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Ask Candy: Is It Crazy To Buy A Single Fam Home In A Block of Junius Height Duplexes?

A reader writes:

“Hi Candy:
Would we be crazy for buying our first house, a decently restored Craftsman, on a block that is otherwise duplexes? Its in Junius Heights so there are a lot of duplexes all over the area, craftsman and prairie style duplexes but……. yea. And its also one block from an elementary school. Our kid is already in middle school so its not a plus for me but does that school location matter? Cars on the block and area appear newer and the duplexes are mostly in good shape, its definitely a gentrifying area.
thanks alot !!”

I don’t think so. Last time I looked, Junius Heights was one of the more sought-after areas east of Central, in definite re gentrification mode. Proximity to an elementary school should also not be a problem. I was talking to appraiser D.W. Skelton this week, who told me living near an elementary school can be a plus: space, playgrounds, places to walk the dogs. Just don’t forget the poop bags, please!

Where Have All The 4% Jumbo’s Gone? Read On

As anyone buying a home over $417,000 in Dallas knows, it is nearly impossible to get a mortgage unless you have 40% in equity (from, hopefully, the sale of your previous home) and near perfect credit. The huge rise in bankruptcies means a lot of folks are not going to be able to secure mortgages for at least five years, which is why so many investors think small to medium-sized rental homes are the best place to park money right now. But I digress. Dan Green over at the Mortgage Reports has some good news about Jumbos in the 4%, from Main Street Banks. These are small banks, banks that did not need a federal bailout, places like Inwood Bank and Frost Bank (and others, feel free to pipe in) who do banking the old-fashioned way: they keep the loans on their books.

Brady Moore Listing To Be On Friday’s TODAY Show

Look at this cutie pie at 4606 West Amherst Ave., two bedrooms, two baths, two living areas, sunroom, a Seaside, WaterColor cottage-y feel to it with numerous updates and pool. No wonder Barbara Corcoran has chosen this little number to feature on Friday’s NBC TODAY Show in her national real estate report. The price? $349,000.  Yes, Briarwood is going to make us look really good to the whole USA.

Folks, Please, It’s Too Early For Holiday Lights

Come on, it’s not even Thanksgiving! OK, next year, whoever sends me a photo of someone who puts up holiday lights before Halloween gets a free lunch with me at Fearings!

Dallas Real Estate: Will This Outlet Pass Inspection?

It’s not a GFI, mighty close to that sink, and the tub is conveniently just around the corner. ZZZZZZZZZZ!

Otherwise, cute house. Imagine finding real marble in a home built in the 1950’s.

Dallas Real Estate: Something Tells Me This House Has Foundation Issues

Either that, or they started to make a door but didn’t finish the job.

Dallas Real Estate: Finish Out Only a Mother Could Love

Maybe? Maybe they didn’t finish the framing around this attic door because they wanted a great secret place to hide valuables? Or maybe, maybe that’s the Panic Room.

Dallas Real Estate: Please Don’t Sit on the Hearth!

I am really worried about that lonely little rock holding up that hearth. If someone who might be charged for two seats on Southwest Airlines sits down with a glass of spiked eggnog in his hand… that hearth is going to be history. I mean, people live in houses and sit on hearths and the whole world does not take Alli. This was yet another one of the glorious finds in that fixer-upper I toured on Townsend. Folks, you cannot trust the photos on the internet. This fireplace was touted as a “stacked stone fireplace.” Stacked it is, all right.

Dallas Real Estate: 4214 Manning Finally Under Contract

Because I truly believe that homes have souls, I just love it when they finally find a family.  4214 Manning is one of my favorite bittersweet new construction stories out there. The builders were trying to go outside the box, build a unique home with a strong New Orleans-style slant. Might have worked had the market not turned south. And so this lovely southern belle went into foreclosure even with all her bells and whistles. What was it, $3 million, then $2,050,000 and I said I would have gone in at $1.5. I mean, look at this breakfast room!

D Sale of the Week: Creek, Cul de Sac, Koi, $365K

If you lived here, this would be the view from your kitchen window 24/7. I am obsessed with this Waterview neighborhood, in Richardson Heights. Trees, creeks, stone—it’s like a slice of the Hill Country one mile west of Central Expressway, just north of Belt Line Road. I was perusing the cul de sacs in the area and I found this listing for—are you sitting down?—$365,000. Don’t stand up yet: 10 Shadywood Place offers more than one-quarter of an acre, almost fully remodeled—in fact, a new roof is being installed this week—and has five bedrooms and three baths in 2,950 square feet.  Shares this cute lane with just four other homes, and this wooded cul de sac overlooks Cottonwood Creek. Plus this home is adjacent to larger homes backing up to the same creek in chichi nearby Waterview Preservation. Those pups are much pricier, if they come on the market.

