Scott08

Not to hijack the thread, but this one across the street has been on the market over a year now I think:har listing . I think being on Memorial Drive is a hardsell to someone wanting a bit more peace and quiet. The 12943 house will never sell for that much as lot value I don't think.

History? My late mother grew up here, met my dad when they both rented rooms in a house on Pecore during the 40's. I thought it was a dump when I was growing up but as I got older (and more open-minded) I started seeing the charm. I was a semi-early adopter moving to the area around 1987 and bought my current home in Norhill in the '90's for a bargain basement price of $65K. I've toyed with the idea of moving since (I love mods) but it's just such a cool place for many of the reasons already mentioned:location, proximity to work, walking/biking ability, and a degree of eccentricity. Every night when I'm out walking my dog, I am inspired by just how cool my area is, how diverse and friendly are the neighbors. It is the "anti-suburb" to me and I like it for that.

I started my Bally's membership there back around 1990, it was pretty hip and swinging back then. I haven't been in years because it was always too crowded when I wanted to go, and parking always seemed to be an issue. Is a new one nearby replacing it?

Call me crazy, but I keep going back to the principle of, "something is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it."

Well, if what people are willing to pay isn't dropping, why should the appraisal (allegedly the market value of the property) drop?

The overall economic situation and the solvency of the banks have nothing to do with the value of an individual piece of property if it has willing buyers at a particular price.

Well...as has been stated already, the house is worth the asking price if someone has the cash and willingness to pay that for it. It's not worth it through the bank's eyes and they're the ones being asked to pony up the dollars, that's the rub.

I'm a glutton for punishment, so I went by and took a look last night. First off the place is much bigger than the pictures make it look, two distinct units connected by the carport area but probably 50 feet of more apart. There is a driveway facing Fondren and also an alleyway off the sidestreet. Fronting Fondren would definitely be a little scary and pretty noisy, but the neighborhood behind is actually in pretty good shape with a healthy dose of mods. I think someone with vision could do the office/residence thing the OP mentioned, or combine the units with a bridge of sorts and make one larger house with a courtyard/atrium. Proper materials and shielding could minimize the noise level and create more privacy. Bad news is the cost to do this would far exceed what the resale value of that lot will ever be in the near future, so it would have to be someone content on staying there a long time.

That lot has been on the market for quite a while, almost a year I think. I think the price is too high still in this market. A clever developer could make a small multi-use project there with both residential and commercial/retail but I suspect a gaggle of McVics lined up side by side in a few years will be the outcome. Don't see anything happening for the next couple of years at least.

So give us a hint. $200K? $300K? Nine million?

That's the David Mincberg owned house, lot's has been written about it including a Houston Chronicle article. Since he lost his run for Country Judge and ruffled some feathers about his plans for the house, looks like it's back on the market again.

I'm an avid cyclist who's been riding around this city for over a decade (and have the titanium rod in my leg to prove it), live and cycle in the Heights, and rarely use the Heights Blvd bikelane. Like Fox Mulder, I trust no one, and bikelanes on a major road aren't worth the paint spent on them to me. I empathize wholeheartedly with the OP but frankly I just don't expect automobile drivers to look out for me while I'm on my bike, I have to be uber-defensive. I have my "secret" routes that I take from home to Memorial Park and all over other parts of the city. As much as possible I stick to less trafficked side streets, using main roads only when I absolutely have to (and I'm known to use the sidewalks on them if I have to.) What I would like to see is bikepaths like the city of Dallas has. When I stay with friends in far north Dallas, near Richardson, we can get to bike path less than a mile from their house, and ride all the way to White Rock Lake near downtown without ever being on a road. The bikepaths use easements, waterways, etc that crisscross the city and provide a much safer alternative than painting stripes on a busy street. We could do the same in Houston. I do occasionally do group rides around town and there's relative safety in numbers, at least car drivers can't say they didn't see you.

I'm going to throw out my Big Mamou mini-review here. I'd been watching its long development and finally dropped in last week for some eats with some friends. Food was decent ( I had the chicken/sausage gumbo), service attentive, ambiance clean and casual. Stopped by just about closing time last night after some chores, and the owner/staff agreed to make me a quick to-go order even as they were cleaning the kitchen area. I think they're a great addition to the neighborhood and hope they succeed. The husband/wife team seems really eager to please. My only reservation is their closing on Sunday/Monday. Everyone wants some time off and that's hard to come by in a family-owned business, but I think both of those days are prime dining-out days in the Heights 'hood. They might even want to have some kind of special to lure folks in on Monday nights. I hope being closed those nights don't hurt them in the long run.

