On The Market

The Shopping Pad: This near half million dollar condo wows with location, location, location

Editor's Note: Houston, the surrounding areas and beyond are loaded with must-have houses for sale in all shapes, sizes and price ranges. In this continuing series, CultureMap snoops through some of the best and gives you the lowdown on what's hot on the market.

A spacious high-rise gem in the desirable Tanglewood area gives owners location, location, location with world-class shopping at The Galleria nearby and easy access to freeways and downtown.

Walk through
Condominium 301, located in the six-story The Tanglewood at 1616 Fountain View Drive, offers three bedrooms and two and a half baths. Enter the unit with hardwood floors under foot in a hallway with lots of space to display your art collection. Twelve-foot ceilings are found throughout the residence.

At the far end of the room is the dining room with access to two patios and treetop views.

The main living area follows an open floor plan with floor-to-ceiling windows on one side. The sitting room enjoys natural light and views. The kitchen is readily at hand, where a large granite-topped island affords additional seating. Stainless steel appliances and custom built-in cabinetry will please the chef of the house.

At the far end of the room is the dining room with access to two patios and treetop views. One patio is large enough for a few outdoor furniture pieces.

The hallway leads owners from the entrance to the bedrooms, where the master suite comes complete with a walk-in closet and a private balcony. Double vanities, a Jacuzzi tub and an oversized shower are just a few of the many highlights of the master bath.

Step outside
The Tanglewood complex provides 24-hour concierge service, a fitness center and a swimming pool with fountains surrounded by a deck for sunning and arbors for shade. The unit is allocated two parking spots.

Square footage: 2,440

Asking price: $489,000

Listing agent: Moni Bohnisch, John Daugherty Realtors

Double vanities, Jacuzzi tub and oversized shower are just a few of the highlights of the master bath.

13 On the Market 1616 Fountain View No. 310 August 2014

Photo courtesy of © TK Images

Double vanities, Jacuzzi tub and oversized shower are just a few of the highlights of the master bath.

unspecified

rent report

New report reveals how many Texans are paying too much for rent

Photo by Francesca Tosolini on Unsplash

undefined

Millions of Texas renters, both current residents and new arrivals, suffer from wallet whiplash.

A new report from the Texas Affiliation of Affordable Housing Providers shows 45 percent of the state’s renters spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing. Renters occupy more than 4.2 million Texas households, representing nearly half of the state’s residents.

Worse yet, 81 percent of extremely low-income households in Texas spend more than 50 percent of their income on housing, the report says. For that income group, Texas has a shortage of 864,000 affordable homes.

Thirty percent is the standard financial benchmark for spending too much income on rent, while 50 percent puts a renter in the “severely cost-burdened” bucket.

“To sustain growth and secure future prosperity, Texas will need more than 320,000 additional affordable homes [rented and owned] to address workforce housing affordability and meet the demands of a growing population,” says the report.

“Today, the state is creating thousands of new jobs,” the report adds, “but housing supply has not kept pace with demand, driving up housing costs and constraining continued economic growth.”

Not surprisingly, people who live in or move to three of Texas’ biggest metro areas get hit with the state’s highest apartment rental rates. Here’s Apartments.com’s list of the 10 most expensive places for renters in Texas, based on apartments whose average size ranges from 713 square feet in Austin to 771 square feet in Plano:

1. Frisco — $1,477 per month
2. Plano — $1,461 per month
3. Austin — $1,417 per month
4. Dallas — $1,413 per month
5. McKinney — $1,363 per month
6. Grand Prairie — $1,327 per month
7. Irving — $1,318 per month
8. Garland — $1,237 per month
9. Fort Worth — $1,217 per month
10. Houston — $1,183 per month

San Antonio boasts some of the lowest average rent among Texas’ 10 most affordable markets: $1,075 per month. Mesquite, a Dallas-Fort Worth suburb, also fits into that category, with average monthly rent of $1,052.

Earlier this month, Gov. Greg Abbott announced more than $114 million in grants to help develop or rehabilitate properties, providing more than 4,400 affordable rental units.

“As our state grows, we must ensure that Texans have access to the affordable housing they need to thrive,” Abbott says.

rent prices report apartments