“Can’t wait to find a buyer for this condo!” writes real-estate agent Veso Kossev. “Too bad I can’t take [anyone] to see it…..” Huh? Oh, yeah . . . it’s unit E5 at the Park Memorial Condominiums, otherwise known as the 4.85-acre land of limbo just north of Memorial Dr. at Detering. As of a few days ago, you can pick up this 2-bedroom, 2-bath, only partially smashed condo for the low, low price of just $47,000. But you won’t be able to have it inspected — or see it yourself — because the entire complex has been condemned by the city. Where’d these lovely interior photos in the listing come from, then?
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Well, at least somebody‘s been able to get in to have a look at the place.
How are all the absentee owners of the other Park Memorial condos faring? According to reports, many units are in similar shape, and this unit is one of several owned by a bank — if that provides any clue. Maybe someday all the legal wrangling will end, the owners of all 108 condos will all agree to sell the land to the same buyer for the same price, and the buyer of this unit will be able to make some big bucks.
- 5292 Memorial Dr. Unit E5 [HAR]
- Previously on Swamplot: Park Memorial Condo Owners: Ready To Move Back In?, The Finger, the Gun, and Other Secrets of the Park Memorial Sale, Last Stand at Park Memorial, Park Memorial: Just Sitting There, Condos Condemned: Park Memorial To Become Parking Garage Memorial
Is this damage just from vagrants and assholes?
Painful to see what became of this property that used to be my home. (Not this specific unit, BTW) The infighting among owners coupled with the city condemning the property faster than you can condemn a crack house sent some of us to bankruptcy and others to foreclosure as most people cannot afford two mortgages when only one is inhabitable.
And those look better than the FOTEH family properties in Montrose, across from Sue Lovell’s house.
From ex-ParkMemorial:
…coupled with the city condemning the property faster than you can condemn a crack house sent some of us to bankruptcy and others to foreclosure as most people cannot afford two mortgages when only one is inhabitable.
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Same odd thing happened at Wilshire Village. Odd only because so many crack houses aren’t condemned so quickly. Which makes one wonder why these two properties were. Condemned so quickly that is. Some might wonder if there had been a willing buyer and an unwilling seller and someone decided to take care of the unwilling seller with a nice “condemned” tag.
if there had been a willing buyer the place wouldn’t still be sitting there.
There were some bids after it was condemned but several of the greedier owners that didn’t owe anything on their places decided to hold out for better.
Land market tanked…and here we are today.
Welcome to Squatters’R’us since 2008. People left there in a real hurry you’ll still find stainless steel BBQ pits, appliances, all right where they were left 2+ years ago. Creepy really, almost bought one there in 2006, thank heavens I didn’t. I commute past this daily, and it’s getting WORSE.
I live right next door to this mess. Almost all of the units have been relieved of their appliances, air conditioners, etc. And there are currently some “new” residents. The property is beautiful…actually has a rolling terrain.
I thought I heard that the condemnation was challenged and that everyone ended up in court. Is that true? Has the case been resolved or is it still ongoing?
Of course there is access to the property. There are two holes in the fences that have allowed ingress to steal appliances, a/c units, pipes, etc….as well as providing some of the less fortunate a free place to squat. And it has been that way for at least nine months. I truly hope the homeowners prevail in their lawsuit against the City of Houston. This was an unmitigated tragedy. Gee it is still standing two years later after being declared unfit for habitation. One third of the homeowners are now underwater in their mortgages which has been a major stumbling block in selling the property.
‘From MontroseSlums:
And those look better than the FOTEH family properties in Montrose, across from Sue Lovell’s house.’
Ain’t that the truth.
From miss_msry:
‘From MontroseSlums:
And those look better than the FOTEH family properties in Montrose, across from Sue Lovell’s house.’
Ain’t that the truth.
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Some people pull strings to condemn properties that shouldn’t be. Some people pull strings to make sure no one condemns properties that should be. Welcome to City Hall.
As an investor that would love to buy and fix up the Foteh properties, the problem with city hall is not so much that they condemn what shouldn’t and don’t what should. It’s that they don’t work with investors who have good motives.
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As I’ve mentioned on here, my worry about buying a “Foteh” property (which I don’t even find *that* bad), or one like it would not be the challenge of fixing it up, it’s the fear of having to deal with the city for every single repair or upgrade and all the billions of hassles, hoops and forms they (seem to) go out of their way to put you though.
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Want to buy a junk property in your neighborhood and make it nice? Scrapped enough hard earned money to put down and are ready to take the risk? Outstanding! Below is what comes next…
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“New sink? Permit please. New outlet? Permit please. New anything else? Permit please. Oh, and come here and wait in line, fill out this form, pay this fine, oops wrong form, wait over there. I know it takes most of your day to do all this but it’s better to spend your times filling out paperwork than fixing something. Now please call this number. Always buys? Try this one. What’s e-mail? fax only. Want water service turned on? Call this number. Over an hour on hold? Keep trying. fax us all your closing documents. Oh, those are not the notarized ones. You digitally signed? That doesn’t count. Seems we need a $10,000 deposit to turn on water. How did we come to that number? Can’t tell you. Oh, for dumpster permit you didn’t check box C457A so you need to go to the courthouse. Oh, court date was yesterday. You didn’t know? We sent notice to the property. Oh, you don’t live at that property? Sorry. Please pay fine for failure to appear. How much? $2,000. We screwed up, oops. New date? Okay, we’ll mail it to you. Okay, thanks for driving to court 14 in BFE, and waiting an hour, the city witness isn’t here, we’ll reschedule for another month. Your going to be traveling? Sorry. You registered your property online right? You filled out the paperwork and paid the fee for your CoO right? We’ll send 3 inspectors down there. Oh, we found your railing is 1” too short, so please replace all of it. Seems this valve needs to be replaced. No, you can’t do it. No, you can’t have your workers do it. Obviously this hot water valve can only be done by a licensed master plumber that needs to come to our HQ and get a permit. $500 is fair to replace a valve, you’re a rich property owner right? Oh, water rates are going to double. Again, rich property owner right? You fixed the outside? Cool, property taxes just shot up. Thank you for being a good citizen, just one more form, but first, could you hold please…
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I get the need to make sure things are done right, but the way they run things you end up with work not getting done at all because who wants to do that (a second time)? Why fix up that property with ‘marginal’ number or a risky return if you feel the city is going to be fighting against you at every turn?
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People end up saying “F it, let the building rot”, which is why you get a lot of buildings — well — rotting.
As of today, this unit is under contract, and the estimated closing date is Feb 20th. Say what???
This kills me. I lived in the G building for 4+ years and we loved living there. We also worked hard to take care of the place, the grounds were in terrific shape and the pool was fantastic. What a complete waste.
Built in 1982, enough said? Cheaply made, just as Houston’s bubble burst. Nice grounds, for sure (2 years+ ago). A blight on Memorial, and a taggers heaven..