This home was built on white rock with bell-bottom piers (not to be confused with bell-bottom pants) in 1969, by its original owners. He was in the building products manufacturing business: door entrances. He sold to Pella Windows, which is every small-company owner’s dream. Thus the owners, who raised their family in this home, had both a keen eye and an “in” for high-quality materials. The exterior doors are solid Andean walnut from Bolivia; the double spiral banister on the front stairway was imported from Sedrina, Italy; the plentiful crown molding is imported from Cremona, Italy—well, you get the picture. The owners also installed an elaborate outdoor lighting system and a new HVAC and hot water heaters in 2007. But last summer they really went to town: scraped hardwoods in the living room, granite counters in the kitchen, new faucets, and new light fixtures. In other words, this home is turnkey. Their pain, your gain. It has been staged by Creative Staging by Design of Dallas, and it will be open this Sunday from 3-5 pm.

Our TARP Dollars At Work: New Auto Teller Machines at Comerica

I love Comerica Bank and it is where we have banked for years. After this post,  they are probably going to cut off our access to any credit, raise our fees, but I just cannot help it.  I go to the drive-through yesterday to make a deposit, and I note these shiny new auto-teller machines. I’m sure this wasn’t paid for with TARP funds, and if it was, purchasing them had a trickle-down effect that created jobs for the guys who molded the little plastic tubes. They are quick and nice, but the realtor voice in my head says, hey, why not just make some non-conforming real estate loans?

Rufus C. Burleson, R.I.P. Our Condolences To Mary Frances

It is with a saddened heart I tell you that Mary Frances Burelson,  President and CEO of the Ebby Halliday Companies, has lost her beloved life mate of more than 55 years, Rufus C. Burleson. Mr. Burleson died in his sleep on November 13 while accompanying his wife to the National Association of Realtors convention in San Diego, CA.  The Dallas native was 77 years old and lived with Mary Frances in Sachse. Our Park Cities People blog reports that both Rufus and Mary Frances attended Highland Park High School. A graduate of Texas Tech with a degree in animal husbandry, Rufus served in the U. S. military and had a successful career in residential home construction. Upon retirement, he and his wife bred championship Boxers at their 11.5 acre kennel. Visitation is at Restland Funeral Home on Thursday, November 19 from 6-8 p.m. Burial will be private at noon on November 20. A memorial service and celebration of Mr. Burleson’s life is scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday at Park Cities Baptist Church, where he was an active member and Deacon . A reception will follow in the Fellowship Hall. Memorial contributions may be made to Buckner International, c/o Jim Huey, Buckner Foundation, 600 N. Pearl St., Ste. 2260, Dallas, 75201 or the American Boxer Charitable Foundation, ABCF Memorial Endowment Fund, P.O. Box 8667, Spokane, WA 99203. Jump for more information which was released by Ebby Halliday late this afternoon:

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Hole In The Wall? No Problem, Just Stuff It

Here’s what you won’t see on the jazzed-up internet graphics: a new way to recycle styrofoam. I saw this in a home on the market in Northwest Dallas. Here’s what you see on the internet. But wait, it gets better.

Dallas Real Estate: Drexel Park Hollow Auction Results

“The original auction brochure listed 29 units to be open for inspection.  On Saturday, only ten were listed as being offered for sale that day.  I did not ask why so many were excluded.  I presumed that it was because each bidder that went through the registration process in the days prior to the event was asked which units they were interested in – and that the excluded units had insufficient interest during the inspection process.  One other change was that the first two units offered would start with a minimum bid of $295,000 and would be sold to the highest bidder.  The eight remaining units would be sold subject to seller approval of the high bid.  My opinion is that many bidders do not fully understand this provision in that even if they are the high bidder, the seller can come back within a stated time period and say no thanks.  (Editor’s note: the “reserve”.) The brochure clearly states this, but most people think the high bid gets the property.

