07/06/09 3:27pm

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?

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

07/02/09 11:49pm

Now who won that box of Crave Cupcakes?

Someone who played this week’s Neighborhood Guessing Game — and made one of these guesses: The Woodlands (there were 5), Kingwood (also 5), Tanglewood (3), “somewhere along Buffalo Bayou” (3), Tomball (3), Champion Forest (2), Conroe (2), Magnolia (2), Cypress (2), near Kingwood Country Club (2), Spring, Sherwood Forest, Hunter’s Creek Village, “the area around Briar Forest and Gessner somewhere along Buffalo Bayou,” near Memorial and Voss, “the Wirt/Westview area,” “north of The Woodlands, maybe on the east side of I-45 near the Crighton Ridge neighborhood off Crighton Road, south of Conroe,” Bayou Woods, Memorial “just off one of those small streets east of Gessner,” “between Kirby where it veers east into Allen Parkway and Shepherd,” near the Raveneaux Country Club, near Lake Houston, near Briar Forest and the Beltway, “inside the Beltway along Memorial Dr. between Voss and Gessner,” Lakeside Forest, Ponderosa Forest, “somewhere off Cypress Creek,” Clear Lake, Brook Forest, Lakewood, Friendswood, Broad Oaks, Briar Manor, Crestwood, Glen Cove, “around a bayou,” “on Saddlebrook, right off Memorial east of Chimney Rock,” “Waller/Tomball somewhere nestled along Spring Creek,” “the Hudson area off Memorial,” Lake Livingston, Panorama Village, Hunterwood, Splendora, “in them thar hills to the north and west of Tomball proper,” “in the Hirsch-Little York-Homestead-Tidwell box near Tidwell Park,” Saddlewood, Sandalwood, “down Baytownish,” “in the back of The Woodlands,” Spring Branch, Hilshire Village, near Memorial and Piney Point, Rivercrest north of Briar Forest, Briargrove Park, near the Lakeside Country Club, off Briar Drive next to Tanglewood.

Whew! That’s a lot of househunting. This week’s winner is the mysterious IHeartSwampLot — for this entry:

This sucker is on a MONSTROUS lot with tons of pine trees. That could be just about anywhere in the northern fringes of the metro area. How we gonna narrow this down? Well, the furniture and kitchen just SCREAM 80s and the windows, they lead me to believe there’s quite a sight to behold out in the backyard, such as a lake but the trees are too close for that. Creek? Big hill? It also would appear that it is either a two story or the back of the house is raised. Maybe it is just a hill. Can’t be the Woodlands…the setting feels to secluded. Magnolia probably was still waaaaay too far out back in the 80s. Conroe area is kinda trashy, and this is a nice house. Could be non-lakefront property near Lake Conroe, but again, the seclusion would indicate otherwise. Tomball doesn’t seem right either, flat as a pancake out there. Time for the maps…where do we have hills and pine trees, and possibly a water feature on the fringes of 1980s Houston civlization? Kingwood comes to mind, but it isn’t terribly hilly. Further up the road we have Splendora but that seems kinda far out. Panning back to the west it would appear that there’s creeks in them thar hills to the north and west of Tomball proper.

Congratulations! A dozen cupcakes from Crave Cupcakes in Uptown Park will soon be on their way to you! (Thanks to Crave Cupcakes for sponsoring the prize this week.)

Also in the neighborhood: runners-up elnina, CK, and Jessica1. Great work!

A special commendation goes to Cynthia, who knew the home, wrote in with the listing, and then posted this deceptive guess:

Oh, I love it! It reminds me of my grandparents’ patio home built in the 80s out near Briar Forest and the Beltway…all that modernism mixed with wood and stone but more traditional, yet stylish, furniture.

BUT this is what they dreamed of owning. It’s definitely bigger than a townhome, with more greenery, and requires much more $$$.

I’m guessing my grandparents’ dream house is more inside the beltway along Memorial Dr between Voss and Gessner.

Did that knock you off track?

And where is this place?

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

06/29/09 2:48pm

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?

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

06/26/09 12:09pm

Vacant home for sale, in need of staging. Antique dealer from out of town, needs showroom space. Idea?

