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[P509]Politically Incorrect With Bill

by Austin Appraiser, Aus

We're in the process of buying some lots in Oak Hill with a few other buyers but they don't like the name of the street and want the developer to have it changed. The street has a really great name--Sisquoc. The Chumash Indians from California say that Sisquoc means stopping place. There is a Sisquoc River in California. The other buyers are having a hard time saying and spelling it. Jeez, give me a break! The city is changing the name of the street to "San Lucas."

So this has gotten me into thinking of the different names of Austin's streets like those that have more adverse names than Sisquoc. Some streets in Shady Hollow which is a subdivision in South Austin have names such as "Gun Fight," "Ammunition," "Six Gun," "Shotgun," and "Shoot Out."

I asked Sylvia whether she'd get a house on a street that has a name like "Gun Fight" or "Shoot Out" and she answered "No way!" I wonder whether a left wing liberal would pass up his dream home if it was situated on "George W. Bush Blvd"? Will a vegan pass up a home on Brisket Lane? Will a staunch Christian Conservative not purchase a home on Devil's Cove? So can street names play a major role when planning on buying or selling a home? I made a decision to look further.

I performed an MLS search for homes in Shady Hollow that were sold since 2000 that are found on the aforementioned streets with gun-related names. As much as 71 homes were sold on those streets. In dollars, 179,677 is the average sales price at $98 per square foot. The next search was done without the homes built after 1993 because they were expensive to build. Six hundred six homes located on streets with less obvious western names were sold. In dollars, 225,713 is the average sales price at $103 per square foot. It appears that the homes with names that are politically incorrect don't sell for as much compared to other homes in the same area.

The interesting fact, however,is that the politically incorrect homes sold at an average of 37 days while the others took 50 days on the average to sell. This seems counterintuitive based on the price gap. One thousand eight hundred eleven square feet is the average size of the politically incorrect homes while 2144 square feet is the average for the other homes which clarifies for us the gap in prices. But homes with smaller lot size, more or less, sell for a higher per-square-foot price, and in this case they do not, which means something is out of balance.

This may not appear to be an exact science. Nevertheless, the buyer has to put into consideration the street name which may or may not have an effect on the home's marketability in the future.

We're buying some lots in Oak Hill, and I just realized that other buyers on my street don't like the street's name on which our lots are situated and have requested the developer to change the name. The street has a really great name--Sisquoc. The Chumash Indians from California say that Sisquoc means stopping place. There's a river in California that they call Sisquoc River. The developer told me that some of the buyers believe it is too hard to say and spell. Jeez, give me a break! The city is changing the street's name to "San Lucas."

At any rate, this started me thinking about names of the streets in Austin, and the reality that a lot of streets have names far more undesirable than Sisquoc. Some streets in Shady Hollow which is a subdivision in South Austin have names such as "Ammunition," "Gun Fight," "Six Gun," "Shotgun," and "Shoot Out."

I asked Sylvia if she would get a house on a street named "Shoot Out" or "Gun Fight" and she said "No way!" Somebody on the liberal party would probably give up a dreamhouse on "George W. Bush Blvd." Brisket Lane would probably scare the wits out of a vegetarian. Would a loyal Christian Conservative not purchase a house on Devil's Cove? So can the name of a street have a major role when deciding on buying or selling a house? I decided to look deeper.

Using an MLS search, I was able to get information about the homes in Shady Hollow sold since 2000 that have street names that are gun related. There were 71 sales on those streets. In dollars, 179,677 is the average sales price at $98 per square foot. I then looked for the rest of Shady Hollow, excluding houses newer than 1993 since all of the aforementioned houses are built before 1993 and we don't want to mix the results with homes that are costly and newly built. Six hundred six houses situated on streets with less explicit western names were sold. In dollars, 225,713 is the average sales price at $103 per square foot. It seems that the houses with names that are politically incorrect don't sell very much as compared to other houses in the same area.

What's interesting to note here is that politically incorrect homes are sold just within 37 days and the other homes at an average of 50 days. This seems contrary to what one would intuitively expect if we base it on the price gap. One thousand eight hundred eleven square feet is the average size of the politically incorrect homes while 2144 square feet is the average for the other homes which clarifies for us the gap in prices. But there's something not right because the smaller homes are sold at a higher per-square-foot price but they don't in this particular case.

This might not appear to be an exact science. Nevertheless, the buyer has to put into consideration the street name which may or may not have an effect on the home's marketability in the future.

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Austin Appraiser has sinced written about articles on various topics from Home Improvement, Real Estate and Affiliate Programs. This article was written by Austin, Texas Appraiser, an up and coming real estate authority in the Austin Texas area. He manages . Austin Appraiser's top article generates over 1900 views. to your Favourites.