Swamplot Archives by Tag: Price Adjuster

Monday, July 20, 2009

Swamplot Price Adjuster: Hunter Green in Downtown Rosenberg

July 20, 2009 – 12:16 pm

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: 812 2nd St., Rosenberg
Details: 3-4 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths; 3,793 sq. ft. on a 33,600-sq.-ft. lot. “Second home” on property “needs work.”
Price: $279,900
History: Listed since June 24th at the current price.

Declares the reader who’s nominating this property:

This house just went up for sale in Rosenberg’s downtown. The problem I have with it is that the listing seems totally incorrect, as there’s no way this is on 33,600 sf lot. The house, built in the 1920’s, can’t possibly be almost 4k sf either. I’ve driven around, looked at the arial view on Zillow from all sides, and I can’t picture it.

Even if it is a large lot, it’s surrounded by commercial property, with some kind of electrical grid (?) right behind it and public street parking right in front. The metal roof is sliding off in chunks, and you can see that from the bridge right behind it, where everyone can see the top of the house. Why is there a bridge? Because the railroad yard is right there! The so-called 2nd house on the property is very old rental units that look so diseased that the only option would be to tear it down. There’s no garage, so at least there’s be a place for one after that’s gone.

The appeal is lacking from the front no doubt, but the inside décor has that beat. Gold and hunter green don’t usually win the interior design popularity contests these days.

What would be a better price?

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12:16 pm | 3 Comments | Read more about Homes for Sale, Neighborhoods: Rosenberg, Price Adjuster
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Monday, July 6, 2009

Swamplot Price Adjuster: Game Time in Bayou Woods

July 6, 2009 – 3:27 pm

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: 8906 B Memorial Dr., Bayou Woods
Details: 7 bedrooms, 5 1/2 baths; 7,521 sq. ft. on a 25,740-sq.-ft. lot
Price: $1,650,000
History: On the market for more than 2 1/2 years. 8 separate price reductions, totaling $925K. Just cut $100K at the beginning of this month.

Says the nominator of this home:

This place is just too much. Really. I mean … 22 ft. ceilings in the Living Room? Who’s got that much of a swelled head? And 2 separate game rooms? One of them has its own kitchen and dining room! I think “built for builder” says it all.

But what do I know? At only 7,500sf maybe it’s not grandiose enough for the new Bayou Woods.

I don’t really know much about this place, but it sure has been hanging around on the market for awhile.

What should the price be?

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3:27 pm | 20 Comments | Read more about Homes for Sale, Neighborhoods: Bayou Woods, Price Adjuster
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Monday, June 29, 2009

Swamplot Price Adjuster: Boulevard Oaks by the Square Foot

June 29, 2009 – 2:48 pm

Why hasn’t this cute little cottage on South Blvd. in Boulevard Oaks been snapped up yet?

Location: 1930 South Blvd., Boulevard Oaks
Details: 5 bedrooms, 6 full and 4 half-baths; 7,863 sq. ft. on a 10,140-sq.-ft. lot
Price: $2,450,000
History: Original home on property torn down in fall of 2007. Listed for $2.6 million during construction; price cut $150K last Halloween.

Our nominator writes in:

I’ve walked through this home. It’s a vacuous monument to the “price per square foot” itch that’s infected so many builders trying to make a buck in fancier neighborhoods. If you can get $300 a square foot for a 3,000 square foot house, why not build a 6,000 square foot house and double the take? And think of the bonus you could get for 7,863!

So the design becomes a ridiculous exercise in racking up square footage for no useful reason. Most of the experience of this house consists of walking down long, built-to-impress but useless hallways. The master bedroom is big enough to skate in.

This place only looks like a great deal on paper. I hope studying this home will make realtors and builders and buyers and appraisers think twice about applying mindless per-square foot pricing formulas.
Because this is what you end up with.

So . . . how should you price it?

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2:48 pm | 23 Comments | Read more about Home Prices, Homes for Sale, Neighborhoods: Boulevard Oaks, Neighborhoods: Hermann Hospital Estates, Price Adjuster
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Monday, June 22, 2009

Swamplot Price Adjuster: Sweet Home on Alabama

June 22, 2009 – 11:29 am

Is this house on W. Alabama in First Montrose Commons priced . . . too low?

