rps324

Those damn Lesbians next door are holding hands again! Dial 911 quick!

I think conventional wisdom in that area is Westbury south, (basically south of Airport) is sketchy, and section 4 is not that desirable. Which is about Ludington south roughly. Sections 1 & 2, with the possible exception of the houses facing the busy streets, tend to be the more sought after parts with prices reflecting that. The parts of Parkwest north of Bellfort that are zoned to Parker elementary tend to fetch more than those zoned to Anderson. What sections are better depends upon who you talk to, so it is all subjective. The people in Parkwest tend to think they are a cut above standard Westbury. Parkwest is west of Chimney Rock and some people think east is better. Bellfort used to be sort of a dividing line, but the middle section between Chimney Rock and Hillcroft has improved and prices have risen in there, until you get around Anderson elementary, and it seems to not be as nice there. West of Hillcroft there is at least one nice pocket, but some sections are not as nice as points further east. That has been my take on it, which again this is somewhat subjective. Someone else may have a bit of a different opinion.

Well, you would not get the good public school thing in Glenbrook Valley, but there are some affordable private schools in the area. It would be a lot closer in than Tanglewilde. You would not have a problem here, but you would also have to avoid T.C. Burton (or join us in tormenting him with our very presence ) which is another story.. We do have young progressive families with kids that have moved in.

I will admit to having odd tastes in kitchen stuff, preferring a lot of original elements and vintage looks to a uniform "stock" kitchen design. This is an example of what I am sure a lot of people find appealing, but I just can't stand. I see it all the time in the east end. I see this ONE pattern of cabinets, like this is the only option, tossed into everything over there. Arts & Crafts in Eastwood, Tudor bungalows in Houston Country Club, or mid-century moderns in Glenbrook, it doesn't matter. One size fits all apparently. Even when they spring for the real granite over the cheezy fake version, it still looks wrong in older homes to me. Often times people rip out good quality old stuff to slap this or worse in. Often times made with low grade wood which doesn't help.

Did I read something on Rebecca Perez living in that log cabin house in Park Place?

We're a visual lot, we like pics!

There is an article that appeared in last Thursday's "this week" section or whatever you call it, but it hasn't made it on line yet. Some more positive press on the hood. Things in Glenbrook over all still seem to be heading in a positive direction. IMO the subprime halt has had some mixed results for Glenbrook. On the bad news side it has definitely slowed sales in the southern sections that were more dependent upon sub-prime buyers, especially sections 4 & 6 between Bellfort and Rockhill east of Broadway. Foreclosures have put downward pressure on prices. There were two good mods on Cayton, the Mel O'Brien design and one by E. Kelly Gaffney, both for $65,000. A HUD foreclosure just popped up right behind Shan Hu for $55,000. I expect prices around you may take a bit of a hit as sellers compete with the foreclosures, houses that were often times sold to sub-prime buyers who, again IMO, probably never should have bought houses in the first place. But, eventually those will process out and things will stabilize. On the positive side, it seemed to me that many of the people that were moving in during the height of the sub-prime mess were also people who did not have the means and/or the desire to really maintain their property. While the sales are down, the people who are buying now are more financially stable and seem to be more inclined to maintain their property. So I do see a silver lining in that situation. A "community Standards" program has also been implemented in Glenbrook to try to address curb appeal issues and we did speak with the subdivision Attorney about whether or not some of the general provisions of the deed restrictions cover things like parking cars on the lawn, and he thinks they do. I expect we will be filing lawsuits over deed restriction violations regarding some of these issues. I have a better handle on who is moving in north of Bellfort than south, and the demographics continue to improve year over year. Out of I think 9 sales, one was the guys from Coles Crossing that work at downtown Law Firms, one I bought, one is a couple from Pearland-Fresno area that are friends of Stolitx's, (a Physician's Assistant at MD Anderson and his wife, a social worker), at least 2 have a PhD in the household, both buying on Colgate, one a community college President, the other a computer programmer and his wife, who is a Doctor. The people in that big grey McMansion on Santa Elena & Broadway bought 2 more houses for their kids, cash deals. Another cash deal was a lady moving in from Silverlake. the one on Stony Dell is a Project Manager for Centerpoint I think, moving from over in the energy corridor. So things seem to be on the upswing. P.S. We also seem to be getting more and more HAIF'ers, so we get brownie points for that!

I got a post card with this picture on it..... Granted I have seen worse, but this one she picked to add to a postcard. If everything looks that bad, just put the one shot of the front and call it a day. I don't think this pic is going to help you any. At least it doesn't include the old junk car at the opposite end.

There are better pics downloaded now.

You all know how I feel about bad pictures. I almost always use a professional photographer, it is not that expensive. One of the things for me that makes it hard sometimes is when you have a seller that just won't clean up so you can get the decent shots. I sent photographers out on one and they couldn't take any of the formals since they were storing a washer dryer, some big boxes, huge kids playsets scattered everywhere. I have had to make beds to get any shots of those rooms or running around picking up junk, or shoving it one side to get the shot.

I hate those oval leaded glass doors with the bright shiny brass trim, even on colonial houses. On a mod house like this it looks ridiculous. Painting the brick was another mis-step. They did everything wrong on it. They stripped the house of its character. It is completely tasteless IMO. I saw this house before the renovation. It needed a lot of work, but had it been redone properly They could have spent less rehabbing and sold for more. That's the ironic part.

