You imagine yourself relaxing by the pool with a cold drink in your hand without a care in the world.

What you imagine might look a little like this:

Or like this:

This hidden oasis is located at 5121 Congressional in Pebble Creek.  Just listed earlier this month, this beautiful home has it all!  Not only does it have one of the best, if not best, pools in all of the Brazos Valley, it is just as great on the inside.  Featuring cathedral ceilings in the living room, top of the line amenities in the kitchen, luxurious finishes in the Master Suite, you have to view it in person to appreciate all the details.

Find out more at ClayRealtor.com, or give me a call at 979.255.1839 to schedule a private showing.

Clay Lee – Realtor

Century 21 Beal, Inc.

How much will the seller take?  Depends… How strong is your offer?

If you are interested in buying a home in the remarkable Pebble Creek subdivision of College Station, you are likely to be considering one of the largest factors in a real estate deal: the price.  If the listed price of your dream home is not quite in your range, there is always the possibility that the seller will take another offer. 

How much should I offer?  No idea until recent sales in Pebble Creek are considered.

Will the seller pay my closing? You can always ask.

Will the seller wait for me to sell my home? No idea, but we can ask for a contingency.

Will the seller leave the $7,500 ride on mower? You can forget about it.

When a buyer asks these questions, they assume I have the answers.  Of course, it is hard to know how low the seller will go.  Even a listing agent who has been advised by the seller that he (the seller) will not take a penny less than $xxx,xxx does not know.  The only way we can reach an agreement is by presenting the seller with a full written offer complete with:

• Amount of the offer
• Type of financing
• Financing status
• Terms for settlement
• Contingencies

Study the property first. As the buyer’s agent, I recommend studying the property and the neighborhood.  One of the first important steps is to examine the recent sales in Pebble Creek subdivision to ensure that the asking price is reasonable.  (In this article, I have researched all Pebble Creek subdivision home sales since April 1, 2010.) 

Additionally, I never assume that the seller’s price is set in stone.  Negotiation is a key aspect of the real estate deal, and one which I take very seriously.  Until an agent has read the offer through, they do not know whether the seller will bite.  They should not be making decisions for the seller.

Making low offers is not negotiating. Experienced buying agents study the recent sales, condition, how long the property has been on the market, price trends in the area, and the seller’s need to relocate.

As described below, the homes that sold in the Pebble Creek subdivision since 4/1/2010:

The sold prices reflected above do not include any incentives, buyer closing costs, or miscellaneous extras.  But as evidenced by the distinction between list price and sold price, the buyer can afford to name their price at a slight discount.  Other variables such as move in date, conveyances, etc. may also make a difference in how much the seller will take.

 If you are interested in purchasing a home in Pebble Creek, would like to discuss your negotiation price on a particular home, or if you have any general questions, please feel free to contact me at (979) 255-1839.

Clay Lee – Realtor 

Century 21 Beal, Inc.

(979) 255-1839

clay@century21bcs.com

Timeless Service, Quality, and Experience Guaranteed

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GARAGE SALE

The annual Pebble Creek Garage Sale is being held Saturday, August 8th, and we would love to have you participate! There is a $15.00 participation fee that covers the rental of the parking lot at Pebble Creek Elementary School, the garage sale maps, and the ad that will be ran for one week in the Eagle newspaper. You can hold your sale at your home, or you can reserve a space in the parking lot at the school. If you would like to participate in the garage sale, please contact me at 690-0992 ext. 109, or email me at Erica_R@pebblecreek.org on or before Wednesday, July 29th.  

 
NATIONAL NIGHT OUT

National Night out is being held on Tuesday, October 6th. National Night Out is a crime prevention event designed to heighten crime and drug prevention awareness, while generating support for local anti-crime programs and strengthening neighborhood spirit. Many blocks in the Pebble Creek community hold cook-outs, or similar gatherings, for National Night Out, and we encourage all blocks to hold their own NNO party. College Station Police are available to come to your block party to discuss safety tips with you, and to answer any questions you have about crime prevention in our area.

