Just figured out our new next door neighbor is tearing down the house

[MissB]

They paid $1.2 mil for it. We have no views. The road is quiet but sees some traffic. Half acre lots.

They’re taking down a 3500 sq ft house and putting up a 5800 sq ft house.


I’m realllly looking forward to the noise. And I can’t wait for them to try to park construction vehicles anywhere. They have a small driveway and you can’t even squeeze a car on the side of the street.

Fun times.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. "Hi, I'm your new neighbor. I just moved in. Would you mind if I asked you to

park your car somewhere else? I can see it from my house, and it's kind of tacky.

Oh, one more thing: do you have to fly that rainbow flag? We have children.

Thanks."

[MissB]

12. Ha.

I’ll relocate my BLM sign for sure.

We have dogs. They’re pampered as heck and we both work from home so they don’t bark outside constantly. But I won’t stop them from barking during construction.

[MissB]

13. Also

Our cars are newish so that wouldn’t happen. One is this years model and one is two years ago model, but maybe I’ll borrow my mom’s junker and park it at the end of one of my driveways!

[Hugh_Lebowski]

2. What a drag ...

Well, maybe having a shiny new 5800 sq ft mansion next door to your place will make your place be worth a little more? Maybe?

Trying to find an upside for ya

[flying_wahini]

4. If you live in Texas your property taxes just doubled.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

5. Huh, bummer! Doesn't work that way in California ... Prop 13 laws cushion you

from your property taxes going up drastically.

[MissB]

9. Ha. It'll be fun times.

My house is already worth as much as it can be worth right now. It’s a craftsman-ish style from the 20s. Selling it would net us close to a million, but we like it here. The peace and quiet is nice.

Our taxes are based on the value of the property and structure. Next door neighbor’s current house was running about $4k more a year than what we are paying- and with the new build they’ll likely see something like $20-$25k/year in property taxes for that size of house, easily double their current rate.

[CrispyQ]

3. I read that McMansions were no longer the rage, but they sell just fine in my area.

I can barely imagine a 3500 sq ft house, much less 5800. Hopefully their contractors are efficient.

[MissB]

7. Oh it's likely to be a modern masterpiece

I’ve heard which architect they’re using and there is a lovely home right up the street that they built.

Mine is much smaller than 3500. I would feel lost with that much square footage.

[flying_wahini]

6. There is a street just blocks away from TCU near my home...

Big and over the top homes but 95% were built in the 50’s and Sixties… most Just beautiful.
Somebody tore one down and is building an 11,000 soft home.
It looks like a cross between a nursing home or dorm. UGLY.

Just goes to show you that money hasn’t Anything to do with Taste.

.

[yellowdogintexas]

25. I hope it isn't a stealth dorm!

Those thing are all over the place in the TCU area.

I love the houses over there though.

I live in Wedgwood where the houses are more modest.

[viva la]

8. I'm just amazed at how much money some people have.

So they paid $1.2 mil for the LOT. And they're also going to have to pay to tear the old house down, and how much more to build a new house.

[MissB]

10. Yup

We (and our other next door neighbor) were weird in that when we moved in, we didn’t tear down. Lots of that was happening 20 years ago when we bought. Actually the week we moved in, pretty much every neighbor asked if we were tearing the place down. It got to the point where my hackles would get on up when the question would be asked, because we had great plans to fix it up. And we have.

We also know that someday when we sell, we have to let it go because the next person might just tear this one down too.

We actually stretched our budget at the time to afford this place so our kids could go to great public schools. This new owner isn’t that. They’re clearly quite rich.

[crud]

14. They flip lots like that in the right areas

pay 1.2 million, tear it down, spend a million on new construction and sell it for 3.2 million netting a million.

[MissB]

15. It's gotta be their dream home

I just don’t see it as a flipper, but of course in some markets it would be!

I have no view. I’m not on the river- can’t even see it from here. Their house is much closer to the road than mine and there’s no avoiding that with an even larger house just because of the configuration of their lot.

