Jump to content

jdbaker

Full Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    258

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by jdbaker

  1. jdbaker
    Ding. Ding. Ding. We have winner. ^^ As a downtown resident, I couldn't be happier to hear this. Several people mentioned that there is already a CVS a few blocks south of MBar, which is true, but it's not that simple. This type of redundancy is essential for a bona fide pedestrian neighborhood. Case in point, I live seven blocks north of the Main St. CVS, but I rarely walk there. It's a 15-20 minute walk, which translates into a 30-40 minute round trip, making it walkable (if barely) but less efficient than driving to the CVS on West Gray. The Mbar/Walgreen location is only three blocks away. This translates into translates into a 10-15 minute round trip, which is quicker than driving to W.Gray. It does sound like a big deal, but it is. The tipping point is somewhere within those extra 4 blocks. Why does this matter? First, I would pay 5-10% more in rent for this conveinece, and I suspect I'm not alone. Not using your car can become very addicitive. Second, this means one more person (that isn't homeless or club hopping) is on Main St after business hours, which in turn makes all those other Main St. store fronts a little more valuable. While bars and resteraunts are great, it is impossible to understate the value of having everyday necessities within 5 minutes of your front door.
  2. jdbaker
    Any word on the reason for the closure? Perhaps this is an early sign that the downtown market is starting to mature a little bit. Of course it could also have to do with that shooting a few months back.
  3. jdbaker
    Have you considered purchasing a single family home instead of a condo? You can buy a very nice, historic single family home a block or two from the beach for around $100 psf.
  4. jdbaker
    Well, you can purchase a condo in virtually any pre-existing building in Houston for less than $300 per square foot. If a quality product, accounting for developer profit, is going to cost more than $250-$300 psf then I think you're going to be fighting an uphill battle to differentiate your product from the pre-existing condo stock.
  5. jdbaker
    I'm not suggesting that these buildings cannot be successful from a developer's or lender's standpoint. As other have pointed out, there are a lot of wealthy individuals in Houston that may not be concerned about the re-sale value of their purchase. For these individuals buying a new condo might be a little buying a new car in that you expect depreciation rather than appreciation. In short, the sales office may succeed in selling enough units to re-pay the lender and clear a profit, however, when it comes to resale the initial buyers will lose money.
  6. jdbaker
    I respectfully disagree. I suspect there are few, if any, highrise projects in Houston that have paid off handsomely for pre-sale buyers. Furthermore, I'll wager that most new condo buyers fair miserably in terms of resale value as compared to simialry priced, single family homes, purchased at the same time, in the same market area. If you take a look at Har.com, you'll see that older (say 10 years or more) highrises do not command the premiums that newer buildings do. More often than not, residential buildings do not age gracefully. Maintance fee typically increase with age as well. The net result, is that buildings becomes less desirable as compared to the new project down the street. This phenomenon is most pronounced in uptown. With so much land available in nearly all parts of Houston, their isn't much upside to highrise condo's because increased demand can easily be aborbed by building new highrises. Even if land prices increase as a result of the added demand it makes little difference, because the cost of land is so little relative to the cost of constructing the improvement (compare to NY where the opposite is true). Thus, there is little upward pressure in terms of appreciation. To succeed in Houston, highrises need to be located in areas where land is scarce or prohibitively expensive, and as a result there is no single family housing available in the immediate vicinity and limited oppurtunities for new highrises. In my opionion, there are only two market areas that fit this catagory, Downtown and the Medical Center. And, while these markets command some of the highest prices PSF in Houston, condo or otherwise, neither location has paid off handsomely for the typical new condo buyer.
  7. jdbaker
    You have a great deal more faith in HOA's than I do.
  8. jdbaker
    Fair enough. I'm assuming that you have an interest in this development, and it was not my intention to criticize the validity of your project. I think it's a great looking building, and by all means, I wish you success. However, from a buyers perspective, I think it's more difficult to justify the cost of luxury high-rise condo ownership in Houston than in most other cities. It will be interesting to find out whether there is a market for high-rise living at $400-$500 psf given the availability of nearby single family homes at less than $300 psf. With land prices generally under $200 psf (and more often under $100) in the most expensive parts of the city, it's going to be a while before land prices offset the cost of building up 20-30 stories. As a result, Houston buyers who choose high-rise living pay a substantial premium for their housing choice when compared to buyers of single family homes within the same neighborhood. This a big difference between Houston and Cities like NY, DC, or Boston, where building up dramatically lowers the cost psf of living space. The other problem is that Houston's property taxing scheme amplifies the penalty imposed on those who pay a premium for housing. It's one thing to pay 1.5x to 2x more psf in terms of purchase price, as this is money the buyer could reasonably expect to recoup. I suspect this wouldn't deter most of those who have the money and the desire to live in a high-end high-rise. However, the burden of paying 3% in taxes on an assessment that is 1.5x-2.0x higher than a nearby single family home is significant, and I suspect this is where you start to significant portion of the potential market.
