Tom and Gina Branch Named 2014 Five Star Professionals

The Branch Team - Tom & Gina Branch

Five Star Real Estate Agents 2014

We are pleased to announce that both Tom and Gina Branch have been selected as 2014 FIVE STAR Real Estate Agents for the Dallas Fort Worth area.

Gina has been selected every year since the award started in 2012 and Tom has been selected for the past two years.

Texas Monthly partnered with FIVE STAR Professional to identify the real estate agents in the Dallas Fort Worth area who provide exceptional service and overall satisfaction as indicated by clients, peers and industry experts. The 2014 FIVE STAR Real Estate Agents are a select group of fewer than 7 percent of all real estate agents in the Dallas Fort Worth area.


FIVE STAR Real Estate Agent is a Service Mark of FIVE STAR Professional. Logo licensed from FIVE STAR Professional.

5 Easy Ways to Increase Your Home’s Value in Dallas

If you’ve ever watched HGTV or spoken to a REALTOR®, then you probably already know there are a million and one ways to renovate your home and increase its overall value. But what if you don’t have a million hours to work on fancy home improvements, or a million dollars to spend?

Here are five easy ways you can increase your home’s value, without breaking the bank or breaking your back.

  1. Dig in the dirt. First impressions are incredibly important when it comes to marketing your home, and the exterior of your house is the first thing potential buyers will see. If interested buyers notice that the exterior looks neglected, they might assume that the inside has suffered the same fate. The type of landscaping is largely a matter of your personal preferences; just make sure that your yard looks tidy and cared for.
    Another way to increase the aesthetics of your home’s exterior is by upgrading items like windows, shutters and siding. While this can be more expensive than a small landscaping project, these are things that will probably be noticed immediately.
  2. Light the way. Lighting can actually help rooms of your home appear more spacious, so it is especially important to have good lighting in smaller rooms. Improving your home’s lighting is a very quick and easy way to make things look warmer and more appealing. You may also want to look for energy-efficient lighting solutions – and that goes for both interior and exterior lights.
    Outdoor security lighting, such as floodlights and motion-activated lights. Provide an additional way to make your home appear appealing – and safe. Plus, a well-lit home can help deter burglars since they’ll have fewer shadowy places to hide.
  3. Use wireless services. Nothing makes your home look messier than a tangle of wires. By using wireless devices (keyboard, mouse, cable box), you’re making your home look sleek and modern. You can find Internet bundles with wireless services – you’re saving money and showing visitors to your home that it’s modern and keeping up with technology trends.  Plus, the money you can save by bundling your home services can go toward something else – like fixing up some facilities.
  4. Fix up the facilities. If you don’t have the funds for an extensive interior remodel, start with the bathroom. Real estate experts largely agree that remodeling your outdated bathroom is a good way to instantly improve your home’s marketability. Perhaps it’s because buyers are impressed that someone would put so much effort into such a small space. Regardless, installing new tile, buying a fresh shower curtain and stripping out that bubbled wallpaper is a good place to start.
  5. Improve energy efficiency. Many people are interested in conserving energy and saving money, especially with ever-rising energy prices. If you can market your home with energy-saving solutions, you will be a step ahead of the game. There are many ways you can improve your home’s energy efficiency, including sealing up cracks, improving insulation and installing programmable thermostats. If you like the idea of a long-term investment in making your property greener, consider planting a couple of trees. Believe it or not, having shady trees near your home can reduce your home’s cooling costs by up to 40%.

Energy efficiency isn’t just for inside the home, though. You can switch out incandescent light bulbs for compact fluorescent, halogen and LED bulbs in your exterior fixtures. Roofing, siding and windows are all available in energy-efficient models and can help you save money on your overall energy costs, even if you have to put a lot of money up front.

There are also do-it-yourself methods. If you can’t afford to upgrade every window in your home to an energy-efficient model, consider adding weather-stripping and strategically applying some caulk. Certain window treatments and coverings can even help keep your home cooler in the summer months and warmer in the winter.

Homes on Larger Lots in Allen Texas

Homes on Larger Lots in Allen TexasYou would think that everything is bigger in Texas. While that’s true with many things, it’s not true for the lots that new homes are built upon.

Lot sizes have been getting smaller for many years. Why? Land costs have risen dramatically in the area. In order to keep housing prices affordable, developers and builders scaled down lot sizes in an effort to control costs. Larger lots in the city are still available but at premium prices.

Many buyers prefer large lots so they are not on top of their neighbors, have room to put in a pool, build a larger one-story home, or simply room to enjoy the outdoors. While the average new home in Allen Texas sits on a one-eighth acre lot, there are homes for sale on larger lots (one-half acre or larger) in Allen Texas.

