mpbro

Looks like you did a great job on the kitchen. Congrats!

Thanks. By professional standards, it is nothing special, but I think it sort of gives DIY'ers a good data point. I think we ended up spending probably $3K for the entire kitchen, which includes tiling kitchen and counters, paint (sprayed oil-based), microwave, gas stove top, and dishwasher.

We've basically updated the entire house by these standards. Total spending is around $10K so far. The house (1952 2000sqft ranch style) actually seems similar to the one you are flipping. Problem is, our neighborhood is definitely a tear-down neighborhood (currently). I want to increase the value of the place to the average family without deterring new-build buyers. Anyway, fun stuff, keep us posted on your future adventures.

Update: was just reading the WSJ and found interesting link that compares average payouts on various home improvements. Interesting stuff...

Before you complain about *your* laminate counters, see just how bad it could have been! I had a similar wood paneling dilemma. The entire kitchen and den were both entirely wood paneling, covered in hideously yellowed 1950's varnish. I believe it was a low-grade mahogany, so I wanted to try hard to preserve it. Trust me, if you're a DIY'er, don't even *think* about trying to strip a large room! Sanding is not a sane option, and chemical stripping will take a few years off your life. Both options will be laborious and expensive. And you may find that after stripping and refinishing, you have very little change in appearance and may just want to paint. One option worth exploring is wood bleaching. You get to keep the wood (rare in today's Pottery Barn home) but don't feel like you're stuck in an episode of Three's Company.

In the end, we painted every square inch of exposed wood paneling. Oh well...

Those cabinet doors are pretty cool, though.

We have a similar oven (double, actually) but are too cheap to replace it. Doubles are pricy.

Not much has changed in 20 days as far as my outlook is concerned. Oil is still the key variable, and it seems to be holding stable. OPEC has rattled their sabres a bit, IMO to try and keep energy traders on their toes, but their approach has really been pretty soft and prices reflect that.

The oil industry may be one of the few where recent income growth exceeds (greatly) core inflation. When I argue for the efficacy of Houston's housing market, this is the argument I usually invoke. I don't have any stats on total Houston-area households involved in oil or oil services, I'd guess it is between 500K and 1M. I think you've seen real wage growth both in blue collar and white collar segments of the industry. Good for a broad-based continued rally in land value.

If oil stays high, of course. ;-)

HAR reported a great September for home sales, and condominiums saw the largest increase in price, 12.1% over last year.

Argh, HAR and their damn frames! Here's the story I think he wanted to link to.

I think your ask of $138/sqft is ambitious, but quite realistic, considering the place's curb appeal and full remodel. It has the cute factor and I hope you generate some initial buzz. I think you've picked an excellent general location, probably one of the hottest around.

I was interested to note that on the tax records, the subdivision does not have a single recent build. For such a good growth area, that amazes me. Have you seen any new builds in 2006?

Thanks for your posts...

Here's the closest "before" shot of that I can find.

We did a ton to the house. Both baths, kitchen, flooring, doors and trim, plumbing/light fixtures, hardware......

Very nice improvement! I've got two bathrooms just like yours: Guest bath,

Master bath.

I've superficially redone our house, but largely ignored the bathrooms to date. The cabinets are a big mental impediment for me, but I like your approach of just putting new doors on. If you can divulge the economics of the investment and renovations, I for one would be interested (understand if you cannot).

I like it--do you have any "before" photos? What was total cost on bathroom? What other things did you do to the house? Thanks.

I once went to contract on an Allison-flooded house. The guy wouldn't come down in price, so I thought I'd get a mold inspection to possibly pressure the seller. The problem with mold remediation is that it's a disclosure item. So unless I tore the place down, I'd get hit with the same issue. Mold is Pandora's Box.

Mastic is cheap--you can buy a gallon at HD for maybe $20. We patched leaking flashing around our chimney ourselves, but the bigger leaks are still a problem. We may move within the year, so would like to avoid redoing roof, though it is the right thing to do, IMO. No recs on roofers, sorry.

I work downtown and use the Greenbriar/Shepherd exit. Mornings, the NB section is really not a big problem, even at the peak of rush hour. I'm surprised at the asymmetric 2-hour afternoon NB slowdown. Any theories for the asymmetry? HOV?

Ahhh yes, Cherryhurst....do I have a good one for you: I had a good friend-R.I.P.- who lived in a townhouse on Yupon. Almost everyday after work he'd find a pile of poop on his little square of grass. One day he was home sick and saw who was bringing their dog over to deposit it's load. A few days later he scooped up that day's poop, took it to the guy's home, dumped it on his threshold, rang the doorbell and politly told him he was returning what his dog lost. That was the end of having the guy who lived on the park with the biggest yard dumping dog s__it on my friend's little square of grass.

I know a lady who took it a step further--she picked up the turd (with some implement, I'd hope) and threw it at the guy! He was not pleased.

Well, I don't have plans to move there anytime soon, I just found a lot that I liked that I thought I could hold on too in case I want to build a home there in the next 5-8 years. I know that whole area is going to be redeveloped in the future and I am hoping that maybe by then I might really decide to build another home in that location. I am just trying to find out if anyone really thinks that area is hot?

I like your strategy and wish I had some cash to try exactly what you mention. Here's a link to information about the marquee part of Riverside Terrace, mostly the homes along Macgregor near Scott. I don't know the area well, but you can search around and see if you find anything interesting. Take a look at this property -- nice example of 1950's construction.

