Idiosyncratic kitchen, one bath, $379/sq ft? I don’t think so.
commonsense
Lot value, I surely hope.
Nearby
There is NOTHING in West U for that price range. It is well kept, and priced just above lot value (I would guess $450k just in land) I bet it sells fairly quickly.
I walk past this house every day on the way to the school. It’s proximity to the grade school is another huge plus.]
Random Poster
From the photos, the (only) bathroom does not look to be particularly functional.
It appears that one of the bedrooms used to be the garage.
And is the power meter embedded in the backyard hedges?
If there was (or is) a way to squeeze another bathroom in, I could probably live without the garage, it gets hot in Houston and that sun can be intense.
Still, the house photographs well, seems very well located, and the price appears, on its face, to be reasonable. I’d buy it if I were in the market, subject to the bathroom issue.
commonsense
I’m not sure the location is all that great. If you look on Google maps you can see a large parking lot behind the home and what seems like a trash truck repair facility. Beyond that, within an earshot is a water facility for city of West U.
—
On a separate note, people who buy obsolete houses like this and actually live in them are dragging down property values for everyone else. It’s a tug of war… One side buys old obsolescence to keep affordability down, the other side builds bigger and better to pull up values (and taxes)and keep riff raff out.
BC
commonsense: just what kind of riff raff do you think is going to buy a 539K house?
J.
Yes, I’ve been concerned about the riff raff in West U.
ShadyHeightster
Commonsense, your argument about “obsolete” homes is just the flipside to the argument pro-development people make about preservationists in the Heights. You prefer to tell people to raise old homes so neighborhood property values rise, while the new development types say that those who want historic preservation codes strengthened want to tell others what to do with their property.
Fortunately, with over 600 square miles just within the Houston city limits, I think both sides should be able to find a place to call their own.
doofus
Blanket statements are for blankets.
Signed,
the owner of a 1928 restored brick beauty worth more than 99% of the same sized new builds in the neighborhood
commonsense
If I’m buying a house for $1.5 mln, the guy who buys and keeps a house for 500k too close to me IS riff raff. Naturally, I am riff raff if I buy a $1.5 mln house on the street of $3 mln homes.
—
@Shady, the difference is I’m not making anyone by law do what I would like them to do.
—
@Doofus, even if what you’re saying is true, a 1 in a 1mln anomaly does not an argument make.
Houston Native
I actually like the kitchen without wall cabinets – it’s a unique look. It really unclutters a small space.
Nearby
As a neighbor who walks the west u area everyday I personally enjoy the variety of homes in the area. As long as a bungalow is well kept )as this one appears to be) it is alright by me. Most of them have more charm than my out of the box McMansion I live in.
Sihaya
The older homes in Bellaire and West U. were selling like hotcakes during the county’s mild real estate downturn, whereas the expensive, newer homes sat for a few months before they moved. That ‘affordability’ factor was extremely important. I have known more than one physician or tenure-track professor who buys the older home because that’s what he’s got the money for. The values of the cheaper homes rose, because even at $50k-$100K more, those homes were more affordable than the mini mansions. Very often those are starter homes within the neighborhood, and the owners move on to a more expensive home in the same city, or else rebuild on their own property. Rather than drag values down, these homes keep property moving within the neighborhood and help create longterm monetary relationships between new citizens and the towns.
Some properties, like those near the water plant or the freeway, stay old, and their owners might not move ‘up’. As properties near the freeway or water treatment plants, they’re doing the best that any PU-adjacent home could do. A mini mansion on the same property might langush until it is sold at foreclosure prices, and *that* would definitely drag overall property values down. Your evaluation of the ‘riffraff’ on places like West U. and Bellaire is extremely oversimplified, Commonsense.
Idiosyncratic kitchen, one bath, $379/sq ft? I don’t think so.
Lot value, I surely hope.
There is NOTHING in West U for that price range. It is well kept, and priced just above lot value (I would guess $450k just in land) I bet it sells fairly quickly.
I walk past this house every day on the way to the school. It’s proximity to the grade school is another huge plus.]
From the photos, the (only) bathroom does not look to be particularly functional.
It appears that one of the bedrooms used to be the garage.
And is the power meter embedded in the backyard hedges?
If there was (or is) a way to squeeze another bathroom in, I could probably live without the garage, it gets hot in Houston and that sun can be intense.
Still, the house photographs well, seems very well located, and the price appears, on its face, to be reasonable. I’d buy it if I were in the market, subject to the bathroom issue.
I’m not sure the location is all that great. If you look on Google maps you can see a large parking lot behind the home and what seems like a trash truck repair facility. Beyond that, within an earshot is a water facility for city of West U.
—
On a separate note, people who buy obsolete houses like this and actually live in them are dragging down property values for everyone else. It’s a tug of war… One side buys old obsolescence to keep affordability down, the other side builds bigger and better to pull up values (and taxes)and keep riff raff out.
commonsense: just what kind of riff raff do you think is going to buy a 539K house?
Yes, I’ve been concerned about the riff raff in West U.
Commonsense, your argument about “obsolete” homes is just the flipside to the argument pro-development people make about preservationists in the Heights. You prefer to tell people to raise old homes so neighborhood property values rise, while the new development types say that those who want historic preservation codes strengthened want to tell others what to do with their property.
Fortunately, with over 600 square miles just within the Houston city limits, I think both sides should be able to find a place to call their own.
Blanket statements are for blankets.
Signed,
the owner of a 1928 restored brick beauty worth more than 99% of the same sized new builds in the neighborhood
If I’m buying a house for $1.5 mln, the guy who buys and keeps a house for 500k too close to me IS riff raff. Naturally, I am riff raff if I buy a $1.5 mln house on the street of $3 mln homes.
—
@Shady, the difference is I’m not making anyone by law do what I would like them to do.
—
@Doofus, even if what you’re saying is true, a 1 in a 1mln anomaly does not an argument make.
I actually like the kitchen without wall cabinets – it’s a unique look. It really unclutters a small space.
As a neighbor who walks the west u area everyday I personally enjoy the variety of homes in the area. As long as a bungalow is well kept )as this one appears to be) it is alright by me. Most of them have more charm than my out of the box McMansion I live in.
The older homes in Bellaire and West U. were selling like hotcakes during the county’s mild real estate downturn, whereas the expensive, newer homes sat for a few months before they moved. That ‘affordability’ factor was extremely important. I have known more than one physician or tenure-track professor who buys the older home because that’s what he’s got the money for. The values of the cheaper homes rose, because even at $50k-$100K more, those homes were more affordable than the mini mansions. Very often those are starter homes within the neighborhood, and the owners move on to a more expensive home in the same city, or else rebuild on their own property. Rather than drag values down, these homes keep property moving within the neighborhood and help create longterm monetary relationships between new citizens and the towns.
Some properties, like those near the water plant or the freeway, stay old, and their owners might not move ‘up’. As properties near the freeway or water treatment plants, they’re doing the best that any PU-adjacent home could do. A mini mansion on the same property might langush until it is sold at foreclosure prices, and *that* would definitely drag overall property values down. Your evaluation of the ‘riffraff’ on places like West U. and Bellaire is extremely oversimplified, Commonsense.