eketrioter

Pfister is great....he replaced some rotted sills and did some relevelling for me. Guy and son...small operation. I also had a big company do some more extensive work, and used their crew for some additional weekend work "off the clock" (and much cheaper).....foreman's name was Tito and his number (in Nov 2007) was 832 206-9951 (must speak espanol).

I love the subway tile look. Have put it in two houses and a garage apartment. Made mistakes on both, but hey, it's a rental. And my wife hates the look, so I guess they will stay rentals..... One more...

I love the subway tile look. Have put it in two houses and a garage apartment. Made mistakes on both, but hey, it's a rental. And my wife hates the look, so I guess they will stay rentals.....

I've heard that 900 sf limit from a few sources. City of Houston permit office should be able to confirm. I live in Woodland Terrace and was looking to do this a few years ago. I was going to use Harvad Heights construction, who provided some details plans and price breakdown....I think it was $55k for a ~700 sf garage apartment, including everything up to the dywall. They were very helpful on the phone, and I could go look at garage apartments they currently had under construction to see what I would be getting. Curious for any other experiences / recommendations....I'd still like to do this at some point in the future.

A good presentation on HCAD protests ("PROTESTING PROPERTY TAX 101") prepared by someone in Woodland Heigths can be found at http://www.woodland-heights.org/ (first link, upper left). I've protested mine before, and just showing up seems to get you something. If you can demonstrate that their data is bad (which seems to be the case), you'll do well. Would recommend focussing on HCAD errors and big items like the attic you mentioned....take some pictures (preferably with a 6'5" guy standing up there), demonstrating that it is not "up to code" (I believe 4' walls, 6'6" ceiling is code) and hence shouldn't be considered primary living space. Good luck. (P.S. Would be curious to see a picture....I'm thinking of finishing off my attic in a smiliar manner)

I believe a holdover from a rougher period. Most Lindale Park residents have been there a LONG time (look at HCAD records)....presumably put up bars in the old and just never took them down. I understand area still has it's crime, but concerned residents and neighborhood pride are helping change it for the better.

Sign in the front yard and a reasonable price (not $1100) does the trick. I put a sign up at my LP house and had 4 drive-by inquiries by noon, leased it to one of those guys the next day. No problems at all. Even without light rail in a few years, you can't go wrong in Lindale Park. Just have to realize that your investment return will come from appreciation, not cash flow...same as a SFH in just about ANY neighborhood nowadays.

Gentleman (Mr Ceasar?) is indeed building a SFH....bought 8 lots between Fulton/Joyce/(Sue?) and had to have them replatted into one lot so that he wouldn't violate building line restrictions. There was a "replatting notice" posted 1Q 04 and a public meeting held by Houston City Planning. I looked into this last year because I had hoped to build on a lot near nearby, but the platted 25' building line setback made it impractical. All the adjacent buildings were 5' off the street, but I would have still had to jump through the hoops of public hearings, surveys, etc, so I gave up and bought elsewhere. Lindale Park deed restrictions wouldn't impact a SFH. The shouldn't impact a business, either, since they were never properly ratified (required % of people did not sign them by 1980 cutoff date). They were neverthless recorded with the city, which makes the issue cloudy. If a business wanted to build in Lindale Park, they would first need a building permit, which wouldn't be issued unless the deed restrictions were declared unenforcable by a judge, which would require paying a lawyer and filing a suit. While time consuming (and not cheap), this should be sucessful since the facts would be on the business' side. At least that's what the lawyer I consulted on the issue said. Details of Metrorail route can be found in a 7-MB *.pdf file available at www.north-hardy.org. This information was presented at the last public meeting (26 June 04)....I've heard nothing since. I would recommend sending an email to Lucas Wall at the Chronicle (traffic@chron.com) and have him press Metro for an update....I did this a few months ago and got a "will let you know" response. It would be nice if instead of McMansions, there were medium-rise condos or something going up.....the supporting commercial development would be nice. I suppose McMansion residents won't need to take the train....maybe the "consultants" will re-route it again to keep themselves on the payroll.

I moved from the Heights to Lindale early last year and am extremely happy with the decision. Bought a house on English for <$100 k. I challenge anyone to drive down English street and tell me there is a better deal anywhere inside the loop, particularly with Light Rail extension coming in 2008 (or 2009, or 2010, or...). I think the speculators are West of Fulton (not part of Lindale), where prices are cheaper, structures are collapsing and there are no deed restrictions. Although most people in Lindale Park are living under the illusion that their Deed Restrictions are valid