11 January 2017

Venetian Estates News - January 2017

Real Estate and More

2016 Recap
Three Venetian Estates sales are reported in the Houston Association of Realtors' Multiple Listing Service for the year 2016. These sales range in price from $525,000 to $800,000. However, there were several ‘unrecorded' or 'off-market' sales during the year. We have some absolutely wonderful new neighbors and I can't wait for you to meet them.

New Neighbor News
Soon-to-be neighbors at 822 Bel Mar are Christen and Dave Johnson. The Johnson family, previous residents of Sienna Plantation, are long-time residents of Fort Bend County.  They have three daughters—twins Piper and Tate (5), who attend Fort Bend Christian Academy, and Georgia who is two years old. They  also have a  Labradoodle named Barney.  Dave is in the furniture business, on the supply side, and Christen is a marketing professional for a Houston-based land developer. They attend The Bridge Fellowship Church in Sugar Land.  Christen and Dave will be doing a considerable amount of remodeling so it will be a little while before you see them in the neighborhood on a daily basis.

By the way, the home at 822 Bel Mar was originally owned by Ella and Edgar Laird.  In recent years Sandra and Jim McGowan, the Lairds' daughter and son-in-law, have been our wonderful neighbors here.  It's always hard to lose our great neighbors, but thankfully we always seem to acquire wonderful new neighborhood friends!

Our new neighbor at 215 Savoy is Roberta Ness, M.D., M.P.H. Dr. Ness is Vice-President for Innovation at The University of Texas School of Public Health.  She is a recognized expert in women's health research. Roberta has a long list of honors, appointments and positions! However, she is one of the most personable neighbors you will ever meet...so don't let her Curriculum Vitae scare you! Roberta has a son, Joel, 26 and a daughter, Sara, 25. 

VE History, for Old Times’ Sake...
Looking back 25 (!) years to January 1992 Venetian Estates News: "Real estate activity in VE during 1991 was relatively slow. Four sales are reported in the HAR MLS, the prices for which ranged from $175,000 to $248,000. There are presently seven homes available for sale, ranging in price from $149,500 to $335,000."

Market News
I so often meet people who wish they would have purchased in Venetian Estates 25 years ago - or even 10 years ago. But there is no time like the present! Our values continue to increase so if you have friends who are considering Venetian Estates now is the time to buy! There are three available homes on HAR and two available lots on which to build.  Please call us for information on any of these properties.  We also have two great homes that are not yet being advertised.

If you have not seen our newest listing at 203 Savoy please go to har.com/SusanFriedman and enter the property address. (Click Full Details.)  As gorgeous as the photos are, the home is even more spectacular! While it is over 6000 square feet, you simply don't feel that when you walk in the door. The scale of the rooms is perfect--the entire home is comfortable, yet truly beautiful. The floor plan is versatile and could accommodate a second master suite or separate living quarters. The finishes and details throughout make this custom home one of the most spectacular in Sugar Land.  Combined with the large lot and view of Lake Venice, 203 Savoy is the best new home in Fort Bend County!  If you have considered building on your lot in VE, please meet with us at 203 Savoy.  It is very possible that we can sell your present home, allowing you to purchase a completed “new construction” home, with the net result of less costs to you!

FBRE News

Remember that as much as we love to do business in Venetian Estates we represent clients throughout the Houston area. In Dec. we sold homes in Needville, Richmond (new construction), Brookshire and Sugar Land (VE and Belknap/Brookside). We have a new listing in Imperial coming up in February. This upgraded patio home will be priced well, as the owner has been relocated. We also have one or two of the lovely two-story Trendmaker townhomes (with garden courtyards and 3-car garages!) that we could show "pre-market." 

Venetian Estates News - October 2016

Real Estate and More

Around the Neighborhood
Everyone knows one of the greatest things about Venetian Estates is the neighbors and our soon-to-be neighbors at 902 Piedmont are no exception!

Asit and Khushboo Vashisht have broken ground on their new home and are looking forward to becoming a part of the Venetian Estates community in 2017! Asit grew up in beautiful Colorado and attended the University of Colorado in Boulder. He has an MBA from the University of Denver. Khushboo obtained her undergraduate in India and has a masters degree from the University at Buffalo in New York. Khushboo moved to Houston from New York in 2014 when she and Asit married.

Asit is the owner of an oil and gas company and his offices are located in the BancorpSouth Building. (Kelly Ferguson  with FBRE worked with Asit in securing the lease.) Khushboo is a Financial Analyst for Credit Suisse. We hope you will have a chance to meet them at a neighborhood function even before they move in.

By the way, the next neighborhood 'get-together'  will be the annual holiday party.  This year the party will be on Sunday, December 4th from 6 to 8 pm at the beautiful home of Jan and Paul Hinson (915 Gondola). You will not want to miss!

Back to the BancorpSouth Building...Your neighbor, BancorpSouth (NYSE: BXS), located in Suite 100 of 8410 Highway 90A, is staffed by a group of local, veteran lenders and support staff providing a wide range of commercial and consumer banking services, including commercial real estate, construction, and residential lending.  The Sugar Land office is a loan production office offering various loan products and services.
Please stop by  or call the office at 281-243-8050 to discuss their services.

We Go Everywhere
Anyone interested in the Belknap Brookside area give us a call! We recently sold lovely properties in the neighborhood and have another charming one coming on the market soon.  Contact us for a “pre-market” showing if you know someone interested in this neighborhood, a Sugar Land gem!
Brookshire/South Katy, anyone? We have a great new listing of a recent-construction home in Willow Creek Farms. The owners have already moved and it is priced extremely well.

How about Needville?  Five unrestricted acres, a farm house, greenhouse, barn and small office?  It’s not yet on the market, but we are ready to share more information!

VE New Construction
We have been working with our neighbor Chris Trlicek of Kingston Custom Builders in contract negotiations for the new home he will build on the vacant lot on Savoy. We sold the future home before it hit the market.

If you or your friends have considered building in VE, please call us. We are in the early stages of marketing another “future” home by Chris Trlicek, and there is time to customize the floor plan. It’s quite possible that we sell this one before it officially hits the market, as well! 

Chris has a portfolio of beautiful, quality-construction homes. As a VE resident, he understands the importance of customizing design for particular VE lots. Call us to schedule a meeting to discuss how to build your dream home in Venetian Estates!

FBRE News
There is a rare opportunity to have an office in the heart of charming “Old Sugar Land.” The historic (home of the first mayor of Sugar Land!) property at 210 Brooks Street allows for business owners to live and office near the Imperial Market, which will soon be the destination for upscale retail, office, etc. in Sugar Land. There truly is nothing like the "business" side of Brooks Street anywhere else in Sugar Land. 210 Brooks is especially valuable because of its relatively large lot size and thus room for expansion. For information on this commercial property contact Kelly Ferguson in our office at 281-242-2200 or kelly@fbre.net.


I have an “empty-nester” prospect who would like to purchase a home in Venetian Estates. Please let Kelly or me know if you are considering selling. The prospect is interested in both remodeled homes and ones that require updating. Yours just might be the perfect house!