Mr. Smarts

My realtor let me know about a property for sale priced 55k UNDER hcad appraised value. The house obviously needs some work, but possibly no more than 20k of work(if your an investor you probably have contacts with contractors.) This is in a neighborhood where homes sell for 5-10k above appraised value. And this home is appraised at 108k and has been foreclosed on. Its for sale in the high 50s. I could make a killer profit on it. But I have already committed my money towards another home.

Any novice investors been in this situation before? Where you KNOW you could make a killer profit. I could purchase it, invest 20k in it, 5k for interest and taxes, for a total investment of 75k-80k, and sale it for 100k-110k.. UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All before years end.

Anyone else seen this property go up for sale?

http://search.har.com/engine/indexdetail.c...=0&backButton=Y

Eight lots (.56 AC) along 610 frontage road just past N. Main heading East on the south side of the freeway, being billed at high-end residential or commercial property. It'll be interesting to see what becomes of this and whether its more homes or some sort of business.

right now it is just the lots for sale. no plans for development.

Just thought I would give a little insight to this development.

My wife and I put a lot hold on one of the "brownstones" in this community for phase I. We handed over our money in March and we were told about 8 months until completion.

We were also told that we would be updated on the status of ALL the unknowns...upgrades and such. The realtor from the broker handling the sales seemed to have no answers for us. EVERYTHING was always "we have to wait and see what the developer decides".

My wife and I were okay with this because we knew we had gotten into this development in the early stages...however, we never heard anything from ANYONE again. That was March, this is July. Four months later we decided to go with a true homebuilder and called to cancel our lot hold. Our realtor had left the brokerage office(for reasons valid), but we were never contacted. WHAT!!! Not a single soul from the real estate team tried to contact us, to let us know that our agent had left.

And if it could get any better...the developer doesn't own the land. Not yet at least. That might answer some of those "why haven't they started ANY construction yet" questions!

Beware of this development!! And real estate team...they seemed to have no idea what was going on!

If the project goes to plan, it will undoubtebly look great, but until then.......

The HEB's to be an HEB Plus with over 140,000 square feet.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/4038303.html

very cool. i read that in yesterdays paper. Its going to be a huge HEB. With the line off 288 trying to get onto 518, every afternoon, I can imagine how busy that center will be.

Opening date is July 26th.

sweet. I can't wait to go. I hate driving all the way to the galeria, when i'm in the heights.

I noticed in a txdot article that they would be holding another meeting this spring. Well, its now summer 2006 and I cant find any recent information on this project.

Any updates?

Here's a picture I snapped today. They now have a trailer in place selling the townhomes.

Back in 1999 I remember saying the same thing about the vacant lots and abandoned buildings in Midtown.

Here we are in 2006.

It's a slow row to hoe.

agreed. I can't wait until 5-10 years from now, to see how the area looks. I can't imagine the wharehouses being there much longer. The reaon why some of them haven't left is probably because it looks like their machinery is so old, moving would mean purchasing a whole patch of machines and processors.

Actually, I was particularly interested in the Parks at Boulder Creek "lifestyle center" development with lofts built above retail that has been discussed in this forum at the entrance of Pearland Pkwy and Beltway8.

Oh.. sorry.. Nothing new, just some clearing. I haven't passed by there in a couple of weeks, so things could have changed.

My family and I are moving back to Houston next year, following a brief banishment to Cleveland, OH (yes, the mistake by the lake). Looking into Pearland vs Clear lake. The Parks at Boulder Creeks looks pretty interesting...a bit of urban chique in suburbia. The renderings look great, but I'm not sure how well it will be executed. The developer has never done residential before. The development was announced awhile ago, but I've yet to here of any retailers signing on so far. Plus, a development of that magnitude will take quite a few years to complete....not sure if I want to be living in the middle of all that construction.

Any update on how the construction is looking so far out there at Beltway and Pearland Pkwy?

Things are looking good. Construction on new homes is booming on the south side of betway 8 on pearland pkwy! Pearland pkwy itself, looks great! Why are you wanting that area over the west side of Pearland, 288 and 518?

I recently e-mailed to the City of Pearland, concerning the widening of the FM518/Broadway west of SH288.