On another note, I'm still P.O.'ed about Berryhill discontinuing their discount fish taco Monday nights promo. While it was running last summer/fall, the place was SRO on Monday nights, I'd always run into friends there, the community was responding. Just after Ike, they stopped it, kind of suspiciously I think when they were one of the only places fully open. Went there a couple of Mondays ago, and the place is dead compared to what it used to be.

Drove by this place over the weekend just to check it out. House looks to be in good shape but what a horrible location. It's the second house off a traffic light controlled intersection on a very busy stretch of Bellaire. Vacant lot next door, lots of blight across the street, too bad it's not back further in the neigborhood.

Lots of activity last night around the old shoe repair building. Someone's moving in but it was hard to tell if it was residential or business type stuff that was going in.

I'll bite as to why I'd rather shy away from a floodplain property. I've lived in Houston all my life, so I know from past experience that flooding is a regular occurence here, 100 or 500 year odds be damned. I think the maps give a pretty good picture not only of where it's likely but also where I know it has flooded before. Of course there are many other areas not on the maps that are prone to flooding that any local can tell you about. I've never had my house or other property flooded but helped my sister through the experience in the Grantwood subdivision (now largely abandoned) years ago and it wasn't pretty. Yes she had insurance and the house got fixed, but her family was displaced for months...the home was greatly devalued when they went to sell down the road...and my brother-in-law lost two irreplaceable antique British sports cars in the garage. I'd just rather not have to add to my risk of going through that if I can minimize it by living in areas less prone to flooding.

Last year, when I was actively looking for a new house, one of the first ones I looked at had lots of curb appeal, decent shape for its age, etc. I peeled up a corner of the carpet expecting to see the hardwoods that should have been there from the home's era and found plywood instead. It was only then that I realized it had flooded during Allison (and before from anecdotal evidence). I just don't want to be cringing every time it rains.

Many old homes back then had a formal living room and a not so formal room (a den as we called it). Many older homes around here have that same setup.

I was vacationing last week near Birmingham, Alabama. Anywhere I go for a few days, I always search out mod type houses to look at, and I found a local reference to a 1955 Better Homes and Garden house in nearby Vestavia Hills. We went to see it and found a whole neighborhood of extremely cool mods built on hilly, heavily wooded terrain. Doing a real estate search, seems like the 1500 square footish houses are selling in the $200-300K range. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera along, so no photos.

"Could you please tell me where they are that are as interesting, well-located and for a $240,000 asking price?"

The more sleuthing I do, the more mods around town I'm finding. Seems that almost any neighborhood built during the 50's-60's is likely to have at least a few. I discovered some more I didn't know about this weekend in Mangum Manor, a very decent 'hood just outside the loop at 290. Also Glenbrook Valley, Spring Branch, Meyerland, and many more. The highest concentration of them I've seen seems to be Memorial Bend, but of course that's priced over $240K and many of them have seen the developer's wrecking ball in recent years.

There's kind of two distinct sections of Shepherd Forest. This house is east of Ella, the houses and lots seem to be a bit larger (and I think a few years older in general.) Not too many MCM's of this variety, maybe one out of 20, but lots of ranchers with at least some MCM elements. The western section between TC Jester and Ella has more MCM's, maybe one out of 10, but most of that section flooded during Allison and is in the TSARP flood maps. Those houses seem a bit smaller on smaller lots. It's almost like the forgotten pocket of the area. Of course anything on the other side of the loop is considered "trendy" and Oak Forest and Garden Oaks immediately adjacent to it are on the rise in value. My guess is that when the innerloop Heights block fills out and gets too pricey, this area will start being more of a viable alternative than it is now.

To add to my original comments about this house in particular, maybe I'm too picky. Ideally, I'd like to find a MCM in mostly original condition, even if it needed lots of maintenance. It seems much harder to go back and undo things that were done after the fact. A co-worker who lives nearby to this says it's probably had 4-5 owners and I suspect (trying not to sound smug here) most of them just bought it for the location, etc, not because of its style. I've been through a few MCM's this past couple of years where the current residents have gone out of their way to hide the modernist roots of the house rather than embrace it. This house fell into that category to me.

which one was it? what address?

Woodbrook. It had been a flipper remake but they had done a pretty good job of keeping the character. I didn't realize until later though that it was deeply into the floodzone.

