Who Pays for What?

April 21, 2022April 21, 2022Teresa Byrne-Dodge

It’s exhilarating to buy – or sell – a home. But sometimes that excitement is mitigated by the slew of closing costs added to the transaction. By the time you’re at the closing table, they can really add up. This is true for both sellers and buyers. The good news is...

By the Numbers

March 16, 2022April 2, 2022Cameron Ansari

We customarily use our mid-March market update as an opportunity to look back at the activity so far since the new year, using some commentary about market conditions, with a few statistics thrown in. For this month’s River Oaks Letter we are going to switch things around, focusing on the numbers,...

What’s Different About February 2022?

February 15, 2022February 15, 2022Cameron Ansari

One sensed a pause in the action as February 2022 got underway. By mid-January, showing activity in the River Oaks area – the earliest indicator of future sales – was disappointing despite a hectic week at the very start of the year. Subsequently, there were only eight newly pending contracts by...

Too Few Under Two

January 20, 2022January 20, 2022Cameron Ansari

Our River Oaks Market Report ~ 2022 Outlook is at the printer this week and will soon be in subscribers’ mailboxes. In the meantime, we have a sneak peak at one of the categories that we always cover – the under-served Under $2 Million – that we have fleshed out with...

Market Demographics so Far in 2021

November 19, 2021November 19, 2021Cameron Ansari

Areas in the Neighborhood In past years, and especially since the great oil and gas shakedown of the 1980s, the presumption has been that prize properties in the Country Club section of River Oaks rarely changed hands (except perhaps the smaller ones or those on the periphery). And yet we have...

So How’s the Real Estate Market?

October 19, 2021October 20, 2021Cameron Ansari

The most popular topic of conversation at any social gathering is always food and restaurants. But the second most popular topic is certainly real estate. We find people are endlessly interested in real estate, even if they are not personally in the market. Here are seven questions we hear often, especially...

Two-fer One

August 16, 2021August 16, 2021Cameron Ansari

The twiddling of thumbs traditionally reaches its climax in mid-August for real estate practitioners in River Oaks. A client recently pointed out that one should try to be considerate when tempted to say that “everyone has gone to Colorado,” since clearly some of us remain on guard in person in the...

The Current Lot & New Construction Market in River Oaks

July 15, 2021July 16, 2021Cameron Ansari

New Construction So far this year, on average, spec new construction sold at a 15% discount to original list price. There were no sales of new con on half-acre+ lots. But three sold in 2020, and one is currently pending. A few spec homes were converted to custom construction. Active on...

In the Big House

June 15, 2021June 16, 2021Cameron Ansari

Last week, expecting a call from a writer at Mansion Global (a digital publication from Dow Jones) to share thoughts about the surge in sales of large houses across the country, we thought it best to check on the data for Houston. Sure enough, the rate of sales for large houses...

Good Time Rolls

May 18, 2021June 10, 2021Cameron Ansari

It is often an indicator that the crest of a market cycle has been reached when everybody and their brother-in-law are offering real estate opinions and advice. And, while there is currently a proliferation of armchair quarterbacks practicing without a license – enough, you may say, to fill NRG Stadium –...