GDoN Revisited by Hipchickindc – 1507 A St SE

Voted one of the best real estate agents in DC by the Washington City Paper Readers’ Choice Poll in 2009, hipchickindc aka the not-so-hip Suzanne Des Marais is the Principal Broker (DC) for Urban Pace, LLC. She lives (and sells a lot of houses) in Bloomingdale, but works all over DC, with everyone from first time buyers to highly regarded developers. Unless specifically noted, neither she nor the company that she is affiliated with represented any of the parties or were directly involved in the transaction reported below. Unless otherwise noted, the source of information is Metropolitan Regional Information Systems (MRIS), which is the local multiple listing system. Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

Featured Property: 1507 A St SE
Legal Subdivision: Old City #1
Advertised Subdivision per Listing: Capitol Hill
Original List Price: $579,900.
List Price at Contract: $579,900.
List Date: 01/04/2011
Days on Market: 14
Settled Sales Price: $570,000.
Settlement Date: 02/15/2011
Seller Subsidy: $0.
Bank Owned?: No Short Sale? No
Type Of Financing: Conventional

Original Good Deal or Not post is: here

The listing can be seen: here. To see pics, open the listing link, click on the main pic and scroll through.

Sometimes when I see an address, it reminds me of a story for a nearby property. When I saw this one, my recall immediately went to a couple of first time buyers that I was working with in this area in the midst of the rising real estate boom of around 2004-2005. It was pre-Harris Teeter, but the rumor was out that HT was imminently on its way. My first time buyers had a somewhat limited budget and a location requirement for “The Hill” (which for some buyers, depending on price range, often means anything east of the Capitol). They had already been bid out on several multiple offer competitions, which were the norm back then. Finally, they came across a house that they liked on this block. We managed to get an offer in before anybody else and the owner was motivated and willing to negotiate. Ultimately, they walked away over a $5000. difference in price. My guess is that if they had bought the house then, it is worth about $250,000. more than they would have paid for it at the time. Oh well.

The Good Deal or Not (GDoN) post drew such comments as “This seems below market” and “Explanations for the low price…” One commenter made note that the recent sellers only purchased for $170,000. less than the current price in 2009. Actually, per the tax records, it looks like they picked it up in November 2010 for $265,000. Roby Thompson of Long and Foster was the listing agent. Scott Purcell, also of Long and Foster, represented the purchasers.