I like the Shepherd Forest/Oak Forest/Garden Oaks area a lot. Have you looked at the homes in Lazybrook or Timbergrove on the other side of 610? Those homes may interest you...

The first MCM I really, really wanted and could have afforded was in Timbergrove. By the time I went to its open house it was already sold. All the others I have seen come up since then have been way overpriced IMO, $400K+.

I toured this house in Shepherd Forest yesterday with my realtor, http://search.har.com/engine/doSearch.cfm?...&FOR_SALE=1 .

Too much work for me versus the property's inherent value. Bones are still good but it's got lots of things I would want to change, first off adding central air to displace the window units. Also the kitchen layout is really pretty modern for a 60's design but the cabinetry/appliances are really dated and not in a good MCM manner. The other turnoff for me was an apparent addition/remodel to the left side of the house as seen from the front view. I think it was originally a one car garage on the end with an attached breezeway to the house but many years ago was enclosed in, so you've got two rooms without a real purpose grafted on to the main living areas. Looks structurally sound but a fair amount of deferred maintenance. Shepherd Forest is an interesting area. It's directly outside the loop, good access to downtown/uptown, etc. but lacks the "trendiness" of the neighborhoods right across 610 from it and the prices reflect it. I suspect they will have to drop the price quite a bit for a quick sale.

I almost bought a condo/townhouse a few years back but got scared off by the insurance. A condo association is treated as a commercial property would be, with none of the legislative oversights a homeowner receives. If a condo association's insurance skyrockets for some reason, then so does your share of it. Much simpler in my mind to stick with single family or fee simple townhomes.

I can't imagine anyone buying the townhomes over on Heights Blvd. south of I-10 across from Hickory Hollow. They are right on the tracks. Besides the noise, if that thing ever derails they are screwed.

Those townhomes are the poster child for the arrogance of builders. I bet the sides of the train cars are literally 10 feet away from the houses when they pass by. Assuming they "had" to be built, they could have least designed them and laid them out on the lot to minimize their proximity to the tracks. Instead they were built as if the tracks didn't even exist, and no potential buyer would question it. I hate to see waste, but I hope they rot away without buyers so something more useful can be built on that site.

Saturday, I decided to ride my bike from my current home in the Heights and go explore the 'hood of my youth, the Spring Branch area. I grew up in a MCM that my father designed and had built in what I believe is called "Spring Branch Oaks" near Long Point and Campbell. The house has now been remuddled several times and the only real MCM feature you can still see is the celestory windows at one end of the house. Sad, but I kind of empathize, as growing up these were just "houses," I never knew there was anything special about them until much later in my life. Actually there are lots of MCM's in the Spring Branch area and although some have been tortured many more are still pretty original. I have a theory, at least for Houston area MCM's. There seems to be 3 kinds/price ranges of MCM's. 1. The expensive ones that were custom built in "nice" neighborhoods like River Oaks, Memorial, Meyerland, etc. Some are still in really good shape but their location makes them very expensive and prime contenders for teardowns as their land is frequently seen as more valuable than their style. 2. The cheaper MCM's, neighborhoods such as Sharpstown, Ridgecrest, and others, where they were originally solid middle class, but have gone into or through "transition." Some of these houses are pretty original still, but some have been remodeled by people actively trying to get rid of the modern look with some pretty tacky reno's. 3. The middle class MCM's, such as where I grew up and Glenbrook Valley. Here is where you might still find some really cool original houses, but must accept that the neighborhoods are also not exactly as pristine as they once were. I think I fall into the typical category of MCM lovers, doing okay financially but not in a position to buy $1 million dollar homes. I'm probably not brave enough to go too far into a transitional neighborhood, so my only hope is being at the right place/right time for one of the middle-ground houses when they become available. Thanks for listening to my ramblings, I'll bring a camera next time I'm on one of my rides.

I recently drove around the Barton Heights area of Austin, a mid-century enclave that includes the A.D. Stengers and lots of other 50's-60's vintage mods and ranches. Most of the new construction there is of the modern variety. I didn't drive down every street but didn't see anything that looked McMansionist on my tour. Wish Houston was more progressive like that.

From the pictures the house looks to be in good shape and already has some "updates" i.e. the granite countertops so it looks to me like someone who likes the style could move right in. Does see pretty high for lot value only, even in that area.

Don't know the exact dates, but it's been a grocery store for a LONG time. My mother's father died of a heart attack there in the late 30's-early 40's period.