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Dallas-Fort Worth is booming, and with that growth comes a real estate market poised to be one of the biggest in the country. But what really drives homebuyers’ decisions? It’s about so much more than fancy countertops and high-end appliances. In this episode, we dive deep into the market with two top experts—Candy Evans of CandysDirt.com and luxury home builder and real estate agent Harrison Polsky. Plus, we take you inside a jaw-dropping $16 MILLION estate in Preston Hollow. If you’ve ever wondered what 11,000 square feet of pure luxury looks like, you won’t want to miss this!
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What is Let's Talk Local?
Join host Sarah Zubiate Bennett on Let’s Talk Local as she uncovers the stories, people, and places shaping Dallas, fostering a stronger and more connected community—let's get to know the real Dallas!
Hey there, and welcome to Let's Talk Local. I'm your host, Sarah Zubiate Bennett. And today, we're diving into one of the hottest topics in Dallas, real estate. And not just any real estate, we're talking high end luxury with two of the best in the business. I'm joined by the incredible Candy Evans and Harrison Polsky, two top tier experts who know this market inside and out. We're busting myths, breaking down what's really happening, and even making some bold predictions about where things are headed. And stick around because later, Candy is taking us to tour some spaces right here in Dallas. It's gonna be a great episode, so be sure to hit like and subscribe so you never miss a moment of Let's Talk Local. Let's get started.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I am here today with Candy Evans and Harrison Polsky. I cannot thank you enough for being here today. So you both cover different real estate and some real estate dirt. You're a builder. You're a realtor. I mean, you are kind of the real estate agent hub for all that you do.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:But can you both just kind of summarize what it is that you do respectively so that our viewers and listeners who are not familiar with you can learn about you?
Harrison Polsky:I'm scared to answer in front of her, but I know.
Candy Evans:I am so excited for sitting next to him. Let me tell you, this is gonna be a great! You go first. Tell them what you do because I've known you for so long.
Harrison Polsky:I know you show up late for lunch. She's never on time.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:We did mention this.
Harrison Polsky:Oh, it'd been a...
Candy Evans:Today was a different
Harrison Polsky:Yeah. It's okay. But, now, I run a home building business called Catena Homes. We do 10 to 14 homes a year. Average price is 6 and a half million.
Harrison Polsky:Park Cities and Preston Hollow. Nothing outside that little bubble.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:You don't do oh, yeah. Park Cities, Highland Park, and that's... Okay. Thank you.
Harrison Polsky:Stick to what I know. And then, run a sales team of agents that all we do is new construction. We do about a $160,000,000 a year, so number one, new construction sales team in Texas.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:That's terrific. Thank you.
Candy Evans:And I am Candy Evans of CandysDirt fame, which is a website that started as a blog. I call myself an accidental entrepreneur because I'm a journalist by training, but I kind of got obsessed. I've always been obsessed with real estate. And so I took it to the web and realized there was a niche in Dallas where the realtors did not have anything that they could, you know, turn to that covered them, that recorded them, that chronicled them. So I started it when I was on staff at a local magazine here, and then it took off. And so I kinda went out on my own and took it on my own, and I run the business. So we have writers all over town, actually, all over the metroplex. And, we do very well, and we love it because we're obsessed with real estate. We cover everything that's real estate, whether it's what's going on at City Hall, whether it's home builders, which is how I know Harrison, of course, and, you know, whether it's agents. And so we track it all, and that's why I'm here today. Thank you for having us.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Oh my gosh.
Harrison Polsky:Thank you for being here.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Well, I I just love real estate. It's so sexy. And it's something that people will always just
Harrison Polsky:Right.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Listen to. I mean, your entire Insta, all of your social, is you talking about real estate, and you've, I mean, you've garnered a really good following.
Harrison Polsky:Yeah. I mean, you have to live it, you know, day in and day out. Right? You can't fake it. I mean, that's every time you go somewhere where you're like, just now, Candy's gonna ask you a question, you're gonna ask me a question. So you're always living it day in and day out. My wife gets annoyed about it, but, I mean, you know, she's over it at this point. But, you just it's what we like to do, and you have to be passionate about it.
Candy Evans:It's better than being married to an OB GYN, let me tell you.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:He's my OB GYN.
Harrison Polsky:I just learned a lot.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Also, so I love him. That's actually how I moved into my house because, they knew the family that lived in the house. And I was looking for a home in Highland Park. I was like, we'd like an acre acre ideally, but something that we can renovate and make our own.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:And then it wasn't listed. So I went to Candy, and I heard you talk about this, how you're like, people do not go to Zillow when they're looking for these kinds of houses.
Harrison Polsky:They don't.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Yeah. I mean, it's it's definitely a network. It's a community, and she's been a longtime friend of mine, my love, and, clearly, Walt has too. Yeah.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:And so it's because of them that I that that we live in the house that we do now.
