Georgetown, Texas Real Estate Blog      Your Host: Edward Lui

Custom-built by Jack Hunnicutt on 2.5+ acres in the City of Georgetown.

Whether you were born in the city and a cowboy at heart, or born in the country and a city slicker at heart, 101 Rio Bravo is the best of both worlds. This Jack Hunicutt custom-built home sits perfectly on a parcel of land just under 3 acres and under 5 minutes to Wolf Ranch in the City of Georgetown! The convenience of this unique and rare property allows you to visit shops, restaurants, and retailers in the day, then come home in the early evening and enjoy the trees and the breeze on your back patio.

Longleaf pine wood floors from 100-year old reclaimed wood throughout.

The flagstone walkway leads you to your home and the first thing you notice is the longleaf pine wood floors. Not only is it modern and refinished, it has a bit of history as well. The source for these longleaf pine wood floors comes from 100-year old reclaimed wood beams. You’ll be able to admire and admonish this historic wood in the entry, executive office, great room, dining room, and kitchen.

Bobby Flay would be proud of this kitchen.

As you walk past the stone fireplace and hand-hewn wood mantle floating above it, you enter a kitchen that could double as a studio on Food Network: built-in sub-zero refrigerator and freezer, double convection ovens, gas cook top, prep sink and disposal on the island with double sink, disposal and trash compactor behind, walk-in pantry, and enough custom cabinets and pull-out drawers to make Giada jealous! This type of kitchen wouldn’t be complete without granite counter tops and a breakfast bar the length of a saloon in an old western – yeehaw! By the way, if there’s a shootout in this western, be sure to head for the walk-in pantry where the walls and ceiling are reinforced with concrete and wooden door reinforced with steel! This pantry could keep you safe through a tornado, seriously.

2,500 sf Stand-alone Workshop

If the ~3,700 sf home isn’t enough for your belongings, head to the rear of the property where a 2,500 sf workshop awaits. This metal building has a double garage door and a 14-ft tall door to accommodate your RV or boat. You can fit 6 cars, power lawn equipment, an RV, a boat, or even a Jiffy Lube franchise! Need more space? This workshop has close to 700 sf of heated and cooled office space, a separate storage closet, and floored attic storage! This workshop gives other so-called man caves claustrophobia.

For floor plans, square footage, and other information on this home (like 24-hour fitness room, second floor suite, koi pond, 3 backyard patios, wired 7.1 surround sound, and plantation shutter window treatment) check out the pictures, video, and attachments below:

101 Rio Bravo – Options and Upgrades
101 Rio Bravo – Sellers Disclosure
elevations
first-floor
second-floor
holmlund-lower-floor-plan-3682sqft
Inspection Report 4/7/1
Recent Repairs
101 Rio Bravo – Septic Disclosure

Plus Four Dining

I’m not sure if the number 4 means how many courses you get with the main meal, or how many tables will be filled on a Tuesday night, but it was eerily empty when my wife and I visited for the first time.  The waitress that served us did an average job and didn’t seem to talk about the menu too much, not what you would typically expect from a “fancy” restaurant.  At our experience at Hudson’s on the Bend (I’m still procrastinating on that review), the waiter would tell us the menu and describe almost any dish in painstaking detail if you needed him to.  We were a little reluctant to try this place because it’s been the third restaurant in that same location in probably the past 4-5 years.  If we liked it, would it still be around a year from now?

The Review

The first two dishes we got were a bread starter with 3 types of compound butter and a nice mixed salad.  The bread and butter was good, although I was really hoping for more butter.  As you can see from the pictures above, we really had to spread the butter thin to make it last and I almost licked the plate just so I wouldn’t have to stick a piece of unbuttered bread in my mouth, but reminded myself that I was in public.

I ordered the Pork Tenderloin with Cider Sauce, Bacon-Wrapped Apple, Acorn Squash Risotto and Brussels Sprouts.  Autumn got the NY Strip with Mashed Potato, Spinach and Messy Grilled Corn.

As you can tell by all of the pictures, the restaurant was very dark!  The pork dish (on the left) was good:   The Brussels sprouts had a nice smokey flavor and the Risotto was cooked nicely.  The steak was ordered medium-rare and was cooked perfectly.  Autumn liked my sides better, and we both preferred the steak over the pork.  If it weren’t for the large portions of these main courses, I think we both would have left very hungry.  The dessert was nothing too impressive and ofcourse the portions were pretty small too, but by then we were pretty full.

