wheels

Can any one recommend reasonable priced quality home inspecters?

I have signed contract to buy a new home in Katy area, and I would like to do Phase inspection for my new constrution home.

Thanks in advance.

Tommy Thompson with Better Residential Home Inspections was a builder in another life, so he is great with new construction. He will do phase inspections if they are close to his home and I believe he lives just north of Katy. His number is 713-882-7460.

If he is not able to do the phase inspections, then call Fox Inspection Group at 713-723-3330. They are a bit more expensive, but will do phase inspections on new construction anywhere. The most important inspections will be the framing inspection and the final.

I tried that - but it does not give a lot of info. I found out that Dame is a designer not architect, but he designs beautiful homes (at least they look spectacular). I was hoping that someone here might know a real good architect. But thanks anyway

I can highly recommend Russell Hruska of Intexture Architects. His strong point is contemporary, not traditional, but his designs are good. He is also just a nice guy to work with. His office/home on Southmore is next door to a design/build project of five homes he is currently building.

Hello,

I have signed contract to build a new home in Katy, my builder offering the 'Techshield roofing' upgrade for additional $1400.

My home is going to be 2 stored 3050 sq ft (4 bedroom, 2 and half bath)

I was wonder is this the reasonal price or if I can get cheaper if I use outside roofing company?

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

My last two homes have had Techshield and I don't know why any home in Houston would be built without it. My electric bill is lower than my neighbor's regular roof decked home. You will make back the $1400 and i is better for resale. It just irritates me that all builders do not just put it in the home instead of offering it as an upgrade.

Excuse me if there is another thread on this subject, but my husband and I just built a bay house with 824 sq. feet. It took us 2 years looking for a builder who would do this. We ended up settling for Jim Walter. Are there no architects doodling on paper napkins at singles bars who could come up with a house at 800 sqf under $100,000? Excluding the cost of land, of course.

P.S. The Jim Walter home ain't that bad.

Mark Schatz and Anne Eamon have done some great work on small houses. Their 700 square foot home that they built for themselves was on the AIA Home Tour several years ago and has been featured in Dwell magazine and on HGTV and Fine Living. Their 1200 square foot studio was also on a AIA Home Tour and is built to be a home. They have many other designs they have played around with and we have had discussions on building a small community of these homes. Their firm is m+a architecture studio.

...or die in the process. I'd speculate that the project in its current form is as dead as its backer.

Project has been picked up by Jetall Development. They are moving ahead although it will take a lot of work.

Check your personal message box

Those folks are long gone. Their home was foreclosed on last year, too.

As a free service, Black's Guide (www.blacksguide.com) is one of the best for office lease space.

Thats too bad. I was hoping to pick his brain as I'm also looking for an architect to design a contemporary style home. Can anyone recommend someone? Anyone heard of MC2?

Talk to Russell Hruska who owns Intexure Architects. 713-273-6805. His office is located at 1815 Southmore and he built it as a contemporary live/work space. He is also designing and building several homes on the adjoining land. He is a very good contemporary architect.

You should also talk to Robert Morris. 713-825-5292. Robert is a design/build guy who also teaches "Green" Architecture at UH. He has plenty of references and homes that he can show you. If you want green and contemporary, he is the way to go.

They closed for Christmas and never reopened. Their sales never increased over what they were getting in the old location, but their rent went up substantially. Overbuilt would be the word. Supposedly two other well known restaurants are looking at the location, but the tab and dealing with the landlord may keep it from happening.

The home is one block off of Taft between Fairview and West Gray. It is a cool house. It was on the AIA Home Tour a couple of years ago.

Craig Stitler, Stitler Design 713-850-7788. He has a lot of experience in Federal and Georgian, as well as the "old styles". If you have been watching "Dancing With the Stars" it was filmed in the ballroom of a home he designed in Stablewood. He is a great guy and very easy to work with.

do not like the pockets of bad apartment complexes, shady strip centers, and inaccessibility to respectable dining/shopping alternatives.