Joni Webb reports on Cote de Texas that New Orleans antique dealer Mignon Favrot Topping has gone into the business of staging for-sale homes. But: She leaves the price tags on.

What better way to show off the brand-new 4-bedroom, 5,822-s.-ft. fantasy home designed by Robert Dame at 3015 Virginia, which has been listed for almost 3 months. The price was cut $100K in April, leaving an asking price of $1.875 million.

If that’s still too much, now you can walk away with a piece of it for maybe a little less.

The listing photos still show an empty house:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

06/25/09 9:39pm

Who won that membership in the Rice Design Alliance?

Someone who made one of these guesses in this week’s game: Meyerland (there were 2 of them), Oak Forest, Garden Oaks (2 as well), Spring Branch, “somewhere along Brays Bayou near the Loop,” “the south side of Braeswood between Stella Link and Kirby,” Highland Village, Linkwood, Westbury, Spring Oaks, Timbergrove Manor, Lazybrook, Glenbrook Valley (2), Conroe, on Lake Conroe, “out Westpark/Richmond in the Dairy Ashford area,” Bellaire, “somewhere within a quarter mile of Westview from Gessner to Antoine,” Willow Meadows (2), Afton Oaks, Memorial Plaza, Rustling Oaks, Braes Heights, Quail Valley, Westbury, “Old Kingwood/Porter area,” “somewhere south of Bellaire Blvd. very close to Pershing Middle School,” Southside Place, Memorial Bend (2), Pearland, Alvin, Lake Jackson, “Memorial Spring Branch side, right outside of Beltway 8,” Spring Valley, Westbury, “adjacent to Pirates Beach and Galveston Country Club, on Lake Como, on Christmas Point,” or Maplewood.

Vincent, Em, and marmer all had guesses in the neighborhood. But our judges said this entry came with the best explanation:

No one’s said Memorial Bend yet? Really? Gotta go with that because of the interior brick and the triangular bedroom clerestory. Also the big picture window and the high window in the dining area, and the open floor plan. They’re trying to fight the good fight against the McMansions.

Vincent and Em are the runners-up. And marmer wins a one-year individual membership in the RDA. Congratulations!

Now where are we?

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

06/22/09 11:29am

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?

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

06/18/09 6:33pm

Guess it didn’t really matter too much that there’s no prize to give out to the winner of this week’s Neighborhood Guessing Game. None of you would have won it anyway.

Weren’t there enough guesses? There were 2 of you who guessed Meyerland, 2 who guessed Willowbend, 2 for Bellaire, 2 for Clear Lake, and 2 for Oak Forest. Not to mention Wilchester, “somewhere between Wirt and Blalock,” “around Timmons Lane,” River Oaks, Garden Oaks, Southgate, Gulf Freeway Oaks, Pearland, Alief, Braeburn Valley West, “the Pasadena Arts & Crafts fair, booths 1-30,” “off Briar Forest, west of Beltway 8, east of Dairy Ashford,” “between Westheimer, Briar Forest, Dairy Ashford, and Kirkwood,” Glenbrook Valley, Linkwood, “Hunter’s Valley/Hunter’s Wood or Prestonwood or Lakewood or Heatherwood or something with the word wood in it,” “in smelling distance of Bellaire/Beltway 8 Chinatown,” on Fountainview, north of Memorial between Wilcrest and Kirkwood, Greenwood Forest, Hunter’s Creek Village, Timbergrove Manor, Lazybrook, “close to Traders Village or Old Towne Spring,” Spring, Maplewood, Oakbrook subdivision in Clear Lake, Briarmeadow, Copperfield, “the Kempwood/Gessner area,” Flower Mound, Garden Villas, Inwood Forest, “somewhere west of Oak Forest in the Antoine/Pinemont area,” Tanglewood, “that area below the old Rosewood Hospital,” Spring Branch, and “Augusta/Bering Drive area just north of San Felipe.”

Plenty of highly entertaining comments this week. But . . . no dice?

How about we roll with this one — since really, it’s the best we got:

i would guess this is actually an 80’s build somewhere in nw houston, maybe in hunter’s valley/hunter’s wood or preston wood or lakewood or heatherwood or something with the word wood in it.

