- 15406 Ensenada Dr. [HAR]
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Tag: Real Estate Marketing
- 7502 Satsuma St. [HAR]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: ENDING THE GAYWOOD EMBARRASSMENT “As a longtime resident of Gaywood, I can tell you we have had a lot of fun with that name. In fact, I have even entertained making the following motion at one of our homeowners’ association meetings: ‘In order to end the embarrassment we all suffer because of the name of this subdivision, we should remove that offensive, misleading, double-entendre word from the name. Therefore, I propose that we rename our subdivision . . . GayFOREST.’†[Scott, commenting on Daily Demolition Report: Capping Haddick]
After slinking its nameplate away from a prominent site in North Montrose sometime after the company’s name became a not-so-revered household word in the aftermath of the late-noughts financial meltdown and the $182 billion in government bailouts it received (see sign-free photo at right from last month), insurance giant AIG has decided the froth has subsided enough that it can call itself AIG again. This week a new shroud disguising a new-again three-letter logo was lifted on the 42-story America Tower — er, AIG Building — in the American General Center at 2929 Allen Pkwy.
- AIG to Revive AIG Name; Drop Chartis, SunAmerica Names [Insurance Journal]
- Previously on Swamplot: AIG Surrounded by Fog in Houston, Too
Photos: Candace Garcia
COMMENT OF THE DAY: POWER WASH THE DOME! “It has been about three years since I was V.P. of the company trying to convince Harris County to let us use the Astrodome as a movie production studio. at that time, my research into costs of sprucing up the building’s exterior revealed that plain old pressure washing could make a huge difference in the outside appearance. The company I consulted, specialists at cleaning large scale commercial buildings – like international airports – said it could be done for $500,000 or under. While that is a lot of money to most of us, it is not much compared to the negative P.R. ‘black eye’ that our dirty and forlorn-looking icon gives Houston. If only the Harris County Commissioners, the true stewards of the Dome, would clean up the exterior and do some landscape refreshing perhaps the grand old building would not appear so neglected to the rest of the world. While the interior still has grand promise, if only temporarily as a storage facility, the county should invest in putting the Astrodome’s best ‘face’ forward until its future use is determined. Hardly a day goes by that I don’t read about the Dome in the national media and blogs and it usually includes a negative nod to its appearance. This is something that CAN be done without a referendum!” [Cynthia Neely, commenting on The Astrodome’s New Gig: AstroTurf Storage Warehouse]
- W Bellfort Ave Daily Ashford area [LoopNet]
There’s a crack team of construction professionals readying this brand-new single-story on Prince St. in Timbergrove Manor for some lucky new owner. And looky here, out of the closet: Workers are bending over . . . uh, forwards to make sure the hardwood floorboards are aligned perfectly, deep in a pantry corner recess. It’s a view of the “Open Entertainers Floor Plan” touted in the listing. Maybe this space has been transformed into a kitchen by now, but isn’t it a whole lot more fun to see an action shot of the transformation in process?
- 1804 Hickory St. [HAR]
A MEADOWCREEK VILLAGE HELP-YOU-SELL 
“SELLER WILL DO NO REPAIRS,” shouts the listing. But . . . um, visitors to this past Sunday’s open house did bring their own period furniture to dress up a brick flat-roofed Modern 4-bedroom in Meadowcreek Village celebrating its 49th birthday — as a foreclosure. That was for Houston Mod’s hastily announced Mod of the Month event. The instant living room arrangement from Heights vintage shop The Mod Pod is gone now, but the 2,558-sq.-ft. vinyl-over-terrazzo home at 2042 Forest Oaks Dr. is still on the market at $99,900. [HAIF; listing] Photo: Mod Pod/Karen Moyers
- 1937 Norfolk St. [HAR]
NEW VOICE OWNERS DUMPING HOUSTON PRESS BACKPAGE ADS 
A well-trafficked source of ads for real estate in Houston and the rest of the country — and oh, by the way, escort ads often described as conduits for prostitution and human-trafficking schemes — is separating from the chain of alt weeklies that founded it. A group of Village Voice Media managers headed by company president Scott Tobias is buying out the chain of 13 city weeklies (and websites) that includes the Houston Press, the Village Voice, and LA Weekly. The Voice’s current owners will hold onto Backpage.com, the nation’s top venue for “body rub” ads. [Denver Post]
It “only” took 987 days to sell her Pearland home, Jenny Lawson announces. But did the Bloggess — and now bestselling author — shirk on that “No Zombies — sort of” guarantee she had offered on her single-story David Weekly model in Southern Trails back in 2010 when she first put it on the market? “In the middle of signing all of the paperwork,” she writes, “I mentioned to Victor that we should probably disclose that we buried that-guy-I-couldn’t-remember-the-name-of in our yard years ago and Victor looked at me like I’d lost my mind. Probably because you’re not supposed to say that in front of realtors. Then Victor told me to be quiet, but I mentioned that we’d probably go to hell for not digging the guy back up. Then Victor explained that I was talking about a saint I’d buried upside down in our front lawn to help sell the house and the realtor looked at us like we were insane because apparently she’s not Catholic. And technically neither are we, but at the time we were pretty desperate to sell the house and I was willing to bury just about anyone in the yard to stop having to pay two mortgages.”
EAST OF DOWNTOWN, AND NO ONE’S BITING 
“I need help,” writes the would-be seller of this townhome just north of the railroad tracks from East Downtown, a day after cutting the asking price down to $254,900. (It originally sold for $236K back in 2008.) “I read Swamplot daily and love seeing what your astute commenters have to say. I’ve lived in the Houston area my entire life but am new to selling a house around here. I’ve had my townhouse on the market for a few weeks now but haven’t had much traffic. I’m wondering if this is normal around here or maybe there’s just not enough buzz for my house. Is the pricing all wrong? Are the pictures awful? Is my agent doing enough (umm… Hi, mom!)? Is my ’hood too early in the gentrification stage? It really is a great house and a pretty cool neighborhood if I do say so myself! I’d love some advice from folks in the know.” [Swamplot inbox]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE TEARDOWN DOGWHISTLE “I found that calling a property a ‘Charming Bungalow’ on MLS is a way to send a message to developers ‘Lot Value!!!’ without offending the hipsters in the neighborhood. Much like other beloved MLS code phrases . . . Fixer upper = Utter Dump, beware of tetanus!, Up and coming neighborhood = Sleep with one eye open and a finger on the trigger, Cosy = you’re better off living in a closet where you are now, Great Art Scene = Masses of unbathed malcontents roaming the streets and coffee shops.” [Commonsense, commenting on Daily Demolition Report: Care for a Tower of Prayer]
COMMENT OF THE DAY: NAMING THE NEW STUDEMONT KROGER “. . . It’s ‘Broger’ because the guys that hang out at the bars on Washington are ‘dude-bros.’ ‘Party Kroger’ makes it sound like a place where one might have a party, but ‘Broger’ describes the people who will be shopping there.” [Eric, commenting on Up Pops the Studemont Kroger]