Swamplot Archives by Category: Home Prices

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Monday, June 29, 2009

Swamplot Price Adjuster: Boulevard Oaks by the Square Foot

June 29, 2009 – 2:48 pm

Why hasn’t this cute little cottage on South Blvd. in Boulevard Oaks been snapped up yet?

Location: 1930 South Blvd., Boulevard Oaks
Details: 5 bedrooms, 6 full and 4 half-baths; 7,863 sq. ft. on a 10,140-sq.-ft. lot
Price: $2,450,000
History: Original home on property torn down in fall of 2007. Listed for $2.6 million during construction; price cut $150K last Halloween.

Our nominator writes in:

I’ve walked through this home. It’s a vacuous monument to the “price per square foot” itch that’s infected so many builders trying to make a buck in fancier neighborhoods. If you can get $300 a square foot for a 3,000 square foot house, why not build a 6,000 square foot house and double the take? And think of the bonus you could get for 7,863!

So the design becomes a ridiculous exercise in racking up square footage for no useful reason. Most of the experience of this house consists of walking down long, built-to-impress but useless hallways. The master bedroom is big enough to skate in.

This place only looks like a great deal on paper. I hope studying this home will make realtors and builders and buyers and appraisers think twice about applying mindless per-square foot pricing formulas.
Because this is what you end up with.

So . . . how should you price it?

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2:48 pm | 23 Comments | Read more about Home Prices, Homes for Sale, Neighborhoods: Boulevard Oaks, Neighborhoods: Hermann Hospital Estates, Price Adjuster
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Friday, June 26, 2009

Comment of the Day: Idylwood Appraisal Case Closed

June 26, 2009 – 3:45 pm
   

“All of you people are batsh!t crazy if you think you can get a house like that in Idylwood for the low $200’s. If houses LESS than 1300 sq ft have been selling for just under $200,000 or $145 to $150+ a foot. Do the math. 500 more sq ft, a second bath that not all of the other sales had and more upgrades for only $10,000 or so more? . . . This house has closed. It sold for $242,000 as well it should.” [Robert, commenting on Idling in Idylwood: Where’s a Friendly Appraiser When You Need One?]

3:45 pm | 4 Comments | Read more about Buying and Selling, Comments, Home Prices, Neighborhoods: Idylwood, Quicklink
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Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Comment of the Day: The Low Price of High Property Taxes

June 24, 2009 – 2:31 pm
   

“Houston is pretty affordable overall. However, people like to make statements about how affordable the city is and say ‘Prices are low because of __________.’ My point is, property prices are low for a lot of reasons. One of the reasons is that property taxes are high.” [Andrew Burleson, commenting on Houston Home Values: The Property Tax Effect]

2:31 pm | 22 Comments | Read more about Comments, Home Prices, Houston Data, Quicklink, Taxes
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Fighting the New Appraisal Rules

June 24, 2009 – 11:15 am
   

A Swamplot reader draws attention to a “rumored email” purporting to show that the National Association of Realtors is gearing up for a campaign against the Housing Valuation Code of Conduct that went into effect at the beginning of May. The HVCC was meant to safeguard the independence of appraisals — in part by prohibiting loan officers, mortgage brokers, and real estate agents from selecting the appraiser for a particular property. The email, posted on a San Fernando Valley real-estate blog, indicates that the NAR is pushing Congress to impose an 18-month moratorium on the new code. Our reader wonders if recent stories of “unfair appraisals” — such as this one — are the result of a larger “orchestrated campaign” against the new rules. [Effective Demand; Swamplot inbox]

11:15 am | 3 Comments | Read more about Buying and Selling, Financing, Home Prices, Quicklink
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Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Houston Home Values: The Property Tax Effect

June 23, 2009 – 2:21 pm
   

A few of Andrew Burleson’s conclusions from a comparison of property taxes in Houston, Chicago, L.A., and New York: “When a person buys a $200,000 home in Houston they’re actually making payments worth $273,000 including taxes. When a person in Los Angeles buys a house for $200,000 they’re making payments worth $235,000. It costs the person in LA the equivalent of $37,000 less to obtain the same loan. . . . The greatest irony here is how this plays out at the high end of the market. Because our taxes are so high, the cost to own valuable property becomes significantly higher here. . . . What you can see in the chart is how the actual cost to own a property is much higher than the real value of the property, and how this gap becomes larger as a property increases in value. For instance, if you have enough cash flow to make payments worth $200,000, you can only actually afford about a $150,000 home in Houston. As you look up the scale the difference becomes more ridiculous. $750,000 worth of cash flow actually gets you $550,000 worth of property in Houston - that’s $200,000 in value lost to property taxes. Therefore, if you’re rich, and you’re planning on buying a mansion, you’re better off living in Los Angeles or New York.” [NeoHouston]

2:21 pm | 42 Comments | Read more about Home Prices, Quicklink, Taxes
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Thursday, June 18, 2009

Idling in Idylwood: Where’s a Friendly Appraiser When You Need One?

