Urbannomad

thanks. Given the hoops we had to jump through with HCAD last year, I think I'll just let this one go.

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.

Does anyone know how the appraisals are calculated? I'm very curious about our whole block going up.

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??

They assess property values every year, but my understanding is that it only "appraises" when either the property changes hands (sells) or HCAD/the ARB resets the value either through an independent appraisal or the result of a protest. HCAD does not appraise every single property every year, unless I am mistaken.

EDIT: Here is a link to O'Connor: <a href="http://www.poconnor-associates.com/article.asp?id=55" target="_blank">http://www.poconnor-associates.com/article.asp?id=55</a>

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.

Lora,

I live in the 1700 block of Beall St and while I have satellite, many of my neighbors have comcast. Comcast shouldn't be a problem, it's all aerial in our area so you could easily tell by looking at the poles, but I'm sure it's there. AT&T buried new fiber (U-Verse) back in October/November of 2008. I know this because fortunately this upgrade required moving their old box from my front yard, to across the street... thank goodness! I'm not sure if U-Verse is active yet, but the construction guy said it was all in, they just had to "throw the switch" when they were ready. That was back in November so it might be available now, guess it just depends on how much of the area is done? In the meantime you can still get DSL through ATT, that's what I do since it's so much cheaper than comcast.

Hope that helps.

There is nothing wrong with the new victorian homes. Some are constructed cheaply and feel that way but the majority are not. The reason it seems that everyone feels negatively towards the new construction is because only unhappy people complain vocally. Thousand of people like and even live in these homes, but they have no reason to rant about how much they like them. Really it just boils down to change, and the fact that most people can't handle it. This isn't an issue specific to just the heights you can see it in most neighborhoods or developing areas around Houston. Things change and one day these homes will be old and appreciated; just like the once generic, cheap and practical housing that was bungalows are now admired and cherished as gems. And for the haters, when that day comes these "new" victorian homes will get demolished to make way for the the next development phase. I'm all for trying to keep some history, but pretending that there will not be development in the ever-evolving urban landscape is just plain silly. And it seems Houston has a tougher time preserving its old buildings because they were not built with a dense, urban mega-city in mind like some other areas (ie Boston, DC, etc) that can more easily preserve older buildings.

*twirls blonde hair ditzily* Does everyone really wear white?

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

Alleys are great. Especially in more dense, urban neighborhoods where land values are very high and street parking is common. Otherwise, you have to build a driveway on some VERY expensive land which adds substantial width to a lot just for paving... sounds silly to some I'm sure, but at $30-$50+ sqft for land alone that can get pricey. Also, trash pickup can be a nightmare in Shady Acres since we don't have alleys and street parking is common. Sunday nights are a fight for curb space. Without going into detail, it creates an obvious drainage problem as well with higher density development when the entire lot including ditch is paved for entire blocks (I'm thinking Heights Annex are for example). I can only imagine the problems when our neighborhood is completely built out. I for one would love to have alleys in our neighborhood. Outside of the movies, I've never actually known anyone who has had any real problems with an alley behind their house. Maybe in some really bad neighborhoods that is the case but I don't think the alleys are the problem.

I agree, but since we live in Houston I give this a small chance of ever happening.

Berryhill is yuppie? I hardly think so, that place is cheap crap. Not to mention many of the locations are in suburban malls and strip malls. This is definitely not up to yuppie standards. That's like saying Taco Cabana is yuppie.

Mexican food in general cannot really be "yuppie"... unless the restaurant has "Fusion" somewhere in its name, and then maybe.

yup

I like Shady Acres, the trees are great, the location is great. I don't really like the style of building that is going on there right now. Where there used to be nice sized lots with yards (no sidewalks though), now they are sticking these townhome complexes in. I don't mind a townhome if it's street facing and has some kind of a yard to speak of, but these things they build where 8 are on a double lot sharing a driveway or a walkway up the middle are weird. I can't picture these not being completely slummed up in 10 years. I think it's too dense for the area. This is not Rice Military, and I can't really say for sure whether that model of building is going to work there in the long run. I'm just saying I don't like it. I think it's over-filling the market with homes that don't have long-term desirability.

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.

Just curious, why does that appeal?

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.

Personally, I like the Sullivan Brothers development in the 500 block of W 23rd behind Helms Elementary. Pretty pricey, but nice.

Here is a link to some photos of one of the houses:

http://search.har.com/engine/dispSearch.cf...mp;backButton=Y

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.

The answer is dual income with no kids. $80K for a $300K house is tight, but for say a $225-$250K house really isn't that bad(for DINKs). While those are not my exact numbers that's the general ballpark, plus or minus 10 or 15k, for my situation and we make the payments without any problem and still both contribute to our 401Ks at the full matching percentage along with 2 IRAs and our general savings fund and have plenty fun money left over.

I think in Houston especially, cars are something that really kills people in a budgeting sense. Even those who don't drive far tend to have new, nicer cars and when you figure in that $300 - $900/month for 1 or 2 car loans that's a big junk of money. I drive a small, low mileage, paid off car and my wife has a new, though relatively inexpensive car that we have a small monthly payment on so we save a lot of money each month right there. We were also able to put 20% down but we did have to save pretty hard and make sacrifices for about 5 years before we had enough money.... but I don't think working hard to earn something is a bad thing plus we are still under 30. I guess it all depends on how well people can personally budget their money and how much debt they've already gotten themselves into, but I think it's doable in a responsible way so long as the person is willing to sacrifice a little to get there.

But if you have kids I think those numbers get a lot harder to work out, and that is when I want to know how people do it.

