We're in the process of purchasing 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 change it. The name of the street is "Sisquoc," which I believe is a good name. The Californian Chumash Indians translate Sisquoc as stopping place. There's a river called Sisquoc River in California. The developer told me that some of the other buyers believe it is too hard to say and spell. Jeez, give me a break! The street is currently being renamed to "San Lucas."

At any rate, this made me think about Austin's street names, and the reality that a lot of streets have names that are more disagreeable than Sisquoc. For example, the South Austin's Shady Hollow subdivision has streets with names including "Shoot Out," "Six Gun," "Gun Fight," "Ammunition," and "Shotgun"

I asked Sylvia whether she'd live on a street that has a name such as "Shoot Out" or "Gun Fight" and she answered "No way!" Somebody on the liberal party would probably give up a dreamhouse on "George W. Bush Boulevard." Brisket Lane would probably not be a good home for a vegan. Getting a home on Devil's Cove is something a devout Christian Conservative would maybe have to think about. And so, do street names have an effect on the desirability and marketability of homes if the name is something that someone could be offended? I decided to look deeper.

I performed a multiple listing search for homes in Shady Hollow that were sold since 2000 which are found on the aforementioned streets with names related to guns. 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. There were 606 homes with less overt western names. 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 do not sell for as much compared to other homes in the same subdivision.

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 seems contrary to what one would most likely 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 price gap. But homes with smaller lot size, more or less, are sold for a higher per-square-foot price, and in this case they dont, which means something is not right.

This isn't exactly a very scientific test. But among the other things a buyer should consider when deciding on a home is whether or not the name of the street might have an effect on the future marketability of the home.