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Historic Preservation Fair
The Houston Historic Preservation Fair is Sat May 18, 2013. The half day free event covers covers a lot of issues involving homes in historic districts.
Historic Preservation Fair Logo
Historic Heights – Heights Blvd at 11th St
Some of the topics I’m interested in are shown below. See pdf of entire Historic Preservation Fair Schedule.
- Appropriate Additions
- Appropriate New Construction
- Historic Site Tax Exemption*
- Researching Historic Homes
- Historic Windows**
Register for this free event by noon, May 15th.
Notes:
- *The info on Historic Site Tax Exemptions should be worthwhile for anyone remodeling or considering doing so in a historic district. A pdf summary of some of the rules is attached. It is believed to still be accurate, but the phone numbers may not be.
- ** The talk on restoring old windows is being done by Gary Cernac, the Sash Guy. “the expert” on renovating old homes. His website has a lot of links to preservation sites.
See details of the Historic Preservation Fair sponsored by the City of Houstons Planning and Development Department
Date: Saturday, May 18, 2013
Location: City of Houston Permitting Center
1002 Washington Avenue
Houston, TX 77002
Registration starts at 8:00 a.m.
Program from 8:40 a.m. 1:00 p.m.
One last link of interest in historic preservation: Salvage Warehouse Just what it sounds like, a salvage warehouse full of old stuff.. Recently re-opened
See my pages on Houston Historic Districts, or posts specifically on Heights Historic Districts.
Hot Heights Market
This is the title of the Chronicle’s Neighborhood section “Ultimate Heights” last week. A page and and half was devoted to an interview with Heights Realtor, Rich Martin (yours truly) describing the current Heights market.
625 Harvard is a Victorian renovation by HDT that sold just before completion
Dee of HDT Builders is working on next remodeling project
I described how home sales are up 20-25% over last year. More importantly though, the days on market is half of the typical 90 days it was last year. A good portion of the homes are selling within a few days. Newspaper interviews are always rambling, but home sales, market conditions and some info on pricing were given. Here is link to the Chronicle article Heights Hot Market.
The article shows the big renovation/expansion of a ca. 1900 Victorian home that HDT Builders just completed and has under contract. It also shows Dee Todd Simmons (partner with Dave Hatcher in HDT Builders) working on her next renovation at 1845 Harvard St.
Renovations in the Heights go through cycles. A few years ago there were none. Prices were too high and it was easier to tear them down. Now in historic areas (and the Heights now has 7 historic areas) you can’t tear them down. You can add-on to the rear, or add a second floor to the rear of the building, but tearing down is almost impossible. So, remodeling is popular again. Popular, but very expensive. I can show you a half dozen homes where the back half of a house has been sawn off and a big 2 story addition is being done. Finding land or homes to remodel is becoming impossible. It really is a crazy market.
Two of my clients were also interviewed for the article. Kelsey Trom just bought an old Victorian (also in a historic district) that she and her Dad are gutting and re-doing. So far, they seem to be enjoying it. Michael Crowe was also interviewed. He and his partner Steve Sim have moved several times, but they always stay in the Heights.
HDT’s renovation of 1845 Harvard will be on the market soon. It is framed, roofed and Tyvec is on. It will be stucco’d in keeping with the original look of the house.
If the historic districts are of interest to you, click on the tab above or here for Historic District Maps. I also have posts on current Heights Home Prices abstracted from the Chronicle.
