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Dallas Real Estate AIA Home Tour: Engawa Power

This is a home I’d expect to see in California — 1810 Bermuda St. by Ron Wommack FAIA and John Rice of Ron Wommack Architect: perfect;y sized 3,500-square-foot home (3500 is the new BIG HOME) takes the shape of a two-story box.  Around two sides an engawa, a veranda of Japanese origin, anchors a linear garden and morphs into an enclosed porch on the upper level. This is the book collector’s home; the residence was designed to maximize wall space for exhibitions. Innovative building materials include cast-in-place board-form concrete, red-painted hardy plank and vertical corrugated metal.

AIA Home Tour: Ron Wommack and John Rice

Great example of homes we will see more of in the future as people want to be closer in to the city, seeking higher desity: 4143 Buena Vista St. Three units face the Katy Trail,  two freestanding units with roof decks take advantage of downtown views.  This design allows town homes to connect and seemingly disappear into the Trail environment.  Vertical corrugated copper, milsap stone reclaimed from earlier WPA projects down the Trail, and ipe wood screens provide privacy and architectural interest in this Uptown neighborhood.

Annual AIA Dallas Tour of Homes Saturday, Sunday

It covers six Dallas neighborhoods from Buena Vista to Tokalon to Maple Springs, and the most influential architects in Dallas. You will see the homes of an Austin filmmaker, a textile artist, a noted art critic and book collector, and several families devoted to eco-friendly lifestyles. Can’t miss, tickets are $25, jump for details: (more…)

ULI Dallas Report: America Is In A New Puritanical Environment

That’s how the expert consultants on yesterday’s powerhouse panel of Emerging Trends in Real Estate put it. Translation: luxury has been temporarily buried. (I like to say it has gone underground.) Among the many notes I have scribbled are phrases like this: 3 million young people have moved back in with their families or doubled up on housing due to job losses; 30 million members of the American workforce are unemployed. Because those kids will eventually want to move out of the house (really?), the investment forecast is positive for apartment complexes. Ditto single family, transit-oriented infill land — real estate verbage for the huge trend of folks moving in closer to the city, public transportation and jobs. Oh but high end luxury condos — not doing well. Houses are most definitely getting smaller and one panelist declared the death of what he called “Wal Mart Houses”. (Adios Sam’s closets.) Echo boomers and Gen X, Y do not want large houses and huge electric bills. They do not want to be house poor.  This same generation is cannibalizing retail because they use malls to socialize, not shop. Where do they shop? On line.

Local proof of the new Puritanism: D. Porthault, those glorious, luxurious, butter-to-the-touch linens that came to us at Highland Park Village, will no longer have a stand-alone shop in Dallas. The HPV store closed the end of June and planned to re-locate within the Park Cities, but the owners have decided not to re-open a store in Dallas.

All is not lost: Madison will carry some of the D. Porthault lines.

Drexel Park Hollow Auction Saturday and Pillsbury Doughboy House Porn

November 7,  29 “luxury condominium homes” will be auctioned off by Kennedy Wilson. I was reminded of this yesterday here at the Urban Land Institute meeting in San Francisco, when I stopped by the Sheldon Good & Company booth/exhibit. Sheldon Good auctioned off the The Centrum a few years back, kind of got sales jump-started. They were telling me that auctions are an emerging trend in real estate sales and not just for distressed properties (or condos) either; check out this:  the 40,000 square foot main house of the John S. and Eleanor Pillsbury estate, designed in 1916 to 1918 by architect H.T. Lindeberg, on Brackett’s point overlooking Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota. This is the second time in the home’s history that it has been on the market.

Segue back to the Drexel Park Hollow: jump for  the deets on those interiors.

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Report From The ULI: Second Home Communities & Real Estate Trends

A long day in San Francisco, including a morning walk Wednesday in Pacific Heights, Cow Hollow and The Marina  — please see my Twitter posts. I honestly almost became a house manager in PH, I love the area so much. (Then I learned this is where Nancy Pelosi lives!) This afternoon, back to business. What in the world are we going to do with all those second homes out there begging for owners? Fractionalize them: yes, the future is betting on fractionals: living, aircraft, boats, everything. (Kids?) And while we’re at it, let me tell you what else I heard today about the second and vacation home market:

Ostentation is dead, at least for two years; I mourn.

Second home ownership is all about re-connecting people, bringing owners to nature.

Second home ownership is very social.

Second home ownership likes/wants the resort “experience.” More exotic, the better.

