So, if you could move/ buy/ upgrade your home right now, would you?

[native_Houstonian]

Seriously considering moving from a home to a downtown condo. Really, really nervous though when I see so many of the go up for auction. Where is the real estate market in Houston heading? Stable, minimal growth or down turn? Long term - will we see more people moving to Houston and purchasing downtown?

Would really like to make this move, but not if it will cost me thousands of $ in equity if other units in the building go for auction a year from now.

Would really like to hear your opinion.

Native Houstonian.

[Norhill Realty]

The Houston Real Estate Market has already shown that it has stabilized as evidenced in the most recent HAR market report for Oct. The condo projects that have had the most problems with foreclosure and auction are the ones that have been completed recently. The builder has not been able to sell enough units at a price to meet their loan obligations. In the downtown condo market, you should be fine when considering units in established, well managed buildings.

[tanith27]

Growing up in Canada, I need trees in my life, so for me the Heights is a nice balance of greenery and neartown city life. That said, there's a part of me that loves what the Disco G area of DT has become. Lots of cool places to hangout there, nice park, restaurants, evening distractions, etc. Soon to be added to the mix: grocery options which I think are loooong overdue and will really be a good welcome mat for others who want to live down there. I think investing in that area is a smart move, if you can find that nice place that offers all of this within a block or two of your front door. The area on the other side of 59 has potential, especially with the new soccer stadium, but if you can afford the Disco G area I think that's the way to go.

[sowanome]

+1 on D.Green and If there's a grocery store coming into the downtown area that's huge and if it's near D.Green that's even better.

However, If you had the time to wait I would plan for Regent Square (Dallas between Kirby and Waugh). If R. Square ever breaks ground, it will be huge for Houston because of what's currently in the area (royalton, whole foods coming soon, W. Gray, etc.) and that it will be a walkable area. My love for a "Potential" Regent Square along w/hood's like The Heights, Rice Miltary, Montrose, West U. and everything west of Downtown that's inside of the loop is exactly what HURTS a Central Busin. District like DOWNTOWN Houston...Just my 2 cents.

[TheNiche]

Seriously considering moving from a home to a downtown condo. Really, really nervous though when I see so many of the go up for auction. Where is the real estate market in Houston heading? Stable, minimal growth or down turn? Long term - will we see more people moving to Houston and purchasing downtown?

Would really like to make this move, but not if it will cost me thousands of $ in equity if other units in the building go for auction a year from now.

Would really like to hear your opinion.

Native Houstonian.

Consider the mortgage, the opportunity cost of your down payment and the costs of both selling your current home and buying another one, the building's maintenance fees, maintenance of your own unit, property taxes, that property taxes are often more difficult to protest on a condo, and that (depending on bylaws and the value of your personal property) a separate insurance policy may be advisable. Net out your savings from tax-deductible interest, of course, but acknowledge that you'd be able to capture from any home that you owned, regardless of where.

Oh, but we're not done yet... Consider that most of the value of a highrise condo is related to improvements; improvements are a depreciating asset, like a car! Not much value at all is reflected by land value, and if there is a surge in demand for condos, developers will just make more of them, effectively putting a low ceiling on what you could ever hope to achieve in appreciation.

[brian0123]

You could do what my wife and I did and instead of downtown condos (with high HOA fees and locked into downtown)... we bought a townhouse in Midtown (not the apt side... the townhouse side). Discovery Green and all of Downtown is a very short and safe bike ride... and we have a larger place than we could have had downtown w/ attached garage to park the cars, trees, Baldwin Park, restaurants/bars/nightlife nearby, a side yard, and live in a neighborhood. I spend a ton of time in Downtown still (we'll ride the bikes to Discovery Green for picnics), but also ride the bikes to Hermann Park and museums easily. For reference, Downtown takes 5 minutes on a leisurely bike ride.... Hermann Park 8 minutes. Feel free to ask if you'd like more info on my neighborhood.

[native_Houstonian]

My link

This is the building and unit that I am considering. It's about 3 blocks north of Minute Maid Park, which makes it about 6 blocks north of Discovery Green.

The building was started about 4 years ago, old to Silvestri Investments, and is now being completed. Units should be finished by Jan. 1.

[HoustonMidtown]

My link

This is the building and unit that I am considering. It's about 3 blocks north of Minute Maid Park, which makes it about 6 blocks north of Discovery Green.

The building was started about 4 years ago, old to Silvestri Investments, and is now being completed. Units should be finished by Jan. 1.

Nice to see the building being finished finally -- Reuther Homes worked on it quite a while ago before going under....Time for me to go on a tour !!

[native_Houstonian]

Nice to see the building being finished finally -- Reuther Homes worked on it quite a while ago before going under....Time for me to go on a tour !!

the sales office is now open and they have "open houses" on weekends...

[kylejack]

If that maintenance is accurate, that is a fairly low maintenance for downtown condo.

[Marksmu]

My link

This is the building and unit that I am considering. It's about 3 blocks north of Minute Maid Park, which makes it about 6 blocks north of Discovery Green.

The building was started about 4 years ago, old to Silvestri Investments, and is now being completed. Units should be finished by Jan. 1.

I think they look great! I love the old brick/wood look coupled with new modern appliances...but $294,000 for 1,200 sq ft seems pretty steep.

You can still get a decent livable bungalow in the heights for around $300,000, not share a common wall with god knows who, not have people both above and below you to complain about whatever it is they feel like, and you can have a yard along with the potential to upgrade later if you feel like it.

Also with $310/month in maintenance fees you can save that money up and do periodic upgrades to your home...You could replace a pretty good portion of the house each year until it was completely renovated if you had such a desire.

There was a local real estate broker on tv this morning talking about how difficult it is to sell and recapture your investment when it comes to Condos and Houston....average time on the market was significantly longer and the average appreciation was significantly lower....do not take any of my comments as trying to talk you out of buying a Condo - I am just telling you my thoughts. Personally - I would rather have the land and complete control over my investment.

[TheNiche]

My link

This is the building and unit that I am considering. It's about 3 blocks north of Minute Maid Park, which makes it about 6 blocks north of Discovery Green.

The building was started about 4 years ago, old to Silvestri Investments, and is now being completed. Units should be finished by Jan. 1.

Fight the temptation. Remember that for as long as the developer controls the HOA, none of the other owners will have an effective say over the building's operations or maintenance fees. Since the building isn't operating yet, the estimate of fees may be unrealistic. Also remember that if the developer becomes financially distressed or goes under before selling most of the units, that clearing the market could be a long and painful process for any of the people that had already bought in.

If you're serious about this, then be aware that the developer's sales rep will tell you that they've already "sold" so many units, but converting pre-sales to closed sales is a b!tch. Lots of units will fall out of contract within the first several months. It'd be good to wait until March. You'll have more options. (And it'd be easier to sell your home going into the summer months anyway.) Better yet, wait a year and one of the new owners will likely list their unit for sale at a slightly lower price than the developer to get it to move. That would be your opportunity.

Also consider that that far northeastern section of downtown is somewhat stagnant. There's more momentum on the other side of 59, to the east, than there is in a three-block radius from this building. That right there would turn me off.

[sowanome]

I've owned a high rise condo before and don't worry "Too Much" about the $300-400 HOA fee's. Many forget that owning a single family home also carries maint. costs as well along with increasing property taxes. I often think that owning a single family place can be a lot more challenging and a lot more to go wrong than a condo.

The most important thing about HOA fee's is what's included in those fees!!! I.E. there are some buildings that include a sizable gym(no gym membership..saves $40-70/m), maybe a pool(saves $25-40/m), doorman, common space, cable(saves $75/m), some utilities and insurance. This may sometimes add up to $150-$200/m and your HOA usually included building insurance, so you're only required to cover what's in your unit (between your walls), which is generally a form of renters insurance at $350/year.(saving $600-700/year or $50-60/m).

Do the math here and realize that you may pay $300/month in HOA, but you're only really losing out $100/m in the worst case/non amenity building. This has just been my experience and I hope that it helps...I've had great experiences in condos and have realized that you're either a condo person or not.

Good Luck

[HoustonMidtown]

I currently live in the EDGE condos --

Everything sowanome said above is correct, we have a gym, pool, theatre, cable, insurance, water, controlled access, exterior maintenance, etc included in HOA that you would (possibly) pay for if you owned a home ....find out everything included in the HOA fees.

Also, be sure to read ALL the condo docs BEFORE purchasing to see all the do's/don'ts that the HOA impose on the owners. There can be some off-the-wall restrictions so read carefully....

[TheNiche]

I've owned a high rise condo before and don't worry "Too Much" about the $300-400 HOA fee's. Many forget that owning a single family home also carries maint. costs as well along with increasing property taxes. I often think that owning a single family place can be a lot more challenging and a lot more to go wrong than a condo.

The most important thing about HOA fee's is what's included in those fees!!! I.E. there are some buildings that include a sizable gym(no gym membership..saves $40-70/m), maybe a pool(saves $25-40/m), doorman, common space, cable(saves $75/m), some utilities and insurance. This may sometimes add up to $150-$200/m and your HOA usually included building insurance, so you're only required to cover what's in your unit (between your walls), which is generally a form of renters insurance at $350/year.(saving $600-700/year or $50-60/m).

Do the math here and realize that you may pay $300/month in HOA, but you're only really losing out $100/m in the worst case/non amenity building. This has just been my experience and I hope that it helps...I've had great experiences in condos and have realized that you're either a condo person or not.

Good Luck

These aren't savings. They are costs that you are obligated to pay for whether you consume the benefits or not. Most condo owners do not fully utilize them.

These are also costs that cannot be opted out of if you fall on hard times. Likewise, you cannot opt to defer some maintenance items, as you could if you owned a single-family home; this kicked my ass when, after Ike, it was determined that operating reserves had not been sufficient to be able to pay the insurance deductible (the consequence of an amateurish HOA or the inability of owners to establish the quorum necessary to change the bylaws, depending on who you ask), and they assessed a large one-time fee many months after the fact, which at that point I had had difficulty paying because the economy had begun to suck.

Bear in mind that insurance coverage of everything behind the walls isn't set in stone; there are multiple ways to do it; read the bylaws.

And also bear in mind that if utilities are master-metered and are being covered by the HOA, residents lose an incentive to conserve on their use of resources. I used to skimp on heating by running hot water through the shower for hours on end. And when my bathroom sink faucet began to leak, I ignored the drip for years...even when at the HOA meeting they said that they were willing to fix leaks for free. You might be less apathetic than I, but do you trust that your neighbors (or there renters) are?

[native_Houstonian]

Niche,

Just curious, was your condo here in Houston? If so, what building was it?

[sowanome]

These aren't savings. They are costs that you are obligated to pay for whether you consume the benefits or not. Most condo owners do not fully utilize them.

These are also costs that cannot be opted out of if you fall on hard times.

Bear in mind that you are correct that these are not savings. However, I'm illustrating that cable, insurance, utilities are typical payments that most people make on a monthly and yearly basis. You may be able to drop cable, insurance and utilities if needed for months at a time, but in that case without lights and water you might as well be homeless, Niche .

Just wanted to illustrate that HOA fees are not just another useless fee paid to the building.

[lockmat]

My link

This is the building and unit that I am considering. It's about 3 blocks north of Minute Maid Park, which makes it about 6 blocks north of Discovery Green.

The building was started about 4 years ago, old to Silvestri Investments, and is now being completed. Units should be finished by Jan. 1.

That would be considered a true loft, right? Because it has exposed brick and it's from an old building...I wonder how many of those are actually left to convert. That's worth considering. I like those a lot. Not a huge fan of the location, though; all the jail stuff to the west.

[TheNiche]

Just curious, was your condo here in Houston? If so, what building was it?

It was in Houston and was one of the thousands of condos located off of Holly Hall near Almeda.

[TheNiche]

That would be considered a true loft, right? Because it has exposed brick and it's from an old building...I wonder how many of those are actually left to convert.

In the industry, we'd refer to that as a 'hard loft'.

There are still a number of similar masonry buildings that are either vacant or marginal office buildings in north downtown. There are also several notable multi-story brick warehouses east of downtown that would make good candidates for conversion to hard lofts.