Just $10K Separates Trick-or-Treat Duo in Kiest-Polk’s Oak Park Estates

This week’s Tuesday Two Hundred falls on the perfect day to highlight two homes in the Oak Park Estates neighborhood of Kiest-Polk, just east of Kiest Park in Oak Cliff.  They’re both single-story ranch homes and only a half-mile separates them. The homes, 2,042 and 2,102 square feet differ by 60 square feet and just five years in construction – 1955 and 1960. They’re priced at $234,990 and $224,900.

Since I know your sweet tooth, let’s begin with the treat.

Seen above is the 2,042-square-foot 3459 Navajo Circle listed for $234,990 with Wenqian Zhao from ERA Cornerstone. It’s a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home on a 79 by 122-foot lot.  In June 2016 it wound up owned briefly by Deutsche Bank before being sold in January 2017 to its current owner, U.S. China Estate Investment Group out of Denton.  They in turn renovated the home and are flipping it.  While an interesting recent history, it’s not spooky.

The double-door entry leads into the formal dining room. This was originally a formal living room, but people don’t really live that way anymore. As a dining room, it offers a great view out to the heavily treed neighborhood.  I’m liking the stain used on the hardwoods.  The beam above hints that the entry was originally closed off. Opening it was the right move. The door on the right leads to the kitchen.

Just off the dining room is the renovated white/white/stainless kitchen with marble counters and shaker cabinets.  To keep the more open feel, a counter-depth refrigerator is a must. Attention tall cooks: the vent hood may be a little low.

This shot really shows where everything is.  The doorway in the distance leads to the entry. The wall separating the kitchen and family room has largely been removed and the foreground is an informal breakfast/dining area that comfortably seats four or more.

This is the view from the entry area where you see straight through to the back yard.  More of those nicely stained hardwoods connect the living areas.  You may be wondering where to put the TV.  I’d have furniture running in the same direction as the floors and have the TV on the wall next to the photographer, opposite to the fireplace.  That way you have a dual focal point.

The dual vanity master bathroom continues the white/white theme.  There’s a shower for the adults and a bathtub in the second bathroom for the kiddies.  Throughout the house it’s great to (not) see popcorn ceilings.

About the only fright here is the backyard.  I’m no landscaper, but I’m pretty sure a plywood sheet pathway on bare dirt isn’t a “thing” this season. That said, notice a lot of shade.  You’ll appreciate that come August.

1606 Watervaliet Drive

After that “treat” it’s time for our “trick” just a short walk away at 1606 Watervaliet Drive. You may, like me, be wondering about the name Watervaliet.  It’s Dutch for “where the waters meet.” Fivemile Creek is to the south, but the short road dead-ends at Champagne Drive. I know which “water” I want to meet.

Occupying a 90 by 105-foot corner lot, 1606 Watervaliet Drive is listed for $224,900 with Stephanie Ziemann of Simply Smart Realty Group.  No flip here!  Ziemann calls is an “investor special” with four exclamation marks.  Let’s remember, this is just $10,000 less than the first home on Navajo.

Let’s start in the living room where we can just make out the original parquet floors, paneled walls, and popcorn ceiling with its dual ceiling fans and other “things.”  You’d never know it from the picture, but there’s quite a bit of window space. We’ll get to the reason it looks so dark with all that glass in a minute.

The kitchen is the fright you’d expect given that living room.  Original cabinets whose style has actually run full circle.  It’s doubtful you’d want to keep them, but the style isn’t terrible.  Blow out the soffit and take the cabinets to the ceiling for a modern look and more storage and maybe even a taller corner window for more light.  You’ll definitely want to preserve the floor (just kidding).

The bathrooms have original tile but there’s a major problem if you’ve mounted the toilet on top of a sheet of plywood.  I’m not the tile preservationist some of you are, so I’d just strip this room down to the foundation (to find out what’s leaking) and begin again.

Looking in the mirror, this may be the master bath.  Yikes! With over 2,000 square feet, I’d find somewhere to steal space to make this larger. The overall grime shows that the sellers know there’s no use trying to sell to a move-in buyer. In fact, given the “investor” language in the listing and the number of owners, I’m going to guess this was a rental house.

Here’s why there’s such poor light in many of the rooms.  Under the rabbit ears, you can see the living room’s chimney. The windows and sliding glass door that should light up that room are buried behind this terrible addition.  You can also see the smaller chimney in the foreground with a short brick wall.  That’s an original porch that was possibly screened at one point.

Remove that dilapidated mistake of an addition and turn this home from fright to right.  Unfortunately, with flips like our Navajo listing selling for essentially the same money, this home may be scaring the neighborhood for some time.

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We may get a giggle poking fun at run-down homes, but remember, no one chooses to live in homes like this.  The income of whomever lived here just didn’t allow for the maintenance you and I may take for granted.  Shortly after these homes were built, America waged a War on Poverty that reduced the number of Americans living in poverty from ~40 million to ~25 million. Throughout the mid-1960s and into the late 1970s, there was stability. President Johnson said, “Our aim is not only to relieve the symptom of poverty, but to cure it and, above all, to prevent it.” The 1980s kicked off the (continuing) era of selfishness and greed that returned 10 million to poverty in five years. Current data says more than 43 million Americans live in poverty.  The War on Poverty became a war on poor people.

Yup, a trick, a treat, and a truth.

 

Remember:  High-rises, HOAs and renovation are my beat. But I also appreciate modern and historical architecture balanced against the YIMBY movement.  If you’re interested in hosting a Candysdirt.com Staff Meeting event, I’m your guy. In 2016 and 2017, the National Association of Real Estate Editors has recognized my writing with two Bronze (2016, 2017) and two Silver (2016, 2017) awards.  Have a story to tell or a marriage proposal to make?  Shoot me an email [email protected].