Gatorkev

This was my first time protesting (as it was my first time owning a home) We went today for our informal hearing with all of our comps, spreadsheets, pictures, etc. They had raised our market value by over 20k. The appraiser asked us if we just bought the house and what we paid for it. We told him we bought it last year for x dollars. He then said, well that is what we can lower the market value to. This was almost a 40K difference from the HCAD market this year to the market he came down to. He ended up going a little lower by multiplying it by the HISD number. We ended up with a large drop in market value just by spending 5 minutes with him and a few hours doing comps. What a Racket!! Do they purposefully increase the new home sales by a lot while their is no exemption in hope that people wil not protest? We are really glad we protested ourselves and did not pay someone, as we were going to, to do if for us. What a Racket. Good luck Kevin

Thanks everyone for the information. We went down to Stude park and had great view. Would definitely not been able to see them from my house.

Hi Everyone, What is the best place to view the fireworks from downtown in the Heights? Is it possible to see them from the Norhill Area, or does the treeline block the view? Thank you for any information. Kevin

What does a typical deck cost in our area (if you don't mind me asking) Would like to add one on to the back of the house. Nothing fancy ,just something to put a patio set and a grill on. Thanks

Hello, I am getting ready to move to the Heights and was wondering what is the most convenient gym in the area? I know that the Heights is very active outdoors, but I have not seen any gyms in the area? A friend of mine works out at the Y down town, but said it is not that convenient. Any thoughts?

Actually I did not start a thread on the same thing. I was asking about costs for something then and now I am looking for someone do the work. Thank you for the interests in the topics of my posts though.

Hello Everyone, I have already searched the forum, but I did not find much info. I am looking for recommendations for a plumber to install a shower. Our home is in the Heights. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank You

Thank you for the information. It sounds a little more involved than I anticipated. On that note, Does anyone have a good plumber that they would recommend??? Thank You

Hello, I am looking at a house in East Norhill and it has a tub, but does not have a shower line installed. Has anyone had experience with this in pier and beam houses? Any have an idea of what it might cost to add a shower line to the existing plumbing? Thank you for any help you can provide me. I did research the topic, but only found info on adding a whole stand up shower.

You nailed it. Granite counters, stainless steel appliances. Like perfume on a pig. Thank you all for you advice. Hopefully we can find something else in the Heights.

Thank you all very much for your input and advice. It got worse today, I found out that the house has dry wood termites and needs to be treated. I am very worried about what I can't see and where the seller may have cut corners. The price is okay but not great. I will most likely walk from this as it just has too many problems to fix. I am also a 1st time homebuyer and do not want to buy a "money pit". I imagine concession on the house for repairs will be a deal breaker as he is trying to turn a big profit. Thanks again for the insight, I will keep you posted.

Hello Everyone, I found this forum recently and I find it very informative. I have put a bid on a house in the Ridgewood subdivision and had it inspected this weekend. It was built in 1929 and was recently "flipped" by an investor. The inspection seemed to show that everything was wrong in the house. It had electrical issues, including knob and tube wiring that the inspector said needed to be replaced, and possible plumbing and sewer line problems. My question is do most of the inspections on older homes look like this, or is THIS JUST A BAD HOUSE?? Thank you for any help that can be provided.