4TH AT THE CREEK T-SHIRTS ON SALE

The HOA office has 4th at the Creek t-shirts available for the reduced price of $5.00 per shirt. These shirts are a great way to commemorate the 4th of July, and support your HOA! All sizes are available (Youth Small-Extra Large and Adult Small-Extra Large), but some sizes are about to sell out, so be sure to get your shirt today! The shirts are still available on the PCOA website, www.pcoa.info, on the Activities Committee page, or here in the office. For more information, please contact me at 690-0992 ext. 109 or at Erica_R@pebblecreek.org.
 

Pebble Creek Lawns and Landscaping

The heat of the Texas summer is upon us, and as many of us have noticed, some yards are suffering. I know we have all been effected by the increase in College Station water rates, and I am sure the new water rates have had an impact on the lawns and landscaping within Pebble Creek. I have attached the 2009 watering schedule for the City of College Station, along with some watering tips for Texas homeowners, and I hope these guidelines will help Pebble Creek homeowners to decrease the amount of water that is misused due to run-off and evaporation, while helping to improve the health of lawns by using the proper amount of water.

Erica Roberts

Pebble Creek Homeowners Association

979-690-0992 ext. 109

Builder Rob Crowley of Crowley Custom Homes just dropped the listing price of his house at 5300 Riviera by $40,000! At this price the house is practically a steal and way to good to pass up. Check it out for yourself here, or go by and see it in the new section of Pebble Creek.

If you have any question, feel free to contact me anytime at rclaylee@yahoo.com or 979-255-1839

Clay Lee

College Station’s #1 Luxury Lifestyle & Real Estate Expert for over a Decade!

Thursday, September 25, a benefit was held at 5203 Whistling Straits in support of the Hurricane Ike relief efforts. Many local firms were willing to donate items to the silent auction, and all proceeds from the auction went to the Brazos Valley Food Bank, who helped to get the money into the right hands.

Some of the items donated were: An area rug from Aggieland Carpets, several pieces of artwork by Aggie artist Benjamin Knox, a bottle of wine from JJ Ruffino, a $100 gift card to The Republic from Wade Barkman, Kohler bath hardware, a prep sink and a lavatory sink all from Moore Supply, a lamp from Susan Tremont, an under-counter refrigerator from Factory Building Stores, a framed picture from Myra’s Gallery and Custom Framing, a painting kit from Monarch, and French doors from Grand Door Co. to be stained by Rob Crowley.

Hors d’oeuvres were provided by The Republic and prepared on location by chef Brian Light. There was also a bar set up in the outdoor kitchen serving drinks all night. Procedes from the bar also went to the Hurricane Ike Relief fund.

Benjamin Knox, who designed the house, and builder Rob Crowley were available to answer any questions about the house which finished construction recently. Guests came and went from early evening until around 10:00 at night. Overall, everyone who came had fun enjoying the food, drinks, and touring this beautiful, one of a kind house. All of the guests were also very generous and giving, raising over $3000 dollars in the auction to go to the relief fund.

Thanks to everyone who attended this event as well as all of the companies who donated towards the auction and the relief fund. It was truly a showing of the spirit of Aggieland, and our willingness to come together and help when there is a need.

If you have any question, feel free to contact me anytime at rclaylee@yahoo.com or 979-255-1839

Clay Lee

College Station’s #1 Luxury Lifestyle & Real Estate Expert for over a Decade!

This week the flooring is starting to be installed.  The guest quaters are almost complete with the gorgeous slate flooring, soaring beamed ceiling, and custom French doors to the back yard.   All of the Walker-Zanger tile should arrive this week as well.  This includes the unique stone floor that will flow from the entry hall to the family room, breakfast area, and into the the amazing kitchen.

Last week all of the custom granite and marble counter tops were installed.  The kitchen’s three-inch thick counters really provide a glimpse of just how exacting the details are in this house.  You have to see the powder bath with its unique solid granite sink and custom vanity!   Most of the final flatwork around the pool was also completed last week and the pool should be up and running within the next two weeks.