Harrison Polsky:It's actually 50% now off market. It used to be around 40, and now it's closer to 50.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:To 50. Really?
Harrison Polsky:Yeah. I've been, it's been taking me a while because we were raising capital, out of New York, and they just kept hearing this. Like, yes. We understand. Miami has a shadow market, so you have a shadow market. And, like, how can you prove it? I'm like, I can't. Yes. I can. Deed trades. So if you figure out when the deed trades, that's how you could tell the difference. So I got a guy to create an algorithm that pulls the deed transfers off the city website. So whatever's on MLS versus what's the deed transfer, that's how you know what the difference is.
Harrison Polsky:And it's we used to say it's 40. It's actually closer to 50.
Candy Evans:50. Interesting. Well, I just asked the brokers, and they like, Briggs and Compass and all these guys, and they will just tell me that 35 to 50% of the business is off market. Like, when we sell our home, I'm not gonna put it in MLS. And the reason we don't wanna do that is because someone buying our home wants to keep that tax rate down. The taxes in Texas are terrible. But getting back to what you said, I say that people in Dallas care about three things, oil, football, and real estate. And I would say that real estate might be first, and that's it.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:You don't think football trumps real estate?
Harrison Polsky:Not with the way the Cowboys play.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Oh my gosh. You. Don't even I know. It's so abysmal.
Harrison Polsky:Who's the new coach? Who who is this guy?
Candy Evans:That's it.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Okay. So you all are real estate experts. I'm dying to hear how you kinda break this part down. Where are you gauging? And and I'm specifically interested in in the hub that you are specializing in.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Where do you foresee a lot of Dallas real estate moving? Because like you mentioned before we were even recording, the bull's eye has moved north, and I want you to expand upon that statement, for our listeners. But talk to me about where you see the market being in about five years. Since now, we've had propositions S and U pass
Candy Evans:Thank god.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:And things are are different. Right?
Harrison Polsky:It's it's still going up. I mean, in December, there was a lot on Beverly that traded at $425 a foot. Mhmm. And then two weeks before that, it was $385 a foot, and a week before that, $325 a foot. Like, that's still $60 a square foot higher than it was a year ago.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Yeah.
Harrison Polsky:I mean, she knows this just as well as I do. Six years ago, you could buy a house in the Fairway Of UP, 4200, 4500 square feet, $1.7 million. Now they're trading for $3.2, $3.4 million. So you're gonna sell that house to buy the same house? No. Yep. Plus your kids gotta go to school, and they can't all jump up to $67,000,000. Then if you're not in Highland Park, you know, Park Cities and your kids are going to private school, where are you gonna live? Preston Hollow, Bluffview because you're not gonna schlep from all over the metroplex forty minutes in the morning unless you unless you wanna get divorced. So you're gonna live in Preston Hollow, so you're close to the schools. And where are all the good schools? In Preston Hollow.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I know.
Harrison Polsky:So I don't see that changing anytime soon, and especially as more people keep coming
Candy Evans:Yeah.
Harrison Polsky:It's just gonna get more congested. Now the bullseye is moving north, but you need more schools up north to kinda offset that. So until that happens, I'm not buying it.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Okay.
Harrison Polsky:Well, So I disagree.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I have comments about this. So I wanna hear your perspective, Candy.
Candy Evans:Yeah, I think it is moving north and
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Define north for me.
Candy Evans:I would say North Of Dallas, Northward of North Dallas, Northward of Plano even because Frisco Fields is going to be amazing when that is fully developed. So it's early yet, But, eventually, we will have, I think, the luxury of Highland Park Village at Frisco Fields. I think what they're building, what the developer told us was kinda funny. He said, if you like if you think Legacy West is great, he said, what I'm doing at Frisco Fields is in terms of retail is going to make Legacy West look like the ugly stepsister. So it's going to be a very huge thing, but it it needs time because you've got the PGA up there. You've got, all the entertainment. Universal is coming, you know, up there. There's so much up there. The schools up there are have you been to the PGA?
Harrison Polsky:My passport expired a little while ago.
Candy Evans:Well, I went up there, and I turned around as I was leaving this beautiful contemporary building. And I said, oh my gosh. What is that gorgeous building right across the street? That is the high school. So in Frisco now, if you have a child who's very interested in golf, you can send them to school there and they go to the PGA and play golf as their sport. I'm telling you, parents who want a scholarship for their kiddo, okay, they're gonna go there. They're gonna love it. That's that's where I see it going. But do I think that, Park Cities is ever gonna lose its luster? No. I call that blue chip real estate just for that reason. I've got studies that I can share with you showing that the younger people, they're finding now they're going out of the city. So, you know, we once thought about ten years ago, oh, everyone's gonna be urban. Yeah. No.