To whit, we are talking a down comforter in a cabin or tent. (More biz for Bibbentuckers.) Outdoor amphitheatres. More experience and memories than opulence. Multi seasonal nature, and a social connection between real people. 82% of the U.S. population claims to walk outdoors, 84%  of parents want their children to spend more time outdoors, and all families really want to get re-connected to nature. Oh, but they also want easy access to airports. (I so relate, we want it all!) In fact, today I heard that LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION has been replaced  by ACCESS ACCESS ACCESS. Want the recipe for success for a second home community? Try amenities, telecommunication and air travel.

Second and all homes are getting smaller. Here’s what people want in design: Simpler design, smarter design, higher density neighborhoods, the elimination of secondary living spaces, flexible space, and a connection to nature.

Guess who’s buying way smarter than their parents and daring even to ask what utilities cost? Generation X.

D Sale of the Week: Belmont Beauty, House of Tudor

Fairies, elves, knights in shining armour, I see all this and more in this restored 1931 built Lakewood Heights Tudor that has been restored and remodeled to sustain 21st century living. Yet it has retained the charm of yesteryear, from the exterior brick, roofline, leaded glass windows, moldings and sunroom.  6318 Belmont  is larger than it appears to be,  2703 square feet loaded with four bedrooms, three baths, sun room, large master suite and ginormous closets. And talk about proximity to White Rock Lake — please! This is the Lakewood dream life, biking to White Rock, Whole Foods, footing it to Lakewood Village. Master suite is upstairs with a stunning bath suite. Garage is detached and in back, with an electric gate. The yard: to die for deck and trees. The price: not bad — $479,000. Twist Brett Gray’s arm over at Dave Perry-Miller, but not too hard, please.

Urban Land Institute Report: All We Need Is Luv and Paranoid Optimism

I may be tossing my anti-depressants after yesterday’s keynote at the ULI by The Economist former Editor- in- Chief Bill Emmott.  What is going on with this global recession, are we out of the woods, and how will it affect real estate? Emmott says he has paranoid optimism that indicators are getting better — fewer job losses, maybe some hiring in the U.S., flexible economies, and exports. He called this a “LUV” recession recovery,  L-shaped in Europe and Japan where the recovery will be weak; U-shaped in the U.S. because of our openess to capitalization flow, tech and environmental fever, and increases in hiring; V-shaped in China and India where there are real inflation risks. Emmott said we are in unchartered waters, with “known knowns” and “unknown unknowns”. The knowns: consumers are retrenching, concerned about damage to their wealth. Consumption will not lead this recovery. There is a huge rise in public debt, taxes are heading upwards in the U.S., U.K. and Japan. The current administration will extend the welfare state and tighten financial regulation — there is a huge pressure to regulate, with regulation almost taking precedence over the recovery.  The unknowns: the psychology of the masses. Economists failed to predict this massive recession, said Emmott, because they tend to omit psychology. Unknown: how much will consumers decide to pay down debt, and for how long? China is a source of optimism but also an anomaly, a large economy with fixed currency.  Biggest shockeroo of all has a Texas slant: why is oil still at $80 a barrel when demand is so low? Answer: OPEC, speculation. Rising oil prices, another unknown, could shadow our recovery.

Overheard At The Urban Land Institute Tonight

Well, when you read this, it will be what I heard last night. The deliquency rate on securitized commercial mortgages is at 4.83%, almost 5%, and that is a NINE-FOLD increase over last year. That’s mortgages on all commercial real estate, and that is not good news.

Mitchell Rasansky To Run For County Judge?

If so, maybe he regrets giving all that money back to his constituents.

Urban Land Institute Meets In San Francisco

And I’m off to SF to bring you the latest from this conference, because urban issues are affecting Dallas more these days than ever before. The ULI schedule is jam-packed, I’ll post and tweet right from the conference so stay tuned all week starting tomorrow!

Voting Day: Your Two Cents on Property Rights, Property Taxes

Get thee to the polls today! It’s voting day and there are 11 proposed amendments to the Texas Constitution, including five that will affect our property rights, the property taxing authority, and who controls our dirt. Here you go, with my humble suggestions on how I will vote. Let me know quick if you disagree!

Yes to Proposition 2, property rights, to amend the constitution to authorize the legislature to provide for the taxation of a residence homestead solely on the basis of the property’s value as a residence homestead, regardless of whether the property may have a higher value if it were used for other purposes. Texas homeowners have seen their appraisals rise substantially, not necessarily because the value of their homes increased, but because the land was considered more valuable as a potential business site. Texas already prohibits agricultural land and timber land from being appraised based on other possible uses, but no similar protection exists for homeowners. This is key to homeowners to keep their property from being taxed at a higher rate in some urban areas where the land might be more valuable as a shopping mall or other enterprise.