It won’t be long before this place is finished, and with the number of buyers walking through it every day, I’ll be suprised if it doesn’t sell quickly as well.

 If you have any question, feel free to contact me anytime at rclaylee@yahoo.com or 979-255-1839

 Clay Lee

College Station’s #1 Luxury Lifestyle & Real Estate Exper for over a Decade!

The most recent cul-de-sacs opening of Riviera, Quaker Ridge, and more are the last ones platted on the west side of Pebble Creek Parkway that are not slated for patio homes! On the other side of the PC Parkway extension is the next section to be developed which has historically been a more expensive area of Pebble Creek. Many of those lots will back up directly to Lick Creek Park which will only increase their value and cost. Once that section is gone, the next platted area is only acced off of William D. Fitch Parkway. It is uncertain if and when that area will be developed; however, that area will not have direct access to Pebble Creek Elementary and the club house. Many people think that the land at the end of Pebble Creek Parkway will just be bought up and included in Pebble Creek. However, that land is the “buffer” between Pebble Creek and the Texas World Speedway. The east side of a Pebble Creek Parkway extension would be undevelpable as it is already occupied by Lick Creek Park. The West side would be the only developable area. However, development in this area will be less than 4,000 linear feet from the speedway which would be very noisy!

The bottom line is that you want to reserve a lot as soon as you can. Currently there is a long list of home buyers with their names on lots that are about to be released. You can be second and third in line on certain lots, and I would highly recommend doing that. Many people end up changing their mind, and you don’t want to miss out. Direct home buyers with the intention of building a custom home get preferential treatment over home builders when reserving lots. Contact Pebble Creek directly to reserve your lot today before they are all gone!

Pebble Creek is College Station’s #1 Residential Community and is the only Country Club in the College Station School District. It is seemingly irreplaceable within the highly acclaimed College Station School District.

If you would like more information, feel free to email me @ rclaylee@yahoo.com

Clay Lee

College Stations #1 Luxury Lifestyle and Real Estate Expert for over a decade!

www.ClayLee.com

College Station has luxury homes located in many different areas, but for the past few years and seemingly for many more to come, the best areas to buy or build in are Pebble Creek and Indian Lakes. These are two very different communities from each other; however, they have the smallest number of days on the market and the best appreciation in town. Why is this?

Pebble Creek is the only golf course and country club community located in the confines of the College Station Independent School District. While Bryan has 4 of these communities, College Station only has one. With the current atmosphere of development in the city of College Station and the lack of readily available land to develop, this community is set to be a safe bet for many years to come. Clients love that it has its very own Elementary School, extensive walking trails, lots of quiet cul-de-sacs, and a state of the art club house with a large pool, tennis courts, a bar, banquet and meeting facilities, and a couple of great restaurants. Houses in Pebble Creek range in price from $170,000 to home in excess of $1 million. They have everything from patio homes to large golf-course front estates. There truly is something for everyone. The developer has done a great job over the years of releasing just a few lots at any one time as to not flood the market with new homes. This has kept prices up and made the market extremely stable. The best deals are the homes that are at least 10 years old as they are aging and need to be updated. However, there are amazing new homes like my listing at 5203 Whistling Straits that was designed by the noted Aggie artist, Benjamin Knox. It’s almost 5,000 square feet at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac. It’s priced at $1.1 million and has all the latest technologies and design elements.

Indian Lakes is also a booming community that seems to really do a good job of mainting it’s value with a steady appreciation. Prices here range from $275,000 to over $1 million dollars. Texas A&M’s new head football coach, Mike Sherman, just purchased a resale home here for around $1.7 million on 10 acres. You can find gated patio homes here as well as medium to large estate homes. It’s a unique neighborhood with some state of the art ecological features, miles of horse riding and biking trails, tennis courts, a community resort style pool, and an enormous lake. Prices here are all over the board and usually based on lot size and the view. The lots on the lake can sell for as much as $500,000! Most of the homes are in the $500,000 to $700,000 range and sit on 1.5-3 acres. There are tons of trees on most lots which really add to the privacy. The best part about this neighborhood is the fact that it has hundreds of acres of nature preserves and buffer areas. This really keeps the neighborhood looking like a true country setting, but you are literally only minutes from all the amenities you need. Again, it will be hard to have a neighborhood that can replace this one. Assembling this one and getting it developed took almost a decade. It will take that long or longer before it could even be thought about being done again. You’d also have to find the land which would be very hard to find and costly if it could be found.

