What’s old is new again

[Kevin]

My neighborhood has a lot of older retired people living here. We've been here 13 years, but lots of them were here long before us.

One old guy I used to see walking was very friendly, he bought the first house in the neighborhood when it was first developed.

To a certain degree, the neighborhoods around Dallas are older the closer you get to downtown. Roughly anyway.

But that guy moved on to the old folks home and his house was remodeled and sold.

They just started the demolition of a house across from mine out back on the other side of the alley. Jack hammers going like crazy. And I just walked by the front and the door was open. They are completely redoing the inside.

There is the same work on two more houses down around the corner.

I guess it makes me sad thinking about the change. Our crazy neighbor lady is getting pretty old and her house will probably be in the next year or two.

But I guess this is the same in lots of neighborhoods around the country.

 

[eveled]

Change is hard.

 

[ArizonaTea123]

Dark wood paneling, Avacado green appliances and shag carpet gotta go.

 

[Yaworski]

They just started the demolition of a house across from mine out back on the other side of the alley. Jack hammers going like crazy. And I just walked by the front and the door was open. They are completely redoing the inside.

Probably flippers doing a half assed job.

A friend bought a flipped house with a finished basement. He noticed the floor in his man cave was getting wet. He thought that he had a leaking wall but when he tore out the sheetrock he found a drain pipe that had a joint in it. No union. The two ends were held together with duct tape.

I deal with flippers every other day. They're as bad as landlords, they want the crappyest craptastic piece of crap.

The house across the street from me was flipped and I wouldn't want that house on a bet.

 

[Kevin]

Yeah, change is hard. It also makes me sad to think some people used this neighborhood as their last. It truly is not a place worth retiring. My wife and I can't wait to move.

All true, and yeah, the flippers here in Dallas also do a terrible job. Some friends of ours last summer sold their house and moved just a few blocks over. They told some horror stories about looking at different houses before finally a good one.

 

[jimbo1096]

When I moved in 29 years ago, I was the young kid on the block. Everybody around me has been here since the development started in the 60s now I'm one of the last of the owners from that era. The house next to me is vacant with the owner in a nursing home and her kids don't want anything to do with it. The one across the street the kids of the original owners live at now and don't take it very good care of it. If I wasn't old and about ready to go, I'd be looking for another place to live too. I've looked at doing some upgrades to the house and I'm not sure if it really worth the money they want all I can live with what I've got and let the next person do all the damage. Just a remodel my master bathroom was over $20,000.

 

[Johnnu2]

Getting old isn't for sissies....

J.

 

[peachhead]

Dark wood paneling, Avacado green appliances and shag carpet gotta go.

Yeah but most of those appliances still work lol

 

[gunzo]

When selling my parents house I soon realized my realtor wanted his commission as fast as we could sell so he wouldn't expend too much in advertising cost. It felt like he was working for the seller instead of me.

He told me I should take a low ball offer as the potential buyers had to replace the kitchen cabinets. I said no, they want to as those are very high end cabinets that don't need replacing. If they want to. that's on them.

A lot of this modernization thing is very expensive & to the point of being wasteful. How some folks go broke, just for modern. Wife said our imitation laminate butcher block countertops were so outdated & wanted granite. I told her I was outdated as well & if she wanted granite to get in her own wallet, as I was spending my money of G&A. We still have laminate & yeah, I'm an A hole that way. My father's logic that was hard learned sometimes has me not real popular.

 

[Jeepnik]

I've been here since 1979. I was the young guy when we moved in. Well, I'm now the old guy. But a number of houses have been bought due to the death or infirmity of the owner. Directly across from me the house was redone. A nice young woman moved in. Next to her a daughter inherited the house. It took about two days to demo it and a day to haul away the debris. Construction starts next Monday.

It's just the way things go. The old die, the young move in and make things to their liking.

 

[wproct]

Neighborhoods age, just like people. Our first home purchase was a very small ranch, no garage. We were in our early 20's as was about everyone on our block. We had 2 kids and there were a total of 48 kids on our block. We lived there 23 years and sold it, after we had built a garage, had the kitchen remodeled with custom cabinets, finished the basement. We didn't want to live out our days there, even though it would have been a perfect retirement home. Built a new home in the country and started all over again. We have now lived in this home for 29 years, and ironically the refrigerator, dishwasher, washer & dryer all purchased when we moved in are still working, we had to replace the range as the control panel failed and parts were no longer available. We talk about replacing the rest of the appliances but I can't see disposing of them when they still work. For those of you still reading this, thanks, I'm just an old guy rambling on. Johnnu2 just posted one of my favorite sayings, "getting old isn't for sissies".

 

[Yaworski]

We had 2 kids and there were a total of 48 kids on our block.

I believe there are kids in my neighborhood because I see the school bus every day. However, I never see the kids. Not entirely true. I see one little girl whose father follows her around the neighborhood while she's riding her bike. No street football or baseball or hockey.

 

[wproct]

I believe there are kids in my neighborhood because I see the school bus every day. However, I never see the kids. Not entirely true. I see one little girl whose father follows her around the neighborhood while she's riding her bike. No street football or baseball or hockey.

It's funny how time changes being a kid. Back then our kids ran free and were able to create their own fun. It was a perfect block because we had a state trooper and a city policeman that lived on the block and often there would be one of their vehicles sitting on the street, we felt safe.