You asked where the better appreciation would be. Part of getting good appreciation is betting on the come. If you had seen the Rice Military or Midtown areas 10 years ago, you would have run. I remember when you didn't buy in the Heights North of 11th Street. While I was at UH 14 years ago, I lived in a remodeled bungalow in the Camp Logan section of Memorial Park. We rented it for $900 a month because the seller couldn't sell it for $135,000. There are two high $600's townhomes on the same lot now. If you knew what was coming and "bet on the come", you would have done very well. Those three areas had much more downside than the Museum District does today. I remember taking an investor to see a small apartment complex near Baldwin Park nine years ago. He could have purchased two fourplexes for less than $100K a piece and he couldn't see the future. Oh well...

Bet on the Museum District.

My wife and I were at the 12 Spot on Saturday with some friends. It has gone downhill. They had a DJ playing techno dance tunes at an annoying level. Couldn't deal and had to leave, leaving the place with a grand total of four patrons at 11:00pm. I remember when the Travis Lofts had their grand opening party and the 12 Spot space was just a wall being held up with poles. The roof was caved in and it was slated for demo. I am glad they saved it. It is a beautiful space.

FYI, Alvin ISD has dropped their tax rate by $.16 from 1.70% to 1.54%. Pearland ISD has dropped their rate by $.13 from 1.7922% to 1.622%.

SCR's Homeowner's Association has instituted a recapture fee of $475 on each sales transaction in SCR. Either the Seller, the Buyer, or a combination will have to pay the fee at closing when a home is sold.

So what exactly are the property tax rates for the two communities of Silverlake versus SCR.

Is it really 4% of your home's appreciation value for SCR -- that seems very high.

In Silverlake, the tax rates vary depending on what MUD (Municipal Utility District) you are in. It ranges from 2.85% to the mid 3%. Generally, the older the neighborhood, the lower the MUD tax rate. SCR is 4.02%. Keep in mind, this is prior to your Homestead Exemption. If you are living in the home by January 1, you qualify for the Homestead Exemption which will exempt about 20% of your property's value from taxation. In other words a 3% tax rate would be closer to 2.4% with the Homestead Exemption. The tax rates may go down some more, but I don't know if Pearland ISD and Alvin ISD have set their rates for the year. Some districts have dropped this year like Katy ISD and Clear Creek ISD.

One other point for an out-of-towner, the property tax is our State Income Tax. We have no State tax, but we do pay a higher property tax and sales tax than many states to compensate. The property tax is deductible from your Federal Tax, so you will shelter some of that money.

Some developers will buy out the early guys once the project gets near the end and prices have been driven up. I would think they need to get up to around and average of $350/ft to get out with a decent return.

Best one in town, Chimney Rock Service, Brian McIlwain 713-782-0789. His Dad started the business in 1962 and took care of my grandparents and parents. Brian apprenticed and took over for his Dad many years ago. Very trustworthy and well priced. I wouldn't use anyone else.

Schools are certainly a part of it, but affordable housing could still be built and would be successful. The big issue is the environmental problems from the oil fields. It is the same issue that keeps a lot of the land on 45 South around 2351/Clear Lake City Blvd. vacant. FYI, The Wildcat Golf Club was built on the old landfill site. A great and brilliant use of the land.

First, my disclaimer, I am a Realtor. I office in Pearland.

That said, the tax rates for SCR are substantially higher than most of Silverlake. I just closed a deal in a section of Silverlake that is within the city limits of Pearland and the tax rate is around 3%. SCR's tax rate is 4.02%. A new section of SCR is in Fort Bend School District's zone and the tax ratre there is in the 3.80% range. There are areas of Silverlake that have a higher tax rate, but it does not get close to SCR's tax rate. The big difference in rates is the MUD issue that you asked about. A MUD is a Municipal Utility District. It is how water and sewage are handled in unicorporated areas. Bonds are issued and the property tax charged by the MUD pays back the bond issue. Many of the MUDs are in what is known as an Extra Territorial Jurisdiction (ETJ) of a city be it Pearland, Alvin, or Houston. This means that the area can be annexed by that city at a later date. Generally, if the city annexs an area, the MUDs in that area would be disolved and the city would pay off the debt and take over the water and sewer. In other words, the tax rate would probably go down. Silverlake stands a good chance of being annexed by Pearland.

THere is also a newer neighborhood called Silvercreek which is next to Silverlake. It has new and recent homes and the tax rate, last I checked, was 3.33%. It has some of the newer community amenities that SCR has.

