About Rich Martin

Houston Heights Realtor – Rich Martin

This Site is About:

Rich Martin, Your Neighborhood Realtor

Rich Martin, Your Neighborhood Realtor

Home Buying Help: I love old houses and old neighborhoods! My goal with this blog is to share my knowledge and help untangle the hodgepodge of intertwined old neighborhoods. Hopefully you’ll have an understanding of these different areas  and a feel where you might like to buy a home.

Heights House Buying & Selling

House Buying/Selling Website

Home Buyers will find helpful/unique perspectives on:

  • Funky inner loop neighborhoods – the good, bad and ugly. See my page on the Heights and Greater Heights. This describes many of the various “Heights” neighborhoods.
    For other areas outside the Heights see the page on Areas Near the Heights.
  • Fascinating stuff about these old 1900’s – 1950’s homes.
  • Individual neighborhoods – even the ones that might look a little rough to a novice.
  • My opinions on whether you will like an area: Are you a “frontier” person or a “comfortable” person?
  • Considering an older house? Fantastic – I’ll tell you to look for and what to avoid.
  • Want a new home? I describe the style & prices of new homes in each area.
  • Simplifying the whole process; starting with my Interactive Map of Neighborhoods.
  • Neighborhood price ranges & trends.
  • Buying a house in today’s market is frustrating and truly takes a team effort. Feel free to Contact Me with any questions.

Home Selling help: Selling a house cannot be approached willy-nilly. Buyers today are very knowledgeable, very sophisticated, every piece of information is available at their fingertips. Selling a home today is nothing like it was even 2-3 years ago. The web dominates and Google is the master.

As a house seller you’ll get a feel for prices of your neighborhood; find out what new homes are selling for, and what they are doing to/for your area. You’ll get house-selling advice from a professional who breathes this stuff every day.

Home Sellers will find out:

  • Preparing your house for sale – what to fix up – what to leave alone
  • Local neighborhood house sales
  • Are you a FSBO? No that’s not a nasty word. Tips on selling your house yourself
  • Remodel vs. buy another? Everyone should remodel or build a house once, but once is typically  enough! We need to talk.
  • Picking a Realtor
  • What your Realtor should be doing, how to help him/her.
  • May 2014 Update: This is truly a Seller’s Market! Pricing is still critical: Too high a price will still cause house to sit on market. Appropriate pricing has a better chance of receiving multiple offers and thus higher selling price. Contact me if you would like to discuss.

There has been a lot of interest and controversy about Houston’s historic districts. See my page with Maps of Historic Districts , especially Heights Historic Districts.

My Story:

I came to be a Houston Heights Realtor by a different route than most. I lived in the suburbs and stumbled across the Heights in the 80’s.  My brother and I saw the potential of the area  & bought an old, nasty bungalow to renovate for “fun & profit”. This house was in mostly original condition except for having the porch boxed in with plywood. We lovingly restored this home, unfortunately treating it like the love of our life and spending too much money. Well, we were ahead of our time. We had “fun”, but not much “profit.”

However, I fell in love with the area and bought another house for myself; a 1909 bungalow in Woodland Heights . It had a big lot, a wonderful wrap-around porch and a leaning, falling-down house attached. I had to have that porch and big yard!

My kids and I moved into it and remodeled it. Ahhh, the joy of going to bed at night with sheet-rock dust on your feet. Anyway, I still live in that house.

I started selling these old homes part time, and then switched careers entirely. My degree in chemistry and my career in chemical plant Quality Assurance have actually served me well. You don’t bullshit people in chemical plants. You solve their problems. You also don’t “sell” homes to people. You help and guide them.

Anyway, here I am – a Houston Heights Realtor. I know building, remodeling. I know these homes inside and out. I know the “good, bad and ugly” parts of these old neighborhoods. I also know most of the Houston Heights builders.

I can’t get rid of my analytical mind though, so I’m full of stats, prices, trends, etc. Maybe we can work together and put all this to good use.

I am currently a broker associate with Berkshire Hathaway Premier Properties

Located in the Heights.
Rich – your  Houston Heights Realtor