Candy Evans:And COVID is what kind of accelerated that because a lot of young people, millennials said, you know what? We don't really like this living on top of everyone. We kinda wanna get out and be out there. I think that's what's gonna help drive the north to here too because...
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Or even out to the you have a ranch east. Mhmm. In Athens.
Candy Evans:Athens.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Or it's really LaRue, but
Candy Evans:Yeah. But that's
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:where we're seeing a lot
Candy Evans:of growth. And west Yes. Weatherford too. Yep. On the other side of Fort Worth.
Harrison Polsky:Yep. They've all come back. I mean, I was just back home in New York, and they had to put that congestion tax in because there's there's too much traffic again.
Candy Evans:Right.
Harrison Polsky:So it's I mean, they're all coming back. They're not, I mean, people her age aren't going out to the suburbs to live. Are you crazy? No. Do you know how long it would take for them to get a green juice and their five yoga classes?
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Well, here's the thing. I would have a very hard time living in a suburb. Very hard time. I love the city. I love the ranch, but they're two totally different spaces.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Right? I mean, it's you do one or the other for different reasons. The appeal is different. But I have never lived north, north, north, north or west or you know, it's I that would have been pretty tough for me.
Harrison Polsky:I'd be dead. I can't do it.
Candy Evans:I went to school in New York, so I know where you're coming from. I love the culture here. I love the Tate lecture series. I'm obsessed with I have always said that my dream would be to live right next to a college because I love having all that constant learning going on. As far as us moving, we had planned to move and downsize because we really have too big of a home, 6,800 square feet for your
Harrison Polsky:Working on it.
Candy Evans:And, it's, it's a great home, and I'm going to be in tears, and I'm gonna need lots of love and and Xanax, you know, to get through this because I built the home. And we, like, we put our heart into it. I mean, we walked it every day and called the builder and drove him crazy. And luckily, Walter delivered three babies for him, so he was he's he put up with us, you know. And we just we love it.
Candy Evans:We have had zero problems. He took care of things for ten years until he he moved from Dallas. Imagine that.
Harrison Polsky:She's trying to sign me up for this.
Candy Evans:Oh my gosh. And, you know, we love the neighborhood. We love everything now except the the maintenance, but, I'm thinking I wanna go to a gated community because a gated community is just another layer of protection. And I hate saying that, but I feel like going into a gated community, if I accidentally leave my purse in the car because the phone rings and I've got this I'm doing and the dogs are escaping or all that madness that happens in life sometimes, I don't want to go, oh my god, I left the you know, someone will take it.
Candy Evans:There's another layer of protection there that we don't get in Dallas, and that's my analysis of this. And I told Walter, I would move north if he but he's still he's not delivering, but he's never liked being far from the hospital. You know? He's never liked that.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I wish there was more outdoor activity in Dallas. I wish downtown was bustling a heck of a lot more than it is now.
Candy Evans:And people weren't being shot.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the crime, it it really does bother me. But but as far as what he's saying, like, speaking to the people who are sending their kids to school here, I mean, I think we're one of three or four Highland Park families that drive our kids to a Dallas school, but it's trending upward. I have several of my neighbors on the admissions list to try to get in, and they can't. So, you know, there's still but it's interesting how that is shifting. You're right. Most people are moving to North Dallas, right, to that entire Preston Hollow community. Yeah. And but more and more within these pockets, there are these smaller homeowners type of communities where they'll pay for a police, an off duty police officer to patrol. The neighborhood patrols. And I was involved in mine kind of right behind Jesuit and Saint Rita before we moved to Highland Park, but very much so. What do you believe homeowners are having to prepare themselves mentally for?
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:So I know now you're like, I'm sitting here talking about defense. Do you find more of your clients being concerned with security systems, or is it just kind of wait. What's so funny? I'm serious. Like, is it So is it more of a topic that they're bringing up?
Harrison Polsky:I remember I was there when I was at Park House, with my attorneys and their YPO group
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Uh-huh.
Harrison Polsky:When BLM marched on Highland Park Village. Yeah. And state troopers, Highland Park cops came in. We can't let you leave.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Yeah.
Harrison Polsky:And every one of us said the same thing. Why? They said, this is what's happening. And we said, yeah. We're cool.
Harrison Polsky:We all have
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:It's fine.
Harrison Polsky:We all have whatever we need. Yeah. Because, yeah, that's the problem. So does everyone in Highland Park that's on their roofs right now with, you know, with Rifles. Like, they were more scared of us shooting them than us getting shot.
Candy Evans:Interesting. Interesting.
Harrison Polsky:So, like, you know, I had a buddy of mine that was taking pictures on his roof. He's on his Beverly roof with his, you know, his hunting rifles, like, come on. You know? So I'm not I'm not worried about any of that stuff around here. Look.
