3012 Duke featured on modernhouston.weekly

Clare Leppert – Martha Turner Properties // 3012 Duke // $1,650,000

Custom Contemporary in Prestigious West University! True to its modern style, this 2004 home features open living and dining spaces, walls of glass, wide plank white oak flooring wet bar and a gourmet kitchen with Brookhaven cabinetry and top of the line appliances. Architect Allen Bianchi and Charter Custom Homes worked with this family to create a family friendly, unique home designed for clutter free, tranquil living with the finest of finishes. Waterworks tiles, Pella windows, summer kitchen. WOW!

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mh.weekly real estate 1403 Eberhard St

1403 Eberhard – $649,999 // Brain Spack – John Daugherty Realtors

Deliciously understated, plushly designed contemporary completed in 2006. Open spaces w/interesting niches + dramatic flair. Great wall space w/art lighting. Rich Brazilian wood floors in living, dining & kitchen. Quality appliances, sweeping island & walk-in pantry. Third floor master is light-filled + spacious. Spa bath plus one of the largest walk-in closets you will ever see.  Closet can be converted to third bedroom & is plumbed for full bath. First floor bedroom with Zen garden. more info

Modern Spaces, Practical Living…The designs of Collaborative Designworks

Space, light and materials are basic elements in any work of architecture, and with contemporary architecture the blending of the three can create buildings of sleek forms and highly functional design. Modern buildings and residential houses often are iconic and inspiring. Open spaces and glass walls are common elements, but with the design comes a new set of problems.

Those same open expansive spaces with huge glass walls can face similar houses putting the residents into a fishbowl for their neighbors and putting basic human needs such as privacy at a premium. It was that very problem that inspired Houston architect James Evans and his firm, Collaborative Designworks, to build The 505 townhomes.Evans had been frustrated trying to find a townhome in Houston that had the kind of natural light, expansiveness and clean design he wanted, with as much privacy as possible in a townhouse arrangement. His design achieves that goal, minimizing the common walls with other units in the structure and providing an abundance of natural light without sacrificing privacy. read about The Collaborative

“Clarification of affordable or reasonably priced modern homes”

Received from a builder and designer of “modern homes” I am looking for clarification of the term “affordable” and/or “reasonably” priced modern homes.

When speaking of affordable /reasonably priced modern home
are you referring to:

a.) the  cost per foot of a new home?
or
b.) the overall cost to acquire the home?

add your comments

The Kaufmann House “A SEMINAL MODERNIST MASTERPIECE”

Christie’s Realty International, Inc. is delighted to announce the sale of Richard Neutra’s seminal Kaufmann House on the night of Christie’s New York May 13 Spring 2008 Post-War and Contemporary Art Evening sale. Along with Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House and Philip Johnson’s Glass House, Neutra’s Kaufmann House is one of the most important examples of modernist residential architecture in the Americas and remains singular as the most important example of mid-century modernist architecture in the Americas to remain in private hands. It carries an estimate of $15,000,000 to $25,000,000. read more

Advantage:Modern by Steven Kleiman

Advantage: Modern Why Modern Homeowners Have The Edge In Today’s Real Estate Market by: Steven Kleiman

Modern homeowners rejoice! If you’re thinking about selling your home, you’re in luck. Even though it’s a buyer’s market right now, you’ve got the advantage on owners of traditional homes trying to sell their properties. Why? Well, it’s a simple issue of supply and demand.
The interest in modern homes has been growing by leaps and bounds of the last few years, especially in Houston. However, only a handful of homebuilders and developers have caught on to that fact. As a result, only about 2,000 properties in metro-Houston are considered true modern residences. That’s a drop in a bucket compared to the tens of thousands of Colonial, French, English, etc. homes. Therefore, in supply and demand terms, supply of modern homes is low and the demand is high, putting modern homeowners in a better position than other homeowners of drawing homebuyers to the property and of striking a deal at, or above, their asking price.
Despite the innate advantage that modern homeowners have in Houston’s current market, the rules of selling real estate remain the same. Modern homeowners will still need to put in the “work” to sell their property such as:

Prepare the home for sale.
You MUST look at your home with an outsider’s perspective. You may love your home as-is but to an outsider, what you think of as a slight imperfection can be major issue that would dissolve any interest they once had in the home.

Have the property assessed for its true value.
A homeowner’s perceived value of his / her home is often very different than the actual market value of a home. So, don’t set price on what you think your home is worth. Instead, price your home in accordance with the market. That’s crucial to getting noticed! FYI: Many homeowners try to price a home according to what they “need” to get for the home. That’s a big mistake too.

Promote and advertise the property.
Image is everything. How you describe your home, show your home, and present your home (and yourself) to others can make thedifference between you selling the home within days and you continuing to pay the mortgage on that home for months. In that sense, selling a home is just like any other business: You need to comeup with a solid marketing plan before putting your home on the market. Otherwise, you’ll end up wasting a lot of time, money, and energy.

One final recommendation: Do consider hiring a real estate agent!
It might sound archaic with all of the do-it-yourself options out there but the reality is that what most do-it-yourselfers think they’re saving in real estate commissions, they pay for in mistakes made along the way.
It’s a fact, folks: An Internet site is not going to negotiate a deal for you, translate real estate contracts into “everyday Joe” terms, or make sure that the deal is transacted in your best interest. (want info about Steven)

A Contemporary Take On “Modern Real Estate” by Steven Kleiman

This is Modern Houston, so it only makes sense that a column from me, your local Modern Houston Real Estate Specialist, would focus on…what else? Modern homes!
Hi everybody. I’m Steven Kleiman, and there is so much to know when it comes to modern real estate. Lucky for you, I have no shortage of things to talk about! Now, since this is my inaugural column, I figure that I’d give you a crash course on exactly what modern / contemporary real estate is.
A “modern home” (aka “Classic Modern”) is often considered a house that was built in the early 20^th century, usually anytime from the around the 1920s through the 1980s, because the predominant architectural style for the homes was more simple than the highly ornate homes built prior to the 1900s. Meanwhile, homes built from the 1980s to present day are often called “contemporary homes” (aka “Contemporary Modern”). Contemporary homes often exhibit even more simplicity than modern homes. That simplicity is conveyed, not only in the structure of the home but also the landscaping, interior design, and living space.
Semantics sticklers may differentiate between Modern / Classic Modern and Contemporary / Contemporary Modern; Generally, I don’t. I tend to use contemporary and modern interchangeably because out here in the real world of real estate, the styles often mesh. In fact, I like to describe modern / contemporary real estate to my clients as structures characterized by amazing architecture, smart design and an environment that fits the homeowner.
Contemporary real estate is an exciting topic to explore and I look forward to sharing my contemporary real estate knowledge with you. And maybe, just maybe, you’ll teach me a thing or two as well. Here’s hoping! If you live in a modern home or if you see one while you’re out, send me a picture with some information about it and why you think it’s a great example of a modern home. It may just become a talking piece for my next column!
Biography:Steven Kleiman is a licensed real estate broker and the owner of Houston, Texas-based Oakington Realty. The firm provides agent services to buyers, sellers and investors interested in real estate inside the I-610 Loop