Comments on: Swamplot Price Adjuster: Boulevard Oaks by the Square Foot

By: Astute Observer

Astute Observer — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 02:48:56 +0000

In today’s market this cottage is only worth $110 per sq. ft. tops. This means the real value is therefore $850,000. It is obvious that everyone is in denial about how the housing crisis has affected houston. There are piles and piles of unsold houses especially in the upper price ranges. Just peruse har.com as I have frequently throughout 2009. Virtually nothing is selling except for foreclosures. The banks will not lend if the house is overvalued as this one is. Time to get “real” about real estate!

By: Andrea C

Andrea C — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 15:08:42 +0000

Ok. For grins, we went to visit this house yesterday as it was open. I can’t figure out why a $2 million+ house can’t have single pieces of granite for the countertops. I’d expect to see seemless countertops, even for the island . . . that’s what I might see in a house that was under $700k. The house has been vacant too long . . . there’s lots of nice ideas, like pocket doors, but it seems that the humidity has warped many of the doors and you can see all the joints in the kitchen cabinets. The other weird thing was the power strip on the island. It looked like they took 2 regular powerstrips and put stain on them to make them “blend” into the island–something I might have thought was creative in a handyman’s special. I was told the house had central vac, but I didn’t see any sign of it other than the crumb sweeper in the kitchen.

Another sign that the house has been vacant too long: the pool looked liked the San Antonio River Walk after it’s been dyed green for St. Patrick’s Day. And why would you have a separate air handler to cool the outside patio?

I can understand wanting lots of windows/doors for light, but when they’ve been placed so there’s no room for furniture, you have to wonder. And why can’t the hall way upstairs be straight?

The downstairs bedroom was nice in theory. There was no lip to the shower, but the bathroom was probably still too small for a wheel chair to get into. In fact, I’m not sure the door way was wide enough for a wheelchair. Good thought, questionable execution.

Even in a “less desireable” location, I’d be hard pressed to think the quality of the construction and materials would warrant a price of over $1.1 (I give it a bit of a bump because the pool is already installed).

However, I think the builder may think it’s going into foreclosure because there are a number of missing plumbing fixtures and NO kitchen appliances(other than the 2 dishwasher).

Oh, and Bernard, even though there are nice cabinets for a work area in the garage, it’s only a 2 car garage.

By: markd

markd — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:36:54 +0000

“Then you start to get closer to Poe and some ghetto apartment complexes and it gets pretty hit or miss.”

That’s pretty funny, HG, ghetto apartment complexes. Is it because they are old that you refer to them as ghetto?

By: Houston gal

Houston gal — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:12:34 +0000

South Blvd is a beautiful street but it is not all created equal. You have the end of the Blvd (1300 block) where the lots can be 40,000 to 80,000 sq ft and your true historic mansions. Then you have the 1400 through 1800 blocks with some nice big 20,000 sq foot lots and multi million dollar beautiful homes. Then you start to get closer to Poe and some ghetto apartment complexes and it gets pretty hit or miss. That is where this house is. Plus, there isn’t a lot of new construction on South, much less spec houses so getting a meaningful comp is unlikely.

By: finness

finness — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:57:42 +0000

I have always heard that the formula for spec builders was as follows: the land is one quarter of the final selling price. If this was a 600k lot, the price makes sense. Anybody know their tear-down prices on S. Blvd?

By: GoogleMaster

GoogleMaster — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:05:58 +0000

According to one source, there are 19 months of inventory in the $1-2 MM range in Boulevard Oaks. Probably not enough data in the >2MM range to calculate months of inventory.

By: doofus

doofus — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:58:33 +0000

LT hits it out of the park. This house is FUGLY. It lacks the charm of nearly all of its neighbors. It is completely out of scale. The floorplan is insane. The materials used look like something you would find on a “flippers” episode for $500,000 properties. Additionally, if you look at the inventory in Boulevard Oaks-Southampton area, you’ll find that the market for spec homes isn’t that great. There are literally twice as many newer homes for sale in the Boulevard Oaks, Southampton, Chevy Chase, Jandor Gardens, Shadowlawn, and Shadyside areas as compared to what appear to be original homes.

By: elnina

elnina — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:57:25 +0000

I think that the seller compared it with another, already finished house in the nearest neighborhood - located on 1911 North Blvd – MLS (5212767). Both real estates are about the same house/lot size. The unfinished house appraised value will rise when is finished.
The seller of the finished house set the price below the value. If the price is right and reflect the demand, is another question.

By: Art Vandelay

Art Vandelay — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:50:31 +0000

Price should be lot value minus the cost to demolish and haul off this pile of crap.

By: LT

LT — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:36:37 +0000

I have not seen this house in person, so I’m judging this solely on the pictures - but perhaps it hasn’t sold because is’t so UGLY? South BLVD is such a beautiful street - I would love to live in any of the houses……except for this one. It looks like Home Depot on crack, which is not, in my amateur opinion, what most prospective home owners in that area want.

By: Bernard

Bernard — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 23:09:33 +0000

Comps, People. Show me some comps. That’s how you value real estate. If you’re going to make a ridiculous claim that this house should only be worth $1.3 million, please show me a similar house that has sold or is available for sale at that price.

Are you guys aware that South Blvd. is arguably one of the top ten most prestigious street to live on in Houston? The dirt alone is bound to be worth $750k.

Perhaps they crammed too many SF onto the lot. Perhaps there are too many hallways. No house is perfect. To me it looks like a damn nice house with a pool and THREE car garage (something I would LOVE).

By: justguessin

justguessin — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 23:08:50 +0000

Too bad this house is not kid-friendly (way too many hard surfaces) as it is close to Poe Elementary.

Also, let’s hope whoever buys this house is not the “naked neighbor” type. Anyone else hate the trend of huge windows and “see through” homes in new construction? Imagine trying to cool this house or trying to buy curtains in this house.

Another theory why this hasn’t sold…..basic supply & demand. There are tons of homes on the market in the $1-3 MM range in nice inside the loop locations. How many buyers can there actually be??