Congratulations, brandy c, you’re this week’s winner!

But really, where is this place?

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

06/15/09 8:41am

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?

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

06/12/09 11:25am

The Heights Life draws attention to the 1,781-sq.-ft. 1915-vintage bungalow at 1620 Cortlandt St.:

When the property next door went on the market for lot value, a Heights family of five couldn’t resist the potential of a nice big yard for their own well-lived in bungalow. They bought the land, which happens to come with an adorable Craftsman home that currently sits on it.

So . . . it’s for sale. How much?

Because they essentially bough the land and the house is uninhabitable, they aren’t certain of the value. They are willing to consider different offers and work something out that benefits everyone. A very rough estimate would be $50-75k, based on some input they received from Historic Houston.

Photo of 1620 Cortlandt St.: The Heights Life

06/11/09 2:03pm

Who won that Rice Design Alliance membership?

Four of you guessed the Champions area in this week’s game. We also had 2 votes each for Quail Valley, Kingwood, and Sweetwater. The rest of your guesses? Atascocita, Huntwick Forest, Champion Forest, Meyerland, one of the Kickerillo neighborhoods off I-10, The Woodlands, Northgate, Sugar Creek, “Conroe-ish,” Sugar Land, Pearland, Green Tee Terrace, Newport in Crosby, Friendswood, near the Hearthstone Country Club, Deerwood Country Club, and Clear Lake Country Club, near Terry Hershey Park, Plano, Hilton Head, and Ashford Forest.

The winner is Beth, for catching . . .

The place has a Woodlandsesque sort of feel to it, spaciousness, pine trees, golf course, large cement pond….

Congratulations, Beth! You’ve won a one-year individual membership in the RDA!

Special shout-outs this week to skillful deceivers Cynthia and Porchman, both of whom wrote in with the actual listing, then helped lead other players astray. Cynthia’s entry:

Totally 70s redo (but kept the wood accents in a lot of rooms for dead give away). Big house and lot with pool in an older suburb near or on golf course…Sugar Land! Let’s say Sweetwater!

and Porchman’s:

Well, if you’re going to do the whole earth tone thang in updating your 70’s home, why not throw in a bit of camouflage, too? To complete, they should string mosquito netting off the beams in the family room. I’m going to say Champions area either near a golf course or maybe adjacent to one of those creeks in that area.

Come home to The Woodlands, everyone!

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

06/05/09 3:41pm

Houston, the Toll Brothers have been looking for just the right home for you:

“We have been studying the Houston market for a long time and have been looking for the right opportunity to enter it,” Robert Toll, chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement. “In 2008, Houston was the second-largest home building market in the nation.”

Actually, the “nation’s leading builder of luxury homes” is headed to The Woodlands. The Pennsylvania-based company, which already operates in Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, and San Antonio, promises its first houses in the Village of Creekside Park will be complete early next year. Sales will begin this August.

Toll Brothers at Creekside Park will offer homes on 80′ wide home sites and will showcase five floorplans with multiple exterior designs.

A Swamplot reader comments on the photo accompanying the announcement that appeared in the Houston Business Journal:

The story includes a photo of one of the exterior choices: A French provincial pastiche. What in the name of pete does anything like this have to do with the climate and traditional architectural style of the Gulf Coast? Do the Toll Brothers even pay attention?

Well, that may not have been the company’s intent. On its own website, Toll Brothers illustrates its press release with this separately tuned sample:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

06/04/09 4:53pm

Who’s the winner of that steak dinner at the new Fleming’s in Town & Country Village?

