12/30/16 10:30am

And here it is — the grand finale of the 2016 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. It’s time to announce the winners of this year’s competition!

This final unveiling caps a month-long process that began with calls for nominations in 8 separate award categories. Official ballots were assembled from reader suggestions, then opened up to voting by all comers. Now the final counts are in, all close races have been scrutinized, and the winners are clear.

What, exactly, does that victory mean? The Swampies recognize unique contributions to this city. It takes something special to stand out in Houston’s real estate landscape. Award winners: Houston real-estate fans have noticed you!

Also worthy of recognition: the many Swamplot readers who took time to nominate, evaluate, vote, and comment on competitors in each category. Your judgments, your descriptions, and your observations are featured below.

Does this honor roll of award winners — along with the list of runners up — provide an accurate snapshot of the year in Houston real estate? The lineup was determined by reader votes. It’s too late to vote now, but do let everyone know how you think it all turned out!

The winners of the 2016 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate are . . .

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

The 2016 Swampies
12/29/16 11:30am

The votes have been counted (and recounted, in a few close races). Now’s the moment you’ve been waiting for — well, almost. It’s time to reveal the second-place winners of the 2016 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate!

Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate Ribbon LogoBefore we do that, a hearty thank you is due to all of you who voted, commented, nominated, campaigned, and cajoled in support of your favorite candidates. You make the Swampies possible.

The actual award winners will be announced in a later post, but now’s the time to let the second-place finishers shine. Several categories had very tight races; under slightly different circumstances of voter turnout, the candidates listed below might have been the winners. So let’s have a big round of pixelated applause for the 2016 runners-up of the Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate!

They are:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

The 2016 Swampies
11/29/16 3:00pm

We’ve already opened the first category for this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate, celebrating the Houston area’s best design clichés. Let’s get started this afternoon on the second category: the year’s Best Demolition.

Teardowns are plentiful in Houston — just take a peek back through Swamplot’s archive of daily demo reports. But for Swampies season, we’re looking for that special award-worthy demo that really goes above and beyond (or below, perhaps). Did a teardown this year have a certain historic weight to it? Did something go down with a bang, or with some extra flair and panache? What property should be honored this time around, and why?

Send us your well-argued nominations to the comments section below — or send them in a private message to our tips line. For more on the nomination process, head here.

Nominations for both categories announced today will remain open until midnight next Tuesday, December 6. We’ll be introducing more fun categories as the week goes on, so be sure to get your nominations in now for the first 2!

The 2016 Swampies
11/29/16 12:00pm

We’re kicking off this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate with a category that’s been a strong part of the program since the very first Swampies (back in aught-8): Favorite Houston Design Cliché.

What Houston building, shopping center, streetscape, home, interior, neighborhood, or yard cliché deserves recognition?

In 2014, the top honoree in this category was The Midrise Woodframe Apartment Building, AKA The Texas Donut; The Townhome Farm came in as the runner-up, trailed by strong contenders like The Oak Tree Stump. Winners in years gone by have included  The Typical Inner Loop Townhouse Plan,  Humping Bungalows, aka Humper Houses, “Lick ’n’ stick” fake-rock siding, Lone Stars, “Lakes of” subdivisions, and “Tuscanization.”

Who’s turn will it be this year — a jilted also-ran, or a newcomer to the scene? Well, that’s up to you. Your suggestions for this award may be inspired from stories you’ve read on Swamplot or from your own keen eye for overused detail.

Enter your choice in a comment to this post — or in an email to the Swamplot tip line, with the subject line “Nomination: Favorite Houston Design Cliche.” Nominations for this category will be accepted until midnight next Tuesday, December 6, after which the best-presented choices will be put on the official ballot and opened for voting.

You can submit as many nominations as you like, but your suggestions will have a better chance of making it to the ballot (and garnering votes once they’re there) if you make your point in a clever and convincing way. Photos help, too! Send images to the Swamplot tip line, but be sure to identify them and indicate what they’re for. If you need some guidance, here’s more information on how to make a nomination. And if you like a particular nomination someone else has submitted, feel free to second, expand, or improve upon it in the comments to help it find a place on the actual ballot.

Got it? Good. Send us your favorite clichés now!

The 2016 Swampies
11/29/16 9:15am

Welcome to the 2016 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate, where you get to choose the nominees! Here’s how the system works:

Nominations are opened in each award category as that category is announced. You can enter your nomination for a category as a comment to the post announcing that award category. Or you can submit a nomination in a private email to the Swamplot tip line (be sure to put the name of the category in the subject line).

Nominations for each category will be accepted for one week after the category opens. After that week, the best-presented choices will be opened for voting.

