb of Houston.

By Meghan Barry

This week our CEO John Brian Losh (Brian) traveled to Texas to visit several Who’s Who Luxury Real Estate members - John Daugherty, Realtors, Bradfield Properties, Turnquist Partners Realtors, Inc. and Briggs-Freeman Real Estate.

In Houston he met with Monica Duff, Cassie Julich, and John Daugherty of John Daugherty, Realtors. Brian had the pleasure of listening to John Daugherty sing the praises of our network to one of their newest agents. We look forward to seeing a big contingent from John Daugherty, Realtors at our upcoming Spring Retreat in San Diego.

In San Antonio, Brian saw Kristy and Joyce Bradfield of Bradfield Properties, one of our newest members. And while in Austin, Brian met with Bob Kenney, Ralph Bell, Michele Turnquist, and Steve Turnquist (along with LuxuryRealEstate.com Director of Technology Michael Edlund) at Turnquist Partners Realtors, Inc. Turnquist Partners is also sending a group to the Spring Retreat.

Before heading back to Seattle, Brian spoke with Charles Freeman, of Briggs-Freeman Real Estate, who reports that last year was their best yet and the Dallas market is thriving. Top producer Erin Matthews will represent Briggs-Freeman at our Spring Retreat.

Our thanks go out to all of these members for their hospitality! It’s great to hear that the luxury niche is strong in Texas!

Brian and I will travel to Florida March 24th through 28th to visit more members. News on those visits later this month…


Editor’s Note:
Meghan Barry is the Executive Vice President of LuxuryRealEstate.com. She works closely with CEO John Brian Losh to organize a variety of Luxury Real Estate programs, events and services. Mr. Losh is quite tireless in his efforts to visit both long-standing and new members of the LuxuryRealEstate.com network. I really like the title of this blog entry because one of the funniest moments in the 1985 movie “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” is when Pee-wee is in San Antonio talking to someone on the phone. To prove that he’s really in Texas, he loudly sings, “The stars at night are big and bright…” and then all the people around him suddenly clap their hands four times in unison and burst into song, singing, “…deep in the heart of Texas!” That always makes me laugh.

By Scott Rudolph

The official state government of Texas was installed in the city of Austin in 1850. When you go to Austin, you’ll want to take the time to visit two of the city’s top brokers: Turnquist Partners Realtors and Diane Dopson Properties.

In 1852, Denny, Boren, and Bell selected claims on Elliott Bay marking the beginning of Seattle. When in Seattle, you’ll want to take the time to visit our LuxuryRealEstate.com office and Seattle’s top brokers.


Editor’s Note:
Scott Rudolph is the Director of Business Development for LuxuryRealEstate.com. He works with a variety of luxury-focused companies to expand the LuxuryRealEstate.com influence. History is great, isn’t it? I’ve heard that you need to know where you came from to know where you are going. Indeed, every great city has a humble beginning. It’s nice to receive guidance from a real-estate company that has seen all of the changes the city has faced in its long history.

By Meghan Barry

Someone has to be the one to mention that today is Valentine’s Day, right?

I noticed this article, simply entitled Happy Valentine’s Day, on Boston.com (I am a Seattle transplant… one of the many).

The National Association of REALTORS® suggests "If you can’t fly to Paris, France this Valentine’s Day, take your sweetheart to Paris, Texas" in a press release, entitled Explore American Towns Sharing Names With the World’s Most Romantic Cities.

Paris, Texas (average home price $84,000); Rome, Georgia (average home price $95,000); Seville, Ohio (average home price $122,000); Venice, California (average home price is a bit higher, $1.3 million… it’s California after all).

There may not be much luxury real estate in these versions of Paris, Rome and Seville, but think of the investment possibilities!


Editor’s Note:
Meghan Barry is the Executive Vice President of LuxuryRealEstate.com. She works closely with CEO John Brian Losh to organize a variety of Luxury Real Estate programs, events and services. What’s in a name, anyway? It might be even more unique an experience to seek luxurious opportunities in little-known areas than looking in the obvious spots. You might even fall in love with these smaller versions of great European cities. Happy Valentine’s Day, indeed.

By Staci Colville

In trying to find my voice and really thinking I am too old to blog, I have decided to write about something that I live every day. Part of why I enjoy working at Luxury Real Estate as an Account Manager so much is because of my darling members. I am passionate about helping them become the most successful they can be. It really hit home last night when my beautiful 11-year-old daughter was telling me about her research project on Egypt and how rehearsal went for the school play, and I was vacant. She said, “Mom are you listening to me?” and I said, “No, honey, I was thinking about work and some of my members.” She gave me one of her patented Exasperated Daughter Looks™, and said, “Why? You are not at work,” (Terrific work ethic for the future there, I can tell!) and I replied, “Honey, these members are always on my mind.”

On my ride home from work I will think “Did Ralph Randall sell that beautiful home in Dallas, yet?” or “Did I give Randy Wojcik all the information he needed to please his sellers?” or “I haven’t talked to Karen Foley in a week.” I guess what I realized is I am passionate about providing the best service I can to my members…sometimes maybe to a fault, but it is only because I care! Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about them, which is quite frightening, and believe me I need all the beauty sleep I can get, as my daughter will happily tell you!

I actually love the fact that I am so passionate about everything I do. I hope my passion comes across to my members. Having passion for life, love, career, family, friends…well, it is the only way I choose to live, and I’m proud of it! I know many of you reading this feel the same way…so cheers to passion!

So my weekly blogs will be about some of my favorite, super cute members.

COMING SOON… “Don’t mess with Texas.”


Editor’s Note:
Staci Colville is an Account Manager with LuxuryRealEstate.com. She helps members take advantage of the various services of LuxuryRealEstate.com. She’s definitely not too old to blog! I said it before and I’ll say it again – Staci has an amazing sense of humor, and she’s very warm and kind to everyone. Luxury Real Estate members who work with her are sure to emerge feeling better about themselves and the world, in general. She’s that nice.