An interesting feature of the auction was that the Park Hollow units were mixed in with the Craig Ranch properties.  You would have a few homes come up and then a few condos.  It was quite a large crowd that required many additional chairs to be brought in.  It seemed that there were more people interested in the SFR’s (Editor’s note: single family residences) than the condominiums.

I don’t have the one page schedule that listed the exact order of the properties to be sold.  Without it, these results are not particularly meaningful.

The high bid results for the ten condominiums in the order in which they were auctioned:

1 – $310,000 (sold to the high bidder)

2 – $300,000 (sold to the high bidder)

3 – $271,000

4 – $471,000 (penhouse unit)

5 – $468,000

6 – $326,000

7 – $233,000

8 – $251,000

9 – $341,000

10 – $300,000

I did receive a call this week from Kennedy Wilson asking if I was still interested in #4.  This indicates that the seller did not accept the high bid.  I advised them that I thought the auction bid was a lot higher than I was willing to pay to begin with.  I asked if other high bids, besides those on the first two had been accepted.  It was indicated that there were some, but that others had been renegotiated upward before being accepted.  So it appears that in certain cases, being the high bidder only wins you the right to negotiate.”

LBJ and Lady Bird’s Anniversary

Married 75 years ago today in Johnson City, Texas, where — full disclosure — I own property. Johnson City, Fredericksburg, Stonewall (where the LBJ Ranch is located) and Blanco have grown considerably over the years; market  a bit soft even though this part of Texas has one of the strongest real estate stories in the state. In the Johnson’s honor, here’s a nice little ranch just under a million.

Dallas Real Estate: How Much $$$ To Live at the Ritz Towers?

How much will it will set you back to live in one of those new Ritz-Carlton  Towers? And yes, the model we stayed in had a round central hallway. Catering trays fit around the central table like a charm:

“Candy,  You stayed in #1601K and it is priced at $2,360,000.  Your reader asked about #1301K which is the same floor plan and finish package.  It is priced at $2,165,000.  We have this exact plan priced from $1,625,000 on the 6^th floor.  The HOA fees are $.77 per interior square foot.  This plan has 2,490 interior sf, so the HOA fees would be about $1,917 per month.  HOA fees include all common area maintenance for the building and grounds, the parking garage maintenance, and hazard and liability insurance for the building.  In addition to HOA fees the owner of the residence is responsible for utility fees, property taxes (2.6% of assessed value), and contents insurance.”

So $2000 ish per month in HOA fees. Homeowner is responsible for his utilities, cable, etc. and maintenance/repairs on their unit. Regarding those taxes — 2.6% of assessed value. I don’t understand how Dallas County can be losing tax revenues when all these downtown dwellers are doling out the big bucks in property taxes: property taxes on “my” unit’s DCAD appraised value would be $16,774.

Reduced For Quick Sale: Sweet Charity’s Dream House

Now that it’s up here on Dallas Dirt, Sweet Charity’s precious Jeanne Prejean may lose this once in a lifetime chance to buy her dream home at a greatly reduced price. I mean, this puppy is on the drastically reduced shelf…  hopefully not a scratch and dent.

9243 Church Road, reduced $150,000 from $650,000 to $425,000. This for 1.49 acres on Church Road, kind of an historic Dallas home. The agent, Briggs Freeman’s Erika Orbin, says the sellers are just really, really motivated.

Update: I’m told the property was recently apraised by veteran appraiser D.W. Skelton for $500,000 but the sellers, savvy business folks, are trying to be realistic given the current market. In my shorthand, that means motivated!

Hey! My Ritz Bedroom Was on KXAS!

I love you guys over at DFW Around Town, KXAS-TV, but really, aren’t you a little late coming to the Ritz party? Been there, done that, and need to tell you how much I wish I were at the Ritz Spa all week today. Or, actually, anywhere near the hotel that was awarded AAA Five Diamond hotel ratings for 2010. We had Supper Club chez nous this weekend, and I have been vacuuming floors, filling and emptying the dishwasher, etc. (I’ve missed my keyboard.) Oh Roberto Van Geenan, where is your wonderful staff when I need you? If you buy one of the last 30 units available at the new Ritz-Carlton Tower Residences, you pick up the phone and order a party and the Ritz even does a white glove clean up. This is interesting to me because — I will probably be kicked out for saying this — but our Supper Club is getting old. Really, not old,  just weary of entertaining so many people. A few members have dropped out and the majority voted to keep the membership down to 18 or 20, only nine dinners per year, not eleven or twelve, because members say it is way hard to entertain so many people. The fact is, many will be downsizing their homes and want more ease and help in party preparation. May I suggest we all buy at the Ritz?

