Buying a House: Houston vs Dallas

[ParaguaneroSwag]

To be fair, most retail in general has been hit hard. But yeah JC Penny was definitely even worse off than Dillard's, Macy's, etc. Hence why they've been acquired.

[Clever nickname here]

Houston has no zoning laws outside of deed restrictions.

Thus Houston has allowed most older central neighborhood homes to be torn down and 3-4 story duplex/town homes built in their place while Dallas has zoning, historic districts, and height limits. If M Streets was in Houston you see 3-4 story townhome/duplexes with roof top decks on every lot thus putting hundreds if not thousands of more residences in the same neighborhood providing way more supply.

[citidata18]

Originally Posted by Mr. Clutch

Didn't JCPenney have operational issues before Covid? In other words, is their debt their only major problem? I would think demand and declining revenue would have at least something to do with it. I am not a fashion guy by any stretch of the imagination, but I do shop from time to time and I cannot remember the last time I've been inside a JCPenney. It's probably been 10-15 years.

But maybe they are secretly popular?

The root cause of JC Penney's debt problems is that they were over-stored, more so than even places like Dillard's and Macy's. During the 90s and 2000s, in addition to their mall locations, they speculatively built a ton of standalone / off-mall locations. Even post-bankruptcy, after closing several hundred stores, they still have more locations than Macy's.

But it wasn't nearly as dire as Sears. Similar to Kohl's (a department store chain people tend to point to as a success), JC Penney's overall has done a pretty good job of keeping their stores modern, JCP didn't/doesn't have its eggs in a bunch of different baskets and JCP's supply chain is pretty rock solid.

[Mr. Clutch]

Originally Posted by citidata18

The root cause of JC Penney's debt problems is that they were over-stored, more so than even places like Dillard's and Macy's. During the 90s and 2000s, in addition to their mall locations, they speculatively built a ton of standalone / off-mall locations. Even post-bankruptcy, after closing several hundred stores, they still have more locations than Macy's.

But it wasn't nearly as dire as Sears. Similar to Kohl's (a department store chain people tend to point to as a success), JC Penney's overall has done a pretty good job of keeping their stores modern, JCP didn't/doesn't have its eggs in a bunch of different baskets and JCP's supply chain is pretty rock solid.

Great information, thanks for the response.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by citidata18

The root cause of JC Penney's debt problems is that they were over-stored, more so than even places like Dillard's and Macy's. During the 90s and 2000s, in addition to their mall locations, they speculatively built a ton of standalone / off-mall locations. Even post-bankruptcy, after closing several hundred stores, they still have more locations than Macy's.

But it wasn't nearly as dire as Sears. Similar to Kohl's (a department store chain people tend to point to as a success), JC Penney's overall has done a pretty good job of keeping their stores modern, JCP didn't/doesn't have its eggs in a bunch of different baskets and JCP's supply chain is pretty rock solid.

Well the whole segment has suffered. 50 years ago Grants, Kress, Woolworth and Ward's were all rivals. McCrory's were in the same general field. Now those are all gone. Penney's and Sear's changed more than those and lived longer, but are shells of what they once were.

[Rockets1994]

Originally Posted by SLKNWJXNQ

I have been browsing Zillow for houses in both of these cities. My price range is from 160k to 250k.

From what ive seen alot of the houses in Dallas metro are actually pretty small. Most of the houses are single story and seem more expensive.

Houston on the other hand, it looks like you get way more for your money in this price range. The houses are alot nicer and lots of them are more then 2 stories.

Why is this? is there a big demand for houses in the Dallas metro? is it true that you get more for your money in Houston?

Part of it is due to the economy... DFW has been booming for awhile now and isn't tied to commodities/the global economy (trade) like the Houston metro is.

I think it's also how the cities have developed.... no "traditional zoning" and Houston is more starfish while DFW is more "favored quarter" with the northern half getting the lion's share.