  9. jdbaker
    The $1000 psf was a typo, as you can see I corrected it later in the paragraph. $400-$800 is the correct figure according to har.com. As for the New York reference, I was being facetious. I'm well aware that comparable units in NYC would cost well in excess of $400-$800. However, I'm also aware that these prices are at least equally out of place in Houston as they would be in NY. Property is assessed at market value (i.e. purchase price) in Harris County. My understanding is that a typical homeowner is taxed at a little over 3% of the assessed value (w/o homestead exemption). So, assuming a purchase price of $800 psf at 3% yields $24 psf in yearly property taxes. Am I missing something?
  10. jdbaker
    And, they're asking $400-$800 psf. As a buyer you would get slammed in three ways. First, $.65 psf in HOA fees is way, way too much for a new building. You can purchase a lot of services ala carte for that money. Second, they're asking $400-$800 psf. These prices would be very competitive, in New York. Then as a reward for setting the new $ psf record for all Houston residential real estate you'll get to pay record taxes psf. Can you imagine paying $24 psf per year in property tax?
  11. jdbaker
  12. jdbaker
    I'm hoping that someone here might have a little information about the Beaconsfield. I know the maintenance fees are sky high ($.64 psf), and that the building is the process of having it's original hand operated elevators replaced. If anyone has additional information to add to this I would be highly appreciative. Thanks.
  13. jdbaker
    I think Houston's high property tax rates are directly responsible for the townhome phenomenon. Many historical homes that ultimately become teardowns are under 1200 sq ft, with a significant amount closer to 1000 sq ft. When the value of land in a given area rises several intervals beyond the value of the 1200 sq ft structure/house sitting on that land something has to give. Consider what happens with a typical Montrose/Midtown 1200sq ft bungalow on a 5000sq ft lot. First, you'll be paying to $250 per sq ft for living space, compared to $100-$150 for a townhome. The bigger problem is your tax bill. Assuming the Homestead deduction is available, you'll be taxed at approximately 2.5%, or $500 per month. This works out to a little over .40 cents per sq ft of living space, per month in property tax alone, most of which is a result of your backyard. Needless to say, this is not a good deal for homeowners. Homeowners are left with two possible solutions. First, build a bigger house (i.e. West U), either by tearing down or adding on. The problem with this approach is that many buyers are priced out of the market altogether. The second approach is to subdivide the property into narrow lots and build vertically (i.e. townhomes). Given Houston's lack of zoning, and the upper limit on potential buyers for $500,000 homes, it's not surprising that townhomes are the favored approach in neighborhoods lacking restrictive covenants.
  14. jdbaker
    Wow, thanks to everyone for such great postings. It sounds as though these neighborhoods are exactly what I'm looking for. After living in DC proper for the past three years, I've grown accustomed to living in neighborhoods that share many similarities with the Third Ward, of course in DC the homes start at 1-1.5 million. A lack of high-end grocery stores, being a minority (I'm white), and living near poor people are all non-issues for me. Driving across 288 for the first time, I was immediately taken back by the wide boulevards, palm trees, and large 1930's era homes. It's really beautiful in parts, and in many way seems to have a great deal more potential than the heights. I'm really curoious as to how man Houstonians are even aware of these areas. Also, given Houston's property taxing scheme, living in an area with depressed property values seems to be a win-win situation for homeowners. Assuming little or no appreciation, then you are rewarded with property taxes that are a fraction of the $15000-$30000 per year that your neighbors in West U will be paying for similar square footage. If property values start to climb, well, that wouldn't really be so bad either. Am I missing something?
  15. jdbaker
    My fiance and I will be moving from DC to Houston in May. She is originally from Houston, and while I am not, I was fortunate enough to spend several weeks in Houston this summer. We're both extremely excited to be leaving DC, and moving to a city where two young professionals will not be priced out of the housing market. I did quite a bit of exploring in the downtown vicinity during my time in Houston and I really like what I saw. In particular, I'm very intrigued by the Binz neighborhood for its proximity to Hermann Park, the Museums, and downtown. This area appears to be in the midst of being redeveloped and it seems like a tremendous bargain compared to properties just west of Main. I also like Washington Terrace, Riverside Terrace, and the other close neighborhoods east of 288. While I realized these areas are a bit sketchy, the architecture is great and all things considered the price seems right. My impression is that property crime (which I can tolerate) is more of an issue than violent crime (which I cannot), but I was hoping that some of you might be able offer a bit of insight on this. Likewise, I would greatly appreciate any advice that you might have regarding these neighborhoods. Thanks.
×
×
  • Create New...