Buying a home/condo in an old gentrifying neighborhood (Houston: apartment, rental)

[Hopeful for Life]

I ventured out today to find a humble home with character in mostly the Heights neighborhood. It was shocking to see some of the holdouts who still have their older homes in disrepair. Some of the blocks were completely taken over by the ugly carbon copy apartment/condos. Most were a mix of the older restored homes plus new condos with a few of the older homes sprinkled in. Then, I started to notice that Heights is not designated as “historical”. Does this mean that a neighborhood could be completely taken over by ugly condos and lower the value of certain blocks while the ones with the pretty homes would appreciate quicker? A mix would probably be the “norm”, but noticed that an entire block had been razed (more ugly condos?). Is it better to look at a place in a block with a healthy balance between single family homes and condos?

[Houston245]

There is a section of the heights that is a historic district. If its condos that you want to avoid you should look at a neighborhood with minimum lot restrictions.

I would guess homes that are in areas that have no protection would appreciate faster in the short term, but long term the houses that have more protections will do better.

[WRM20]

Not to be pedantic, but there are not many actual condos in Houston. Most of what people call condos are town houses with fee simple ownership of the land the townhouse sits on, and shared walls that define the property lines, unless they are stand alone with a gap between the structures. There are a few townhouses in the Historic District, but most of the pre-existing ones were carefully mapped out to keep the number of "contributing" structures high. The Historic District rules will prevent future townhome development in the affected area. The rules also keep you from doing just about anything useful to your house, like add on a room, reside with Hardi, etc.

[detachable arm]

I know I am repeating this from another thread but if you want cheap cookie cutter, boring and ugly, no need to go to the outer suburbs. The inner loop takes the crown of that one and it has been headed that way over the past several years.

[HookTheBrotherUp]

I find that a lot of those dilapidated homes exist because the owners know the value of their lot, the home is often worthless. Heck, if I was up in my years, and my house looked like shyt, but sat between two million dollar homes, I could continue to fight home evaluations based on the ugliness of my home, then when ready, cash out and sell the house.

I am unfortunate to live next to such a person, but this person has other rental properties, and his house if falling/leaning towards my house. He is not poor, just cheap. He does nothing to fix/improve his roach/rat/flying-rat (pigeons) problem, and his house is falling apart. His insurance company forced him to make some repairs, and clean up a bit, but again, he is going to sell it eventually.

Unfortunately, I will lose my great views of downtown because those cookie cutter monstrosities will go up in its place, but oh well, what can I do?

[Jack Lance]

Originally Posted by HookTheBrotherUp

I find that a lot of those dilapidated homes exist because the owners know the value of their lot, the home is often worthless. Heck, if I was up in my years, and my house looked like shyt, but sat between two million dollar homes, I could continue to fight home evaluations based on the ugliness of my home, then when ready, cash out and sell the house.

I am unfortunate to live next to such a person, but this person has other rental properties, and his house if falling/leaning towards my house. He is not poor, just cheap. He does nothing to fix/improve his roach/rat/flying-rat (pigeons) problem, and his house is falling apart. His insurance company forced him to make some repairs, and clean up a bit, but again, he is going to sell it eventually.

Unfortunately, I will lose my great views of downtown because those cookie cutter monstrosities will go up in its place, but oh well, what can I do?

Buy the house yourself, tear it down then build a 1 story ranch house on the lot then sell it. Make a profit and preserve your view ! What do ya think about that ?

[HookTheBrotherUp]

Originally Posted by Jack Lance

Buy the house yourself, tear it down then build a 1 story ranch house on the lot then sell it. Make a profit and preserve your view ! What do ya think about that ?

Heck, if I did that, I'd most likely want to move into it! These 5K sq ft lots won't hold a ranch, even if you built it sideways! Lots around here now are at about 500K, just for the dirt. By the time I'd be done, I'd be in 700-900K! But that is a great thought anyway! I'd probably put in a big pool instead with some tropical landscaping, a waterfall with a flame at the top like a volcano.

[Jack Lance]

Originally Posted by HookTheBrotherUp

Heck, if I did that, I'd most likely want to move into it! These 5K sq ft lots won't hold a ranch, even if you built it sideways! Lots around here now are at about 500K, just for the dirt. By the time I'd be done, I'd be in 700-900K! But that is a great thought anyway! I'd probably put in a big pool instead with some tropical landscaping, a waterfall with a flame at the top like a volcano.

Great, when you get that done throw a City-Data pool party , but don't invite any anti-gentrification radicals ok ?

[chris_ut]

I wonder if you were actually lokiing in the Heights. Some people call everything north of I-10 weat of 45 the Heights but there are several neighborhoods in there. Im not aware of any condos in the Heights but maybe somone can correct me.

[Texyn]

Originally Posted by detachable arm

I know I am repeating this from another thread but if you want cheap cookie cutter, boring and ugly, no need to go to the outer suburbs. The inner loop takes the crown of that one and it has been headed that way over the past several years.