Harrison Polsky:If you go from the Mansion all the way up to about, you know, 635 name three other places in The United States besides Palm Beach, Greenwich, and here that you feel actually safe and has that same sort of feel. There's there's only three places like that, and maybe back in the day, Beverly Hills. There's nowhere else. So
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I feel safe in Aspen.
Harrison Polsky:Well, but, I mean, yes.
Candy Evans:Well, okay. Four.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Well, sorry. Four.
Harrison Polsky:Four. I don't think that's ever gonna change because I just I mean, that's just the way it is. I mean, everyone here, let's just be honest, is Texas. Like, how many guns do you have in your car at a time? You know?
Harrison Polsky:Yeah. I mean, I got three. So, I mean, I'm sure the guy next to me has two.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I do too. But you know who I'm concerned with? My girlfriends.
Candy Evans:Yeah.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I'm concerned about my girlfriends.
Candy Evans:I won't be.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Does your wife carry?
Harrison Polsky:What? No. Yeah. Sometimes.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:See? It it depends on the outfit. It depends on the that's the thing. And it is the women that are attacked. It's my friends. So how are you having these conversations with, let's say, a a couple? And let's say someone in the relationship travels a lot, and it's a mom at home with a bunch of kids. Like, what do you tell them? Hey. Let's talk let me talk to you about the security system. Are you having those conversations?
Harrison Polsky:I mean, yeah. Look. We have the same conversations all the time. Like, it doesn't change anything. It's well, it's gonna happen or it's not gonna happen. It's gonna happen here or it's gonna happen there. Once again, I don't live in fear, so just be prepared for every moment.
Harrison Polsky:That's the way I live. So Well,
Candy Evans:and I'm not gonna live in fear either.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I just want people to be prepared.
Candy Evans:Yeah. I'm gonna be prepared.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Especially my girlfriends.
Candy Evans:You know?
Harrison Polsky:Should we take tactical classes together?
Candy Evans:I know.
Candy Evans:But my husband, he carries, too. He's got and he's got a lockbox, and which I said, where is your gun? He said, well, it's it's locked. He put a little box thing that's strapped in the box. Because he goes out at night, and I worry about him, but he he's got it. You know? He we went to the Perot Museum, and they had to hold his gun while we went inside.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Oh, yeah.
Candy Evans:I was because he couldn't take it in. But I don't because I'm just I don't want it to get in the wrong hands. That's not what I'm concerned about. But I totally could shoot, and I would totally protect my grandchildren or my dogs. You know?
Candy Evans:But what I'm concerned about what I'm hearing more concerned about is people are very safe in their neighborhoods because they have their alarms and everything. It is our shopping centers. And I think we have to we have to get the the developers have to start being more proactive. Now I'm seeing more of that at Preston Forest. They have the lights and the cameras and the police.
Harrison Polsky:They've done Preston Center.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:They have.
Candy Evans:They've done Preston Center because so much well, I have a my jewelry friend there, the guy came in with a gun, pointed at her, you know, employees. It was bad for a little bit. And then they have the the the guy, the security guard who was killed in the parking garage. So
Harrison Polsky:When did that happen?
Candy Evans:Oh, I'll send you the story. It's on CandysDirt! You're not reading it every day!
Harrison Polsky:I don't have enough to read every day!
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Yeah. Same. Same.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Let me ask you this. Do you ever have someone buy a home who says, I don't want an alarm system?
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:No. See? Well, especially not his his target market. These people are just like, you're gonna put in the best security system. It's just part of the conversation. But okay. Kind of moving away from this. So you have been you've been house hunting. You're downsizing. And so you are now are so you're not gonna build. I know you thought about building for a moment.
Candy Evans:Well, we you know, it never say never because I have been this is I'm gonna confess. I do have a real estate license, and, of course, I'm not an experienced realtor. I use my license to research and you know, stay on these guys and find out what they're doing to hang with them.
Harrison Polsky:She's the one disclosing the sales to to the city. That's how they know what our properties are valued. Thanks, Candy Got it.
Candy Evans:One of the things I have done is that we I've been really pokey about this because I we overanalyze everything, my husband and I. I mean, most people will look at a home three times. We look at a home 16 times, you know, and just go over it. So we found we, you know
Harrison Polsky:You know, you're scaring everyone right now, but
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:No. I think it's very interesting. I'm like, tell me more.
