While not flashy, tweaks have tidied a 1952 rancher in Oak Forest’s section across from the White Oak Bayou Trail near T.C. Jester Park. Its listing a week ago attached am $450K asking price, up a bit from the $186K paid in 2006, when the property last changed hands. Its perky, red-painted planter full, the property is extra buffed for an open house on Sunday afternoon.
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Part of the driveway’s carport covers access to the 2,028-sq.-ft. home’s side-winder entry (above), which lands visitors in front of the dining room view north toward the street:
The original flooring has been refinished;Â there’s also new paint and carpet in the master bedroom.
In the living room, the ceiling lifts to a half-vault
with a skylight:
Tile flooring finishes out the updated galley-style kitchen, which
does not appear to have a window. The door at the far end of the photo below leads to the side lot:
The breakfast nook lands to the side of this passage from the dining room to the living room:
Another half-vault rises in the master suite:
And there’s another skylight; it helps brighten the master bathroom:
The hallway bath, meanwhile, appears to have kept its pistachio-hued original tile:
This secondary bedroom has the front-of-house corner:
This one gets a back-of-house corner:
This one? It’s in the middle of a bed-and-bath setup occupying one side of the home:
The lot, which measures 7,480 sq. ft., opts for a sundeck, spa, and shed in its pebble-finished outback:
Neighboring homes on this block are mostly single-story original stock from the early- to mid-fifties.
- 2307 Lamonte [HAR]
Many nice touches, but definitely lose the car port, especially if the garage is still intact. Note to photographer: the outdoor shots look like they were made on a sound stage.
I know, I know Oak Forest is smokin’ HOT. But half a million dollars for a galley kitchen and one car garage? I don’t get it. And all of those exterior embellishments are just plain junky.
You’re joking, right?
I don’t get it either.
In a word: DELUSIONAL
i certainly wouldn’t know, but is this even a realistic price for the area? I would want a 3K sqft new build for that kind of price at that location. inventory is coming, just wait out the craziness folks.
The price does reflect the area…a new build in the zip code of 77018 will cost you anywhere from high 700’s to over 1.5 mil
Currently house shopping. It is amazing and discouraging the prices buyers are willing to pay for older properties that in the past wouldn’t have sold at all at a high price, and new properties that are cheap and ugly. Don’t know if this will change with the risky oil economy we find ourselves in, but as long as there are buyers, there will be $500k tiny and ugly houses that sell. Proof that the old saying, “like putting lipstick on a pig” may actually be wrong. Apparently some pigs look good in lipstick.
joel – How many other people are on the sidelines, waiting out the craziness? That’s the question. At the moment, $450 won’t even get you CLOSE to 3K new construction. Are prices going to come down that much?
sjh, may be discouraging but remember it’s good news in the end. the more folks that buy into this current madness the better off the rest of us will be in a couple years once the market has had time to equalize. these current valuations cannot be supported by Houston incomes which makes you wonder where exactly all these new homeowners came from. i’m amazed the house in the posting below this one was listed for 550K and is pending. madness i say.
I think this home is in the floodplain. $450k for this home is ridiculous for a home in the floodplain and not zoned to Oak Forest Elementary. Real value here is somewhere around $250k.
Ditto on what Loopster said! I used live in a garage apartment years ago in Oak Forest and it was o.k. but I sure don’t get the high dollar appeal of the area.
You can get a high quality flipped house 4X this good in Spring Branch by I-10 for $300K to $500K depending on location and you are in a better part of town for commuting purposes and closer to amenities in the EC as well as quality grocery stores. This truly confuses me.
This is reality for certain buyers in the area. Young families seeking a traditional single-family are priced out of the Heights and new the construction in GOOF, and they don’t want a 3 story people box with open drainage in Shady Acres or Rice Military, so they flock to the older, relatively affordable homes in Timbergrove and GOOF.
We looked in GOOF last year, but settled in Maplewood South instead. Paid exactly that price for nearly the exact same square footage (in a 100-year floodplain as well), walking distance to a park. Pretty apples to apples IMO. But instead of a barely updated house with a one-car garage, we got a gutted/redone house zoned to great elementary and junior high schools. WHY anyone would pay that much for a barely updated Oak Forest home is beyond me.
You also have to understand, location location location….a lot of buyers who do not want to commute from the suburbs are willing to sacrifice the nice, shiny house for location.
They are willing to live in a older ranch home and either remodeled it or tear it down in the future.
I still believe GOOF is overpriced. Wish I had picked up some additional property there, though. A friend is looking to make a killing after having built a home out there just a few years ago.
We moved to meyerland proper (ie kolter Es and bellaire hs zoned) last year, to same sq footage but larger lot 9 thou, with 2 car garage, also in floodplain; for 366. Much closer to museum district and parks we like taking the kids to. Never got the appeal of goof. We moved from our 3 story box in shady acres, after living there 9 years.
$450K is realistic for the area for this home–some updates, but not completely redone–for now anyway.
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A comparable in section 18 just sold for 489K in January. The house next to us (total remodel in 2008 which sold for 280K then) sold last month for 486K. A new build on Brimberry completed in November was asking 724.9K – recently reduced to 699K–a block east a well kept but largely original home w/1 car attached garage is asking 329K (I think) and two doors away is a completely redone (“I’m Gorgeous Inside”) no garage because it was converted to living space long ago is was just reduced to 488K from around 519K. These are just the ones I am aware of from walking my dog.
Interesting that some people here are comparing homes and values in Meyerland and GOOF. Both are adjacent to nicer/more in demand neighborhoods of West U and The Heights. Both are penned in on the other side by really downmarket areas ( West Airport corridor and Acres Homes). Both are about the same distance from employment centers of the Galleria and Downtown. But Meyerland has always been taken care of a little better over intervening years.
Oak Forest has more retail, grocery stores and closer to Galleria and Downtown offices, Energy Corridor.
Overall Oak Forest along with Garden Oaks have bigger lots too
What?!? Oak forest is not closer to the Galleria and Downtown than Meyerland. Oak Forest * may* have more grocery stores (like a tiny HEB and FoodTown on TC Jester) adjacent to it but Kroger on 43rd/Ella is the only one I can actually put in Oak Forest proper. Oak Forest doesn’t have more retail–NW Mall is useless, while Meyerland has its own mall/shopping center. Oak Forest has average lots of 7200 – 7600 sq ft, I cannot imagine Meyerland has smaller average lots, in fact Meyerland lots strike me as slightly larger on average.
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Oak Forest is closer to the Energy Corridor. Oak Forest is a decent place to live, with convenient access to many things, but it ain’t all that. . .
I lived in shady acres 9 years and now live in meyerland; I get to the galleria–when forced to go—much quicker now. Also we are much closer to med ctr for kiddo dr appointments and going to the zoo. I don’t think energy corridor access is important to all.
Q mom – I personally think there is a lot of overhyping and GOOF-boosterism (GOOFsterism?) about the area. Maybe that’s true for every neighborhood, but as a long-time resident, I don’t understand the excitement. Sure, now there’s a Berryhill – but there goes the Mobil station that did my car inspections and the little snowcone shack that operated during the warmer weather. Now you can choose from Pizza Hut, Dominoes and Papa Murphy’s. Now you can get a payday loan in addition to selling your blood if you need quick cash. . .
Google maps shows from the corner of West 43rd and Oak Forest Blvd to San Felipe and Post Oak is 6.6 miles. Braeswood and Chimney Rock to the same corner pegs in at 6.3 miles. Not much difference.
Oak Forest Library to the Chase Tower is 8.5 miles. Braeswood/Chimney Rock to the Chase Tower runs 11.5 miles.