And this is the reply from Doug Kneupper, a city engeneer of Pearland: There are several projects that involve the improvement and reconstruction of Broadway, west of SH 288. The initial section from SH 288 to Kirby is being considered by two large land development projects: Shadow Creek Town Center, and the Pearland Town Center (CBL). Both developments are required to provide improvements to Broadway based on their respective development projects. The next section from Kirby to CR 48 is being considered by Southern Trails development. Although nothing on this section is finalized, there are ongoing negotiations between the City and the developer. The last section from CR 48 to FM 521 is now included in the development plan for Shadow Creek Ranch and that project is being designed by the civil engineer and should be under construction this summer.

I hope this can really clear up some of the rumors about this section of FM518.

good information.

I had a situation with the City a couple of years ago that I needed help on. He and his office could not have been nicer.

do you mind sharing your problem?

Only because I didn't think it would actually work, I guess I was wrong.

Pearland lifestyle center breaks ground

Houston Business Journal - 2:45 PM CDT Thursday

Construction is officially under way on the Promenade Shops at Shadow Creek following today's groundbreaking ceremony in Pearland.

The Promenade Shops will be an 800,000-square-foot lifestyle retail center at the southwest corner of Highway 288 and Beltway 8. The project is being developed by Poag & McEwen Lifestyle Centers, which is based in Memphis, Tenn.

Business and government officials gathered Thursday morning for the ceremonial start to the Promenade Shops, which will be anchored by a large Bass Pro Shops location. Initial plans also include a movie theater, specialty grocery store, bookstore and specialty fashion retailers.

Promenade Shops is part of the 1,000-acre Spectrum at Clear Creek, a master-planned business and lifestyle development that the City of Pearland and Pearland Economic Development Corp. hope will attract biotech companies to the area.

http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/sto...tml?jst=b_ln_hl

http://www.pm-lifestyle.com/lifestyle_cent...reek/index.html

The pearland forum is slow moving, but I appreciate it.

Is that with or without the MUD (Municipal Utility District)? My area of Houston is only at 3%.

Scharpe St Guy

That's with it.

MUD, city, school district, etc.

It is a possibility. HCAD left the old geezer exemption on my house for 1/2 year.

The sales trick you have to watch out for is "LOOK HOW LOW THE TAXES ARE!!!"

That actually is their sales tactic. LOW TAXES.. It's all relatively speaking of course and I know that. The tax rate in that particular new subdivision is 3.29% compared to the others 3.8 and even shadow creek ranchs' 4.21% Its crazy!!!!!!!!

Not sure how Pearland or the county down there handles it. Regardless if they were "quick" you would only be paying a max of 3 months on the new appraised value. I would bet though that you won't get hit until the following tax year since the Govt does not act quickly.

Good Luck,

Scharpe St Guy

cool! Thanks. I was wondering if the lady was just using that as a sales tactic or if it was a real possibility.

Even if I pay taxes on those 3 months, it almost like paying no real taxes until 2008.. Not bad.

Purchase price is about right. Want to get out of it and pay the 300k though? Pay for the upgrades out of pocket that way it doesn't show up on the purchase price of the home.

Then fight, fight, fight your taxes every single year. Don't be surprised if your 300k home is valued at 285k a year or two down the road. It is now competing with other new homes in the surrounding area which contains lots of empty dirt with homes sprouting up all over.

Scharpe St Guy

Here's a similar question.

Lets say I move into a new construction home in October of this year. Come 2006, will I be paying taxes on the prorated amount of the home or just taxes on the "dirt?"

The sales lady told me that the city of Pearland has been taxing homes on the dirt value for the prorated year, not sure how true that is. Any input??

Today was the hearing. It was extremely easy and well worth the time spent. Eventhough I did not prepare as much as I could have, I still shaved $19K (a little more than 10%) off the market value of my home.

