jscarbor

http://jetallwontpay.com

I don't know Jettall but I wish I could start a little website whenever some crappy sub-contractor did crappy work on my house and got paid but they wouldn't come back.

new water heater. It wasn't the PRV...we cleaned it up and felt insulation and that is where it is leaking...inside the tank.

Yeah, it was corroded. I am going to replace. Ouch.

Its a 1998 tank.

It looks like a small amount of water is coming from the top of the unit at the what I believe to be the pressure relief valve.

My water heater pan has standing water in it. Is there a common problem regarding this that can be fixed?

The condos in the Montrose are like CityView Lofts downtown near Minute Maid Park. They have been under construction for 2 or 3 years. Kinda' makes you wonder.

They might not be on the City View Lofts project anymore.

The property was never inspected by the city. Would I have time to get it inspected before my option period was up? (assuming the bank even allows an option period)

Typically banks give a time for you to inspect. They don't do the inspection period outlined in the 2nd to last page of a trec earnest money contract. What I would do is spell out that you want X amount of days to "inspect" if you don't like what you see then you get your EM back.

Now, you have an oppurtunity to go to city and ask for a copy of the plans on file...I don't see how a home could not have any inspections...that being said you could ge these but I think it takes 5-7 days which is about how long banks usually give. So....if that is what you are looking at then I would hire an engineer to inspect the property.

As a side, if the house is sheetrocked and has not had inspections it is probably something not worth pursuing unless you get it at or near lot cost IMO.

If you want to pick my brain give shoot me a PM.

Lots of builders are in same position as Valentine. I don't know them but if they were built in houston then the COH inspections are pretty good. The main issue is roof typically, its not an inspected item.

What is left to do in home? Is water on? I would flush toilets with tp, run water for a while on each faucet....Get thourough inspection, possibly by an engineer as well.

$100 per step including labor and materials is very good pricing.

That was very helpful, thank you. I agree, it is a good time to buy there.

Those "investors" weren't investors, they were scammers is my bet. They raised the price and pocketed the difference and never made a payment.

Does anyone have any suggestions for berber carpet and installation prices. I would like to compare online prices, houston area carpet stores and Home Depot/Lowes. About the online prices I would need the websites.

Thanks For Any Suggestions.

i've been away for some time so I realize that this could be late but I could help you if you need. Contactg me and let me know how much you are looking for. You can come by my office and look at some carpet samples.

Thise are also not the best floorplans and I believe they could get noisy if the building were more full. Seemed like the construction had little sound proofing. Still I think the price is right. One thing to mention is the HOA could be weak and in need of money? That would be of some concern to me although I have no knowledge that that is the case.

IMO the end of 2009 could be time to sell. The time to buy will be now. The reason I see the end of 2009 being a good time for seller's is that there are very little houses that will be built in 2009. Financing for new construction is very difficult to obtain. That being said the end of 2009 could in fact be a good time for both buyers and seller's. Low construction cost plus low interest rates for buyers...

I heard a little snipet on the radio of who I believe was Oliver Luck(Dynamo Gm or President?) saying that the stadium was not looking good at the time.

Nice job Bill White, pay double for some land and have no use for it! Kind of pisses me off like when I drive by a stranded car on the road while driving 60mph and seeing the driver waiting for the free tow off the side of the road because it slows traffic so much.

I missed those meetings. Still, there was no way the city was not going to buy the property no matter what any opposition said. Even Bill White said that the city would buy the land and figure something out if the stadium deal could not get done. It was stupid and they paid too much for the land.

Dynamo Stadium is a stupid move by the city. To start off they paid nearly $50 a foot for property that would probably not sell for $25 per foot today. They paid that price not knowing if they were going to get a stadium deal done or not. It was never discussed in the community either. It was Mayor White's baby, and if he wants something done or not done then he makes it happen no matter what the rules or consequences. This guy is a bully.

10% sounds pretty low to me? I would have thought 20%+. 10% barely covers all the gas to get to and from a job site.

I think it will be a mixed bag. While you are correct that people with decent incomes can continue to get loans (at least let's assume this), the reality is that people with comfortable incomes are getting into trouble at a high enough rate to cause at least a hiccup in our market. Still have to have money down and not have a lot of other debt, which is something that was all-but-irrelevant pre-credit crisis.

IMO, every segment and part of town is impacted, hot or not. So while prices might not materially decline, the inventory will rise as developers finish off existing projects (and seek financing for new ones) and then have to compete with existing homes for a smaller buyer pool. If that doesn't cause a decrease in prices across the board, then it will at least cause stagnation and some creative giveaways (free tvs and appliances) that will be a de facto price decrease.

I can almost guarantee inventory will not rise because new homes are being built and brought into market. In fact, financing for builders is very difficult right now and I see there actually being a supply problem in mid- late 2009? Ask lumber stores if they are busy right now.

I have lived in both SL and Houston and have to say I like both but there are things I hate about Houston and only things I dislike about SL.

A 6500 seat arena seems dumb to me...I love live music but your either a big act or pretty much a small act. There aren't enough acts that can come close to filling up 6500 seats IMO?

Toyoto Center sucks for live music IMO. I have been to Kid Rock and Mettalica and both were not loud and they stopped serving beer at like 9pm? WTF?

Hello,

I am originally from Houston but I married a guy in the oil industry and sadly he drug me away from Houston about 5 years ago. :-) We are currently living in Europe but anticipate moving back to Houston in the next few months (yay!!). I have been scouring HAR and the internet in general to learn more about different areas of town etc. I ran across this site earlier today and I've spent hours reading and learning from you guys.

I thought I would post this message and give some specific information about us and ask for your recommendations for good areas/neighborhoods. I'm a little concerned that we might not be able to afford some of the areas I was initially attracted to so I'd like your opinions.