Here’s a list of all the award-category announcements that have been made so far; new ones will show up there as they’re announced this week.

You may submit as many nominations as you like in each category. But your choices will have a better chance of making it to the official ballot if you use the opportunity to make your point in a clever and convincing way. When the actual awards open for voting, each selected nomination will be introduced with some edited bastardization of the arguments readers made in the nomination. So be eloquent and persuasive! If you can send your own photos in support of your nomination, that will help a lot — and help you make your case to voters. Send images to the Swamplot tip line too (but be sure to identify them, and indicate what they’re for).

Comments to nomination posts will be counted as nominations only — not as votes in the final tabulation. Nominations may be seconded, expanded, or improved, and even simple “me too” comments might help an entry find a place on the actual ballot, but they won’t be counted as votes for the winner. The actual voting begins in the second week — stay tuned for more details!

The 2016 Swampies
01/07/15 11:00am

THE SWAMPLOT AWARDS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate Ribbon LogoDid it seem like the holiday season went by in a glittery flash? If so, maybe you didn’t have time to take in the wonders of the 2014 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. It’s the annual chance for this publication’s readers to honor local standouts with an assortment of accolades. 2014 may be over, but you can still revel over who or what your peers tagged as their Favorite Houston Design Cliche, Best Demolition, Best Sign of the New Houston, and other honorifics in 7 separate categories — simply by reading this accounting of the winners. Equally entertaining and informative is this roundup of the runners-up. Thanks again to all the worthy contestants and commentators — your rich contributions to this city (and this website) make the Swampies an annual endeavor worth repeating.

12/30/14 11:00am

And here it is — the grand finale of the seventh annual Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. It’s time to announce the winners of this year’s competition.

This final unveiling caps an almost month-long process that began with calls for nominations in 7 separate award categories. Official ballots were assembled from reader nominations. Then voting was opened up — to everyone.

The award winners of the 2014 Swampies deserve to be recognized for their unique contributions to this city. It takes something special to stand out in Houston’s real estate landscape. Award winners: Houston real-estate fans have noticed you!

Also worthy of recognition: the many Swamplot readers who took time to nominate, evaluate, vote, and comment on competitors in each category. Your judgments, your descriptions, and your observations are featured below.

Does this honor roll of award winners — along with the list of runners up — provide an accurate snapshot of the year in Houston real estate? The lineup was determined by reader votes. It’s too late to vote, but do let everyone know how you think it all turned out!

The winners of the 2014 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate are . . .

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

The 2014 Swampies
12/29/14 11:00am

The votes have been counted. Now here’s the moment you’ve been waiting for — well, almost. It’s time to reveal the second-place winners of the 2014 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate!

Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate Ribbon LogoBefore we do that, a hearty thank you is due to all of you who voted, commented, nominated, campaigned, and cajoled in support of your favorite candidates. You make the Swampies possible.

The actual award winners will be announced in a later post, but now’s the time to let the second-place finishers shine. Several categories had close races; under slightly different circumstances, the candidates listed below could have been the winners. So let’s have a big round of pixelated applause for the 2014 runners-up in the Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate — the Swampies!

They are:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

The 2014 Swampies
12/24/14 11:45am

Have you voted yet in this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate? Ballots for all 7 categories are open this week only!

Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate Ribbon LogoHere’s a quick refresher on the 4 different methods you can use to vote in each category: (A longer explanation is here, but yes, you can vote once for each category using each method.)

If you vote via the website or email, please make sure you’ve signed up for the Swamplot email list (through this link, or by filling out the box at the top left of this page). And remember: Votes taste better when they’re peppered with some sort of explanation.

Here’s a handy list of all the categories:

Already voted, but want to do more? Drum up more support for your favorites. The difference between one nominee winning or losing could come down to your email, Facebook post, or tweet.

Voting in all categories will end at 5 pm on Saturday, December 27th.

The 2014 Swampies
12/22/14 11:00am

Last week official ballots were posted for all 7 categories of the 2014 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. The official nominees have been chosen. If you haven’t done so already, now is the time to cast your votes!

Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate Ribbon LogoLongtime Swamplot Award ballot-stuffers are probably aware of the quirky voting rules for the Swampies: You can vote up to 4 times in each category — once using each of 4 methods. Method 1 is the most obvious: Just add a comment to the post that announces the official nominees in that category. Method 2 is sending an email to Swamplot, indicating your choice in any or all of the categories. But if you’re using either of these methods and you want your votes to count, please make sure you’ve signed up for the Swamplot email list (through this link, or by filling out the box at the top left of this page). You can also Tweet your votes (method 3) or add them as comments to the appropriate post on the Swamplot Facebook page (method 4). Do try to make the whole thing more fun for everyone by explaining your vote. We’ve gone ahead and posted all the voting rules here.

