How Much the Mount Pleasant House that “needs structural repairs” Sold For in 24 Days

Hipchickindc (aka Suzanne Des Marais) is a licensed real estate broker. She is an associate broker with Bediz Group, LLC at Keller Williams Capital Properties . 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 and/or Real Estate Business Intelligence (RBI). Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

Featured Property: 3302 19th St NW
Legal Subdivision: Mount Pleasant
Advertised Subdivision per Listing: Mount Pleasant
Bedrooms: 3 Baths: 3 Parking: Detached Garage Ownership: Fee Simple
Lot Square Footage: 2212 square feet
Original List Price: $795,000.
List Price at Contract: $650,000.
Original List Date: 10/24/2015
Days on Market: 24 (was off market in between 2015 listing & present listing)
Settled Sales Price: $565,000.
Seller Subsidy: $0.
Settlement Date: 03/08/2016
Transaction type: Standard

Original GDoN post is: here.

The listing can be seen here: here.

Unfortunately, the sales price in relation to the list price is not an April Fools joke. Over the past six months, fee simple homes in Mount Pleasant have sold with a 99.36% median list to sales price ratio, so this is truly an anomaly. Current median sold price for fee simple homes in Mount Pleasant is $962,500.

Offered in the multiple listing system for sale in October 2015 at a price of $795,000, the listing status changed to contingent contract in November, then was eventually changed to off market. There was no mention of specific concerns in that listing.

The home was re-listed at a much lower price in February 2016 with very clear language stating “This property needs structural repairs. Please see disclosures and attached Engineering Reports provided by the Seller.” This knowledge is what is referred to as a material fact, which, by DC law, must be disclosed to potential buyers.

DC housing stock is generally around 100 years old, and, for the most part, was built good and sturdy. Stuff can happen to a house over a century, however. Some issues that can cause structural problems include water, fire, or termite damage, significant settling from internal (load bearing) or external issues (like the underlying soil), as well as removal or alteration of original structural features of the house.

Even if it might end up being a good deal, the buyer pool for a house with known structural issues is generally limited to buyers paying cash. Even with specific construction financing, banks generally do not like to lend on properties with known structural issues to owner occupants who are not experienced builders due to the higher level of risk involved.

The listing agent for this sale was Rob Low with the Linda Low Team at Long and Foster Real Estate, Inc. Per the listing, the Buyer represented his or herself.