Candy Evans:It's like, yeah. It's you're getting the inside story now. So we had found this home in, in well, actually, we found two homes in Lake Forest that we kinda like because, A, it's a gated community, B, it's next to the hospitals. It's near the hospital. So it's close to the hospital. It's on the corner of the Northeast Corner of Hillcrest And Forest in Dallas, and it was developed by, oh, I'm think I'll think of the name in it because it was developed in the 1990's. And I actually wrote about Lake Forest when it was being developed. I went to the open houses. I think I I toured some of the houses that I went to, you know, and write about for when I was at d or when I was, you know, start at Candy Sturm. So anyhow, I know that it's there. The Strauss family is the developer. It was a former, golf course. And it's Here. very small lots. I'm going to go from an acre to point one nine of an acre, which is going to be shocking. But on the other hand, it's less maintenance. Right?
Candy Evans:So and all the homes are there's most of the homes there are four to 5,000 square feet. There's some that are much larger than that. There's one there that's 10,000 with, like, a three car garage and a shooting gallery in the basement. There's all kinds of things there. But it's it's secure, it's gated, and there is a twenty four hour guard there.
Candy Evans:So as people who are gonna be traveling a lot, we're thinking, you know, this is good. This is a good place to go. So I found one house I liked and, you know, three days later it was gone. I'm like...
Harrison Polsky:Why don't you just go vertical and go to a condo?
Candy Evans:I have two doodles.
Harrison Polsky:So? Oh, you don't wanna do the schlepping up and down the...
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Yeah. It's a lot.
Candy Evans:And they are children now. You know? So I we looked at that so that house was gone. That was fine. So we looked at another one, and, it seems like every time I start looking at a house, it sells. Someone else buys it. But now we're going back and we're looking at the house with with the guy who bought it because he's a builder, and he wants to sell it. And so we're working with him now to see if we can buy it now, and then we can , do the finish out and everything and put up with me.
Harrison Polsky:Oh my goodness. After watching this, he's gonna be like, oh, no.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:He's like, pass.
Harrison Polsky:Yeah. Pass.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:So okay. So I love this just kind of insight. I think it's really helpful. But kinda over to you whenever you have these conversations with people. So you said that you have about how many how many builds versus
Harrison Polsky:So right now, we have we're about to start we're finishing up four. We're about to start another four, right now, and then my team will, this year, deliver about 80 Yeah. Between Lakewood and Midway to Hall. Their average for the team, their new builds are about 2.5.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Yeah. Okay.
Harrison Polsky:Mine are about six and a half.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Yes. That's great. There is one home that I saw, remind me, to send it to you that I saw in his portfolio, and it has so much character. Mhmm. It's beautiful. The angles. The curb appeal.
Harrison Polsky:So the next one we have that we're delivering. So we made a really good strategic partnership with Harris Briggs, And, Sees Design. So you know Sees they did Mister Charles. And so all of our product moving forward is, like, every house is completely different. Like, we just finished the Cape Dutch house. University is very, old like, old world French. I just was back in New York, so we're doing a house on Wildwood that's basically gonna look like Wildwood. It's gonna look like a a townhouse. Not a townhouse. Again, like, Fifth Avenue, like, Brownstone.
Harrison Polsky:And so, like, everything we do is completely different. We have a Hacienda that we're doing also on Pomona with them. It's gonna feel like you're at Las Ventanas. Seems like everything that
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:We're doing Spanish Mediterranean.
Harrison Polsky:So we try to always do that on every project. Like, it's something nothing's ever rinse, repeated. It's somewhere I've been, Sal's been. And it's just like it's unique.
Harrison Polsky:Right? And it like, you'll not even if you drive past it, you won't even think it's new. Like, that's always a goal.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:It is. That is an absolute goal.
Harrison Polsky:Ultimate goal for us. Like, we don't want you to think it's new at all.
Candy Evans:Yep. And we love those homes. We I love to find a home and go, oh my gosh. How old is that? Oh, it's new.
Candy Evans:I'm like, that is a huge that gives us something to write about.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:That's right.
Harrison Polsky:It's not cheap to do that. No.
Candy Evans:It's not.
Harrison Polsky:But it's good. You know? Yeah.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Where in the Dallas area, and I'm saying north, east, southwest city center, what two areas in your opinion, separate opinions are the prime spaces to possibly look at investing in?
Candy Evans:That's a tough one.
Harrison Polsky:Bluffview, and then I would say Tollway to Midway, Walnut to Royal.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Okay.
Harrison Polsky:Oh, Northwest Highway to Royal.
Candy Evans:Northwest Highway. I was really surprised. Where's Bluff View? Bluff View.
Harrison Polsky:Like, Wildwood. Yeah.
Candy Evans:So the number of homes sold there January, December 2024 were down 10% Where? In Greenway Park, and Bluffview. And then the median sales price was down 8%.
Harrison Polsky:You need off markets.
Candy Evans:Oh, off markets will change.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Okay. So okay. So see. This is so good that you you knew she was not accounting for that.
Candy Evans:No. Because there's no one accounting for it.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:So that's what I was gonna say. Is there no one accounting for it?
