GDoN Revisited by Hipchickindc – 131 Longfellow St NW

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 an Associate Broker with Urban Pace. 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: 131 Longfellow St NW
Legal Subdivision: Chillum
Advertised Subdivision (per listing): Chillum
Original List Price: $339,700.
List Price at Contract: $339,700.
List Date: 07/21/2010
Days on Market: 17
Settled Sales Price: $339,000.
Settlement Date: 09/30/2010
Seller Subsidy: $3500.
Bank Owned?: No Short Sale? No
Type Of Financing: FHA

Original GDoN is: here.

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

Last week’s edition of Good Deal or Not Revisited (GDoN-R) took a look at a fully renovated rowhouse in a downtown urban neighborhood in the low $300,000. price range. This week, we head north, looking at another renovated property in a similar price range. The Prince tagged this neighborhood as Brightwood in the Good Deal or Not (GDoN) post. I’m going to say it’s a little east for Brightwood and will go with South Takoma DC.

This property was purchased in May in its “needs work” state for $190,000. The folks who bought it travel under the name “The Everyday Home Buyers LLC”, which I thought was a good name for a group that does modest but clean rehabs. They installed central air but left the radiators, which home inspectors generally seem to appreciate.

Continues after the jump.

An anonymous commenter to the original Good Deal or Not (GDoN) post wrote, “If you’re gonna live that far out, you might as well look for a place in Maryland.” I often work with buyers who find themselves conflicted over staying downtown urban versus living in a part of the city that has more grass and trees and not a lot of commercial outlets to walk to. Those who decide to look a little less downtown often also end up looking in Silver Spring, Takoma Park, or sometimes Mount Rainier and Hyattsville. As others mentioned, DC property taxes are on the lower side (especially compared to Takoma Park, MD and any properties in PG County.) It all depends what makes the most sense for an individual or family.

I shall recycle what I said last week. When people say that there are no affordable neighborhoods left in DC, they are often keeping their options somewhat limited. Yes, I know there was a lot of discussion in the comments last week about who can and cannot afford a $300,000. house and whether or not that price range really qualifies as “affordable”. I am suggesting that for people who are in the market under $400,000. and want to live in a house rather than a condo, there are often possibilities that can get overlooked.