Conclusion:  This is a nice restaurant in Georgetown, Texas that is convenient to the square and not as pricey as Silver and Stone (Total bill was under $60).  It’s a novel idea to throw in a few courses with your main meal “for free” and prolong the enjoyment of a good meal.  If you’re in a rush to go somewhere, avoid dinner here and skip to the Monument Cafe instead.  If you want a nice meaningful conversation with somebody and nibble like a rabbit before you get stuffed with the main dish, then this is your place.  We would be open to visiting it again, maybe when the menu changes to try something new.  Check our the Plus Four Dining website and let me know what you think!

This Bell’s Broken – Embroidery in Georgetown Texas Review

Don’t get me wrong, I love supporting “Mom and Pop” shops and going local when it comes to eating out and shopping.  However, a recent wave of backfiring has really challenged that idea for me.

Example 1:

This year I bought a gift card to a local restaurant, Carmines, as a client appreciation gift.  About 1 month later they closed up shop!  The writing is usually on the wall, several months in advance, that your business will fail.  I think selling a gift card when you’re about to close your restaurant is a pretty lame thing to do.

Example 2:

Another example is Keva Juice.  I loved that company and I know they tried their hardest to stay open.  However, now we own a re-chargeable debit card from Keva Juice that has money on it, but can’t be used because they went out of business too!  Anybody want to trade it for a Starbucks gift card?

The Review:

Well, a few months ago, I decided to give another local company a chance for an embroidered shirt project for Mars Hill Realty.  Instead of going with Land’s End or another large reputable embroidery company. I chose an embroidery company in Georgetown, Texas called Bell Embroidery that also does Tuxedo Rentals in Georgetown Texas , Sewing and Alterations in Georgetown Texas.

When I went in to digitize my logo, I had to “eyeball” and hand-select my logo colors from one of their charts.  I found it pretty old-fashioned that they didn’t have some type of conversion chart and be able to just take my current color #’s and use them.  After a few re-iterations, I decided to test out my logo on two shirts and the planet Mars on the logo looked more like an orange egg than a planet.

Well, I had 8 more shirts to go and I really wanted to give these guys a shot.  So, I went in to the store, paid for my two shirts and had them re-adjust and shorten the logo to reduce the “oval-effect” by about 1-2 cm.  After what seemed to be an unusually long wait period (several weeks), I got the stitch-out “proof” back and the logo looked great.  I happily handed over the rest of my 8 shirts and after another several weeks I went in to pick them up and the logos looked EXACTLY the same as the original logo did!

I asked Jeremy, the owner, if he noticed anything different and he was not willing to go along with me on this exercise.  So I just asked if he could check with the seamstress if they had used the original logo stitch-out or the new stitch-out that we had adjusted 1-2 cm shorter.

After 2-3 phone call attempts and leaving messages, I finally got Jeremy to call me back a week or two later with his answer.  He confirmed that they used the newest stitch-out for my 8 shirts.  The next day, I went in to his store with my original two shirts and a measure tape.  I confirmed that the old logo stitch-out and the logos on all of my 10 shirts had the exact same measurements.  However, the new logo stitch-out proof was shorter by 1-2 cm.  I couldn’t reconcile how the new logos on the final 8 shirts didn’t match the new logo stitch-out, but instead matched the old logo stitch-out exactly!

At this point, Jeremy was being very uncooperative and refused to even ackowledge or personally try to measure the logos himmself.  He just wanted us out of his store.

After leaving the store, I tried to call him and asked for a refund before I gave him a bad review….but when I told him who it was on the phone, he hung up on me.  I guess I’m not everybody’s favorite Homeboy.

As we were leaving the store, Jeremy told me and my brother to “Be Careful.”  Edwin turned and looked at me with a very puzzled look.  ”Be careful for what?” Edwin asked.  Well, I think I know the answer.  Before you choose to get your next embroidery project done at Bell Embroidery, make sure you heed the wise words of Jeremy, the owner of Bell Embroidery:  Be Careful.

