GDoN Revisited by Hipchickindc – 1844 8th Street, NW

Hipchickindc is a licensed real estate broker. She is the founder of 10 Square Team and is affiliated with Keller Williams Capital Properties. 10 Square Team is a princeofpetworth.com advertiser. 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: 1844 8th St NW
Legal Subdivision: Old City #2
Advertised Subdivision per Listing: Old City #2
Original List Price: $589,900.
List Price at Contract: $589,900.
List Date: 05/03/2012
Days on Market: 6
Settled Sales Price: $605,000.
Seller Subsidy: $2,000.
Original List to Net Sales Price Ratio: 102.22% in relation to final listed price
Settlement Date: 05/31/2012
Bank Owned?: No Short Sale? No
Type Of Financing: Cash
Original GDoN post is: here.
The listing can be seen: here . The photos can be seen by clicking on the listing link, then scrolling through the pictures starting with the main photo.

Not only did this property sell above the listed price, but the (let’s assume multiple offers) winning offer went from contract to close in 23 days. The listing states that it was a cash sale, which could mean that the buyer did actually show up with a suitcase full of money at closing, or it could also mean that the buyer eliminated the financing contingency and showed up with financing at the settlement table. With buyers who are fully credit approved prior to making an offer, it is not unheard of to close a loan this quickly. (It’s perfectly cool to show up with a loan even if the contract said “cash”…as long as it does not change anything for the seller, such as delaying settlement. With a cash offer, the listing agent will want to see some proof of funds to close.)

I did get a chance to show this home to a buyer when it was on the market. For a small home, I thought the space was decent and it was nice and bright from the upstairs skylight. The cryptic parking language refers to the alley behind the home that is apparently public property. It looks like there’s an unspoken code that you park behind your own house and not behind your neighbor’s.

Continues after the jump.

There was some discussion in the comments referencing the housing bubble years of the mid-2000’s. The lesson I learned in the past twelve+ years (and which I’ve heard from agents who’ve been in the business decades longer than I have) is that inevitably over time real estate values cycle up and down. There are so many factors that contribute to housing prices, but fortunately the current upswing is not in relation to lots of people financing properties with unstable mortgage products.

In addition to the revitalization of many areas of the city drawing people to live downtown and ditch the long commute to the suburbs, the obvious driver of this market are the historically low interest rates. Whereas a home with a $600k price tag would have cost over $3000. per month for principal and interest (assuming a 10% down payment) at a rate of 5.4%, that home for the same price in 2012 would carry a monthly cost of around $2500. Other costs per month would include taxes, insurance, and, in some cases, mortgage insurance.

The subject property was listed by David Bediz and Dwight Mortensen with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage. Tom Buerger with Re/Max Allegiance represented the buyer.