Yes to Proposition 3, to amend the constitution, require the legislature to provide for the administration and enforcement of uniform standards and procedures for appraisal of property for ad valorem tax purposes. Some argue this opens the door further for state involvement in local property taxation, but it appears this proposed amendment would make sure that properties in different counties are appraised according to the same uniform statewide standards. It would allow appraisal standards to be enforced by direct action against appraisal districts, rather than relying on penalties against school districts. Since state funding to school districts is partially based on local property value, it’s unfair to allow values to be determined differently in different counties.

Yes to Proposition 5, to amend the constitution to authorize the legislature to allow for a single appraisal review board for two or more adjoining appraisal entities that elect to provide for consolidated reviews of tax appraisals.
This is sheer efficiency, helping folks in rural counties who can’t find qualified candidates to sit on their appraisal review boards. Proposition 5 would let counties join together to form consolidated appraisal review boards.

If you like your beach-front property, No to Proposition 9, which would define what is a state-owned public beach and may limit ownership of beach-front property. The public, individually and collectively, would have an unrestricted right to use and a right of ingress to and egress from a public beach, and the amendment would authorize the legislature to enact laws to protect these rights. Our coasts will end up like Scotland, where people can walk all over another person’s property. The Open Beaches Act gives the state too much power to restrict the right of private landowners to enjoy their property. Placing this authority in the Constitution would only worsen this problem by making the law more difficult to change in the future. Under the Open Beaches Act, the state has forced homeowners to move or remove their houses after hurricanes and other changes to the coastline. The law should be weakened, not placed in the Constitution. No, no, no!

Yes to Proposition 11, to limit eminent domain. Eleven would amend the constitution to provide that the taking of private property for public use, erstwhile known as “eminent domain”,  is authorized only if it is for the ownership, use, and enjoyment of the property by the State, its political subdivisions, the public at large, or by entities granted the power of eminent domain, or for the removal of urban blight. The amendment would prohibit the taking of private property for transfer to a private entity for the purpose of economic development or to increase tax revenues. (Yes, this happens.) The amendment would also limit the legislature’s authority to grant the power of eminent domain in the future unless it is approved by a two-thirds vote of all the members elected to each house.
Proposition 11 would help curb abuses of the power of eminent domain by stating the legitimate purposes for eminent domain in the Constitution. Passage of this amendment also sends a strong message from the Legislature and voters that eminent domain must be used for very limited purposes, only when it is really needed.

No go vote!

Dallas Neighborhood Battles: NSO On Desco Drive?

It exhausts me keeping up with the neighborhood wars in this town — the conservation district battle in the Disney Streets, and now Desco Drive wants to do conservation light: the Neighborhood Stabilization Overlay.

Subprime Loan Meltdown: Goldman Bet It Both Ways

Must read/see, this report by McClatchy Newspapers’ Greg Gordon, a five-month investigative report on how Goldman Sachs, otherwise known as Government Sachs, peddled more than $40 billion in securities on 200,000 risky home mortgages, but at the same time it was peddling these as investments, the company also bought $20 billion in insurance betting that the real estate market would tank. Did the customers know that? One of the insurers was AIG, the huge insurer the government bailed out. How AC/DC of them.

Will CIT’s Bankruptcy Filing Affect Dallas Real Estate?

By now you’ve heard that CIT Group has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Taxpayers, who gave the company 2.3 billion last year, will likely not be re-paid. I’m not discounting that, but even worse, CIT is one of the country’s largest lenders to small business and retailers, like Neiman Marcus. Two months prior to the holiday season is not a great time for retailers to lose access to capital. My concern is how this will trickle down: small and mid-size businesses will not be able to fiance short-term surges, which will seriously affect their business models, and commercial real estate may take another bullet. We have seen the effects of the credit crunch in real estate, now we’re going to see it in the retail industry, which is in everybody’s face on a daily basis. Consumer confidence? You see where I’m going with this: we’ve had 60,000 home foreclosure postings this year.

I so do not like being Debbie Downer, truly, but the prognosis isn’t looking too positive. Your thoughts?

Update: Today’s New York Times downplays the disaster scenario I envisioned last night. Apparently this is a pre-packaged, “different kind of bankruptcy” that allows the company to re emerge from court protection by the end of the year, which is a pretty speedy recovery.

