Urbannomad

"Offical" FIRM maps here. The HC Flood Control District mapping tool here. The rate depend on how much you want to insure, and the elevation of your first level relative to the base flood elevation at location. If you have a mortgage the lender will probably require you to insure at least the amount of the improvement, and often no less than the amount of the loan depending on the lender (in the 100yr zone). Otherwise, it's up to you the dollar amount you want to insure.

"The work performed must be at a cost of at least 50% of the assessed taxable value of the historic structure or improvements (not land value)." That's quite a bit of costly work just to even think about qualifying. "If" you did qualify you would then only get a break of 1.1567% on the value of the new improvements, not taking into consideration that the percentage difference would be even lower with a homestead exemption. If you are going to do the work anyway then it may be worth it, but it's not like the city is going to pay the cost of the improvements. My guess would be this is geared more for well-connected investors of high dollar commercial properties. With millions of dollars at stake, and it being solely a business endeavor, those numbers start to make more sense. I believe the majority of properties with this exemption currently are commercial buildings in and around downtown. For the typical homeowner it may soften your tax bill a bit, but it's not going to make a huge difference. My opinion from how I interpreted the city’s website.

Not until we get an Indian restaurant!

I would agree that it generally tends to hurt the bottom line of existing businesses and mostly dissuades new business from locating to the Heights... but I also think that for many residents that is exactly the point. For the record I think the rule is silly and I live in "wet" Shady Acres. Edit: By businesses I mean primarily restaurant/grocery type retail

This is Shady Acres, NOT the Heights, pretty much anything goes here. Bring on the burgers and beer!

Seriously??? All of this is ONE person, not people, complaining. EVERYONE I have talked with in the neighborhood is excited and ready for Hubcap to open, they are not trying to stand in the way at all. "@Hubcap_Grill Ricky Craig" needs to get over it and open already! All of this childish drama is beginning to turn-off those of us who are excited about a new, cool place to eat and hang out.

I think RedScare has the right idea. HCAD has the maps and GIS shapefile for all of the subdivisions in Harris County. However, so many new small subdivisions have been platted in the Heights area that it can get confusing, but it's still there. Or just search for an address at HCAD's site and it will tell you the subdivision, unless it has been re-platted by a developer... in which case just choose an address a few doors down.

That's how shade on 19th street gets around the dry issue. Not sure why other places don't do the same. Maybe it's a headache to get the ok to do even that??

We live in the 100 year plain in Shady Acres and haven't had any problems, other than street flooding after Ike that went down in less than an hour after the rain stopped. Unfortunately it depends on so many factors that it's hard to make a generalization about an area as large as most of the neighborhood. I just recommend not being directly next to the creek that cuts N/S through the neighborhood and avoid the floodWAY! I'll put in a plug for some the homes for sale around us on/near Beall St south of 19th as a good place to check out as well w/o flooding problems. An upside to being in the 100 year plain is that the COH requires the living area of all new construction to be elevated above the base flood elevation... it's not a guarantee, but since HOUSTON floods, often without regard to floodplain models, it can help mitigate much of the flooding. And the additional insurance is cheap if you are elevated, and you'd probably want it anyway no matter where you were. Good luck!

I think that depends on 2 things really: 1) How far west are you talking... west of Durham, west of Ella, etc? 2) The biggest thing is how well the the drainage and grade of the lot and surrounding lots is. I live near 1100 W 18th, and the morning after Ike 18th St flooded pretty good because the creek got backed up with debris. There was a small amount of water that made it to the bottom of our bottom step but not up to our piers. Since we are on piers & beams the water was no where near close to making it into our house. Our garage is in back, on a slab, and water didn't make it that high. Some cars parked on 18th did get flooded though. During a normal, heavy rain it's no problem where are. However, I know some of the higher streets (above 20th) do flood during heavy rains because some of the older lots have not "upgraded" or "regraded?" their ditches like new construction. The best thing I think is to talk with neighbors that have been there a while, and if you can, drive around during/after a heavy rain.

