Five Star Real Estate Professional Award Winner 2013

February 2013

The good folks at Five Star Professionals contacted me with the “Great News” that I have been awarded the prestigious “2013 FIVE STAR REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONAL” Award and will be featured with the other Texas winners in the May 2013 issue of Texas Monthly Magazine.

I am thankful every day for all of my clients and all of the wonderful people that the real estate business affords me the opportunity to work with. The team at Five Star Professionals is not allowed to disclose the names of the clients that nominated or voted for the award winners; however, if you see this and nominated me, I sure would love to hear from you and thank you personally.

I have developed so many great friendships with my clients and many of them are now my neighbors too. It’s an awesome feeling to know that people really appreciate what I do for them and go out of their way to show me their appreciation with awards like this, or as in the past with a bottle of good bourbon, or culinary delights from Neiman Marcus. I do my best for each and every person I represent whether they are buyers or sellers; and I am extremely grateful to know that my efforts do not go unnoticed.

Again, a very Big Texas Sized “Thank You” to everyone who had a hand in getting me this award.  It’s a real honor and a privilege to serve you.

You can read more about the Five Star Real Estate Professional Award at http://t.konversation.com/app/t/v4j/p/s/vkgd9g/q/t.htm

Thank you,

Larry Wood

Bandera Texas Real Estate

Allison James Estates & Homes

Triple Murder Kills the Deal

Funny, story…not funny ha ha, but funny weird. I was showing a couple this house in Castroville, TX and the listing agent wanted to show us around, and as we are making small talk he says, “Hey did you read the Sellers Disclosure”? I said “no” and he said, “Oh well there was a Triple Murder here in this house about 7 years ago. Oh and a suicide too, because the killer killed himself”. I say, “are you kidding me”? “No, no, just wanted to let you know”. My client comes down the hall and says, did you just say Triple Murder? Yes that’s right. My client say’s “We’re Out!”. We gathered up and left, needless to say they are still looking for their dream home. But if you would like a house where 3 people were killed and 1 committed suicide, let me know. There are people living there now, however I don’t know why they are moving, but I have some pretty good guesses. So as not to leave you hanging on what had happened there, you can go to this link and read the awful tragedy that happened at that house.

http://lubbockonline.com/stories/041505/sta_041505042.shtml

TOP 5 THEORIES “WHY WEALTHY PEOPLE ARE MOVING TO TEXAS HILL COUNTRY”

Surprise! America's wealthy like warm weather and low taxes. That's the takeaway from IRS data, analyzed by Forbes, on people moving between counties. Forbes looked for counties that the rich are moving to in big numbers.

I’m pretty sure that wealthy or not, most Americans enjoy warm weather and low taxes, but that’s just my own assumption.  What I am sure about is the correlation between no state income taxes and the influx of people moving into Florida and Texas.  Florida has eight of the top 20 counties in the Forbes list, and Texas has four, which by the way are all located in the Texas Hill Country.  After accounting for property taxes, Robert Shrum, manager of state affairs at the Tax Foundation in Washington, D.C., says analysis shows that Texas has the fourth-lowest personal tax burden in the country, and Florida has the eighth lowest.

Top 20 Counties “Where America’s Money is Moving” As a Realtor and professional gadabout I have developed several theories as to the comings and goings of people in the Texas Hill Country and I would like to share them with ya’ll.

Theory  1.Yankee Baby Boomers are tired of shoveling snow and are ready to move to where the sun shines more than it doesn’t, real estate is cheaper, hard earned retirement dollars go further and there is no state income tax.  (See Ted Nugent as the Poster Boy for this Theory)  I get a lot of calls from recent retirees from places like New Jersey, Michigan, Washington State and Pennsylvania, looking to make a move to the Texas Hill Country.  Yankee or not, Texas and Texans for the most part are generous and welcoming to Texas New-comers.

Theory 2. How many states can you really use to fill in the blank on this bumper sticker?

I wasn’t born in ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­___________ but I got here as fast as I could

Ohio, New Jersey, Arkansas?…I don’t think so.

Texas seems to be the only realistic answer.

Theory 3. If you’re going to live in Texas, don’t you want to live in the very best part of it?  I must admit for disclosure purposes that I was born in Odessa, Texas (a.k.a. great football but not the very best part of TX) and have lived all over this great state, but when I got in a financial position to choose where I wanted to live, I made a bee line to Bandera and the Texas Hill Country.  There is a lot of cool stuff to see and do in the Hill Country.  Rivers run all over the place so tubing and kayaking opportunities are aplenty.  There also seems to be an inordinate number of golf courses to people ratio in the Hill Country so tee times are easy to come by.  If you like wine, then you can keep a busy schedule visiting Hill Country wineries and vineyards.  Got a Harley?  Almost every road in Bandera County is designated a scenic route!  The list of things to do in the Hill Country goes on and on as demonstrated on the Facebook site 365 Things to do in the Texas Hill Country I figure there are a lot of native Texans like me that have made and continue to make this migration pattern.