For land speculation, a tried and true strategy is to a) find a nice area, buy lots nearby, and c) wait. Or, if you're a developer, c) build some spec houses on the cheaper land and try to convince people that the area is just as nice as the "nice area".

You see it happening on the fringes of West University Place and The Heights. Here, I would worry about such a strategy, because I'm not sure there's the critical mass of developers willing to bet that their investment will pay off. Until then, I'd guess that gentrification will be a more organic process. At least the land is cheap everywhere--for $100K you can easily buy a 10K sqft lot.

Good luck!

wow, a board full of brick lovers.

I think powerwashing would be an easy test. Should I expect a transformation, or just slight improvement?

Painting trim also easy. Any thoughts on the color?

Last question: roof is almost at the end of its useful life. If you were going to replace it, what would you do for material and color?

Thanks much for the consideration...

great job all around. Especially like the bathroom tile job. Creative, subtle, and nicely-executed. Sort of art-deco-meets-Miami-Vice.

I bought a 1952 ranch-style home in Southgate about two years ago. It was an estate sale, and had one owner over its whole life! Needless to say, it was dated. We DIY'd the interior, and given the low cost, I'd say the results are satisfactory. I won't post a bunch of before-and-after photos, but you can peep them here.

Thus far, we've done nothing to the exterior. I've argued to my wife that we should paint the (IMO) nasty brick. She says, "no". Neither of us is particularly artistically inclined, so I'd like to submit the question to the board. Paint or no paint? Color? Here is the existing photo:

I'm surprised to see a concrete slab under a structure of this era. Is some of the house up on piers & beams? Did your inspector find any leveling problems?

Thanks for posting--you've got some work on your hands, but a very cool structure indeed. The landscaping actually looks good to me, but I suspect you'll add some more flavor.

Scanning some nationwide RE forums, I've seen a lot of buzz about Houston RE speculation from "investors" who have taken gains in hot markets. Don't know if this data point is statistically significant, but even 2 years ago, I doubt "hot" and "Houston realty" would occur in the same sentence.

I've seen strong appreciation in almost all ITL subdivisions. In my own neighborhood (Southgate), I've seen annualized appreciation rates over the last few years of around 10%. Increased tear-down activity, much of it custom. You aren't likely to see Las Vegas "investors" building many of those in Houston--more likely spillover from West U. Good sign of organic growth and a hot economy. Hope it keeps up!

If you have a high speed connection, the City's PW&E GIS website is far more useful.

Beware, though...the City's data is not 100% accurate. My Eastwood property (gained posession this morning) was undersized by several thousand square feet according to both HCAD and PW&E. The City evidently believes that they own all of the land underneath the sidewalks that they placed on my property...survey says: NO.

Zillow.com has a fantastic google maps-like interface, with parcel boundaries overlain.

I have a friend who lives in the Heights. HCAD thinks his lot is 9200 sqft, when in reality it's 6600. Yikes!

I agree that savvy buyers probably do not need a buyer's agent, but most buyers are not savvy. Unfortunately, I fear many realtors do not adequately represent buyers. I used a buyer's agent to purchase an existing home, and I'm glad I did. Robert Gray (grayhometeam.com). We offered on 5 homes, went to contract on 2. More than once we were willing to pay too much for a "cute" house. Bad realtors say "yes" when the buyer wants to pay too much and call it "customer service". Robert did not. The guy is primarily a seller's agent, with 10s of listings at any one time. Considering we went through a relocation agency, we were not worth his time or money.

When you're dealing with existing homes in high land value areas, market price is not so obvious, and mistakes are costly. Perhaps with new-build townhomes it does not matter, but buyer's agents still serve a purpose.

I'm curious: has anyone used RDI's AVM (Automatic Valuation Model)? At $10, it's pretty cheap. I imagine it is quite good.

HCAD uses an AVM as well, which explains why an appraiser never (rarely?) visits your house. I have no doubt that a professional appraiser can do a better job, but doesn't it seem just a little funny that at sale time, houses always appraise for...oh, 1% more than the sale price?

The asking price seems high. It's misleading to list the square footage as 5100, since it is less than 4000 on HCAD. The quarters/whatever may be nice, but most square footage is not created equal.

A per sqft comparison will be misleading since this place's lot is smaller than most in the neighborhood. I'd guess that fair value is somewhere closer to $300K, unless the place really is spectacular.

Cool place, though. I like the sprawling ranch-style homes. I own one built in 1952, but it is hardly sprawling. Good luck.

They wanted to raise it 10% but i kept it to less than 2%. i basically used home sales in the past 9 months and calculated the price/sq ft.

Excellent! That's got to feel good. It's interesting that they responded to local sales data. I always thought all they cared about was other 2006 assessed values. Or did you just get your PSF value from the sales and not tell HCAD your source?

My house is on a larger-than-average lot, so I would get screwed by your approach. I'll probably just find local comparable structures and try to argue that the structure, which hasn't been remodeled (with a permit, that is ;-), is valued more richly than my neighbors. It's interesting, but quite a few neighbors have structure values of $0, although they've happily been living in the house for ages. I think they get some documentation saying the structure has intractable foundation/termite/whatever problems.

Thanks again for sharing...

BTW i won my protest. this was the easiest i've EVER had it. Normally i have to go before the board.

When you say you won, how much were you able to reduce your assessed value? Congrats!