10 PRICIEST PADS ON THE LAKEWOOD MARKET

land would be 25 to 30 percent of the total home cost. That ratio is now around 40 percent.

• Don’t assume that newcomers are Barnett Shale millionaires or dotcom executives with stock options. Although it’s not dominant, there is a health care bent in the buyer profile for the Realtors who work and play in the $1 million sandboxes. The last three buyers of million-dollar homes in Lakewood for Lauren Valek Farris of Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty were: 1) a doctor who has a practice associated with Baylor; 2) a telecom executive relocating from Fort Worth; and 3) a healthcare administrator relocating from North Carolina. Scott Jackson of Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate has seen physicians from Baylor, Southwestern, Parkland and even Veterans Administration doctors as clients buying big-ticket homes in East Dallas. Jackson points out that to shield personal wealth from possible litigation, doctors will place a disproportionate amount of wealth in their homestead. This leads to more doctors buying million-dollar homes compared to other professions. On top of that, lenders see physicians as really good borrowers. Jackson notes that one well-known local lender will originate a mortgage on a $1 million home with no down payment required to an established physician. Doctors have choices in home purchases that others don’t — put a big bushel of dough in your home to have a substantial homestead or put no money down at all.

• These buyers aren’t from Toyota or Liberty Mutual or State Farm or Fed Ex. The senior executives from the big corporate relocations that make headlines and populate Legacy or CityLine aren’t moving to East Dallas. Valek Farris notes that Briggs Freeman is a preferred relocation firm for Toyota and is unaware of any Toyota executive relocating to Lakewood from California. East Dallas to Legacy is a tough commute, even for somebody who has suffered driving the 405 in Los Angeles to work for years. Jackson says his business is about evenly split between current Lakewood residents trading up and relocations from other parts of the country.

• A trend toward contemporary architecture contributes to escalating home values. Both Valek Farris and Jackson say the rise in contemporary architecture will make a home, all other things equal, more expensive to build. Ryan Williams of W2 Studios notes that materials for this type of home are generally more costly. There is expensive plate glass in lieu of traditional walls. Flat roofs on contemporary homes cost more than sloped shingled roofs on traditional homes. A museum-like finish on interior walls replaces paint and sheetrock. Contemporary architecture can’t easily hide design or construction flaws and takes a higher skilled worker to get it right the first time. It all adds up to a higher-priced home.

• The Pinterest effect has taken hold in Lakewood. If you want some remodeling ideas or are designing a million-dollar custom home, take the next three months to “Browse more than 10 million photos and filter

While some children dream of having their own fantasy playhouses, abused children dream of having safe homes with loving families. You can help an abused and neglected child have a safe and permanent home by supporting the Dallas CASA Parade of Playhouses. To learn more, visit dallascasa.org based on your taste” as houzz.com invites you to do. The same craziness exists on Pinterest. Neighborhood architect Eddie Maestri sees the “wish lists and the price tags getting bigger” from the pinning and posting of the world’s most beautiful kitchens and master baths. Maestri also predicts that these trends blowing up social media “will be outdated if they go mainstream too quick.” Then the question becomes what to do with your house that was contemporary a few months ago and now isn’t?

• So are we in a bubble or is this the new normal? Mary Poss of Ebby Halliday Realtors thinks this market has more runway because “our housing values have been lower than other parts of the country, and Dallas is playing catch-up. I don’t see it slowing down for quite a while.” Jackson thinks there has been “a reset.” A starter house in

Lakewood now costs $400,000. One trade-up is now a $1 million home. Valek Farris doesn’t see the market going backward.

Veterans of multiple real estate cycles will say that when the market is in the ditch you think you’ll never crawl out, and when the market is booming, you think the trees will grow to the sky. In either case, beware the prophet who says, “It’s different this time.”

CELEBRATING

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DR. CLINT MEYER

Optometrist

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Come into Dallas Eyeworks and experience Invu, the ultimate in sun glasses with 9 advanced layers of lens technology (www.invueyewear.com). Enjoy 30% off on the new collection. In-stock merchandise only, may not be combined with insurance.

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Time To Refresh Your Summer Wardrobe!

All Your Favorite Brands And Looks Arriving Daily.

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Arkansas Cedar Cabins

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Come relax and enjoy these lovely cedar log cabins near Hot Springs, AR. These secluded cabins overlook the Ouachita Mountain foothills with flowing creeks and lush green forest. Make your reservations today!

Creative Arts Center Of Dallas

Cultivating Creativity for 50 years.

2830 Laughlin Drive Dallas, TX 75228

214.320.1275 www.creativeartscenter.org

Discover the artist within at the Creative Arts Center of Dallas (CAC). CAC offers more than 500 art classes and workshops each year in everything from metal to mosaic!