A view is a terrible thing to waste

Last week, I was showing some foreclosure properties to a client in the trendy Midtown district. For those unfamiliar with Houston, Midtown is an ever developing, young, vibrant part of town buzzing with nightlife, urban lifestyle and contemporary town homes.

Something was different about this particular property, though. Unlike the many, cut-up, fit-as-many-"boxes"-in-one-lot town homes we had been seeing, this one actually had a floor plan that flowed well and most importantly a did-you-see-THAT view. I have been in Houston real estate for quite some time now and I have never seen a view like this in a town home. Usually, you are either staring at your neighbor's siding or at best, you're looking at Downtown from a binocular distance. Looking outside the window, I felt like I was staring at a miniature Central Park.

OK, I might be exaggerating just a little. But this view was breathtaking! Nice five panel panoramic window, gorgeous natural light flowing into the bamboo hardwood floors. And it didn't stop there. The same window and view were part of the master suite upstairs! Seemed like everything anyone could ask for in a trendy property.

Until we started paying attention.

Flooring in the living room and the adjecant kitchen were not level with the slate tile sticking about one whole inch ABOVE. In the exterior, the two year old stucco was already looking a decade old. The door to the master bath could have made Keira Nightley feel claustrophobic going through it. It was obvious that this was an amateur developer with an utter lack of planning and extremely cheap materials.

It was no wonder that the whole complex was foreclosed. What a waste!

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On the next post, I will give my view on the contribution of developers to the foreclosure wave. Stay tuned!