Houston Apartment Market September 2007

Houston Apartments - September 2007 Newsletter

Houston Apartment Market Sales Report
September 2007
Revealing the NOT so Obvious.

For Owners and Buyers of Houston area multi-family properties.
See properties for sale at bottom of this page.
Hundreds of multi-family properties currently for sale

with maps, photos, and descriptions
More to add to this newsletter, so come back next week.

Tired of the rain ?
We have been having record rainfall in south Texas areas.
It has been nice to my recently landscaped yards, but algae and slime have been accumulating on my stone and concrete areas.
The neighbors and mailman complained that they almost slipped and hurt themselves.
Hmmm. What to do? Lawsuit time??
I spent 13 hours this weekend, with a high pressure washer after deciding that "if I want to done right, I should do it myself".
and I got slightly enthusiastic and optimistic and even washed half of the street on my side of the road.
(and I am on a corner, so there are two streets)
My driveway before

It was so dirty that I could print with the pressure washer.
Maybe I should just tear out this old cracked concrete and pour a new driveway.
I looks better now that it is clean.
Wow, the 110 feet of fence is 8 feet high, thus 880 square feet of fence, looks almost new and light brown instead of old and gray.
I also sprayed approx 660 square feet of side walk concrete and 1,200 square feet of street pavement.
Next weekend, I spend approx 4 hours on my flat stone patio, which is approx 400 square feet.
I must be slightly insane because that is 3,140 square feet of pressure washing and it took approx 24 hours of my time.
My sister-in-law suggested that I might come to her 6 bedroom home next.
15,000 square foot of land.... Hmmm...
Gosh, why were my calf muscles sore for two days?
Next time, I will contract this to a professional.

Want to know more about 1031 Tax Deferred Exchanges ??
Here is a quick nine minute audio interview with Alan Hall of Old Republic Exchange Facilitotors
Adjust your speakers to hear.
click here for more info.

Houston's land values strong and getting stronger

Aug. 4, 2007 By NANCY SARNOFF
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
Looking for cheap land? Good luck.
Local real estate brokers say investors and developers are paying top dollar for raw land and older properties that are being sold for their dirt value alone in certain parts of the city.
"Land values have doubled in about a 2 1/2 -year period in better areas in Houston," said Jim Hurd of Houston Income Properties.
These areas include parts of the Inner Loop, west Houston and Spring Branch. Clear Lake, League City and Galveston are going through similar increases, brokers report.

Hurd sold an Inner Loop apartment complex "in a lesser location" three times in the past three years.
Each time the property sold for more, with the last sale reaching $38 per square foot. It's now up for sale for $50 a foot.
Another multifamily property on Greenbriar near the Southwest Freeway sold several years ago, and Jim Hearn of Hendricks & Partners, who was involved in that deal, said it's about to sell again for close to $5 million more.
Retailers are also bidding up prices as they compete for the best corners in town.
"Drugstores and banks have really duked it out and paid some steep prices," said Simmi Jaggi of CB Richard Ellis, which is listing for sale 5.8 acres at the northwest corner of Post Oak Boulevard and Richmond for $200 per square foot.
The uptick in prices is in part a function of the amount of capital that's been flowing into real estate, Hurd said.
Developers betting on growth are grabbing large tracts as far out as the Grand Parkway.
The Betz Cos. recently purchased more than 44 acres near Interstate 10 and the Grand Parkway to hold for the possible development of hotels, offices and shops.
Hurd said Houston was poised to see this jump in land prices, as they've been lagging behind the rest of the country.

So have they hit their peak?
"It's unclear at this point," he said. "I thought we were at the top of the market two years ago, a year ago, six months ago."

