Looking For Investment Opportunities In The Heights

[dynamolover]

Hello! I have lurked here a little bit and thought I would ask a question of you knowing souls. Almost by accident I made a big gain in a real estate investment in the Montrose area when I sold it to a developer about a year ago. He told me that the Heights were going be the next big area for development inside the loop.

So I have this capital from the house I sold in the Montrose and am looking to put in in real estate again. Houston is going to keep growing, right? The prices in the Heights seem pretty good, and I can imagine making a decent profit in a few years once the development in the area starts to boom.

But then I started reading about these groups of socialists in the Heights opposing new building. That could really limit my upside. So do you think there going to be successfull or will progress continue unabaded? I would really like to repeat my success in real estate investing (obviously) .

Thanks!

[heights_yankee]

I don't have an answer right now, but I am very curious to see what everyone else has to say....

[rps324]

There isn't a boom that is going to happen in the Heights, it boomed a long time ago and is still going. The lack of new development in the Heights is not due to some lack of gentrification, but is due to a number of other factors, (Not that new construction necessarily equates to gentrification). Do not expect that to change. If you are looking at property to later sell to developers, then I suggest you look at the warehouse area between the Geo R. Brown and Eastwood, as well as the Washington Avenue corridor, except for the 6th ward, where new development will also meet resistance.

Developers are eyeing a lot of the property in the Binz area, between midtown and Hermann Park as well. You might check these areas out instead.

Edited June 7, 2006 by rps324

[nmainguy]

I don't know of any socialist agenda because I'm a Heights resident and have never heard anyone advocating a no-growth policy. Some may want restricted lot lines [me] and some may want restricted lot sizes [not me] but no one has advocated no growth.

That being said, you may have missed the train out of the station. You might want to reconsider and take a look at the East End.

[lwood]

Hello! I have lurked here a little bit and thought I would ask a question of you knowing souls. Almost by accident I made a big gain in a real estate investment in the Montrose area when I sold it to a developer about a year ago. He told me that the Heights were going be the next big area for development inside the loop.

So I have this capital from the house I sold in the Montrose and am looking to put in in real estate again. Houston is going to keep growing, right? The prices in the Heights seem pretty good, and I can imagine making a decent profit in a few years once the development in the area starts to boom.

But then I started reading about these groups of socialists in the Heights opposing new building. That could really limit my upside. So do you think there going to be successfull or will progress continue unabaded? I would really like to repeat my success in real estate investing (obviously) .

Thanks!

One of the areas of the Heights with the most new construction is south of 11th and west of Yale. That's because it was (is) one of the areas that stands to improve the most. Two years ago lot prices were $13/sq. ft. They are listing now at around 30 and selling for the mid to upper 20's per square foot.

My opinion is that the area still has a huge upside potential. The highest priced new home in that area is $825,000. Tricon has them as low as 260,000. On Nicholson Tricon has one at 430,000.

Sullivan Development (a great company) has six new homes on the corner of 9th and Nicholson. They broke ground this week and two of the six are sold. Prices range from 355,000 to 535,000.

The proposed (and promised to begin March 2007) new bike trail on Nicholson will make it even more attractive.

[TheNiche]

Hello! I have lurked here a little bit and thought I would ask a question of you knowing souls. Almost by accident I made a big gain in a real estate investment in the Montrose area when I sold it to a developer about a year ago. He told me that the Heights were going be the next big area for development inside the loop.

So I have this capital from the house I sold in the Montrose and am looking to put in in real estate again. Houston is going to keep growing, right? The prices in the Heights seem pretty good, and I can imagine making a decent profit in a few years once the development in the area starts to boom.

But then I started reading about these groups of socialists in the Heights opposing new building. That could really limit my upside. So do you think there going to be successfull or will progress continue unabaded? I would really like to repeat my success in real estate investing (obviously) .

Thanks!

The Heights is a big place...kind of hard to judge. One thing I've found if you're looking to build...lot size doesn't matter to prospective buyers so much as does the site location and the kind of home you build there.

I wouldn't recommend the east end yet unless you're willing to buy and hold or to develop a lot of lower-value housing product. It hasn't got critical mass the way that Montrose, Heights, West U, and Bellaire have got, so it carries more risk. Possible exceptions to the rule are Idylwood and possibly Eastwood...but even then you might come across enforcable deed restrictions. Now, if you're looking to flip, there might be a few more opportunities in the East and Southeast areas as well as in the Heights...but you'll have to look hard and drive a hard bargain.

[Sheila]

I, for one, am sick of profiteers having total control over anything like planning in the city of Houston.

The Heights is unique because it is so much like a town. We have rich and poor, all colors, commercial and residential...but that is all about to change because the profiteers want to make The Heights just another Woodlands, where only the wealthy can afford to live and chain stores are much preferred over family businesses.