 

[volshooter]

Born here. Family moved into this valley in the late 70's cause of no neighbors. Back then we could see 2 porch lights within a mile. Out of state money moved in and bought Dairy Land. Sub divided and sold trailer lots. Now I see hundreds of porch lights from my hill top. Kids are wanna be white trash thugs. Two weeks ago I heard very loud spanish music from the valley, had to go see. One dude detailing a nice truck. Large speakers blaring spanish music. It was 3/4 mile from my house. Nice guy turned it down a little. Things have changed. Wife and daughter used to walk the area without thinking twice. I won't allow it anymore. Loose dogs and strange looking folks around. Apparently, we didn"t move far enough away fom people. Cain't find any neighbors that were born here. Sad.

 

[blume357]

The neighborhood I live in, have for 45 years, was built in the 40's and 50's... all two -three bedroom houses 1,000- 1500 square feet... now what goes on is one of the old folks, usually 2nd or 3rd owners passes or moves to the old folks home and the house is sold... then it gets demolished and the new house is 4,000 square feet or so. these start at a million $ and go up.
But then I have to admit our house originally was 900 ft2... and now is pushing 2,000 and we are planning to do a little addition... but my wife still won't let me build a tower.

 

[GasGuzzler]

Been here since 2005 so 20th purchase anniversary is next month. Didn't move in until June because of renovations I did my self. The two houses across from each other on the corner have the same people they did 20 years ago and so does the one across from me. The one to the south's original owners both passed within the last three years and its changed hands twice already since ... getting a remodel both times. The giant two-story across the street had the original owner from 1968 until he died in about 2016. It sat vacant for over two years waiting for the market to catch up with the asking price. It was all original inside and needed repairs as well. It was so swaggy too ... no one wanted to take it on for a while. Bottom floor had two living areas split by a bar complete with brass foot rests, padded edging, a sink with a fridge and ice maker under the counter, wine rack behind, and hanging glass holders overhead. First floor also included a library, the kitchen, breakfast area, dining room, and a full service laundry room complete with sink and kitchen cabinets. Garage is a three-car. All four bedrooms and only one bath upstairs. Odd for a late '60's house. It's been bought and sold twice since then with the second owner doing a massive redesign including making the library a master closet for the living room converted to master suite, bar converted to bathroom, etc.

My home is "worth" more than 3X what the purchase price was and it's almost paid off (ten years early). Not bad for a 50 year old with four kids and a stay at home mom for a wife. She's driven the same used vehicle I bought her in 2008 so that will get fixed before we consider selling and moving to the country for our forever home.

 

[Jeepnik]

I hear the term forever home. What that really means is the home you die in. Your forever home is a small plot of land, an urn or heaven or hell depending on your belief.

Every home here is temporary, just some more than others.

 

[ole442]

It's funny how time changes being a kid. Back then our kids ran free and were able to create their own fun. It was a perfect block because we had a state trooper and a city policeman that lived on the block and often there would be one of their vehicles sitting on the street, we felt safe.

Yeah, it's to hard for kids to see what's on the screen of their cell phones out in the daylight!

 

[vito]

I've lived in my house for just shy of 20 years now, by far the longest I have ever been in one place in my entire life. I'd love to get out of this awful state, and my wife and I certainly don't need the 3,100 square foot house that we live in. But between my wife not wanting to leave her friends here, and my reluctance to go through the hassle of an actual move, I'll probably stay here for the duration. I might have to put in an electric stair lift at some point but that's a lot cheaper than moving. I do have to say that the neighborhood does not seem to have changed at all since we bought this home, so that at least is a positive thing.

 

[Johnny-Baseball]

Observation #1: ALL realtors work for the buyer. 'Cause if the buyer don't buy, nobody gets paid. The selling realtor's true and best value comes from advising the seller on the "least cost" ways to stage the home to minimize the time on market before sale. (Every additional month on the market costs the seller another mortgage payment, plus RE taxes and insurance. Plus, the longer a home is on the market, the deeper the discount buyers will demand, to take advantage of the seller's increasing anxiety.) Make no structural changes, major upgrades or even color changes unless you KNOW every potential owner will want. Fix/repair only those items that must be in acceptable/working condition before the next owner can occupy the home. Do any more than that and you're rolling the dice. And you aren't the House - the buyer is. And the buyer always wins.

Observation #2: The 15-20 year old house whose interior colors/floors/decor were state of the art when built is now out of fashion. But why? Same reason women's clothes go into and out of style - to stimulate sales. In this case, sales of new furniture, appliances, flooring and interior cosmetic/structural upgrades - from the old "earth tones are comforting" to the new "white, shiny and vibrant" BS. It's all BS and the female of our species are particularly vulnerable. I only care whether the garage is finished, the concrete is recently sealed and the doors work. Besides, colors and decor go in cycles. That 20-eyar-old stuff may soon come back INTO style. The buyer wants THEIR fingerprints on the house, not yours.

Observation #3: All new affluent housing is built upwind, upstream. Always. If you're about to buy, then pick a location as close as possible to new construction. Why? New homes always sell at a slight discount from existing homes. The builders are motivated to move the house as soon as possible. Homeowners, on the other hand, want the highest sales price obtainable. New developments also tend to have better quality public schools - because the buyers are more likely to highly prize education for their kids. The trifecta of high home values: new (or almost new) construction, best quality public schools and close access to efficient transportation (good highways, public transportation, access to airports, etc.).

Almost 25 years of my career were spent working for the nation's second largest homebuilder - they built in more than 50 markets throughout the US at virtually all price points. And they had a captive mortgage originator to make the financing affordable, prompt and efficient. My observations above are a consequence of my career experiences.