Hines' new fund
Hines has raised $828 million in equity from 17 institutional investors for a fund to acquire office buildings in need of work. The so-called "value-added" fund targets buildings that are underperforming and may need to be repositioned, released or expanded. With debt, Hines said the fund will amount to $2.7 million in buying power.
The investors include public and private pension funds, insurance companies and financial services firms based in the United States, Europe and Japan.
Hines principals invest 5 percent of the fund's equity.
So far, Hines has invested about 30 percent of the fund's equity in five projects in such markets as Washington D.C., Miami and San Jose, Calif.
A previous value-added Hines fund, which closed in late 2003, invested in nine properties, five of which have been sold or are under a contract to sell.
One of those properties was downtown's Bank of America Center, which Hines developed and is now expected to sell to GE Pension Trust, sources said in a Chronicle story last month. Holliday Fenoglio Fowler is marking the building for sale.

Upper end heads further up
While the low end of the housing market slumps, Houston's ultrarich are shelling out more for homes than they did last year.
So far this year, at least six houses in River Oaks have sold through the Multiple Listing Service for $4 million or higher, and at least one more is scheduled to close. That compares with 2006, when only two homes sold through the MLS for such steep prices.
The higher figures help explain why the average sales price in River Oaks was up 19 percent during the first half of this year to almost $2.05 million, compared to the same period last year, according to Greenwood King Properties.

"The upper, upper end ... it's blowing us away," said Cathy Blum, an agent with the local brokerage firm. Greenwood King also reported that average sales prices in West University, Boulevard Oaks and Tanglewood were all up 26 percent in the first half of the year, and Southampton, near Rice University, was up 30 percent.
So what's keeping the Inner Loop so strong?
High gasoline prices, new inner-city commercial developments and out-of-town buyers, Blum said.
"To people from New York and California, we look like a bargain," Blum said.

Lester Langdon reveals the NOT so Obvious.

Coldwell Banker Commercial United - Website went online in October
for all your commercial real estate needs.
click here for Office, Retail, Land, Warehouses, etc.
These are marketed by Coldwell Banker Commercial United
Phone ME to help you find properties marketed by other companies.

For Sale - 32 apts units built in 1983
One block from Chamber of Commerce and two blocks from good high school.
click here for info and maps.

For Sale - 66 apts units - Recently Upgraded - built in 1970
Repaired and ready for long term owner
click here for info and maps.

For Sale - 18 apts units - Unique - Brick - built in 1972
Possible condo conversion
All apt units are on the ground floor
Beautiful landscaping
Repaired and ready for long term owner
click here for info and maps.

For Sale - 21 apts units - Opportunity to remodel and rehab
100% occupied
Price reduced to $567,777
Rentals are month to month
Ready for your remodeling special touch and rental increase.
click here for info and maps.
Select your option

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Archive of last months newsletter.
Last month newsletter - click here

3 Methods to find properties for sale
1st method to find properties for sale
MLS property search - up to 12 apt units
by AREA and price and size
click here

2nd method to find properties for sale
MLS Commercial Gateway property search - 4 to 1200 apt units
Search by area for Photos, descriptions and maps - click here

3rd method
to find commercial properties for sale (NOT on MLS)
Multifamily properties from duplexs to very large 500 unit properties.
New Feature to this website
Now you can get more updated info by becoming a FREE subscriber to LoopNet.com
If you find a property and want more detailed info, just phone me for the property details.
Become a FREE subscriber to LoopNet.com - click here

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Lester Langdon sells more multi-family properties
than any other Realtor in Houston.
Home page - click here

Lester M. Langdon
Senior Sales Associate
Coldwell Banker United Realtors
Making Real Estate, Real Easy
Serving with Integrity since 1906
Two Greenway Plaza #150
Houston, TX 77046
Office phone 713 623 8899 Ext 3004
Office fax 713 623 0322
Private fax 713 623 0588
Private fax 305-723-7731
Email langdon@coldwellbanker.com

Lester Langdon sells More multi-family properties than any realtor in Houston

Selling the most important property, YOURS.

Map to office of Lester Langdon

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Data in this domain may be obtained from MLS and other sources.
Information reliable to the extent of accuracy of sources.

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Updated October 12, 2006 9:01am CST