Second Chances:

Well, maybe not for Bell Embroidery, but for local businesses, sure.  As many times as I have gotten burnt from small companies that take my money in exchange for shoddy service, I will keep trying them out.  Why? Because I’m a small business too. And every once in a while I find those small Mom and Pops that have a heart and love for their product and service that can never be found in a big company store or restaurant…and that makes the search all worth it.

-Your Favorite HOMEboy

We made a family trip out to Coopers Old Time Pit BBQ in Llano, TX a few weeks ago and our friends Brett and Lisa came with us.  We decided to go easy and not over-order like we normally do.  We picked a variety of their meats for comparison purposes and overall the meal was pretty good, sausage was better then Snow’s BBQ, but nothing was really “out of the ballpark” for me.  No disappointments, but no “wow” factor either…just good ‘ole dependable BBQ.  Afterwards, we hung out at the Llano River Bridge for some rock-throwing and picture-taking.

Coopers is just about 1 hour and a few minutes away from Georgetown and is an easy drive down Hwy 29.  Check it out and feel free to share your comments on how you feel this place compares with others!  The readers of this blog would love to hear your opinion!  Check out the pictures below:

Looking for information on Georgetown Texas Homes For Sale? Visit my website or call me anytime!! Want the latest updates on Georgetown Texas Real Estate, news and latest developments? Sign up for the blog by clicking the link below:

View Larger Map
4Br/2Ba/2Living/Bonus Building in Backyard (Scroll map to the right to see location of home)

Live Music, Market Days, Christmas Strolls, the list goes on and on….it’s what makes Historic Downtown Georgetown the heart of this city and why people from all over the world fall in love with the city of Georgetown, Texas.

However, the real “magic” of downtown Georgetown isn’t just the “special events,” it’s the unique lifestyle it offers for those who live, work and play here. Now, here’s your chance to be less than 4 blocks from “the square” and own a piece of history on 404 East 8th Street.

The Numbers:

This home is being GIVEN AWAY at $200,000 by the current owners! It’s approximately 2000 SF and that doesn’t include the bonus room that the current owners built in the backyard. If you do a little preliminary analysis, you’ll notice that $100/SF in this part of town, with this type of proximity to the square, is amazing. When the real estate market was appreciating in recent years, the part of town that experienced one of the highest percent gains was downtown Georgetown. It’s not unusual to see these older homes sell upwards of $130/sf to $150/sf.

The Delimma:

So why isn’t this sold? Currently the owners have some college students living in the home and paying rent. If you’ve been a college student before (or have college-aged kids) you know that housekeeping isn’t something they normally choose to major in. When I was at the University of Rochester my priorities were: Fulfilling my ROTC obligations, serving my college fellowship, squeaking by in school and hanging out with my future wife Autumn. Not necessarily in that order. I worried more about how I would get my next chicken wing fix, then I would about cleaning up the place. Fortunately, God blessed me with Josue Padilla, quite possibly the cleanest Puerto Rican man on earth!

The bottom line, staged homes help sell homes quicker. Messy college-boy homes take a bit longer. The other difficulty is finding a buyer who is willing to move in after the current lease is up sometime in May of 2010.

However, if you’re an investor, this is a dream. These types of homes are rarely vacant because college boys just rotate through them pretty automatically. Hold on to the home and sell it when the market peaks.

If you want to take advantage of the tax credits and interest rates, now is the perfect opportunity to snatch this up even if you are an owner-occupant.

12/21 Update: If you’re an investor looking to capitalize on the college rental market here’s a tip. Don’t just get a home with proximity to Southwestern University. Get one that is also close to the square. That way you can attract the college crowd and also have maximum potential for appreciation on your home due to the rare location. As of this date, this is the ONLY home on the market that is in the prime location I just described. There are maybe 4-5 other rental homes close to the University, but they are all about 1/2 – 1 mile from the square and are mostly located across a major street (University Avenue).

Check out the pictures below:

A bunch of Nerds…that about sums up my experience.  However, if you are studying for an astrophysics final at Harvard, that’s exactly who you want in your study group.

