09/12/14 1:45pm

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The frontrunner on a split lot with a shared driveway, this 2002 contemporary in the Westhaven Estates area captures space for a splash zone courtyard. Sculpted landscaping and decorative panels soften the curbside appearance of the sturdy wall erected near the sidewalk on Inwood Dr., south of San Felipe Rd. between Nantucket and Potomac drives. The front property’s relisting by a new agent this week set a $1.139 million asking price. Back in February, a previous market appearance had begun with a $1.195 million price tag. A reduction in April, to $1.145 million, briefly snagged a contract in June before the property took off for the summer.

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Front and Center
09/02/14 4:30pm

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To create some buzz about an updated 1929 cottage with bumble bee trim tones in a section of the Heights dubbed Pinelawn, viewing of the property was put on hold until the weekend, several days after its listing last month for $437,500. Tiers of patios, porches, decks, and pavers help extend the living space outdoors. The fully-fenced corner compound is located up the block from Field Elementary School.

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Clocking in at $437,500
08/28/14 4:30pm

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Too late. The mid-summer rental-rate reduction to $4,495 per month for this renovated 1967 Meyerland home expired with today’s re-listing of the property. The ask is back up to the $4,600 per month of its original rental listing, dating from early July 2014. Or you could flat-out buy the place. The for-sale listing, pegged at $657,500, also popped up on the market today.

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Love It or Lease It
08/21/14 3:15pm

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Up next: This 1953 ranchburger with modernized trimmings in Braes Terrace (top). Had you looked at this Buffalo Speedway corner lot property when it was listed in March (at right), you’d have found it priced at $369,000. (It sold quickly, for $361,000.) Earlier this week, a re-imagined spread at the same address hit the market with a $698,000 price tag. In addition to designer-driven cosmetic tweaks, the overhaul included new electrical wiring and plumbing, roof, French doors, garage door, side deck and driveway. Do the results merit a $337K leap?

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Smooth Moves
08/05/14 2:45pm

142 S. Tranquil Path Dr., Grogan's Mill, The Woodlands, Texas

142 S. Tranquil Path Dr., Grogan's Mill, The Woodlands, Texas

You couldn’t have built a home like this secluded, sprawling number in a woodsy corner of the Grogan’s Mill section of The Woodlands without really liking bricks. The washed-brick exterior sets up against an expansive brick driveway set in a tightly woven herringbone pattern. Inside, lighter brickwork makes some sort of bricky statement in most rooms downstairs. The listing in mid-July, asking $2.395 million, wants you to know that the 2009 home drew inspiration from southern Louisiana; perhaps this explains the decorative or structural lagniappe worked into each room’s features.

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From The Woodlands to the East
08/01/14 4:00pm

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Who — or maybe what — was Ike and why does his tree get a namesake street in the Augusta Creek Pointe neighborhood in Spring? Sure, there was the notable hurricane by that name, but Ikes Tree Dr., which slices through the semi-shaded 64-lot section of The Creeks at Augusta Pines golf course community east of Kuykendahl Rd. and north of FM 2920, was in place by the beginning of 2008. The semi-custom, non-gated neighborhood’s model home, built by J. Kyle Homes in 2011, went onto the market this summer with a $409,563 asking price.

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Do You Like Ikes?
07/17/14 12:15pm

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Does navigating to and through a gated community in which all streets have the same name ever get confusing? Amid the 125 or so homes comprising The Park at Clearview, glommed onto the south side of S. Main St. just south of West Bellfort, a handful face the development’s main interior roadway. One of them, on a corner lot looking east from its fanciful entryway, popped up on the market on Monday. Asking price: $230,000.

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Off South Main
06/24/14 4:15pm

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Could the crop of buildings forming downtown Houston’s skyline viewed from a rooftop terrace north of Avondale be the “garden” reference in a contemporary townhome 3-pack  dubbed “El Jardin Moderno?” Or maybe it’s the wispy palm trees that sharply mark the 2004 property’s portals? Or perhaps it’s the color use inside, where each level interprets a slice of the spectrum:

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Taking a Long View
06/09/14 5:00pm

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The floor plan may qualify as “open,” but rooms take shape nonetheless (top) in a compact 1960 Holly Park home that was listed in late May with a $375,000 asking price. The updated property sits mid-block on a street in the middle of its neighborhood, which is located near Timbergrove Manor, south of W. 18th St. near the West Loop feeder road’s transition into the North Loop.

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Tidy and Tiny
05/16/14 3:15pm

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It’s a square-off. One of Arquitectonica’s colorful, cube-studded townhomes on Graustark St. is back on the market, a year after its last sale, for $345K. This time around, the 30-year-old contemporary property’s asking price is $449,200.

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All in a Row
05/15/14 12:15pm

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The clipped front lawn of a 1950 home in Ayrshire might be its tidiest feature. “CURRENTLY A MESSY BACHELOR PAD BUT A QUICK REHAB WILL MAKE IT SHINE,” screams the description put up earlier this week. Asking price: $535,000. Is the warning meant to make viewers yell to themselves OH IT DOESN’T LOOK SO BAD? Or do the photos already portray the place in its best light?

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Dude, Where’s My House?
04/22/14 1:15pm

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Layers of lacquer lend some extra shimmer to the glossed interior of a 1978 contemporary home located in Raintree Place. The gated community of 86 homes — built in a variety of styles over a 20-year period — lies east of the West Loop near the end of Post Oak Blvd. The reflective residence was listed last week with an asking price of $975,000.

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Polishing Silver
04/18/14 10:30am

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Corner windows sharpen the edges of a buffed-up 1956 home with mod-fied interior (top) located on a corner lot in Shepherd Forest. The walkway across the lawn (above) leads to the street that determines the property address, but the tomato-red front door faces the cross street. So does the double-bay garage tucked closer to the utility easement running behind the fully fenced property.  Earlier this week, the sideways-sited home landed on the market. Its $279,000 asking price is just over $100K more than when it last sold, back in August 2011.

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Corner Pocket