- 21119 Kings River Pt. [HAR]
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Does this Mediterranean-ian home in Crestwood actually like its view of Memorial Park across the street — or not? Judging from the corner lot’s tree canopies and the 1999 home’s extensive use of plantation shutters, it’s a little hard to tell. When a new agency re-re-re-relisted it a month ago, the property’s asking price came to $1.7 million. A series of 3 previous listings dating back to March 2013 shows pricing efforts targeted $1.975 million at first, but backed down to $1.935 million in September 2013, $1.895 million in February 2014, and $1.795 million in April.
Through the Slats
Is it really worth it to empty out and polish your bomb shelter before you put your home on the market? Here’s some compelling evidence that it is. The property on Jackwood St. in Meyerland with the bomb-shelter-turned-subterranean man cave featured last August on Swamplot sold late the following month for $330,000. But the buyers wasted no time in working a profitable flip. Clearing out the La-Z-Boy, beer bottles, Wendy’s soda cups, bunny figurines, and other memorabilia from the underground domed space resulted in a cleaner listing and a much higher sale price last month: $503,700, marked down from a $515K asking price and locked up only a week or so after the April listing. That’s an explosive increase of $173,700, or more than 50 percent, over the purchase price, in less than your typical real estate half-life.
Of course, a few things affecting home prices may have been going in the outside world while the buyers were busily scrubbing the walls of their underground lair. Though they did make a few other changes to the house as well:
Lessons in Subterranean Staging
- 9306 Kristin Dr. [HAR]
Fans of parquet flooring will note a similar squarish pattern covers the ceilings (top) of this 1958 mod in Seabrook’s El Lago Estates. The property’s listing, which debuted in March, suggests building a second home on the big, park-like lot near Taylor Lake. A water view, though, means traipsing down the meandering roadway to peek through neighbors’ fences. Woodsy vistas, however, are available from almost every room in the home . . .
Open Plan, Inside and Out
- 14223 Woodforest Blvd. [HAR]
- 1322 Vassar St. [HAR]
Smack in the middle of a Meyerland street of single-story ranch-style homes, an East-ish-meets-West property bumps up its curbside presence (and square footage) while keeping its inner life focused on the central courtyard with fountain (top). Was the mishmash of pan-Asian flavoring part of a 2001 remodeling or was any of it original to the one-of-a-kind 1970 home? The listing on Wednesday, which notes a $739,000 asking price, doesn’t make it clear. Let’s just say that there’s a whole lot more going on inside this home than might be hinted by the mostly quiet exterior.
There Be Dragons and Cabinets
Here’s an unfurnished-but-refinished 1962 Timbergrove Manor home that’s seeking a tenant for $3,600 per month. Renovations completed since its last sale, in 2012, transformed the look of the kitchen (at top) and bathrooms at least. Those spaces are the focus of the latest listing — though a view of the redone dining room is included, it’s a pretty tiny photo.
After the Slab Job
- 5010 De Milo Dr. [HAR]
Clear Lake laps placidly (at least for now) at the shore of a Mies-inspired home designed in 1974 by Houston architect Edmund Furley and located in Glen Cove (the one in League City, not the one near Houston’s Memorial Park). The waterfront retreat’s undated renovations (top) are attributed to interior designer J. Randall Powers and William Caudell (the still-living designer, not Bill Caudill the late CRS architect). Photos in the property’s listing last week generously tour the interior and grounds, but present just one through-the-gate peek at the home’s front (above). There’s a $4.3 million asking price dangling above the wowza waterside spread, but its $12 annual maintenance fee appears to be a real deal.
Weather Channel
The floor plan may qualify as “open,” but rooms take shape nonetheless (top) in a compact 1960Â Holly Park home that was listed in late May with a $375,000 asking price. The updated property sits mid-block on a street in the middle of its neighborhood, which is located near Timbergrove Manor, south of W. 18th St. near the West Loop feeder road’s transition into the North Loop.
Tidy and Tiny
- 1029 Zach Rd. [HAR]
It’s a bit of a prickly walk past the cacti to the low-key entry of a palm-shaded 1948 Art Moderne-ish contemporary home with pool that’s available for lease in Braeswood for $4,800 per month. The residential street is located a block south of W. Holcombe Blvd. on a block west of Greenbriar Dr. that’s chock full of housing styles ranging from postwar to more recently built townhomian.
Lease Me
Better watch the decimal point when listing a property — though the resulting 90 percent drop in asking price did certainly catch a few eyeballs for this snappy Houston Heights home. When first listed on Tuesday, the initial asking price had an extra zero at the end of it, but was quickly revised later that day to $759,900. Back in 2011, the current owners paid $403,000 for it and appear to have re-renovated, further toning the trimmed abode.
Adjusting the Contrast