If you want to hire the “astrophysics nerd” for carpet cleaning, look no further.  Check out the video below and put Wayne Filer and his crew in your smartphone under “Carpet Cleaning Nerds”

~your Favorite HOMEboy Nerd, Edward

Last week I took my wife to Austin for a date…complete with babysitting and everything:)  We were going to go to one of our favorite restaurants in Austin, Texas:  Wink

The last time we were here, we saw the sampler menu and thought, “Gee, this looks yummy!  And it’s only $65 for all this food!”  For some retarded reason, we thought it would feed the both of us.  Over an hour later, to our surprise, we got the bill and it was $65 per person!  So needless to say that meal was memorable in many ways.

There were two items that left an impression on us so we decided to order them again:  The Scallops and the Foie Gras.  Disclaimer:  These pictures were taken with my dinky point and shoot in a very dimly lit restaurant.  So they are bad pictures.

Seared Dayboat Scallops with mixed bell peppers, Italian roma beans and shellfish veloute:

These scallops are unlike anything you’ve ever tasted.  They’re velvety smooth in the inside and have so much more flavor then those dinky scallops you normally see in restaurants.  The difficult thing to do is to cook these right.  You undercook them and they’re too fishy, you overcook them and they’re too tough.  These were done perfectly.  You can order this as an appetizer or a meal.  Since Autumn and I were splitting everything, we got the meal size for $29.  Too much of this can be a little overwhelming, so make sure you share and don’t be greedy.  Or just ask the waiter for more bread.

Seared Foie Gras on brioche with pickled rhubarb, black pepper strawberries, and almonds:

Now this was an appetizer…but for $22, it sure wasn’t priced like one.  If you’ve never had foie gras, you’ve got to taste it at this restaurant.  It’s full of flavor and just melts in your mouth.  Why do they give you so little of it?  It must be bad for you that’s why.  I’m not even sure I know what it is.  Something about fat and liver is what Autumn told me.  Hey, it’s French, what can I say?  Just eat it and quit worrying.

Word of advice: Get reservations.  I thought I could just mozy on in the restaurant, but good thing I called.  The guy on the phone told me I had a choice of 6:30 PM or 9:30 PM.  Gee, thanks for the choices.  We went for 6:30 PM and decided to catch a Realtor event afterwards.  We didn’t eat too much here because there was supposed to be food at the following event (turned out that there wasn’t much there either).  When you get to Wink, they also usually give you a little pre-meal tasting of something they made to whet your appetite.  This time Autumn and I got to try some Ginger tea with a Ginger snap cookie.  Impressive, I know.  What’s impressive about these restaurants is how they can serve you so little and give you the silliest things and yet they taste so good and seem to cost so much.  In the end, is it worth it?  Well remember, we came back for a second time…and considering that we only had a choice of two reservation times that night… other people come back as well.
At the Realtor event, the food was pretty lame, but check out the fire dancer!

Green Building – Should you believe the hype?
There’s been a lot of hype surrounding green building practices lately.  Save energy, save the earth and feel good about yourself for making a difference for the next generation.  What’s not to love?  Especially if you can save money at the same time!  Well, last year I decided to test the waters with my own green building experience.  I decided to move into a home built by Green Builders in Georgetown Village and got my Ecobroker certification to learn more about the industry and help others through the process of “going green.”

After 12 months of living in a green home, I decided to compare my utility bills with the previous year of living in a “non-green” home and see if there was a noticeable difference.  Keep in mind that this blog post will only focus on the financial benefits, but green building also benefits the environment and the health of your family.  Before I get into the results, there are a few details I need to share with you first:

1.  My previous home was on 115 Village Park Drive (115 VP) and I only moved 5 houses down to 125 Village Park Drive (125 VP) – Location is pretty much the same (Georgetown Village), and so all the climate and home positioning factors are relatively equal.

2.  I compared the time frame of August 2007 – July 2008 for 115 VP with August 2008 – July 2009 for 125 VP – The 2008 summer was pretty dang hot….but anybody can tell you that the 2009 summer was even worse, not to mention a pretty bad drought that we’ve been having too!

3.  For utility consumption purposes, my family size stayed the same:  Just Me, my wife and 3 rascals under the age of 5.

4.  Lastly (here’s the big one); the home on 115 VP drive is a 2000 SF, SINGLE STORY and my new home on 125 VP drive is a 2800 SF, TWO STORY – a home that is 40% larger!