Searched on google and if you go to http://harris.tx.scanamerica.us/modules.php?name=FeedArchive and start listening on the 05/27/2009 feed at ~ 9:39.22 you can listen to the chase. It goes on for quite a while, in and out through the next couple of feeds. Started as a Chevy Impala not stopping for a cop and then ended with a foot chase in Shady A. I never heard them say what they did, but probably just stupid and didn't want to pull over for one reason or another. I see the ghetto bird all the time and have to agree with RedScare, probably nothing as big as a murder.

All I know is that it began as a"high speed chase down 18th" and devolved from there. Not sure why exactly the chase began in the first place. Last I had heard they caught one guy but are still looking for the other. Unfortunately, if it didn't involve a murder or something else crazy we'll probably never know. This is at least the 3rd time in 2 years I've seen this happen in our neighborhood and I've yet to ever hear any back story.

I doubt it's the city taking initiative on its own to try and fix a problem... let's face it, that's just not how Houston works. More likely, is that the residents petitioned the city to have this work completed through the neighborhood street reconstruction program: http://documents.publicworks.houstontx.gov...nsr-program.htm However, given the fact that it takes on average at least 7 years from the approval of an application to the start of construction (according to the COH website) the current residents may very well NOT be the same ones who petitioned to have the work done in the first place.

While that may be true in a literal since, I don't think it's exactly right. For instance if you don't agree with what comes out of an informal then you are scheduled for a formal hearing that is not bound by anything that occured in the informal. However, if you fail to appear or show up late for the formal then you forfeit your protest. That said, I believe in the informal the appraiser is just trying to justify the value and is open to lowering it, but not looking to raise it, so I do not know how likely, if at all, the whole raised value scenario would be. Though I know people do (rarely) protest to have their value raised so who knows? Bottom line is I wouldn't sweat it. The trick is if they lower it in the informal do you settle with that, or do you roll the dice and try to get the ARB to lower it even more? Even then though, I would imagine the ARB rarely decides to raise a value that the appraiser has lowered in an informal but I have no experience with that so I couldn't say for sure.

- I don't know about the Heights as a whole, but that was an area that did see some of the increases; however, many people in the Heights area saw reductions as well (myself included). It really all depends on the home. Also if someone was at a really low, capped value then they are probably still being raised toward the market value. Which is probably pretty common with some of the older homes on large lots in the heights. - HCAD does mass appraisal so they will not come visit and appraisal your property in that since. They will provide you with the data (sales) they used to arrive at your value before your protest date. Then the burden of proof is on you to show that there are lower, more comparable sales, or you are appraised unequally compared to the comps, or that there are factors that negatively influence your value that does not affect the comps (mold, foundation, bad roof, traffic, backs commercial, etc) - In rare cases HCAD could determine your value should be higher, but in an informal hearing you can just reject the value and leave it where it is. However, if you appeal your value to the ARB their decision is binding regardless of that they do with your value (up or down). - You don't have to be current on your permits; but if you had improvements done without getting a permit, then it's likely HCAD never knew about them, and therefore did not include them in your value. So if you did something big like a remodel or added a pool, then your value could go up as a result when they find out. - HCAD will not come to your house, you will need to bring pictures and other related documentation to your protest hearing.

That might be the easiest route. However, if you really want to protest you could try their ifile/isettle program. Not every home is eligible for isettle, but basically you just fill out the protest online and they will do the "hearing" electronically and offer you a value. I've never used it, and you may not get a reduction, but it seems like a really easy way to try without having to deal with all the hoops. When you look up your acct up on HCAD.org there is a button at the top that says "iFile A Protest" where you can do it. Might be worth a shot??

HCAD should adjust the value next year (2010) to the price you sold at or lower depending on the market this year. You can still protest, but your sell will not be considered "valid" since it is taking place after Jan 1. However, if you think you might save a few dollars, and it's worth it to you, then go for it; or if you want to help out the buyers but your sales price is no guarantee.

The appraisals are calculated using mass appraisal techniques. In other words, a model is built using available sales data for similar homes in the same neighborhood, and then applied to each home and a value calculated that way. Of course it can be a little more complicated for commercial properties or truly unique homes. But in a nutshell that is it. You can google "computer assisted mass appraisal" if you want a more in-depth explanation. Off-topic a bit, but I just got my insurance bill for the next year and my premium was up over $200 so that will eat into any tax savings I might see. You just can't win.