Location: 409 W. Alabama St., First Montrose Commons
Details: 3-4 bedrooms, 4 1/2 baths; 2,558 sq. ft. on a 7,812-sq.-ft. lot
Price: $449,900
History: On the market for a month and a half. Price cut $50K a month ago.

“Why should this house be listed for more?” asks a Swamplot reader:

Because it is really large in square footage (2,558) and lot size (7,812 sf) and in addition to the main house, there is a nice carriage house in back that could be a home office, in-law quarters, rental apartment, or given that it’s Montrose, a nightclub or tattoo parlor (kidding). Although it’s been 10 years since it was updated, I think the updates have held up and stayed fairly current with today’s design trends as evidenced by the kitchen’s under-mount, double stainless sink, cooking island, granite, tile floors and tile backsplash with custom dark wood cabinetry and upgraded appliances included (looks to me). Master bath has tile and granite; one of the secondary baths looks like it could use some serious updating.

Custom paint throughout, looks like big closets, nice hardwood floors (some look better than others), lots of French doors and a bright and sunny interior make this home, in my opinion, the quintessential (non-bungalow) Montrose residence. And then there’s the added bonus of a wrought iron fenced and gated (not cheap) property on a very eclectic street. Who needs TV when you live on W. Alabama? Just sit on the porch and watch the street life. Nice landscaping, too.

What would be a better price?

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11:29 am | 49 Comments | Read more about Homes for Sale, Neighborhoods: First Montrose Commons, Price Adjuster
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Monday, June 15, 2009

Swamplot Price Adjuster: Braeswood Landbank

June 15, 2009 – 8:41 am

A Swamplot reader thinks this 1959 ranch at the corner of Bellefontaine and Morningside in Braeswood is priced too high — even though the property is listed as “Pending Continue To Show”!

Here’s the scoop:

Location: 2401 Bellefontaine Blvd., Braeswood
Details: 4-5 bedrooms, 4 1/2 baths; 3,748 sq. ft. on a 14,436-sq.-ft. lot
Price: $700,000
History: Currently under contract. Listed as “Pending Continue to Show.”

Our nominator writes:

I was thinking about this property three ways.

It could be sold as a remodel (which would probably require $100K or more just to update surfaces - a little birdie told me, for example, about the bright purple shag carpet in the entire bedroom wing of the house) - if it was an updated large ranch on this prime corner it could probably get close to 800K on a resale IMO. So what would a “flipper” pay for that? I’m guessing in the 500’s.

It could be sold as a teardown. The land value here is good and probably won’t ever collapse, but it will not be generating any income for a couple of years at best. There is way too much inventory in the neighborhood right now (big houses, old houses, new houses, empty lots) for more building to make much sense.

It could be sold as a rental. I’m currently living in . . . a big beautiful ranch house that hasn’t been touched in 50 years. In some ways that’s neat, but in other ways (plumbing, electrical) it is not. So I’d guess the rental income here will be about $2700/month. What would be the math on that for a purchase? I think that would depend on how much cash you put into the house and if you were landbanking it. I’d still end up in the 500s.

So . . . you got a better number?

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8:41 am | 17 Comments | Read more about Home Prices, Homes for Sale, Neighborhoods: Braeswood, Price Adjuster
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Monday, June 8, 2009

Introducing the Swamplot Price Adjuster

June 8, 2009 – 11:54 am

Are you getting the sense that some properties on the market in the greater Houston area are priced a little . . . inappropriately? Then you’ll enjoy the brand new feature Swamplot is trying out. We’re calling it the Swamplot Price Adjuster.

Which properties will Price Adjuster feature? Ones you send in!

Here’s how it works: Send your nominations to Swamplot in an email. Make sure to include a link to the listing or photos. Tell us about the property, and explain why you think it’s worthy of a price adjustment. Then tell us what you think a better price would be. (Unless you request otherwise, all submissions will be anonymous.)

Swamplot Price Adjuster will feature the best submissions, and allow readers to comment on and quibble with the property’s pricing.

Does this sound like an interesting idea? Good, because we’ve already received our first Swamplot Price Adjuster submission, and it’s waiting for your proposed adjustments:

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11:54 am | 17 Comments | Read more about Home Prices, Neighborhoods: Park Place, Price Adjuster
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