Comparing the Gas Bill

Both of my homes used used gas for the stove, furnace and water heater.  125 VP had a slight advantage in efficiency because the home was built in 2008 and 115 VP was built in 2002.  My home on 115 VP used a traditional water heater that would maintain the temperature at a fairly consistent temperature.  The home on 125 VP uses a tankless water heater so it heats water on demand.  I also have a 50 gallon traditional water heater that is dedicated to my 400 SF home office above my garage, but I hardly ever use hot water up there.  So despite the fact that I have 2 water heaters, 1.5 more bathrooms and 800 extra SF more in my newer home, I still ended up spending only $359 over a 12 month period compared to $521 for 115 VP.  A savings of $162/year.

Winner:  125 VP

Comparing the Electric Bill

So how did my larger 125 VP home use 20% less electricity then 115 VP?  Well, for one, all of the bulbs in that home are compact fluorescent lights (CFLs).  According to the Energy Star website, CFL’s use 75% less energy than incandescent bulbs.  This is an easy upgrade for any homeowner to do.  Word of warning though, you’ll notice that the cost of these bulbs are MUCH higher.  Sure, they’ll boast that the CFL lasts 7 years or longer and that might be a good justification, but as of the 12 month mark, I had 4 of my CFLs go out on me already.  I also purchased a more efficient refrigerator, and a front loading washer/dryer set for my new home.  The HVAC unit in my Green Builder home also went up in efficiency to a minimum of 14 seer.  These appliances can make a significant difference in reducing energy consumption.

Another HUGE advantage that 125 VP has is that the insulation is spray foam.  You can go up in the attic at 125 VP during a 100+ degree summer day and you won’t feel like you’re in an oven.  In fact, you might feel comfortable enough to play a game of checkers up there.  The foam does an amazing job keeping cool air in and hot air out during the summer so that my HVAC doesn’t have to work as hard.  The home’s exterior is a white Austin stone, which is better at reflecting heat then the red brick on my 115 VP home.  In order to minimize direct sunlight shining directly into the home, Green Builders constructs their windows higher up and extends the roofline over the home further out.  The result: I spent $1304 for 125 VP and $1418 for 115 VP, a savings of $114/year.

Winner:  125 VP

Comparing the Water Bill

125 VP has low-flow toilets and showerheads, a 53 gallon rain collection barrel, drought-tolerant landscaping and more efficient appliances.  115 VP has a smaller yard.  Even though my grass is looking pretty ugly over at the 125 VP home, at least I can feel satisfied that I spent less on my water bill then I did at my 115 VP home!  In fact, it was a measly $16/year less ($378 versus $394), but still a win for green building!

Winner:  125 VP

Conclusion:

Living in 125 VP saved me money and usage on all three utilities:  Gas, Electric and Water.  A total savings of almost $300/year or $25/month!  However, keep in mind the home is 40% larger and still managed a savings.  At a utility cost of $0.73/SF/year, that would mean that if I didn’t upgrade and just moved into a 2000 SF green home, my utility costs would only be $1458/year.  115 VP, a 2000 SF home, cost me $2333/year!  That’s a difference of $875/year or $73/month.

This $73/month could justify a homeowner paying $10,000 more for a green home and keep his cost of ownership (house payment and utilities) pretty much the same.  Another way to look at it is this:  If you are going to invest $10,000 to achieve a savings of $875/year, you might want to make sure you live in the home long enough to reap the financial benefits.

If you’re considering a purchase of a green home or doing energy efficient upgrades, tap into my Georgetown Texas real estate expertise and give me a call or share your experiences in the comments below.  I’d love to hear from you!

Looking for information on Georgetown Texas Homes For Sale? Visit my website or call me anytime!! Want the latest updates on Georgetown Texas Real Estate, news and latest developments? Sign up for the blog by clicking the link below:

Mel’s Lone Star Lanes in Georgetown Texas

Yeah, not your typical bowling alley, Mel’s Lone Star Lanes in Georgetown, Texas is probably the nicest bowling alley I’ve ever been too.  And I’ve been to a lot!

I went here last week to spend some family time and we had a blast.  We took along our friend Claire and we paid for an hours worth of bowling.  If I had to do it over again, I might have chosen to just pay per game since we took so long to bowl with 4 kids!  Anyway, keep that in mind when you come here:  Paying hourly is great if you’re going to be bowling some quick games, but if you have the kiddos, you might want to opt for the pay-per-game option. They have a large selection of balls so your 5 year old won’t be stuck with a 12 pounder, and the shoes here are all pretty new since this place just opened.  I brought my own shoes though, since I’m cool.