My partner lives on Milwaukee. I have friends on Fairbanks and I have sold houses on Woodard & Canadian and have a listing on Joyce, so I am pretty familiar with the area. Lindale Park has a pretty good record of appreciation. They have an active civic club and they put on a 4th of July parade that is pretty impressive. Crime is low, you see a lot of people out walking on Helmers. Retail pretty much sucks, although they are redoing Northline sort of like Gulfgate and that should help. The rail line is going up the west side of the neighborhood too, and I think that will give it a good shot in the arm. Is it the brown brick house that was just cleared out?

There are positive things these kind of places do. There can also be some negative consequences for the communities where they are located. I do think that James Rodriguez objecting to more of these facilities being place in District I when it is already host to 70% of the ones in the city is a legitimate objection. Something at least three at large City Council people concur with as well. I personally think it is a bigger concern than weeds in vacant lots and that sort of thing, but that is just my opinion.

I will get better pics soon. 8135 Glencrest

With 70% of these type of facilities in the Houston area concentrated in District I, I for one am glad James Rodriguez is taking a stand to spread the wealth around as far as where they put these places.

The train wreck is in the station. This one is very original, but in need of a FULL restoration. Following an estate sale there is junk left everywhere and it needs a good cleaning for starters. Despite all that, there is a very interesting small mod that could be a real gem if someone restored it. At only $65,000 the price is right. It was a 1956 Parade of Homes house designed by a senior Architecture student at Rice University. The design was used for the parade after winning a competition at the University. The Architect, Mel O'Brien, went on to get his Masters from Princeton and was awarded the William Ward Watkin traveling fellowship from Rice University in 1960. He opened his own firm in Memphis in 1963. His principle works there include Christian Brothers High School and Cypress Jr. High, among other things. He was also part of a league of Architects involved in some of Memphis' civic planning projects. (Spaceage found that info for me, the rest came from Stephen Fox). He was also President of the Memphis AIA Chapter in 1969. Restored this could be a really great little mod house. I will reserve comments as to what I think of the pictures currently on HAR, so suffice to say I took a couple of my own. It definitely needs a lot of work, but for $65,000, what do you want? The original design apparently called for the carport to be side loading, which it isn't, and it suffers from a poorly executed garage conversion of the carport, although that could be fixed. The entire main living area has vaulted beamed ceilings. In front is a main living/dining area with an exposed brick wall and a row of clerestory windows. A wood stained valance at the opposite end. There are original aqua accordion doors dividing off the den area, where the vaulted ceilings continue and a wall of glass overlooks a back patio space. The den has stained paneling. there is an hanging light fixture thing above the sink in the kitchen. I don't think the kitchen has been painted since 1956 and still sports the old yellow patterned formica and yellow appliances with aqua cabinetry. Sorry if this is sideways, I have rotated it on my saved pictures and on Photobucket, and I just can't get it to do right.

Here is one Toulouse took:

Did anybody take any pics?

A lot of people came out, seems there is always something to see in Glenbrook, like the various flag displays.

Yes, what was I thinking, there is a myriad of Heights look-alike alternatives for $149,900 beyond the ones I mentioned.

77023 is about your only option East end: Eastwood Also Woodleigh, Broadmoor and Lawndale areas as well. All in 77023. For more 1930's and 1940's bungalows checks out Lindale Park And back in 77023 Houston Country Club Place, Simms Woods, and Idylwood. You can also sometimes find old bungalow styles in Garden Villas, 77061 and in Park Place or Acre Villa which is split between 77017 and 77087 I think.

2 to 4, but they usually go on a little longer. Swamplot article

Are you limiting your search to just the newer townhomes?

The part that sort of struck me in the article, and maybe it is just the way I interpreted it, was the tone that 1960 is in a definite serious state of decline. I mean, I know people don't like Spring ISD as much as Klein or Cy Fair, but I guess I thought it was more that the area was fine, still selling well to transferees in the area, but there was a percentage of those that were maybe more informed or picky about the schools that simply preferred some areas to the north of the creek. The tone of the article leaves me with an impression prospects are a lot dimmer for that area than I thought. I don't know how the reality compares to the articles "tone" or not. It would be nice if they could turn things around while the curb appeal of the subdivisions is still good. Last time I was out there I didn't see anything really wrong with any of them, unless I missed something. I have not been in Westador in a long time though, not sure how that one is holding up these days.

Despite the agent's comment about it being "in Lindale Park." It isn't. Lindale Park is north of Cavalcade. I don't know how much the rail system going through there will impact things. There is some new construction that has moved that direction. Whether that is good or bad depends on your point of view. Combined with the arrival of light rail it will probably bolster land values, however, combined with the lack of restrictions gentrification will probably come in the form of tear downs and 3 story town homes all around you, not renovations. There definitely isn't a lot of architecturally interesting things out there for that price point inside the loop, as I am sure you have already found out. You might try looking north in Lindale Park, across the freeway in Brookesmith. I would also check 77023 for options. At that price point you might also scan 77061, Garden Villas, Glenbrook, etc. Possibly 77017 too.