Porchman

T, I'm blushing! The pricing posts are also good rules of thumb. Emerite, please report back on what transpires. Have fun and enjoy the date.

Well, this whole thing poses several other questions. Does you father have a will? Do you have siblings? Is your father looking to qualify for Medicaid (not Medicare)? What is you father's mental state (Does he have his "wits about him")? How much equity is in the house?

Thank you, Tiko. This really illustrates the crime on corridors. What I was doing on the spreadsheet project is breaking the Heights into sections, and quantifying the type of crime in each section.

You are correct. When everyone was losing their head over area crime in the last year, I began spreadsheeting the HPD crime data. (Yes, Red, I actually worked on this, but it was cumbersome and work, volunteering, and need for mindless porch-sitting got in the way). One thing was clear. Crime on and around corridors like Shepherd, Yale, Studewood, Main, 11th, 19th, and 20th was prevalent in the few months I managed to track. It's true of other places, too. You wouldn't believe the crime in 77024! (along the Katy Freeway ) While the body getting dumped a couple blocks from my house a couple of years ago (Read about it here) was little bit more freaky, particulary since it happened in the middle of the day, I still viewed viewed it as "pass-through".

I knew there was a reason I hadn't been to these places... From the HBJ: WASHINGTON AVENUE CLUBS HANDPICK 'PRETTY PEOPLE' CROWD http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories...ry5.html?page=3

...What?

Hey chiefbmg! Welcome to HAIF and welcome to the neighborhood. You know, you hate hear that something like this happened near where you live. But carjacking's like this can happen anywhere. Besides, we could live in River Oaks where people get kidnapped. Now, that's a rough neighborhood!

St. Stephen's Episcopal School @ Woodhead and W. Alabama It's a Montessori School, serving students 18 months through 18 years of age. They have two-day and three-day programs. The 2008-2009 tuition schedule and program information is in on their site.

Typically, whites go with fish and chicken. Reds with red meats and also game birds (including duck). I guess that means being vegetarian makes choosing a wine easy. You can break beyond this, though. It's not like you'll die if you have a white with your steak, it's just that a red can be a slightly better partner. Ask your special lady what she prefers. As for the white varietals, I prefer Pinot Grigio (of which you should find plenty at an Italian restaurant) or Savignon Blanc, because their crisp. If they have it, a Tebbianno is a nice white table wine. As far as the red varietals, my Favorites are Zinfandels (Red zin, not the crappy pink stuff!), which are typically bolder and Pinot Noirs, which are deep and fruity. At an a good Italian joint they should a good Sangiovese - a nice, not too heavy wine, ususally well priced. Chianti (sort of related) is a nice, basic table wine. Remember, reds, particularly, need to breathe. Let it open up before drinking it much. Swirling it in the glass can help. As far as vintage: 2005-2006 on the whites. 2003-2005 on the reds (newer is okay with Chianti). Have fun!

Great pics, Boris! You got a great day to shoot from Sky Lobby. I have to tell you, the combination of this caption and this shot caught my funny bone... BORIS: "Then we walked over to Chase:" Reduced: 64% of original size [ 800 x 533 ] - Click to view full image My thoughts was "...where Max and I saw the former head of their consumer lending area"

I expected a raise from HCAD this year and they did not disappoint. 14% on the market value - all in land. I don't plan to protest because (1) I think my value is at least 5%-10% higher, (2) I have a sense of responsibility to fairly participate in the tax system, and (3) I recognize the unfortunate cost of maintaining a great home that makes me happy everytime I walk through the door (and sit on the porch!) and which provides me an 11-minute commute to work. They dropped (yes, dropped...in the Heights...OMG...LOL!) our 2007 appraisal by 10k. It largely had to do with large new construction selling on the block. (No, I didn't protest last year either ). I'm interested to see what happens going forward. There are 5 homes for sale on my block, with lists ranging from $142k to $620k . Not that they will sell at or near list, but I enjoy visions of some HCAD person trying to figure out the math next year.

Welcome! There are several mentions in many threads. Use the "Search" feature above.

What's your definition of liveable? Here are some bungalows that are in okay shape http://search.har.com/engine/dispSearch.cf...mp;backButton=Y (It's salmon. Not pink. I actually prowled around this house after it was listed. I couldn't see anything major wrong. I'm not an inspector). http://search.har.com/engine/dispSearch.cf...mp;backButton=Y (Hmmm...no inside pics - leaves me suspicious. It may be the current residents are slobs). http://search.har.com/engine/dispSearch.cf...mp;backButton=Y (3/3 at $109/sf. Looks like they added on a large, cheap addition).

cwrm4 and musicman are correct that good deals can be had east of 45. It would be the "lowest cost of entry to the Heights". You are correct that it is an effcient real estate market. For the area you're looking at, Heights Annex which is west of Nicholson (also the right of way for the new bike trail), north of W. 11th, south of W. 16th, and straddles the Sheherd/Durham corridor would probably be a good bet. Prices are lower than Heights proper, probably because the lots are smaller and it's adjacent to a truly ugly corridor (Shepherd/Durham). However, the neighborhood seems mostly insulated - tree-lined, safe, quiet. There is a lot of rehab and new construction in the area like Bungalow Revival projects on W 14th at Blair and the massive surface area Tricon has purchased on W. 15th at Alexander. Not sure what your budgeting. There are a handful of good prospects. I would not advise buying anything that backs up to Shepherd (ie. the odd-number side of Dorothy) or to Durham (the even-number side of Nashua). Noise and unsure development prospects are my primary reasons.

We all go barefoot and eat corn pone in the Heights. We're just keeping it real.

I don't belive it was sold. It looks like the family granted their interest to a family limited partnership.

Yeah, then they'd have ads with the slogan "What do you buy at West Dubai?" (gag). They could just rename the whole district the "Uptown Area of Enterprise" or "UAE".

HBJ is reporting that Dubai-based Deyaar Devlopment has acquired property for development at Post Oak and Richmond. It is 6 acres of the 9.4 that Boymelgreen purchased last year. They're not giving much deatil at this time.

It would be scary, indeed. Wow, even more scary. The Property Group developed this property. Anybody familiar with them/their developments?

"Although I have enjoyed excellent medical and pharmacological treatment, I have come to learn that the particular combination of drugs prescribed for me in the past has caused some impairment in my judgment," Rosenthal wrote in his resignation letter. Oh! So the drugs made him a philadering racist. I heard that's a common side effect.

Eight of the twenty units in this building (on Memorial, just east of the Park) are in foreclosure. Anybody know what's going on?

Last week, I attended a speech by Robert Gilmer, The VP and economist of the Federal Reserve Bank

There was a proposal related to your concerns a few years ago. I have not heard much since. http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive....id=2002_3581843 "Option C reflects more compromise - and controversy. It would keep playing fields, although move them to a central location. But it also calls for rerouting Memorial Drive in an arc through the park's northern part, allowing for restoration of forest in the park's heart. Memorial Drive would follow what is now Memorial Loop Drive."

Now everybody knows the secret to my yardcare wardrobe.