I am 32 and my husband is 37. We are child-free by choice and plan to stay that way. We have two dogs (one is a large German Shepherd) so we defintiely want a house with a decent sized yard (not the kind of "yard" I see listed with some of those new townhouses). I do NOT want a house more than about 2000 sq ft. Around 1500 would be ideal. We have around 100k to put down and would like to find something around 350k or less. We are both liberal minded people. I am a vegetarian and would like easy access to a high end grocery store or a famers market. Also easy access to a good gym and walking/jogging/biking areas would be great.

My husband is very handy around the house and buying something that needs a bit of work is appealing to us (however we don't want to totally rehab a house). Also I've seen houses adverstised with a blurb about the lot being great for rebuilding or expanding on. We do not want to be in area where everyone is building huge houses around us. I don't want to feel pressured to do the same thing. We intend to buy a house that we will be in long term.

Crime is a bit of a concern but not really the most important factor. My husband does travel occassionaly but I feel pretty safe with the German Shepherd around. However I don't want to worry excessively about breakins or worse.

As far as the commute - I won't have a job when we first move. I intend to find something once we are settled. I'm not sure exactly where my husband will be located as his company has several offices in the Houston area. We feel comfortable with the commute from inside the Loop. He will likely be going against the traffic and doesn't mind a bit of a drive. When he is in Houston for work he generally stays in the Galleria area and drives to the office, so he is familiar with what it is like.

Thanks in advance for taking the time to read this and to offer your advice. I hope you are all recovering well from Ike.

Idylwood is one of my favorite neighborhoods, although it lacks some of what you are interested in like, a good organic market and a good gym. It has a little park in the neighborhood and then a bigger park not far from here. Memorial park and Herman Park are 10 minute drives. Nice Homes are priced in the $230K-$260K range. I used to live there and it is a liberal minded subdivision. I felt safe walking around but my one complaint would be that stray dogs were a concern.

Eastwood is near Idylwood and some stretches can be a little bit rougher but it’s a great place as well.

Some areas around the Washington corridor fit a lot of your criteria but they do have new homes being built around them but I don't think you should ever feel like you have to build something new. If you were to buy in an area that is or might be susceptible to "gentrification" then I would buy on a really good street. If houses on a street are nice then they will be harder for builders to buy the houses and tear down because the house will have "value" that a builder can not pay for.

Montrosish area would fit your criteria as well but a little pricier for nice homes.

Heights area offers a lot of amenities you are looking for also.

I hope this is the right forum:

I own a 2 bedroom/1.5 bath condo near Memorial and Chimney Rock (1000 sf). I am evicting the tenant (its a joy). I expect to retake possession the first week in October. I would like to re-rent it Nov 1 (I have a prospective tenant).

The place needs new:

Floors

Kitchen Cabinets

Counter tops

Paint

Trim/molding

New bathroom fixtures

Minor reconstruction (knock down a closet and convert it into a washer/dryer closet and drop in lines)

I would typically do most of the easy work myself (paint, floors, the trim) but i don't have the time to do it in less than 30 days.

Any suggestions on good contractors? Anyone used someone for a rental property? I want it to look nice of course, but not nicer than my house!

Jeff

Would you like for me to come by and give you a quote? Email me at john@jscarborough.net.

The more I think about it the less I think the house color is the problem??? Tree's would be nice though. What can you get a fairly mature oak planted for $$? $2000 for something 15-20 feet? I think adding this would make the exterior color less of an issue (I don't personally mind the color, its unique like the Heights area is supposed to be.

Most of the suggestions I have heard are very good advice which is generally what you get on this forum save a few nutjobs that know everything but know nothing in reality. As a Seller, you have to figure out what you are willing to try and improve in order to sell your house. If you decide nothing, then IMO price is the only thing that you can do. Listing agent can only do so much, real estate is market driven as we all know. Advertsing is low on the totem pole as far as getting people to look at a house. MLS presentation is most important.

So a quick rundown but not all inclusive or in order of relevance:

1. Tree

2. closed porch

3. Paint inside/out

4. Staging to sell

5. Cabinets space in kitchen

6. Vent hood to exterior

I think staging(might include painting), tree (mature) are probably the most important??? And they are pretty cost effective? Plus if you decide not to sell the tree will only grow and become more "valuable" to the property. It could also help shade the home a bit from the sun.

It's still there. Lovett tried to cover it up with black paint and some bushes. It's still an eyesore to me. We, of course, walked away from the home after losing in arbitration. PM me if you are interested in seeing it. The home is in the museum district. They should've made the utility bank perpendicular to the street. I've since seen many patio homes with this proper configuration. Instead, Lovett made the utility bank parallel to the street completely blocking the view to the street.

I believe Reliant tells the builder where they need to put the utility bank. Sometimes there are easement restrictions and other stuff.

Your right once again BryanS, I wanted to weasel my way in the deal. Of course, if you remember I said I would step out of the way for the client if he wanted to see the home but he chose not to because of the other agent(i told this to the agent as well). So, the agent screwed himself and way more importantly his client out of a potential deal if in the end the client would have bought the property.

The thread isn't about the client, its about some ahole not willing to open his own damn listing regardless of whether or not he was represented by me. Yes my client should have been coached better by me, yes I should have picked up the phone while I was in a meeting with bankers who were willing to loan me millons of dollars, in fact I felt so bad I told the buyer to go look at it anyway and I would help him and not take a commission. I did my part. The listing agent is the one who decided to turn down a potential client because he was an arrogant, selfriteous bastard who was so busy that he could not open the only listing he had for someone who was eager to see the property. The funny thing about this is that the property isn't that great of a deal. Its a good price but not off fair market for that type home from what I gather in very limited research.