Dallas Real Estate: In Case You Are Wondering…

Why our market seems to be in the doldrums, check out this editorial by Peggy Noonan. All the grown ups are gone. She details a national malaise that is the basic reason why people aren’t buying and selling (real estate or anything) in this country. One agent told me he has a client who wants to buy a home in Dallas but has to wait first for her home in Chicago to sell, and it ain’t moving. A woman in my Real Estate class last week told me she has a home in suburban Chicago that costs her $4000 a month, she’s got a tenant in there paying $1800. Our market is the high spot in the nation, and would be so much better if transplants who want to buy here could. People come here from Detroit and think they can buy a house for 20 cents on the dollar.

And that, dear readers, is how the national real estate malaise hurts us.

D Sale of the Week: Twin Posts (and Columns) on Twin Post

This is one of those lovely, lazy North Dallas ranches many seek to save from the ’dozer claws. It’s located in a great neighborhood east of Welch Road and north of Forest Lane, and it was built in 1965, when this area was developed. A generous lot—122 by 131—means you can have a pool and some yard. Not too far east and north are scads of builder homes, both spec and custom. Forget about the low ceilings; focus instead on the living, dining, kitchen, vaulted den, and four or five bedrooms—the fifth plus bath located off the kitchen as it is in so many homes of this era, ostensibly designed for household help or in-law visits. (If you put your in-laws near the kitchen, dinner may magically appear!) On the bedroom wing, there’s a Jack and Jill bath between two bedrooms, and one more bedroom has a private bath. Then there’s the master suite, which was designed by Ellen Amador. Set apart from the other sleeping rooms, it features not just a large bedroom but also a sitting room, huge remodeled master with tub and shower, and two walk-in closets. Plus—another reason why this house is so great for the money—there is a study or exercise room off the master that opens to a patio. I think there’s a lot of living packed into 3,679 square feet, and I’d love to see my kids in this home. I also think this might be a perfect empty-nester palace: one floor, with room for grandkids. The kitchen needs new counters, and I’m a big fan of two dishwashers, but the price ($625,000) ain’t too shabby. And just wait until those multiple trunk live oak limbs get TP’d by all the private school kids in the ’hood.

Ask Candy: How About A Preston Towers Condo for our Student Daughter?

Dear Candy,

My daughter is starting Baylor Nursing school in January and we are looking at places for her to live.  I am trying to decide whether to rent or buy.  In order for her to have a safe place to live, we will be paying what seems to me like a lot of rent, plus utilities.  So then I started to think about buying some place and I was considering Preston Towers. I know it is full of senior citizens, but it is really safe, really convenient, and I if I wish to sell when she finishes school, it seems that that Preston Hollow always has a built in base of people who simply do not want to leave the area for Turtle Creek or elsewhere and equally do not want to live in an assisted living situation, so they look at Preston Towers and The Athena.

I would jump at the new units on Bandera, but your post last week indicated that $215 might actually end up closer to $350, and I am not up for that kind of investment right now.  So if I bought something and re-did it I thought that might be a good plan, especially if we have a unit with a south view. Some friends in real estate do not like condo ownership, esp. older condos, because of the assessment issues with on going maintenance. I do believe P.T. is in that category of probably needing the owners to chip in on some items to update the place.  Other Realtors say “oh this is a great time to buy.” To which I say, when you’re a hammer, everything is a nail.

So what to do, what to do?

Gratzie,

Marisa

Happy Halloween Dallas: Send Me Front Yard Photos, Haunted Houses

So I’m out and about seeking homes that are way over-done for Halloween, like this one. Excuse me, did someone just throw up Halloween? Last week I saw a home in Highland Park where I swear they erected a spiked fence just for this holiday — somewhere near Dartmouth, anyone see that? I’ll be snapping the uber ghastly over done these next few days, you go ahead and snap any horror stories you see, too and we’ll post.

And then: know of any haunted houses on the market? I mean, besides these.

Mortgage Application Volume Down 12.3%

On the other hand, mortgage rates are also down there at just over 5%:

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First Time Homebuyer’s Update: Plan B Looks Good For Big D

Bloomberg is reporting that the Senate has another deal in mind to stimulate home-buying: a tax credit of up to $7290. (with income limitations, of course, which appear to be $250,000 for joint filers) for “step-up” buyers who have been in their home at least five years. Bloomberg says the price of the home will be capped at $800,000. That could be very beneficial for our Dallas market, because $800,000 buys a lot of home in Dallas. Stay tuned, I’m watching this one for you…

Homebuyer Tax Credit Likely To Be Phased Out

There are those who say the First Time Home Buyer’s Tax Credit has artificially boosted the market, that some in D.C. are afraid to pull the plug for fear of what may happen– an even softer market. Even more somber news: it appears that the the federal government is now securitizing 95% of U.S. home mortgages.

