D

Open House Porn: What’s up this weekend…

My three favorite open houses to check out this weekend:

6315 Deloache Avenue

I think it must be pretty obvious by now what kind of house I like. It is tucked away, almost hidden from the street.  It gives it somewhat of an enchanted forest feeling, which beautifully matches the interior of the house.  I am not talking about unicorns and fairies, but cozy clutter. Lots of plants, patterns, and decoration. I must say though… the room with the table that appears to double as a giant Monopoly board makes me nervous.  I spy, with my little eye, 17 crosses hanging on the wall. Is this the Bible Belt or what? Check out this house on Sunday from 3 to 5! Set you back: $1,649,500 Preston Hollow.

4352 San Carlos Street

Well, just the other day I went on a walk with my wonderful roommate, and we did our usual judging of every house we walked by… as well as every person. We passed by this little gem and we both fell head-over-heels in love.  It is adorable in every way shape and form. The perfect symmetry of the hedges and windows, the hanging tree protecting the lawn from the brutal Dallas sun, and, of course, the huge windows adorned with green shutters.  If Sam and I were single (that is, if we did not already have a ‘unit’ that we are married to), we would be putting the moves on this one! Maybe we are just faithful because we are poor college undergrads! 4352 San Carlos Street for Ebby Halliday open Sunday from 2:00 to 3:30. $1,160,000.

4533 Bordeaux Avenue

Vaulted ceilings! Need I say more? I love this home because of the vaulted ceilings (obviously), big windows, black shutters, columns, and southern plantation vibe, but… this family seems to have a fetish for the color red. “Red rum, red rum,” except in this case “red room”. Don’t like red? Sherwin Williams is offering 25% off. Take a look at this on Sunday from 1 to 3, 4533 Bordeaux Avenue, shown by Allie Beth Allman and well-priced at $1,099,000 in Highland park.

Dallas Second Home Real Estate: Troubles In Moonlight Basin

More signs that the luxury vacation home market is sucking very bad air: Moonlight Basin, a five year old Montana resort where many a Dallasite escapes to ski and cool off is facing foreclosure by it’s major lender, Lehman Brothers.

Do Land Leases Have Anything To Do With Texas Gold?

Tim posted a question on FB asking if, when the land leases on NorthPark Center  expire, the owner of the lease gets to keep the improvements — i.e. NorthPark. Then he got his answer: no. But it was a great question: I wonder how many people know that many major developments are erected on dirt not necessarily owned by the developer or the person who owns the improvement? In Mexico, for example, until very recently foreigners who bought homes there owned the structure but leased the land from the state. (Beach property is still available in Mexico only as a land lease.) Usually the land leases are extended, sometimes they actually run out at which point the developer/owner can negotiate to buy the dirt. This happened to a developer friend recently who bought a condo in California on a land lease — the lease was up sooner than he realized and all the owners had to scramble to fork over several thousand dollars to buy out their dirt landlord, an Indian tribe.  I am curious as to the origins of this and wonder if it has anything to do with oil? Do property owners like to hang onto dirt just in case of a Spindletop? Couldn’t that be done by maintaining the mineral rights?