June 18, 2009 – 4:14 pm



The Chronicle’s Nancy Sarnoff says low appraisals are becoming the “newest threat” to Houston’s housing market. Her example? The story of the redone bungalow at 6707 Fairfield St. in Idylwood, where the sellers accepted a full-price offer less than a week after the property was listed.

But the appraisal on the 1,780-square-foot home came in at just $206,000. The buyer couldn’t come up with enough cash to make up the difference and [co-owner Derrick] DeCristofaro wasn’t willing to drop the price, so the deal fell through.

Why can’t the appraiser buy that $242,900 asking price?

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4:14 pm | 15 Comments | Read more about Buying and Selling, Home Prices, Neighborhoods: Idylwood
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Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Well Sprung: That Bounce in May Home Sales

June 17, 2009 – 10:40 am

The May home numbers are in and they’re . . . not so bad, says Swamplot’s chart-wielding commentator:

The “spring selling season” is going well as average home prices are up 21.6% since the beginning of the year. Errrr…ummm….that is a big move and it underscores that there is a strong seasonal trend at work. The big bounce brought us up to slightly above May of last year on a median basis. Positives included record low interest rates and foreclosures were “only” 20% of the total.

Fewer foreclosures is better, right?

A reduction in foreclosure sales is a change in “product mix” and doesn’t reflect on the price of a given home. In prior reports we were encouraged to ignore them, now the lower # of foreclosures is embraced and is cited as “price gains.” The strong seasonal trend is powerful enough to keep the housing “bears” like me silent for a few months. May also featured some of the lowest interest rates in a long time, so buyers were poised to move and lock in lower rates.

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10:40 am | 10 Comments | Read more about Home Prices, Houston Data, Price Trends
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Monday, June 15, 2009

Swamplot Price Adjuster: Braeswood Landbank

June 15, 2009 – 8:41 am

A Swamplot reader thinks this 1959 ranch at the corner of Bellefontaine and Morningside in Braeswood is priced too high — even though the property is listed as “Pending Continue To Show”!

Here’s the scoop:

Location: 2401 Bellefontaine Blvd., Braeswood
Details: 4-5 bedrooms, 4 1/2 baths; 3,748 sq. ft. on a 14,436-sq.-ft. lot
Price: $700,000
History: Currently under contract. Listed as “Pending Continue to Show.”

Our nominator writes:

I was thinking about this property three ways.

It could be sold as a remodel (which would probably require $100K or more just to update surfaces - a little birdie told me, for example, about the bright purple shag carpet in the entire bedroom wing of the house) - if it was an updated large ranch on this prime corner it could probably get close to 800K on a resale IMO. So what would a “flipper” pay for that? I’m guessing in the 500’s.

It could be sold as a teardown. The land value here is good and probably won’t ever collapse, but it will not be generating any income for a couple of years at best. There is way too much inventory in the neighborhood right now (big houses, old houses, new houses, empty lots) for more building to make much sense.

It could be sold as a rental. I’m currently living in . . . a big beautiful ranch house that hasn’t been touched in 50 years. In some ways that’s neat, but in other ways (plumbing, electrical) it is not. So I’d guess the rental income here will be about $2700/month. What would be the math on that for a purchase? I think that would depend on how much cash you put into the house and if you were landbanking it. I’d still end up in the 500s.

So . . . you got a better number?

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8:41 am | 17 Comments | Read more about Home Prices, Homes for Sale, Neighborhoods: Braeswood, Price Adjuster
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Monday, June 8, 2009

Introducing the Swamplot Price Adjuster

June 8, 2009 – 11:54 am

Are you getting the sense that some properties on the market in the greater Houston area are priced a little . . . inappropriately? Then you’ll enjoy the brand new feature Swamplot is trying out. We’re calling it the Swamplot Price Adjuster.

Which properties will Price Adjuster feature? Ones you send in!

Here’s how it works: Send your nominations to Swamplot in an email. Make sure to include a link to the listing or photos. Tell us about the property, and explain why you think it’s worthy of a price adjustment. Then tell us what you think a better price would be. (Unless you request otherwise, all submissions will be anonymous.)

Swamplot Price Adjuster will feature the best submissions, and allow readers to comment on and quibble with the property’s pricing.

Does this sound like an interesting idea? Good, because we’ve already received our first Swamplot Price Adjuster submission, and it’s waiting for your proposed adjustments:

Continue Reading This Story >

11:54 am | 17 Comments | Read more about Home Prices, Neighborhoods: Park Place, Price Adjuster
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