I’m torn. I think the credit was necessary, and not only do I think it should be extended, I think it should be expanded. Goldman Sachs, otherwise known as Government Sachs, has said it pushed up home prices by 5%. There are simply too many people who bought adjustable rate mortgages in the past few years, too many people who, if they have to sell their homes, will have to carry cash to closing. What if they don’t have it? I’ve heard that many banks are shelving some bad loans, others making deals as low as 2% interest rates just to keep folks in the home, the property off the courthouse steps.

Almost makes you want to stop paying your mortgage. But then, who said life was fair?

The housing market is a vital component of our economy, and when people move and buy homes, they tend to spend money — movers, hardware, paint, soft goods, hard goods.

As for the government propping up an industry, I have this to say: Amtrack.

Dallas Real Estate: Grand Prairie Is Smokin’, Everyone Else “Less Bad”

Case-Shiller tells us that Dallas home prices fell at the annual rate of 1.2 % between August ‘08 and August ‘09, which is a smidgen compared to the rest of the world — double digit declines almost everywhere. Only Dallas and Denver are edging closer to positive numbers, our decline at 1.2%, Denver’s 1.9%.

Then ZipRealty (Emeryville, CA) tossed out it’s third quarter report to find this quirk:  Grand Prairie, Texas emerged as one of the top ten “hot” markets in the U.S., a hot market being one where accepted offers come in higher than list price. I had no idea this was happening in Grand Prairie. Further, Texas is a non-disclosure state so I am just baffled and have emailed the company for an explanation.

Help if you are from Grand Prairie — we need a clue!

Dallas Real Estate: Condo Auctions Netting Good Deals?

I told you two weeks ago about the upcoming auction that Drexel Development has cooked up for some Drexel Park Hollow condo units. Well, I just found this little tidbit from Curbed about another condo auction that recently took place in Boston. Industry experts tell me we are going to see a lot of real estate auctions in the next couple years, and it looks like some folks in Boston got themselves a fair deal, nothing extraordinary. (Or maybe these units just sell at more realistic prices, which makes you wonder why the developers don’t just slash and reduce.) But remember, the developer usually reserves the right to a “reserve” price, a bottom line threshold. As one agent told me, the nice thing about auctions for the developer is they get all pre-qualified buyers, so no tire kickers wasting anyone’s time.

Dallas Real Estate: More Beer, Less Cheer for Dallas Homebuilders?

The housing news was so darn depressing all day I almost didn’t want to post, but alas, I’ve got to tell it like it is: I’m losing hope that we will see much new home activity in 2010. So are some Wall Street analysts – who are bouncing around this number — 2011. Well, at least it will make for a nice slogan: Oh Thank Heaven for 2011. Washington is mulling extension of the First Time Homebuyer credit, which ends November 30, which some say has artificially propped housing. (Personally, I have nothing against pain medication and had my epidural ready and waiting when in labor.) Was in the Hill Country this weekend where agents told me that moderate sales are quite brisk, what with first time home buyers and retirees buying modest homes. Which is just what the WSJ says: even the largest home builders are now churning out smaller homes for both home virgins and retirees. Here’s a few lines any real estate investor ought to memorize:

“When the market does start to pick up, the NAHB sees that happening two years from now, the landscape will be changed, literally. After a long run-up in median new home size, peaking at 2,309 square feet in 2007,home sizes shrank to 2,091 square feet in 2009. “It’s the largest decline ever seen,” said NAHB’s chief economist David Crowe. Since first-time buyers and their parents, the empty-nesters, will be the dominant demographic groups over the next decade, builders will cater to those groups more modest needs.“

Modest needs: does this mean the end of keeping rooms and industrial refrigerators, uber high end appliances? Might not be a bad time to invest in some 2/1’s or other starter homes IF there is any financing out there.

Tomorrow I’m meeting someone from Phoenix who says he’ll make me feel better after we talk: one in every 7 homes in Phoenix is in foreclosure. And here’s one place I found where you don’t need to be on Happy Pills if you are in real estate: Boerne, Texas.