Candy Evans:Yeah. Yeah.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:So is what you have; Is that proprietary?
Harrison Polsky:Have to call Brian or you have to call Mark.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Is this proprietary?
Harrison Polsky:Is we're a nondisclosure state.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Right. Okay. But So we don't have to So so but question. Is there anyone who could possibly pay you for this data?
Harrison Polsky:I don't think you're allowed to disclose it. I think, even, like, the appraisers, the only way you can actually know is if you're getting a house appraised, and they have and they include those off markets.
Candy Evans:Did they find from the realtors themselves? Because they can't find it online.
Harrison Polsky:No. They actually have to technically have appraised that house.
Candy Evans:Gotcha.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:But okay. Aside from that, so let's say someone is is going through all of these steps and they ask you for this data. The data that you quoted me about the 50% being done off market. What area is that covering?
Harrison Polsky:That's so that's, Park Cities. And so that's off the deed transfers. Right? So what we did Because I mean, and Sal, and my partners nerd out about this stuff, is we were trying to figure out exactly how much this was. Because if you're trying to raise money Like, no one's like, I believe you. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like, I'll I'll take you for your word.
Candy Evans:Mhmm. Right. So what we did is we figured out how to scrape everything off the deed transfer so we knew what sold on MLS and what didn't. What there's a delta right there. Mhmm. And then based upon comps that sold, we created a formula to create the value for those off markets. And knowing the market pretty well, we were like, it's on point. Then Preston Hollow was the same thing. It was 28%. Bluff View is about 30%. They're all about the same. I mean, it's it is what it is. There's not a lot of transactions in Bluff View, period.
Candy Evans:Right.
Harrison Polsky:There's maybe fifteen, twenty a year.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I know.
Candy Evans:That was the thing that happened last year, and we all know that's because of whether it affects your buyers or not, the interest rate. They create a psychological block for people. Oh my god. No one's buying or selling because of interest rates.
Candy Evans:And if you're sitting with the two
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:But people are paying cash.
Candy Evans:Yeah. They're paying cash.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Right. For these homes
Harrison Polsky:Exactly.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I mean, you're not gonna go get a a note on a $10,000,000 home.
Harrison Polsky:And Sal laughs about this story every time I tell it. So we were selling this house on, in Preston Hollow, and the buyer kept delaying everything. It's coming change order after change order to change order. And his wife was like, how are we gonna be able to afford this house with the mortgage going up?
Harrison Polsky:And he talked in hotel room rates. He goes, now we go to Las Ventanas for three weeks. Yeah. We're only gonna go for a week and a half. And I'm like, $2,200 a night times ten days plus $800 a day for food and booze, not forgetting fishing. Yep. That's about $30-40 grand. That's the mortgage difference. Thank you. Bye. That's how they think.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Interesting.
Harrison Polsky:That's all it is. You're just gonna swap something out. You know? They're not thinking about that.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:No. That that's what I'm saying. Those buyers, you're just not.
Harrison Polsky:They're talking in hotel rates.
Candy Evans:Hotel rates. Which, by the way, we were discussing this last night at the at the panel I had, and Blake Stevenson from Modern Luxury was so funny. She's talking about second homes and people that's picking up again. And she said, well, you know, look at hotel rates. I mean, they're they're going up, and I go, and don't I love it?
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I know.
Candy Evans:I said, don't I love it?
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Please.
Candy Evans:Give me those $2,400 a night
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Absolutely.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:That's right.
Candy Evans:Five of them.
Candy Evans:You know? So you're so right about that, though. And that's it's the trade off that it's not that much of a difference. It's not. It's really in the holes the whole spectrum of time of thirty years or whatever. It's a drop.
Harrison Polsky:It's a drop. Yeah.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Okay. So I love that. Did you did you give me your answer on the two areas?
Candy Evans:Oh, no. I didn't because I'm thinking about them. So and I I think what's interesting is...
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:She's processing aloud.
Candy Evans:I'm processing. Right. What I'm thinking and I'm looking at this is the MLS figures that I pulled from, because Lori always sends me these things. Plano actually went up, and their their inventory went up 7%, and their prices went up 1%. North Dallas, North Of LBJ also went up 4%. Northwest Highway, South Of LBJ, up 15% in prices. So our prices were all up except for Preston Hollow, which was down 2%. Greenway Park's Bluff View is down eight percent. And, of course, Highland Park, University Park up 1% because it's blue chip real estate. So I agree with you on Bluff View because I think it's beautiful, and I think as people discover that, especially people coming from Pacific Palisades, they're gonna love that that look, that topography that you cannot, you know, you just cannot
Harrison Polsky:Preston Hollow for a million and a half? I don't think so.
Candy Evans:You don't think so?