I'm down 2.6% (market and appraised). Land value is up just over 5K, and improvement is down a little more than 11.5K. Now lets see what the taxing entities due with our rates??

I believe HC appraises every year, at least they do on my property There may be something in the tax code about them not having to send a notice out every year unless there is a change (ie value, exemption, etc). Even if they appraised only every couple of years, the appraised value can only go up at a rate of 10% year. Of course that number is cumulative if they don't appraise every year, 2years = 20%, 3years + 30% and so on. O'Connor makes their money off volume so I would take that with a grain of salt. Their site goes on to reference the tax code regarding how the cap is based on appraised year and then they twist that cumulative rate in a way to make it sounds as though you must protest. I promise you it has nothing to do with whether you protest or not. The majority of property owners do not protest and their caps have been in place for years. If you are really bored you can read the complete tax code at http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/proptax/ or you can always call HCAD and have them verify. Of course if you disagree with your value by all means protest, but you shouldn't be worried about losing your cap. If everyone had to protest to keep their cap the tax rate would be astronomically high to pay for the staff to hear all the protest. Our state legislators may not always be the brightest but they aren't that stupid!

Don't worry cottonmather that protest/cap thing is a common misconception. The law actually reads: The limitation is 10% per year, times the number of years as the property was last reappraised, plus the market value of improvements added since the property was last appraised. So it's since the last reappraisal date not protest date, which is the same thing as 10% per year. In some counties they only re-appraise (give new values) every couple of years, so if they are on a 2 year cycle the value could go up 20% when they give a new value (every 2 years). But if they appraise every year, then it's capped at 10% per year. Hope that makes sense. Bottom line is, your homestead and cap will stay in place regardless of whether you ever protest or not. Of course it wouldn't hurt to be diligent and make sure they don't raise your value more than 10% in error. But if you agree with your value you don't have to protest to maintain the benefits of a homestead.

Everyone... no, but a lot of people do, hence the name.

I share your concerns, especially where there are houses that sit behind other houses obscured from the road, as being a great design for a future slum. But to be fair though, this design is the only thing that keeps the area even moderately affordable, since we don't have public alleys through our blocks; and it has spurred massive new interest and invest in the neighborhood. And I think if the owners keep up with the maintenance then that issue could be mitigated pretty simply. Also, I personally think the level of density is fairly appropriate and will work as a buffer to the possible "slumming." Since the neighborhood is inside the loop it's still very close to downtown relatively speaking, and given the current trend, the interest in moving back to the city looks very likely continue... at least in the mid-range in my opinion. I think it's most important that the infrastructure keeps up with the level of growth/density for the survival of the neighborhood, ie improved streets, sidewalk, drainage etc. I can't image how much worse Beall street is going to become once some of the projects in development are finished, included one 100+ home development by itself. The way the city works they make the developer bring their land up to standards, but they don't address improvements that will be needed in the surrounding infrastructure as a whole (just look at our patchwork of sidewalks or flooding issues). In no way am I anti-growth, pretty much the opposite since I realize that I chose to live in an urban area, it's just that in my opinion updating the infrastructure for the needs of today and tomorrow is the most pressing issue we face by far as an overall community... along with the long range trend in home buying preferences, urban vs suburban, but there's not much we can do to combat that, except maybe for cutting crime and improving schools... but I'll leave that for another day.

I think it's nicer to see people walking and sitting on sidewalks in front of buildings as opposed to just a big parking lot for curb appeal. It gives it more of a neighborhood feel since this place is in a relatively dense, or densifying, neighborhood after all. In a suburban strip mall the sea of parking is one thing (and makes sense), but within neighborhoods inside the loop I just personally prefer rear and street parking, especially since I live in the neighborhood and would like it to look nice and help create community (my opinion of nice of course). Fortunately Cedar Creek will be within walking distance of quite a number of us. I guess that's just what I'm accustomed to from living in other cities as well. To each their own, and a nice thing about Houston is one can definitely have their pick of the type of neighborhood they want to live in.

I asked one of the bartenders at Onion Creek the status last weekend and she told me "it's right around the corner." So hopefully pretty soon. The building is coming along nicely.