Here is how it went.... I arrived at the HCAD building at 1:30 for my 1:45 appointment. My name was called about 2:10. (They were packed but things were moving fast.) I followed the gentleman to his cubical and he asked me what I thought the value of my home was. I told him I thought $187K. He asked what I had to back that up and I presented a very basic comparison spreadsheet showing my house and 2 others that had sold in my neighborhood in the past year that were basically same size. He did some searching on his computer then said he "suggested" $189K. I then said I'd like to show some pictures. I showed him how the Kitchen is 30 yrs old and cabinets do not line up perfectly, and the fact that the wall height in the attic converstion is only 3.5ft (to which he said does not matter - still considered livable space) and the garage is in bad shape and needs to be knocked down and rebuilt. He asked if I had a estimate to have the garable redone. I did not (no time to do this). He said I could go to the next step, but he could reduce to $189K and I could go home. I agreed. I left the driveway at 2:30pm. I hour time saved approx $600 in taxes... Not bad!

Thanks to everyone that gave suggestions and information.

thanks for the update. very well worth it.

I thought those hearing where in a place with an "audience." Much less intimidating the way you say it is.

Just an FYI in case people were still wondering. I am looking at some home in the area and I happened to drive into the Target parking lot. Some employees were outside and told me that it is NOT a Super Target, but they will be carrying Groceries, so it will be something in between a reg. Target and Super Target I suppose.

probably similar to the galleria Target.

It has taken me a long time to learn that rural life simply isn't for me. Now I wish that we had stayed in Houston instead of moving back in 1964. I would have liked going to and being around 5A high schools, and anytime needing something just drive to a store. But it still surprises me that Houston is bigger than Dallas. I thought that Big D would have surpassed The Bayou City long ago.

This may sound like a stupid question, but is Houston growing? If it is, about what rate?

Houston is very much growing. There are certain inner loop areas that are bustling with new residential developments. And lets not even talk about the houston suburbs! They are growing like weeds. Albeit, they have slowed down a notch in the last year. But they have been growing immensly in the past 10 years.

Sunrise Lakes is really nice. It has a strong resale market, as well as new construction still being built. It is a great alternative to Silverlake. Basically same ammenities with close to the same HOA's, just different schools. The business park at the entrance is visually the nicest in Pearland. The homes are built by Pulte and J Patrick. Two builders with great reputations. You can get more sqft for the price with a Pulte but J Patrick has some really nice "standard" features. We have relocated many clients to this neighborhood that felt like Silverlake and SCR are just too big. My 2cents.

I agree. I was recently looking for a home in the 77584 zip code. Homes there are nice and the neighborhood is quiet. The subdivision was about to closeout, and I really wanted a "new" home. So we decided on Avalon Terrace, about a mile east on 518. That is also a quiet small subdivision.

My parents live in Silverlake, very nice, but it gets very big. Luckily they live in the front subdivisions of Silverlake, but if you live in the middle or rear, it can get hard to get out. Make a left, then right, then another right, then left, finally a left, then another right, the house will be to the left. Those are the type of directions I've seen to get to certain houses in that subdivision, kinda funny.

I saw a commercial about "the world's largest indoor theme park" (or something like that) in the Astrodome. Got a bit excited until they said it would open in June, so I knew it couldn't be anything big or we would have heard about it long ago. Turns out it's a summer thing (June & July). Probably a bunch of rinky-dink, gypsy run carnival rides.

However it got me thinking, do you think maybe they're testing the waters for something more grand and permanent?

Interesting. I wouldn't doubt it. The city needs to do something with the Astrodome. But at the same time, they just can't give someone a 30 year lease to "experiment" with it.

I would check it out, I like parks where I can enjoy the intimacy of the moon lighting. Not sure how that will work out at the dome.

Newmark Homes in SCR has their section "Arbor Lakes" listed as Hightowere HS on their site.

And yes it will be a hard sell either way.

are those schools that bad?

My husband I have lived in Shadow Creek Ranch for a about 8 months ... we really like it. And we are excited the new developments! Our property taxes went WAY up!!!! We are fighting it ...

My husband works downtown and it usually takes him about 30 minutes to get to his office in his desk. He has to park in garage in couple of blocks away ...

I love it out there ...

Shadow creek is a really nice area. I decided not to move there because of the 4.2% tax rate. That is just tooooo high.. Nice area though.

Someone I know recently bought in Avalon Terrace and she has been happy. I like the house and the neighborhood. From what I hear they are selling very well.

I just signed a purchase agreement last night on a david weekly home. I can back out with relative ease, but it seems very nice and worth it. House will take 4 months to build, but I'm pretty confident with that area.