Harrison Polsky:That doesn't sound right. That's what I'm telling you.
Candy Evans:No. Those are tear down.
Harrison Polsky:A lot cost $1.08 million.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Yeah.
Candy Evans:I think you'd still get a tear down
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:The lots are still a pretty good size.
Harrison Polsky:Five five, like, between Walnut and Royal on, like, Mimosa. But below that, you're at, like, $1.8, $1.95.
Candy Evans:Right.
Harrison Polsky:That's what I'm saying. Like, the off market data skew like, we'll skew that and not
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I appreciate you both being here. Is there anything else that you think we need to touch upon? Because we're at 15 after.
Candy Evans:One thing I wanted to point out was that this is kinda sad, but catastrophes really accelerate for the real estate business.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:What do you mean? Can you clarify that?
Candy Evans:Catastrophes make people wanna buy homes because, like, they either lose them during a tornado
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I see what you're saying.
Candy Evans:Which is what happened, you know, in our neighborhood in 2019. So this is why I'm very rest assured that something will transpire with our home
Candy Evans:If we move. They want it furnished. And he said, they're even saying they'll pay up to $50,000 a month in rent. I'm like, are you kidding me? I'm old enough to remember what a house cost $50,000.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Candy! That is
Harrison Polsky:I know. That is no bueno.
Candy Evans:We are in an affordable housing crisis, and and we we are not dealing with that. But it is a problem, and I feel badly that young people cannot like, my kids, thank God, all have homes, their own homes, because I beat on them. And said in fact, Trey, my son, who, you know, bought three homes in California, I was like, are you kidding me? What are you doing? Be quiet, mom. I know what I'm doing. You know? And he did. He knew what he was doing.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Yeah. Yeah.
Candy Evans:Yeah. So, you know, it's just I feel so sorry for the younger people because I think we're gonna start seeing homes being passed down generationally, and some of the ones you're building probably.
Harrison Polsky:You know, I mean, if these people are making so much money in Bitcoin, I don't think they're worried about it.
Candy Evans:He's got such a positive attitude. I love it.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:He does. He's like, time is not gonna bother us. Yeah. It's great. We're fine.
Harrison Polsky:Life is life is beautiful. Life is great.
Candy Evans:Harrison is better than a Xanax.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:No. Really?
Harrison Polsky:I'm I am. I am Xanax. I am Xanax.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Oh my gosh. I think it's hilarious.
Candy Evans:It must be that running. Yeah.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Well, thank you guys for being here.
Harrison Polsky:Thank you so much.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Yes. I appreciate it. That was an awesome conversation, and I'm so happy they were both able to be here. But I thought it'd be really fun if we could actually see something in person. It's one thing to just talk real estate, but it's an entirely different thing to actually go visit it. So I asked Candy if she'd take us on a tour of some spaces in the market. Lucky for us, she said yes. Stick around as we step inside and see firsthand what all the buzz is about. You won't wanna miss this, so thank you for being here.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Hey there. It's Sarah. I know I originally said we'd be checking out more than one space with Candy, but full disclosure, plans changed the moment I stepped into this first house, and trust me, you're about to see why. Let me paint a picture for you. This Crescent Estate's masterpiece is more than 11,000 square feet of pure luxury. That's five times the size of a typical new build in Texas. It's located in Old Preston Hollow, and this estate is listed just under $16,000,000. Once you see it, you'll understand every penny. Here's the rundown. Seven bedrooms, over nine and a half bathrooms, and a sprawling 1.8 acre lot. And if the stunning 42 foot pool view from the living area ever gets old, very unlikely, just head out to your own tennis or pickleball court for a little friendly competition. The backyard, it's a perfect mixture of turf and real grass, so you get the best of both worlds. Plus, a gorgeous indoor, outdoor enclosed kitchen for all your entertaining needs. And let's talk about the primary suite. Not just separate sinks, but his and hers bathrooms and walk in closets that could double as little boutiques. And did I mention the media room?
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:A mother-in-law suite with two bedrooms and an oversized six car garage. You really have to see this home to believe it. So come with us as we explore every jaw dropping detail of this stunning new build on Hollow Way in Dallas.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Okay. So we are here today. In this beautiful home, and we're here with Charles Gregory. Charles, tell us who you are.
Charles Gregory:I'm first of all, the listing agent for this property, and I'm with the Perry Miller Streiff team at Dave Perry Miller Real Estate.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Can you tell us a little bit about the history of this place? Well How it was built? Why?
Charles Gregory:It was custom designed and built for the current owner. It was built for this lot, and it's extraordinary. The most extraordinary thing about this house is that it's almost entirely on one level.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:And so tell me really quickly before we walk in tour, what are your favorite spaces? Your personal favorite spaces in this gorgeous home?
