The Swamplot Price Adjuster needs your nominations! Found a property you think is poorly priced? Send an email to Swamplot, and be sure to include a link to the listing or photos. Tell us about the property, and explain why you think it deserves a price adjustment. Then tell us what you think a better price would be. Unless requested otherwise, all submissions to the Swamplot Price Adjuster will be kept anonymous.
Location: 18 Eaton Sq.
Details: 4 bedrooms, 4 1/2 baths; 4,308 sq. ft. on a 3,924-sq.-ft. lot
Price: $2,150,000
History: On the market for 3 months. Price cut $100K in early July.
The nominator of this property asks:
What am I missing here? Sure, this place has lots of nice finishes and shelving. And it faces a cute little fountain. But it’s still a garage-front 3-story attached townhouse that backs up to an apartment complex, in the shadow of an office tower. If I had $2 million to spend — or more likely, borrow — I’d want something more …. I don’t know … more.
What would be a better price?
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I’d peg it at the tippy top of the townhouse market, maybe around $1.3 million, where it’s appraised. If you’re going to be spending around $40 thousand a year on taxes and maintenance fees for that lock-and-leave lifestyle, why not just grab a fancy overpriced high-rise condo with a better view instead?
Your thoughts?
….i dunno about the price, but I do know I don’t have enough books for that joint.
I’d peg it at the tippy top of the townhouse market, maybe around $1.3 million, where it’s appraised.
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Now, now, we all know the rich pull strings with HCAD and have their properties valued for half of the actual market value.
Well, Bill White did. Of course at this point the market value is probably less than the appraised value.
Sooner or later we are going to have a “half-price sale” although I do wonder how realtors who list these overpriced properties are managing to pay their bills. There are, after all, just so many stupid people from the East and West Coasts who think our real estate market is wonderful compared to theirs and of course just so many pretentious people who believe that the more they pay for a house the more important they are.
This place is so… bland. There is nothing really expensive, or exciting.
Something around $1 Million sounds more appropriate to me.
Other than a great location, this place is simply lacking… Location and size alone would put it around $1.2. I am also wary of any listing that doesn’t show bathrooms.
Umm, not to mention, did anyone notice the homeowner fees of $1,800+/quarter ($600+/month)…just plain crazy.
I think the seller in on crack. $2M for a garage with bland living quarters above it?
While I do not have much to spend (no where near even $1/2 million), I still have standards of not living above the garage. And, I can. In a relatively decent neighborhood….with only occasional (1-2 times/year) visits by a local crackhead for $$.
In fact, I don’t even have a garage, and yet, based on recent sales in the neighborhood, I expect a 25% appreciation at least on my property if I sell in the next few years.
Im my humble observances, I have noticed that the new construction only maintains plateau value or loses it while the older homes in the area gain. Sure, many homes may be sold for lot value, but if you buy a 60 year old home vs a 5-10 year old home, the difference is relative. (See low-end River Oaks, West U, Bellaire, Heights, Braeswood, etc).
In the Heights, the kept-up bungalows outpace the new-builds (on a square-footage basis) by far. They also sell in a few days (with many offers) vs months.
The wood flooring looks horrible, the kitchen cabinets look cheap (which likely means that they are outrageously expensive), and the view is disappointing.
If you want the place to sell quickly, price it at $750K. If you want the place to sell within a few years, price it at $1.25 Million. If you want the place to sell within this century, price it at $1.75 Million. And if you just want to delude yourself into thinking that the place will sell eventually, price it at $2.15 Million.
Needs more shelves.
I don’t know… if I were a dumb lottery winner or if I’d just received a big inheritance, and wanted to move from my 1-BR Class B into something fancy in a fancy location with no yard work RIGHT NOW, I’d jump at this, at or close to list. I mean, look at all those shelves for all the art and stuff I’m gonna buy!
Hold on though… where’s the pool?
$1,350,987
Aw, it ain’t that bad. Nothing a little Garden Ridge Pottery can’t spruce up (or maybe even World Market!!!).
I’d pay ~$400,000 ($100k more than my original thought since Fayez Sarofim would be a neighbor).
:P
You can walk to the Junior League!! it is a very pretty little gated place with neat cobblestones everywhere, but the neighborhood is all office space. Hell, im looking out of my office RIGHT NOW and into a neighbor’s 2nd floor porch!
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$500 a SF is unrealistic. It amazes me that people try this! I see it often enough that i cant call it dishonest. when a delusional person tells you something untrue, they are not conveying bad information on purpose, i guess. This is listed for 2x. It might even go for less than a million.
Based on the photos, I’d say a more appropriate price range would be between $950K and $1.1 million. It is bland and uninspired, almost institutional looking. And unless you’re a public library, I cannot imagine what will fill ALL those bookshelves.
A designer once told me you can buy old books by the yard if you want some nice old looking books for a space. It was a few years ago but I’m sure you can still do this.
I suppose someone who would buy a house like the one above might also be inclined to fill it with books just for show.