There are lots of other great and unique neighborhoods in College Station, but if you truly want the best long term resale value and appreciation, your safest bets are Pebble Creek and Indian Lakes.

As always, for more information on living your Luxury Lifestyle and buying or selling Luxury Real Estate, email me at rclaylee@yahoo.com.

Clay Lee

College Station #1 Luxury Lifestyle and Real Estate Expert for over a decade!

A lot of people make the mistake of thinking that a luxury home qualifies as a luxury home merely based on the properties square footage or land size. However, a luxury home can be a 1500 square foot town-home or a 20,000 square foot ocean front compound. It’s the features of a property that make a luxury home a luxury home, especially in College Station, TX.

The following are the biggest places that mistakes are made.

Master Suites
A Big Shower and Walk-in Closets are just not enough. Buyers expect a Spa in their own home today. You have to have multiple shower heads, rain showers, body sprays and if possible a steam shower. Closets have to be totally custom with built-in packing centers, extensive shoe storage, tons of drawers, adjustable hanging space, full-length mirrors, and good lighting. The sleeping area has to be well designed with plenty of room for a bed and a nice sitting area. High end quality flooring of wool, stone, or wood is expected in this space as well. Buyers also want separate closets if the home is larger and even more popular are separate master bathrooms.

Kitchens
Quality Cabinetry is just the starting point for luxury kitchens. From contemporary to French Country, the hardware inside the cabinets is almost as important as the design. Clients want customized drawers and shelving. The hardware has to be of the highest quality as well. High end appliances are not black, white, or biscuit on the outside. Stainless steel is the safest choice, but the new glass and cabinetry front models are also becoming more popular. The luxury home buyer wants luxury brand names like Sub Zero, Wolf, Thermador, Bosch, Viking, and Gaggenau. They expect professional style gas ranges and built-in commercial style refrigerators. Even the smallest luxury homes have at least a $10,000 appliances allowance for the kitchen, but the larger homes have as high as $40,000 to $60,000 in appliances. The bigger the home, the more appliances you need including multiple dishwashers, ovens, and refrigerators. The favorite features today are pot fillers over the range, built-in coffee/espresso makers, warming drawers, and wine refrigerators.

Electronics
Today’s luxury is all about convenience and the luxury home buyer knows what’s available and wants it! One of the most popular systems is the Crestron system which can control the air conditioning, all lighting, audio, video, window coverings, and security. Buyer’s want control over their homes, and the more gadgets they can get, the better. Even the mature luxury buyer wants these things so that the home can pretty much take care of itself. They want the ability to have sound and video throughout the inside and outside of the house. They expect lighting to be totally customized and user customizable. They want art lighting, task lighting, general lighting, unique hanging fixtures, and more. They desire creativity. Even if it’s not in the budget when building or buying, a luxury home is expected to be pre-wired to do all these things.

Floor Plan
The luxury home buyer is tired of going to a friend’s house and feeling like they are in their own home. This buyer can afford whatever they want, and they want something unique and different that they feel is a reflection of their life, status, and style. The same or similar floor-plan just doesn’t cut it. They want a home designed by a noted artist, architect, or designer. However, most importantly is to make sure the home makes sense. You have to make sure that the home has the right rooms that are required for a home of its size. In College Station, homes over 3,000 square feet have to have at least a 3 car garage, 4 bedrooms, a minimum of 3 and one-half baths, a study, formal dining room and a large family room. As you go up in square footage, you go up in the types and number of rooms that are expected. Over 3300 square feet a game-room is expected. Get closer to 4000 and an additional formal living room is expected. Get even larger and clients expect home theaters, additional office spaces, additional bedrooms, guest quarters, secondary kitchens, multiple laundry rooms, and more.