Theory 4. With the advent of the virtual office and virtual commuting, more and more people from all over the world are able to work from anywhere with a good internet connection.  I know several people that have moved to Bandera because they can make the commute to work on the internet super highway; and depending on your location in the Hill Country, you can make it to either the San Antonio or Austin airport in one to one and half hours if you have to leave your Hill Country paradise.

Theory 5. I don’t think most folks want to spend their golden years in some crammed housing edition in Dallas, Houston or any other big city teeming with the hustle and bustle.  Nope, when you retire from the rat race I think you want to stretch your legs and spread your wings without hitting your neighbor in the mouth with your elbow.  That’s right, with age comes your increasing inability to put up with the traffic, noise, crime and all the other fun things the big city has to offer.  And where better to take up residence than the Texas Hill Country where the deer are plenty, the land beautiful, golf courses abound and houses far apart.

Well, these are my Top Five Theories for the migration of the wealthy to the Texas Hill Country.  If you would like to find out how you can join us in this Hill Country Paradise visit my website http://www.BanderaTexasRealEstate.com or call me at (830) 460-0889 and I will help you find you a great place to call home.

Tags: Forbes, Top10 list, Real Estate, Marketing, Real Estate Marketing, MLS Listing, MLS Tips, MLS, Top ten lists, Top 10, Top Ten, Bandera Ranches, Hill Country Property, Bandera homes for sale, Bandera Acreage, Bandera Neighborhoods, Bandera Homes, Bandera River Ranch, Bandera Texas, Home Finance, General

Top 10 MLS Listing Tips

1. Use the maximum number of Pictures your MLS allows you to upload. (Funny side note; I recently saw an MLS listing in San Antonio that read, “Pictures tell a thousands words”, first of all the grammar is pretty bad, but the biggest laugh is they only loaded 5 pictures, so I guess they only got to tell 5000 words.)
2. Take good clear pictures of the inside and outside of the house. If it’s just land walk around and take lots of pictures from all sides of property, large trees, good views, fence, gates, cattle guards, etc.
3. When you take pictures, make sure the beds are made, counters are clean, lights are on, blinds are open, towels are hung, etc.
4. Make the most of the “Remarks” section. Put some time and thought into what features will sell this property.
5. Use spell check and read through it once or twice to make sure it’s right. (copy/paste your remarks and description into Word to check your grammar and spelling) This remark is from a current MLS Listing- “Cute 3 bedroom 2 bath modgular”
6. Add your plats, HOA report, disclosures, etc., to the Additional Information to make life easier for everyone.
7. List the actual names of the Elem, Middle & High schools instead of just Whatever ISD.
8. Add all of the neighborhood amenities; these can be a big selling factor.
9. Get the HOA and Assoc Transfer Fees correct, don’t guess.
10. Do inform people, don’t scare them. In agent remarks I recently saw “BEWARE OF DOG”, it turned out to be a sweet little mutt named Dixie. I was expecting a Rottweiler or Pit-bull.

Tags: Top10 list, Real Estate, Marketing, Real Estate Marketing, MLS Listing, MLS Tips, MLS, Top ten lists, Top 10, Top Ten, Bandera Ranches, Hill Country Property, Bandera homes for sale, Bandera Acreage, Bandera Neighborhoods, Bandera Homes, Bandera River Ranch

Laurel Canyon Ranch, Mico Texas

Laurel Canyon Ranch is heaven on Earth for nature lovers. This 1400 acre ranch is located just 10 minutes west of San Antonio's Loop 1604 on County Rd. 1283 which turns into Culebra Rd. in San Antonio. The developer built Laurel Canyon Ranch for outdoor and nature enthusiasts. He left 600 acres of the total 1400 acres in a natural preserve which is owned in equal shares to all residents to be enjoyed and explored. You can walk for miles in the preserve area and in the San Geronimo Creek. If 600 acres isn't enough to stretch your legs, no problem, the ranch buts up to the Government Canyon State Natural Area, which is approximately 8,624-acres and opened to the public in 2005. Call me for more details (830) 460-0889.

Tags: Hill Country Property, Bandera Texas, General