Unlike many old-school bowling alleys, you don’t have to stick some cumbersome object into the lanes, but rather the bumpers come out automatically depending on how you set up the system.  This is nice, because you can have an adult bowl, without the bumpers, and then right before a small child bowls, the bumpers can automatically extend outward. They also give you this ramp that the kids can just stick the ball on and push it down into the alley. This helps the kids get better results and is much more productive then watching a 6 lb. bowling ball slowly (and painfully) creep down the alley until it stops in the middle and you have to call a service guy to fetch it.  Go for the ramp, that way your 18 month old can bowl, like my daughter Sabrina in the picture:)

Another nice feature here is the service.  You can order your food/drinks without having to stand in line.  Just push the service button and a waiter comes out and takes your order.  Every time we come here, we usually get the sweet potato fries.  They come out hot and tasty!  They have the usual bowling alley fare:  pizza, sandwiches and salads and some other stuff.

After our game, we walked through the sports bar, CJ’s, and played a game of shuffleboard.  They have two shuffleboard tables and some pool tables too.  They also have an arcade on the other side of the bowling alley for the kiddos.  I like bowling at CJ’s because they’ve replaced the hard bowling alley seats, that we’re all used to, and instead there are some nice couches!  If you’ve ever wanted to know what it would be like to have a bowling alley in your home, this is it!  There are also more big screen flat panel TV’s in this bowling alley then Circuit City!  How relaxing is it to watch TV, check on your bowling score and munch on your sweet potato fries all from the same spot?

If you’re looking for something to do in the city of Georgetown, Texas, check out Mel’s Lone Star Lanes and put down those nunchuck controllers from your Nintendo Wii bowling game.  The crashing sound of the bowling ball with the pins just doesn’t sound the same from your television!  Speaking of video games, sometimes we take the kids here just for the arcade to kill some time:)  This place is clean and it’s never really been too crowded when we come here.  Check it out for yourself and let me know what your experience is!  I love reader interaction on this blog so please comment below!

Looking for information on Georgetown Texas Homes For Sale? Visit my website or call me anytime!! Want the latest updates on Georgetown Texas Real Estate, news and latest developments? Sign up for the blog by clicking the link below:

This post is a little late, but it’s a restaurant review nonetheless.

Autumn and I don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day anymore, we celebrate Autumn’s Day which is the day before.  Awww, how romantic I know.  However, as we were driving into Austin to celebrate a day early there was a TON of traffic heading into the city at the same time!  Hmm, looks like the rest of the world has their own “Autumn’s Day.”

This year we decided to double date with our good friends David and Melissa and we headed down to Louie’s 106.

Here are the two happy couples:

David and Melissa have two children, Claire and Jonah, and they play well with our three kids:  Joshua, Chloe and Sabrina.  We’re just happy to be friends with ANYONE who has kids that will play with ours:)  But Claire is the best when it comes to watching Chloe and Joshua so that Autumn can have a sane moment during the day.    What would we do without her?!

Back to the food: We tried the crispy calamari with red pepper rouille and roasted garlic aioli (not pictured), Prince Edward Island Mussels and House made mesquite smoked salmon for appetizers.

For our main course, we ordered The original Baby Louie’s Hot and Crunchy Trout, some meat dish (my memory is fading fast), and creme brulee for dessert:

Notice that somebody (ahem, Autumn), couldn’t wait for me to take a picture before diving into the dessert!  This was a fun place to go and the presentation, as you can tell from the pictures, was very nice.  The Prince Edward Island Mussels were my favorite as they reminded me of our honeymoon when we went to Prince Edward Island and had these for the very first time.

This is another great Austin restaurant located in the heart of downtown.  They have valet parking and accept resrvations!  My only gripe?  Well, I made reservations and indicated that it was also for the celebration of David and Melissa’s anniversary (which it was) and I was hoping they would have given us a free dessert or at least mentioned it to them.  Nothing happened…maybe it was because we had already ordered dessert or maybe because it was super busy that night.  Nonetheless, great food at decent prices.  Check it out and let me know what you think!  Have you been here before?  I love reader interaction, please comment!