While many of these homes are higher priced, there are homes available at more reasonable prices.

Click here to see all Homes for Sale in Allen Texas on Larger Lots.

Contact us at 214-227-6626 if you have questions or need additional information.

Tom and Gina Signatures

Photo: Copyright 2013 Imaged2Sell

Pool Homes in McKinney Texas

Pool Homes in TexasWith spring just around the corner and the spring sales season getting started, many people are looking for homes in McKinney Texas with pools.

As McKinney ages a little we find more and more homes have had pools installed. The vast majority of pools are in-ground gunite although you do see vinyl lined pools from time-to-time. Gunite pools are typically covered in a white plaster giving it the smooth finish but “pebble-tech” and similar surfaces are becoming more common. These alternative finishes hold up longer and require less maintenance.

Pools are either chlorinated or salt water. Either works well, but saline pools are easier on the equipment, clothing, and your skin than chlorine pools. The good news is that chlorine pools can easily be converted to saline.

Click here to see all homes for sale in McKinney Texas with pools.

Contact us at 214-227-6626 if you have questions or need additional information.

Tom and Gina Signatures

Photo: Copyright 2008 Imaged2Sell

The Enclaves at Willow Crest Experts

We often see signs and advertising from agents claiming to be neighborhood experts. While there are no published criteria for that designation, we will argue that having a solid track-record of sales in the neighborhood is what sellers and buyer want. Why? I may know lots about an area but once you start listing and selling homes in that neighborhood you become intimately familiar with it.

That got us to thinking about looking at several neighborhoods where we are the dominate real estate team. The first one we looked at was The Enclaves at Willow Crest in Plano, Texas.

The Enclaves at Willow Crest is a luxurious two-story townhome community offering buyers a convenient West Plano location, award-winning architectural designs and an exciting, low-maintenance contemporary lifestyle. This amazing new home community boasts beautiful Old-World-Style designs that offer charm and elegance, that range from 1,633 to 2,300-plus square feet of living space. The builder has completed their build out and now the resale market will take over.

Map of The Branch Team Sales in The Enclaves at Willow Crest

Sales by The Branch Team in The Enclaves at Willow Crest in Plano, Texas

Click here to see all homes for sale in The Enclaves at Willow Crest in Plano, Texas.

Want to work with the Neighborhood Experts? Contact us at 214-227-6626.

Tom and Gina Signatures

Luxury Homes for Lease in Plano Texas

1609GladewaterDrive-Allen-TXPlano Texas is a fabulous place to live and work. With companies and people relocating to Plano, there are more and more inquiries about rental and lease homes. Some people prefer to lease upon their arrival to give them time to decide where they want to later purchase a home.

Many of our relocation clients are executives looking to lease a luxury or executive home while they get settled into new jobs and the area. The good news is Plano has plenty of housing with local lease prices ranging from $1500 to over $10,000 per month.

Luxury homes are usually bigger, custom or semi custom built, located on larger lots, and many have pools. These homes offer top of the line amenities including hardwood floors, upscale kitchens, soaring floor plans, studies, media rooms, and game rooms. Lease prices start around $3000 per month and can be over $10,000 per month depending on the size, quality, and location of the property.

Click here to see all luxury homes for lease in Plano Texas.

Contact us at 214-227-6626 if you have questions or require additional information.

Tom and Gina Signatures

Photo: Licensed from Unique Exposure Photography

Lawler Park Frisco Texas New Home Update

lawler-park-frisco-tx-new-home

Frisco Texas is alive with new construction on both the west and east sides of the city. One of the hot developments is Lawler Park, a new home development on the east side of the city.

Lawler Park is located on the north side of Rolater between Coit and Independence. The development consists of two sections, The Arbors at Lawler Park and The Crossing at Lawler Park. When completed, there will be about 344 homes.


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The two home builders are Darling Homes and Highland Homes. Homes range in size from 2400 to 3800 square feet with prices starting at $350k.

Lawler Park offers home buyers a beautiful, creek-lined sanctuary designed for a healthy, active lifestyle and growing families. With its walking trails, green spaces, pedestrian bridge, creeks and beautiful Rose Garden, residents will enjoy the lush landscape and beautiful stone amenity buildings that make up this natural retreat.

Lawler park is zoned to Frisco ISD and a new elementary school is currently under construction.

Click here to view all Lawler Park homes for sale in Frisco, Texas.

Contact us at 214-227-6626 if you have any questions or require additional information.

Tom and Gina Signatures

Photo: Copyright 2013 Imaged2Sell


New Home Rebate

Purchase a new home through us and we'll help you with your closing costs! We'll give you a credit of 1.5% of the price of the home at closing to use towards your closing costs.

Click here for our New Home Rebates page.