This week’s Neighborhood Guessing Game sparked quite a few guesses. We had “on the south side of Memorial Drive, west of Westcott… whatever that subdivision is named,” Memorial Park, West University (2 guesses), Southside Place, Crestwood, Glencove, Afton Oaks between Banbury Place and Vossdale, the northern half of Afton Oaks, “the denser part of River Oaks around Shepherd and San Felipe,” Southampton (3), Memorial, Camp Logan (2), River Oaks, River Oaks just north of Westheimer near River Oaks Park, “the 77019 zip around Dunlavy, Waugh and West Gray area,” North Braeswood, “this weird little dense pocket west of north of the Museum of Fine Arts, south of 59 and west of Montrose,” Warwick Square, West River Oaks near San Felipe, “the area just south of the River Oaks Shopping Center — something like Haddon or Welch or Vermont Street,” “on Tiel/Troon on the east edge of River Oaks,” “between 610, N. Post Oak, Memorial, & I-10,” Braes Heights, Ayrshire, Bellaire, “Memorial / Eldridge / Highway 6 area,” Bryker Woods, Meyerland, “West U/Rice Village area,” Hudson Oaks, “somewhere near the Houston Country Club, say around the San Felipe-Potomac-Bering area,” “Briargrove or an adjacent ‘hood, maybe around Nantucket or Potomac,” “Briargrove in between Briargrove and Potomac south of San Felipe and north of Westheimer,” Tanglewood, Tanglewilde, north of Rice, “that strange little pocket east of 610 & above Post Oak,” “Briar Hollow Lane-ish,” Southgate, Westhaven Estates, West Lane Place, around Sage near Buffalo Bayou, “River Oaks – south of Ella and north of Westheimer – perhaps near Rebecca Meyer Park,” “inside Beltway 8, west of downtown, north of Hwy. 90 and not in any of Houston’s original wards,” “north of Stude Park, east of Studemont,” Mid Lane, Hunters Creek Village, Tealwood, Sandalwood, The Woodlands, near Voss and Beinhorn.

The prize goes to the commenter who submitted this entry:

I agree with the river oaks guesses.
This house is huge, and everything in there says they have money to burn.
BUT, Big but though, it does appear to be on a small lot, so probably south of San Felipe and far away from ostentatious Kirby.
And its obvious they have several young kids, so I’m gonna say the area of River Oaks just north of westheimer, near River Oaks Park.

And later added:

The kitchen bay window appears to mirror the master bedroom bay window…which appear to be on either side of the living room window with the huge columns. So i no longer think this is a small lot… i think its a wide lot and this house uses up every available bit of it. And eventhough it looks from the exposed aggregate walk in the back that they might have swimming pool, the back yard doesnt appear very deep at all.

That’s close enough. Congratulations, Mike M! You just won dinner for 4 at Fleming’s Prime Steak House and Wine Bar in Town & Country Village! You’ll be receiving a gift certificate worth $200, sponsored by the restaurant.

Mike M just barely beat out mstark, who gets our (entirely steak-free) runner-up award for this guess:

Wow, the staging of this home is amazing! I especially love the screeching sculpture next to the toilet… I’d throw my hands up at that decor too. Vessel sinks seem like an early attempt at the trend. Lot’s of tacky art, huge slightly dated house, I’m going to WAG West River Oaks, near San Felipe.

What about all those other River Oaks guesses? They were close, but not quite close enough . . .

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

06/03/09 6:47pm

A househunter sends in a Washington Terrace find:

I’d hate for anyone to miss out on this former funeral home that could be used for “private living.” It comes complete with your very own chapel and it looks like it has plenty of garage space. Plus, it’s “near everything that’s good in Houston.” I bet there’s plenty of stainless steel in the kitchen and a giant walk in refrigerator!

It’s the former Jackson Mortuary building, at the corner of Wheeler and Live Oak. And there’s still plenty of light inside:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

06/03/09 12:02pm

A reader calls attention to the listing for 902 Rhode Place Unit C, heralding a brand-new 4-story multi-pack townhome with a singular location:

UNIQUE 4 STORY ROOF TOP TOWNHOUSE OVER LOOKING DOWNTOWN AND MEMORIAL PARK. 1 BLOCK FROM MEMORIAL PARK‘ALLEN PKWY AND TAFT.

The listing photos include the requisite Downtown skyscraper and Memorial Park jogger views shown above. So . . . what else is within eyeshot?

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

06/02/09 3:49pm

One highlight of the decorating sampler provided by the listing for 403 Lombardy Dr.: the Monkey Bed.

What’s more to see in this fine home for sale in Venetian Estates?

There’s the multicolor cloud motif gracing the Media Room:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY