Thanks for the welcome. Well, many of those historic homes are being torn down at a rapid pace. The City of Houston is encouraging much of the development by wiping away taxes of $35K in judgments and selling for the appraised value of $5K or $6K. One family recently bought a lot (40'X90') from under my nose for $4500 in a public auction. They started cleaning it up and the next-door vacant lot appeared with a "for sale" sign. I checked HAR and they wanted $39,500 for the 40'X90' lot (same condition as the auctioned one). Yes, to the above comment, landowners are pricing their land at speculative prices, and it makes it hard for builders because the banks have the cash and they don't want to speculate. There are already McMansions starting to pop up. One family purchased 3 lots (159'X100') and built a huge house with a detached garage (home looks like 3500 sq ft). They are one block from I-10 and live on a dead end street (very quiet) and very inspiring for me to stick around this "hood". The land I will develop is 140'X100'. I'm looking to build two traditional homes in the next two years and both will be about 2000 sqft. Although, recently I've been looking at the 3 story terrace designs because the view to Downtown would be nice with the exception of the toxic Superfund site that is next door. I like having a yard so even if I built the three-story designs I would only build two structures. I plan to break ground in early March 2006 so the next months will be spent researching the design and planning. I am familiar with the Pecan Park area because I went to Milby High School down the road. I think the development of the Gulfgate area has really helped spur growth there. I lived in San Antonio and I always thought HEB was a good grocery store so I was happy to see them come to Houston. Also, the Gulfgate area has their own Starbucks, that is always a status symbol that is nice to have; I find Starbucks offers a good meeting place even though their prices are overpriced they beat an espresso coffee at the Olive Garden. Any ideas or comments on home designs are greatly appreciated. Regards, Israel