The neighborhood is full of 1.5 mil houses for sale. They don’t fly off the market as quickly as a week but usually within a month they’re sold. There is a soft market for the 2+ mil homes- they typically take a year or more.

[viva la]

20. It's going to be awful for you--

Tear-down and then construction-- all the noise and construction traffic blocking the road.

Some people. Well, hopefully when it's done, it will help your property value. Sigh.

[MacKasey]

11. Taxes are too low on the rich

More taxes on the rich less McMansions

Didn't the prices on houses increase dramatically after Reagan lower the top tax rates?

[Thomas Hurt]

16. May be time to put lots of no trespassing signs

and if you don't have a survey and can afford one, might be time to get the property line marked, that is if it could be an issue.

[MissB]

18. Not an issue - already done.

And our driveways are gated/property fenced. We have guard dogs, or dogs that think they guard. The 100 lb dog looks and sounds intimidating. Let’s just say that no one casually strolls onto the property

I’m sure I’ll get the foreman’s phone number once work starts because it is really inevitable that someone will block one of our driveways. We work from home and enter and exit each driveway every day.

[Hekate]

24. Well done!

Best of luck.

[applegrove]

17. Such a shame when the McMasion overtakes the lot almost. Much prettier

a smaller house on a lot. When i was a kid a neighbours house was tiny but the property went straight through to the next street at the back. It was a double lot. Two houses on either side of the garden. Long and narrow. The old lady who lived there had a lovely garden. We used to play with her grandkids when they came to town to visit with her. It was magical.

[MissB]

19. The former neighbors

Really loved their backyard. They would both spend hours out there and then when her memory failed we’d see him out there a lot. Everything was neat and tidy and all of the big bushes were trimmed each year.

I’ve been watching the back yard die all summer. So sad.

[applegrove]

21. So sad.

[Jim G.]

22. Next Door To Where I Live

There's a big beautiful old historic brick house that had been converted to a lawyer's office many years ago. He retired a couple years ago and it was sold to a young-ish couple that have remodeled it and turned it into a wine bar (and future bed & breakfast supposedly).

They built a huge deck around a couple of trees on the side that faces me, where they put a half dozen tables and chairs. In the evening people sit out there drinking wine well past midnight some nights. At night I normally turn the AC off & open my window. Since my bedroom overlooks their deck I can hear them down there at night. It's not that they're all that loud or unruly really, but it's only been about a month & a half & I'm just not used to the new noise yet.

It annoys me, but I guess it shouldn't. So it kind of bothers me that it annoys me, if that makes sense.

[Hekate]

23. Ugh! Whoever owns the 2 lots across the street from us is trying to sell them (again)...

I think they are an acre apiece, and very hilly. Also whoever does the work is going to have to contend with a high-pressure gas line that runs across the front (there’s a sign attesting to that). So far we’ve lived here in peace for 4 years, and I hope those lots never sell. The neighborhood as a whole is 30+ years old.

I don’t really understand the tear-down-a-nice house mentality.

[onethatcares]

26. I don't understand the 5800 sf

mentality.

Unless you wanted to get away from the person you live with.

[XanaDUer2]

27. And random nails everywhere

I hate construction where I drive

[TexasBushwhacker]

28. Houston's 1 and only Frank Lloyd Wright house is listed right now

for $3.15 Million. The FLW part of it was only 1800 sf (built in 1954) and was owned by an insurance executive. It's on a 1.2 acre lot in what has now become a pricey part of town. Just the lot is appraised at $1.7 Million.

The dentist that has owned it for the last 30 years says that he and his wife restored the house to its original glory, but they also built a 6200 sf addition. 🙄 When they bought it, someone had painted the redwood walls white!

https://www.har.com/homedetail/12020-tall-oaks-st-houston-tx-77024/3026601

[Wicked Blue]

29. You can always put up an outhouse

a fake one, but they won't know that.