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Dallas Real Estate: This House In Foreclosure, So Let’s Up The Price

Cute little house, no? $179,000, 7530 Caillet Street – that area behind Lovers Lane, bit west of Simon David and the Bird Streets, an area saturated with more renters but one that I predict as a general personal opinion (NOT as a realtor) will flourish with first time homebuyers in the next boom. Not giving any advice here, OK? But get this: the house had been listed for $169,000, goes into foreclosure, they list it for $10k more. What gives?

Update: Oh must tell you I found this listing on the Sawbuck website. You know, the company that got the Dallas Morning News into the real estate biz.

Homes of Cards: FHA’s Reserve Ratio Dips Below Government Mandated Threshold

Are we worried? With even more foreclosures on the horizon? By the way, I just read that one in four home buyers is interested in foreclosures. That’s the mentality that’s really hurting “normal” home sales.

But most experts say no to worry, FHA has changed guidelines and rules and is actually check credit scores now.

I guess I just like to fret, eh?

OMG: Now Here’s A Fully-Equipped Kitchen

Oh my, people, please do remember to remove EVERYTHING and clean up the kitchen before you shoot those house photos. Really nice cabinets. That “thing” must be a new kind of hand-mixer, I guess. Thanks to the reader who sent this in… and the funny real estate blog I was alerted to a few days ago called “Lovely Home”.

Acres of Astro Turf Invade Preston Hollow

Oh God, think I’m going to be sick. This is the house I wrote about months ago, 8787 Jourdan Way, you pass it on Douglas heading north from Northwest Highway to Walnut Hill. I used to drive carpool on this street. Months ago  Dr. H. Doug Barnes started building a $9,460,500. behemoth stucco Palm Springs-style mansion here, plastering huge, ominous signs all over the place — KEEP OUT! PRIVATE PROPERTY! PROPERTY UNDER SURVEILLANCE!!! And the best: NO PHOTOS, NO CAMERAS (because we might actually want to duplicate this home, yes). So I packed up my dogs one sunny weekend and tried to take them over there for a walk. Was stopped by a huge security guard, a former defensive tackle no doubt. He asked me to leave and leave fast because the owner was on the premises.  Do you know how hard it was to peel myself out of there? I called his office the next day, he never called me back.  I so wanted to ask for a tour and why he was re-creating a Florida hotel in Preston Hollow. Would an ocean soon follow?

Please note: Dr. Barnes, I’m told, did not make his great fortune from doctoring but eyeglass ty-cooning. Here I thought everyone was doing Lasik!

Update: Thanks to the reader who snapped and sent these in — huge hugs! This home was also listed in D Magazine’s Most Expensive Homes issue — surprise, surprise!

D Sale of the Week: Midcentury Mint on Lochwood

This home is a great example of why our market has escaped the carnage of places like Vegas, Phoenix and Detroit, where I heard someone just bought a $400k house for $40k. 11036 Creekmere features 1900 square feet, three bedrooms, two baths, was built in 1964 and has never been redone — mid century enthusiasts are going to lap up that pure, original Formica counter kitchen like kittens to cream. The lot is generous, treed, a hot L-Street location, walls of floor to ceiling glass overlooking a pretty greenbelt. True confessions: I’d get rid of the stained glass panel by the front door faster than you could ring a doorbell. Way too church-y for me, but to each their own. Let’s take a guess: how much will this house set you back? Give up? Try $215,000. For fun, let’s see what $215,000 gets you in San Francisco:

That Drexel Park Hollow Auction

OK, I phoned the press liaison for Kennedy Wilson TWICE yesterday, still no word so I will have to go to plan B. Need dark glasses. Stay tuned.

More Hope For A Burgeoning Downtown Dallas

Consumer trends in real estate will be pushed by aging Baby Boomers and their kids, and all signs point to infill, close-in, urban living. Last week I heard there won’t be enough urban housing to accommodate their needs. You won’t hear any more whining out of this gal about overbuilding of downtown condos. Of course, those units have to be affordable: seniors in ten years may have sharply reduced 401ks and may not be able to afford hefty monthly maintenance fees. This reminds me: I ran into the Prescott guys at the ULI and asked if Lake Highlands Town Center was still a go — since many of you have emailed me with that question. Judd Pankey said it most certainly is.