Charles Gregory:Personal favorite spaces. I love the living room with that gorgeous view across the backyard.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Yep. As I chatted with Candy and Harrison, and we talked about what's important to people that live or that are looking at these particular types of homes, or even remodeling their existing home to be something like this home. You'll then see some of those pieces of conversation that are important to to us. So let's get looking.
Charles Gregory:Yeah.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Can we?
Charles Gregory:Yes. Sure.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. I can't wait. So this is actually what it looks like whenever you come in, and there's, of course, another huge home being built over there across the way.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:There's a nice gate for privacy in the front, and this is remarkable. This is a gathering space, and there's four kitchens?
Charles Gregory:Yes.
Charles Gregory:You have the main kitchen. Family kitchen.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Okay.
Charles Gregory:And then you have an incredible chef's kitchen for catering.
Charles Gregory:The condominium I told you about upstairs has a full kitchen. And then the guest house, the entertainment house, has a kitchen and a pizza oven.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Well, let's go see it. Look at this. Oh my goodness. And it's oh, I love I love it.
Charles Gregory:This is where you were asking about views?
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I love it for the entertainment aspect. Oh my gosh, Charles. So this leads us out. Yes. Do you mind if I walk over with that really quickly? Oh. This is nice.
Charles Gregory:The bulk of this backyard is this super high quality turf.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Uh-huh. Yep.
Charles Gregory:But behind, there's a huge play yard that's grass.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Oh, really?
Charles Gregory:Uh-huh. Okay. All behind that wing.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:How divine. So you could just sit here. This is kind of like your little break area if you don't wanna be inconvenienced to go over there.
Charles Gregory:But I mean that's really designed for a family everyday grilling and outside.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Exactly. Exactly. But, you know, I'm just thinking, if you have people here, you need to have some nice refrigeration.
Charles Gregory:Sure.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Right? Things, amenities for kids.
Charles Gregory:Yes.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Especially, we have three 11 year olds and a nine year old. So they're very active. Active. Lots of friends over all the time. And so for me, it's always kids centric.
Charles Gregory:It'd be a great recharging space for their moms and a glass of wine while kids are at their place.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Amen to that.
Charles Gregory:It's a multiuse facility.
Candy Evans:It is.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Oh, look at this media room. How fantastic. Isn't this great? So this is the the space that he was talking about. So there's two car garage and then a few of the others.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:This is great. See, this is perfect. So Candy and I are both in this crazy phase. I'm totally gutting the interior of my home here in Dallas, and Candy is downsizing. Like we talked about on the on the show, from her home for many years
Candy Evans:Yes.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:And is gonna be moving into a new space.
Candy Evans:We're redoing the home. We're kinda doing I call this almost like a ludicrous speed remodeling. I was telling I was teasing the, the builder yesterday in email, and I said, you know, we're doing this so quickly. I have to go tomorrow and pick out lavatories and all that stuff. And it's a and so I'm really looking at all the little things here to see what I want.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:And so now we're gonna see something like I I don't know if you caught it, but what's super unique about this place is that it's not just a separate bathroom. They're separate spaces entirely. So let's go see what this custom area looks like.
Candy Evans:I could not look at a home with a closet that I shared with my husband. Nope.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Isn't that interesting?
Charles Gregory:This must be his side because He's got the hoop shower. Exactly. The body wash. Okay.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:And then he yeah. And look at the large closet space. So this is just one closet in the primary suite. Right? So this is one closet in the primary suite and then we'll go and see what the other...
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:I would claim this is mine Oh. Because there is a
Candy Evans:Look at this. There's a shower and a tub. Yeah. I love it.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Because I'm the I'm the only one that takes baths.
Candy Evans:Do you mind if I try getting in this tub, Charles? Because you know what? I have to I'm trying to figure out, seriously, if I should do a vessel.
Candy Evans:Okay. Now I just don't wanna, like, be unladylike. But okay. So you could sit here. Okay. One, two, three, this way. Okay. So I could, like, very lovely okay. Like this. Okay. Down we go. Oops. Okay. Okay. This is good. Okay. So you could lay and just relax. I'm crazy. No. Seriously. No. This is not and this is not that hard to get out of, I don't think. We'll see. Okay. Let's see.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Give it a test here. I'll make sure I block any kind of like
Candy Evans:Look at that. Even with cowboy boots. One, two, three, over. That's not bad.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:And these have to be heated. Right?
Candy Evans:Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. The floor is oh, sorry, guys. I just had to try that.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:This is great.
Candy Evans:Okay. That one would work.
Sarah Zubiate Bennett:Well, this, I think, kind of shows all the highlights of this magnificent space. Space that you look at has a story, has unique character traits that can be customized or not for your family. But in small space spaces, small homes, big homes, you can always take ideas from spaces like this. I love it. I love it. Absolutely!