If you truly want diversity you need to look at socio-economics as well, not just race like Danax said. People who earn similar incomes tend to spend it the same way and have similar priorities and and beliefs regardless of what color their skin is. So for "true diversity" I think you really need socio-economic diversity as much as racial, but then you get into the problem of lower performing schools and less of the nicer amenities you may like. It's really a catch-22 and almost impossible to get the best of both worlds. My friend who is a teacher for HISD teaches around the Bellaire area and her school is very diverse both racially and socio-economically while maintaining high performance. The downside is I think that a lot of the neighborhoods in the area tend to be either either very nice or not nice. Without much affordable stuff in the middle. Of course since I live in the Heights I don't have much first hand knowledge of the area but my impression is that may be the only area to truly find what you seem to be wanting at least school-wise. Good luck.

I think that change is constant and of course some will be against any change at all and others more reasonable but it will continue regardless. The new development is fine so long as it stays away from the plain white stucco boxes, which seems to be the new trend as land value increases. I definitely see the value in preservation, but to say "the Heights" should be preserved needs further clarification in my opinion. Are we talking everything inside the loop west of I-45 & north of I-10 as is commonly referred to as "The Heights?" Because I think that is very unrealistic and somewhat elitist in that it will drive the property values of an extremely large land area in the core of the city artificially high so that only those with the most money can afford to buy and pay taxes on those properties in the future. Not that the new stuff is cheap but imagine if nothing new (more dense) could be built, over time as demand increases the prices would be insane. It's already hard to get a 2/1 in Woodland Heights for under 300K. But as the market cools I think the Heights will be left with lots of new homes and that will help keep the neighborhood reasonably priced, at least when compared to other nice inner loop neighborhoods.

I do think preserving certain areas would be great, such as Heights Blvd and Woodland Heights for example. Maybe some other places too, but the reality is that this is a huge chunk of land in the core of the 4th largest city in the US so of course it's going to continue to change and become more dense. The key I believe is, except in a few cases (like I mentioned before with preserving certain smaller specific ares), to accept the changing environment and then try and influence the look and style of it so that the Heights will continue to have a character unique to the rest of Houston. After all, when the bungalows were built in the early 1900s they were a new, generic style (hence the reason they can be given the generic classification of bungalow) and had no unique character to speak of until decades pasted and time did it's thing. The same is true with what is being built today if it's done right... eventually it will be old too and can represent a specific time in the Height's history. Bottom line I think is balance. Seems like people either want to A) Tear everything down and build new or Preserve absolutely everything, neither of which is very realistic in my opinion. I'm sure there will be plenty of people who disagree with me, but I truly think there is a balance somewhere out there but both sides will need to compromise for it to be reached. Otherwise the big money (developers) will just buy anything they can, tear it down and build new homes and we'll be left with no history.

As for 19th street, I'd love to see it's continued rediscovery. However, I could do without the chains and their generic buildings and sea of parking lots. I'd like to see that area continue to develop in a similar walkable style and reject the suburban strip mall style. 19th street to me is also an area that should be preserved and it's growth planned to retain it's unique-to-the-Heights character. I'd like for it to remain a hub for the neighborhood to do some basic shopping and just get out and mingle with one another without it becoming a real commercial hub for the entire Houston region and get stuck fighting with people from Katy and Sugarland just to get a cup of coffee on Saturday morning. But that's a tough balancing act I know.

Well there's my opinion in a perfect world.

This is definitely a generalization, but from my experience in other cities, the most successful tea houses are the ones that are "traditional yet funky" and have a bias toward female clientele. I can't tell you how many people I've seen have different types of showers (my wife included) at tea houses. Not to say it needs to be strictly for women bc I like them as well, but I think a large portion of revenue for many tea houses comes from special events such as showers. Of course when I say tea house I am speaking of the more traditional European style tea house not the hipper Asian style tea houses which to me are more like smoothie shops (but I like me some bubble tea too). Of course there are exceptions to everything I just said but I think it's something to keep in my. And I think that given the outside perception of the heights a Victorian style tea room would be a perfect fit. As for Washington Ave though I'm not sure the area is really tea house material, 19th street would probably be a better bet in my opinion. Good luck if you decide to do it.

We have a detached garage and what they did at our house was jump the fence into the backyard and then go through the regular door into the garage and took some stuff. So make sure that you have a lock on your regular door to the garage and keep it locked all the time.

I agree that there are probably a number of people who will like the style and size, but i just don't see this place in the million dollar range. I especially don't see it going for that much in that part of Shady Acres or any of Shady Acres for that matter. Isn't there some common wisdom about buying the cheapest house in an expensive neighborhood not the most expensive one? Because this house is at about $600 - $700K over all the other homes in the neighborhood with maybe only one or two exceptions in Clark Pines. Maybe someone with deep pockets will fall in love with the place and buy it... stranger things have happened, especially in Houston.

The neighbors actually own the house. I believe that I read somewhere that they built both of them, but I can't recall where.

I believe that's correct. I think when I checked HCAD the same person owned this house and the neighboring one. Assuming of course that info is up to date. This house has been on the market for a LONG time, and if I were to bet I'd say that's where it will stay for an even longer time. Maybe I just don't "get it" with this house but it seems so overpriced not only for its appeal (or lack of) but overpriced for the immediate neighborhood as well.

Maid? Shady Acres has officially arrived!

Just kidding with you...

I believe with the HCAD protest now they can only legally show you sales prices of homes in your neighborhood that were used to value your house, so if the home is not comparable to your own then no luck. Your friendly realtor may be the only way.