Here’s a handy list of links to the official ballots for all 7 categories:

The voting deadline for all categories is 5 pm on Saturday, December 27th. Pick some winners!

The 2014 Swampies
12/19/14 5:30pm

We’ve reached the end of the line. Here’s your final ballot, for the final category of this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate: the award for the Greatest Moment in Houston Real Estate.

An annual fixture in the Swampies since the very first go-round in 2008, this award aims to honor the events that stand above all the rest. The nominees came from your suggestions. Your next job: pick the winner! Vote in this category by adding a comment below — or by sending us an email, or posting your preference on Facebook or Twitter. We hope you’ll include an explanation for your preference, to make the whole thing more fun. You can vote up to 4 times in this category — once using each method — as long as you follow these rules. A reminder: We’ll only be counting votes submitted via the first 2 methods from voters who’ve signed up for the Swamplot email list. (If you haven’t done so already, you can join it through this link — or the box at the top left of this page.)

And now please welcome the official nominees for Greatest Moment in Houston Real Estate, 2014:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

The 2014 Swampies
12/19/14 10:00am

Here it is: the official ballot for Neighborhood of the Year. This is the next-to-last category in the 2014 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate, a list of candidates culled from your nominations.

Newcomers to the Swampies, please take note: This category is for neighborhood of the year. That doesn’t necessarily mean best neighborhood — but it could! With your vote, you’re not only helping Houston to figure out who the winner of the Neighborhood of the Year is, you’re also defining what Neighborhood of the Year should even mean. So please explain your vote as you cast it.

Votes in this category can take the form of a comment below this post, an email, or a post on Facebook or Twitter. You can vote all 4 ways so long as you follow the voting rules. For your votes submitted as Swamplot comments or emails, however, you’ll want to have joined the Swamplot email list, because they won’t be counted if you’re not signed up for it. (You can get on the list through this link or by adding your email address to the box at the top left of this page.)

The nominees for the Houston area’s 2014 Neighborhood of the Year are:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

The 2014 Swampies
12/17/14 1:45pm

It’s a new era for Houston.

And with this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate, we aim to identify the Best Sign of the New Houston.

Based on your prescient nominations, we’ve compiled the official ballot. But what’s the most defining sign of where the Bayou City’s bound? You tell us!

You can vote for your favorite by leaving a comment below this post or through email, Facebook, or Twitter. You can do all 4, too — as long as you follow these rules. That includes one minor tweak to this year’s awards — we’ll only be counting votes submitted via the first 2 methods from voters who’ve signed up for the Swamplot email list. (If you haven’t done so already, you can join it through this link or the box at the top left of this page.) Just don’t forget to tell us why the neighborhood you selected is getting your vote.

Now allow us to introduce the official nominees for the Best Sign of the New Houston:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

The 2014 Swampies
12/16/14 3:00pm

The list of official nominees for the next category in the Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate is parked here! It’s the award for the Best Mobile Food Vendor Location in and around the city.

Where’s the best go-to spot for H-Town grub-on-the-go? And what makes it that way? The nominees in this category were picked out by Swamplot readers. Now it’s time to look over the menu and vote for the winner.

You can vote by leaving a comment below or through email, Facebook, or Twitter. You can use all four methods (once each) to vote — but that’s the limit. Please note that this year we’ll only be counting votes submitted via the first 2 methods from voters who’ve signed up for the Swamplot email list. (If you haven’t done so already, you can join it through this link or the box at the top left of this page.) When you vote, please tell us why you think your pick should win.

The nominees for the 2014 Best Mobile Food Vendor Location are . . .

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

The 2014 Swampies
12/15/14 5:30pm

What is Houston’s best body of water? Here’s where you get to vote!

New to the Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate this year, the Best Body of Water category aims to discover the repository of liquids in the greater Houston area that is most Swampies-worthy (whether or not it’s swamp-worthy). What qualifies a nominee to be considered for this honor? Only that it was selected from your suggestions. Now it’s time to pick the winner.

Cast your vote in the comments section below, by email, on Facebook, or through Twitter — you can even vote 4 times, once using each method! Please note that this year we’ll only be counting votes submitted via the first 2 methods from voters who’ve signed up for the Swamplot email list. (If you haven’t done so already, you can join it through this link or the box at the top left of this page.) A more complete explanation of the voting rules is available here.

When you vote, don’t forget to explain your choice — that’s what makes it fun! And just make sure you get all your votes in by the voting deadline: 5 pm on Saturday, December 27th.

Here are the official nominees:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

The 2014 Swampies