I had a man tell me "Face it- the Heights is for rich people and if you can't afford it, you need to move."

The Disneyfication of the Heights. Sad

[jm1fd]

Almost by accident I made a big gain in a real estate investment in the Montrose area

That's about the only way you're going to make more big gains...by accident. If you jump on the meeee too bandwagon, then you might get some small gains, but big gains are very very hard to forecast....if it was easy, then everybody would be doing it.

Edited June 8, 2006 by jm1fd

[TheNiche]

I, for one, am sick of profiteers having total control over anything like planning in the city of Houston.

The Heights is unique because it is so much like a town. We have rich and poor, all colors, commercial and residential...but that is all about to change because the profiteers want to make The Heights just another Woodlands, where only the wealthy can afford to live and chain stores are much preferred over family businesses.

I had a man tell me "Face it- the Heights is for rich people and if you can't afford it, you need to move."

The Disneyfication of the Heights. Sad

Profiteers don't want to make the Heights another Woodlands...their customers do. As the nickname implies, the developer is just out to make a buck. And even then, the customers aren't thinking about the issue from 10,000 feet up...they're just looking for a single dwelling in a nice place.

Woodlandsification is a symptom of a much less complicated trend to which a large segment of the population subscribes. Such people want to live in a nice area. Such people want to live in a convenient area. Such people want a big home. Such people don't want to pay too much (as in Montrose or West U).

Btw, Disneyfication is like when Landry's erects a Joe's along a freeway or puts a ferris wheel downtown. It is when new old buildings are erected to give a neighborhood a false sense of history. Most of the McMansions that have given rise to your ire are contemporary...true to their era...even if you don't personally appreciate the present truth. They are in fact the opposite of Disneyfication.

Edited June 8, 2006 by TheNiche

[bachanon]

correct me if i'm wrong................isn't it true that investors frequently buy condo/townhome units at discounted pre-construction prices only to sell at a profit after a development is sold out? it seems that this has occurred, and is occurring, with the "brownstones", lofts and townhomes on the woodlands waterway and in east shore. wouldn't a more prudent investor want to get in on the ground floor of some of these "sure to sell out" dwellings (or, perhaps a pre-construction condo unit in one of the new developments in galveston?) for a smaller profit rather than speculating in an east end or near northwest property?

btw, i drove through garden oaks recently and was amazed at the new construction and renovations going on there. i wonder if there is some money to be made in this area?

[TheNiche]

correct me if i'm wrong................isn't it true that investors frequently buy condo/townhome units at discounted pre-construction prices only to sell at a profit after a development is sold out? it seems that this has occurred, and is occurring, with the "brownstones", lofts and townhomes on the woodlands waterway and in east shore. wouldn't a more prudent investor want to get in on the ground floor of some of these "sure to sell out" dwellings (or, perhaps a pre-construction condo unit in one of the new developments in galveston?) for a smaller profit rather than speculating in an east end or near northwest property?

btw, i drove through garden oaks recently and was amazed at the new construction and renovations going on there. i wonder if there is some money to be made in this area?

The reason that such low preconstruction prices are offered is so that the developer can lock in enough presales to convince the bank to give him money to build the rest of the speculative units. An investor would be cautioned, however, that a large condo development may take up to two or three years for the initial units to completely sell out (and then might face second or third phases, as in The Woodlands waterway towers). If they need to bail out before then, they'll first have to compete with the original developer, either selling their unit at a lower price than possible or only after a long time on the market.

This high-risk low-reward position is unfavorable to many investors...although it should be noted that this pattern is what has successfully driven the Florida condo market for several years now. The big difference between coastal Florida and Houston is that migration patterns support speculation in Florida.

[HeightsGuy]

Hello! I have lurked here a little bit and thought I would ask a question of you knowing souls. Almost by accident I made a big gain in a real estate investment in the Montrose area when I sold it to a developer about a year ago. He told me that the Heights were going be the next big area for development inside the loop.

So I have this capital from the house I sold in the Montrose and am looking to put in in real estate again. Houston is going to keep growing, right? The prices in the Heights seem pretty good, and I can imagine making a decent profit in a few years once the development in the area starts to boom.

But then I started reading about these groups of socialists in the Heights opposing new building. That could really limit my upside. So do you think there going to be successfull or will progress continue unabaded? I would really like to repeat my success in real estate investing (obviously) .

Thanks!

I'd like to hear more about these "groups of socialists". How dare they limit your upside and keep you from continuing to accidentally make big gains in the real estate market.

Joking aside, if you want to make money as an amateur real estate investor, the Heights may not be the smartest of moves. The big boys moved in a while back.

Edited June 9, 2006 by HeightsGuy