We are in the process of purchasing some lots in Oak Hill with some other buyers but they do not like the name of the street and want the developer to change it. The street name is "Sisquoc," which I think is a good name. The Chumash Indians from California say that Sisquoc means stopping place. There's a California river which they call Sisquoc River. The developer mentioned to me that the buyers believe it is too hard to say and spell. Jeez, give me a break! The street is now in the process of being renamed to "San Lucas."

Anyway, this started me thinking about street names in Austin, and the reality that many streets have names far more disagreeable 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 whether she would get a house on a street named "Gun Fight" or "Shoot Out" and she said "No way!" I wonder whether a left wing liberal would pass up his dream home if it was situated on "George W. Bush Blvd"? Would a vegan pass up a house on Brisket Ln? Buying a house on Devil's Cove is something a pious Christian Conservative would probably need to think about. And so, do the name of the street affect the marketability and desirability of homes if the name is one in which that someone could take offense? I went on to learn more about this.

I did a multiple listing search for homes in Shady Hollow that were bought since 2000 which are found on the aforementioned streets with gun-related names. As much as 71 homes were bought on those streets. The average sales price is $179,677, which equals $98 per square foot. The next research was done with homes that were not built after 1993 since they were costly to build. Six hundred six homes situated on streets with less explicit western names were bought. In dollars, 225,713 is the average sales price at $103 per square foot. From this research, houses on streets with politically incorrect names are not selling well in comparison other houses on other streets.

What's interesting to note here is that politically incorrect homes are sold at an average of 37 days and the other homes at an average of 50 days. This is quite contrary to what one would most likely expect if we base it on the gap in their prices. 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 explains the price gap. But homes with smaller lot size, in general, sell for a higher per-square-foot price, and in this case they do not, which suggests something is not right.

This is not an exact scientific test. Nevertheless, a buyer should put into consideration whether or not the street name might affect the future marketability of the house.