Exterior Features
The most important place that people forget about when designing a luxury home is the exterior. Buyers today want the outside to be as luxurious as the inside. In larger homes they expect great views, outdoor kitchens, fireplaces, pools, spas, putting greens, basketball courts, designer gardens, and more. Buyers want them to be pest free and private – even in the smaller properties.

Finishes & Fixtures
You can have the right floor-plan, and the right features, but if you don’t have the right finishes, it’s all for nothing. Luxury home buyers in College Station expect real stone and wood flooring. They want contemporary accents in even the most traditional of homes. They want custom wall coverings and finishes that you don’t find in most homes. They want the best plumbing products and latest designs with brand names like Kohler, Toto, Hansgrohe, Sheryl Wagner, and more. You have to have the highest quality counter surfaces as well in granite, closed-cell woods, marble, or quartz. The luxury buyer wants the finest quality of materials that will last a lifetime.

The biggest mistake of all is when someone constructs one of these homes and does 90% of what is expected. That 10% causes buyers to look elsewhere to get everything they want, especially in this market. The luxury buyer is not affected by tougher lending requirements or market fluctuations. Our market has many cash buyers in this sector partly due to the current oil prices. With that kind of money, they will not settle for something unless it is exactly perfect. If they have to remodel it or finish it, they would rather start the entire creative process from the beginning and design it 100% the way they want it. That means that the “luxury” homes that are not 100% perfect are getting passed over and remain on the market. The ones that do have everything sell quickly and for top dollar. They key is to give luxury buyers everything they could ask for so that all they have to do is ask you to sell it to them! The best bet is to hire an agent like me to help you know what the market is demanding, a quality interior designer that has experience with this type of property, and a quality builder who has the type of subs that can install the materials you will be using. A home builder who specializes in more basic homes, will not have the sub-contracts that can install a complicated lighting system, custom flooring designs, paint finishes, and more.

Don’t make the mistake of cutting corners to save money by leaving out the things that true luxury buyers want and are willing to pay for.

As always, if you want more information on Luxury Lifestyles and Luxury Real Estate, please feel free to contact me at RClayLee@yahoo.com
Clay Lee

College Station’s #1 Luxury Lifestyle and Real Estate Expert for over a Decade!

Did you know that the City of College Station owns a single park that is 515 acres? It does, and it’s called Lick Creek Park. It’s open to the public year round and is located off of Rock Prairie Road in South College Station. If you haven’t been there yet, you are missing out on one of the coolest and FREE things to do in Bryan/College Station. Now one of the most well known park’s in the country is Central Park in New York City that has 843 acres. At 515 acres, Lick Creek isn’t that far off in comparison!

There are equestrian, bike, and pedestrian trails that run for man miles throughout the heavily wooded park. It’s comprised of some swampland which makes the terrain very interesting and a lot of fun for exploring. A lot of people take their dogs with them and go for a long walk to just enjoy nature. Some people venture off the trails and make a true hike through the unexplored wilderness! The coolest thing is when you come up on someone riding a horse! You have to have a permit to ride your horse there, and I think they even have stables available for boarding. It’s a great place to go to just get away from everything without having to drive too far. With all the trees, it’s not as hot as being in the open sun which makes it a great place to go in the summer.

Don’t waste another Saturday playing in the backyard, head over to Lick Creek Park. To get there, take Highway 6 South and exit Hwy 40/William D. Fitch Parkway. Go East on William D. Fitch Parkway past Pebble Creek to Rock Prairie Road. Turn right on Rock Prairie Road and go about a mile. You will come to the Equestrian Center first, but go a little bit further and you’ll be to the public entrance of the Park! For more information on Lick Creek Park, CLICK HERE.

For more information on Luxury Living in Bryan/College Station, feel free to email me anytime @ rclaylee@yahoo.com