Condominium At 1342 Rutland St.

[redant]

I am looking to buy my first condo/townhome. I noticed these were quite reasonable. I was wondering if anyone has any informationon these? They are priced pretty low in comparison to places in the same area. Thanks!

[Porchman]

It's only a few years old. One thing that would make me a bit nervous about buying there is that most of the owners banks. (See HCAD). Most orginal owners probably bought in with "creative financing" as can be typical with a new development. Also, most of these banks became owners over the summer which would further support this theory. However, it could be that there is/was something intrisically wrong with the building that might have prompted people to walk. Have a good realtor to get you the skinny on this.

One other matter for consideration. You would want to avoid having a unit closer to W 14th (on the north side of the building). It gets a fair amount of traffic and can be noisy, particularly when some is using their audio system to buzz the bumper off their '82 Bonneville.

There are not many condos available in the Heights - particularly in this price range. 1500 Harvard might be a good comparison for you to consider.

Good luck!

Edited October 26, 2007 by Porchman

[Scharpe St Guy]

I am 80% sure that this building/units are not new construction rather they are a redo of an older building. I recall driving by the gutted building for quite a while until they finally got it dried in, this was an Urban Living Project I believe, I will try and do some research on it and post later.

Good luck,

Scharpe St Guy

I am looking to buy my first condo/townhome. I noticed these were quite reasonable. I was wondering if anyone has any informationon these? They are priced pretty low in comparison to places in the same area. Thanks!

[redant]

One question, say banks do own the properties - how or why is that a bad thing?

thanks so much for the info!!! -redant!

Edited October 26, 2007 by redant

[Porchman]

One question, say banks do own the properties - how or why is that a bad thing?

thanks so much for the info!!! -redant!

1) If there was creative financing involved for the original owners, how steady is the homeowners association? That is, if the mortgage payments were minimized, were the condo fees, as well? Have the banks been paying fees in the meantime? This may be hard to wrangle an answer with most of the owners being non-residents. Can you get HOA financial status?

2) My other concern, as I mentioned before, did the original owners walk because there's something wrong with the building. I, myself, doubt this because the mortgage mess seems more likely, and the buzz on bad buildings is ususally loud. Still possible.

3) The vested interest of non-resident owners is always considered lower than that of resident owners. For this reason, lenders don't like to extend loans on condo units where 75-80% of the unit owners are residents.

Who knows? You might be able to find some leverage in this. $100/SF in the Heights is a deal, certainly. Just be sure you know the risks and whether you can afford them. Get a realtor. Get disclosures.

[HoustonRealtor]

I've had a couple of buyers in this price range recently and have avoided this complex because of the number of foreclosures. In the end, there is no telling what these units will end up selling for and I didn't want clients that paid too much for their unit. Another possibility is investors coming along and buying them for rental property with the intention of selling them at some point in the future. Some of the listings have had monthly price reductions since early summer. In my opinion, there is too much uncertainty. I would want some other buyers to be the first to jump at these.

[Kirzania]

A co-worker of mine was looking at these condos. He was totally won over, for whatever reason. He paid big money for The Works inspection. I hate to tell you, but from the inspector's findings it would appear the second level of condos was added to the top of a pre-existing building. However, the first level was not reinforced for the second story. The walls were bowed on the first level and there were evident issues of structure problems. My understanding was there wasn't a problem with the foundation itself, but the frame of the building.

The HOA itself sounded like it was barely staying afloat; the banks owe the HOA $$$$$ for past dues but these funds are being held up in bureaucratic nonsense. I would very much reconsider even stepping foot in this place. I have heard GREAT things about the property management company though. I wish our HOA would hire them on tomorrow.

[redant]

Interesting! This forum is fantastic! -redant

[VicMan]

The condo units, by the way, are in HISD. They are zoned to:

* Love ES

* Hamilton MS

* Reagan HS

[AgEngr]

I came across these condos a while ago and I've recently noticed several of them have sold. As if there wasn't enough warning, buyer beware! This building does not have appropriate structural integrity. The repairs required to fix this will likely be enormous and may require you/your tennants to move out. As a condo, each unit will be responsible for its share of the repairs. Not to mention if they are successful in jacking the building, reinforcing and levelling, you'll likely have to repair your doors, sheetrock, and flooring that has buckled or cracked due to the new alignment which will be your costs, not the Condo associations. I'm amazed with so many great deals in Houston real estate these days that people throw money at things like this.