SCR is a very nice community. A well thought out master plan. Some good builders and the schools within the community are good. There is a hospital and a town center retail development that are currently beginning construction. A new concept HEB store is going in that will be easily accesses from SCR. Until those develpments are complete, you have to access all shopping on the Silverlake side of Highway 288.

All in all it is sort of a coin flip. SCR is newer, has a little better assortment of housing, some nice amenities, and a higher tax rate. Silverlake is more mature, has a nice golf course, and easier access to shopping. Silvercreek is a smaller community, newer, and nice amenities. The difference in the HOA dues depends on what neighborhood, or section, you live in within the whole development. The difference would be in the hundred dollar range for the most part. Other than that, it all depends on what is important to you.

If you need more info, you can send me a message.

FYI, the best Pest Control guy I know is Tony Thayer who owns Amrid Pest Control 713-880-3479. He is a Heights resident, too. Very good with the older homes. He does not do tenting, but he can tell you what will be the best course of action to take. I would have him inspect first. He is not out to sell you a termite job, so he will give you his honest opinion.

If the employee being relocated is still living in the home, they can negotiate the price and terms, but the relo company will sign the contract and take over from that point. If the home is vacant and has already been taken over by the relo company, then the relo owns the property and will handle the negotiations and sale. The employee being relocated usually has incentives to sell the home prior to the relo company taking over the house, so sometimes that would be a preferable situation.

I am in the process of collecting bids on retrofitting my 1920 bungalow with central AC. My house currently has 3 window units, so this project involves not only installing the HVAC system, but installing ductwork to all of the rooms. So far, ballpark bids from FRIENDS are running $6500 to $8000, not including electrical hookups.

Two questions....

1. Has anyone done a full retrofit on a 2/1 bungalow recently? Or gotten quotes? How much were the bids?

2. Has anyone looked into installing a mini split? A mini split is similar to central AC, in that it has a large unit outside, but instead of ductwork for the chilled air, a refrigerant tube carries the cold freon to a blower in each room. The blower often looks like the AC unit in a hotel room. The savings comes from not having to build and install ductwork in the attic. The link shows an example of a mini split.

http://www.minisplitsystems.com/

Ideas? Suggestions?

Brian McIlwain with Chimney Rock Service, 713-782-0789, is hands down the best A/C man I know. Everyone I have referred him to raves about his service. Exceptionally honest; he has the keys and alarm code to my stepmother's house to do his regular service calls when she is out of town. He installed a system in the upstairs unit of a duplex in Riverside Terrace for one of my clients recently. It was less than the $6500, but price will always depend on accessibility, attic space, etc. Call him and he will take good care of you.

Wheels,

The term "Deal Killer" comes from conversations and overhearing bleep bleep bleep with Home Builders (Owners). They do a very good inspection from what I have heard. I myself have never used him yet although I will for the next house.

So I guess you could say that Mr. Fox is pointing out quite a few flaws in New Construction homes that in the public's mindset should be defect free for xx years. This is great for the buyer and a come to Jesus moment for the owners, superintendents, vendors, and subs.

Scharpe St Guy

I understand your point. Tom Overstreet built some patio homes on Augusta back in the mid 90's. Gordon inspected two of them for two different clients. Overstreet said he should hire Fox to do his walk throughs because he was impressed, not only with his thoroughness, but also his knowledge. I was selling my Dad's home after he died and Fox did the inspection for the Buyer. I was very happy to have Gordon do the inspection because I knew that if he said there was something wrong, then something was wrong. The "deal killers" to me are the guys that show up and say, "The foundation is bad." BEFORE they set foot in the home. Then when you get the report, there are no foundation problems noted, but the Buyer is scared ****less. Or the guy who inspected my home when I was the Seller and he was up in the attic and turned off the switch that was plainly marked, "Furnace. Do Not Turn Off.". He then reported that the furnace was shot.

Long story short, as a Buyer or a Seller, what you want in an inspector is one who will speak plainly and tell you what is wrong AFTER a thourough inspection.

I ate at Chico's Paradise, and while the rooftop bar maybe nice in the evening, the food was overpriced and mediocre.

Clary's and Rudy and Paco's are great as is the Captain's Table. The Spot on the Seawall serves great burgers if that's what you are hankering for.