Mt. Pleasant House Sells for $140,000 Over Asking Price

Anonymous

Someone is out of their damned minds. It’s well done, but almost $1M for pedestal sinks and cheap floor tile? No way.

Marty

location, location, location. it’s not always about the sinks and tile.
- Anonymous
  
  Is this a good location though? We saw a handful of houses out here and it seemed so incredibly inconvenient.
  - John B.
    
    On the downhill side of Ingleside Terrace many of the houses have foundation issues as they are basically sliding down the hill so it might have been priced on the low side because of that (just speculating). Otherwise it’s a nice quiet neighborhood with great houses (but tiny yards).
    - Inglesider
      
      “Sliding down the hill”? As one who lives on the park side of Ingleside, I can say that’s not true.
  - Anon
    
    Mount Pleasant is a great neighborhood and people buy for access to public schools west of the park.
    - Anonymous
      
      Oh right, I forgot about the schools concern. I guess it’s a good location, then, to people with school-age children.
    - Anonymous
      
      Good for schools, but bad location if you are looking for a walkable urban lifestyle (to nightlife, city centers etc) or for future development to up your property value.
    - styglan1dc
      
      Is Mt. P zoned for schools west of the park? I had never thought of that.
      
      Is there some sort of DC schools zoning map? I know there are applications to enter address and look up schools but a map would be easy for “at a glance”.
    - KenyonDweller
      
      This house is in the district for Bancroft (elementary), Deal (middle), and Wilson (high). The latter two are west of the park and considered among the best DCPS has to offer. I have heard mixed reviews of Bancroft. Years ago, parts of Mt. Pleasant were zoned for Oyster, but no longer.
    - Anonymous
      
      @styglan1dc – go here:
      http://dc.gov/DCPS/Files/downloads/SCHOOLS/DCPS_CHARTER_Map_SY12-13.pdf
    - Anonymous
      
      You would think that, but at this price there are similar houses in desirable neighborhoods (not as established maybe, but up-and-coming with more potential) that would be WAY less, maybe even enough to pay for private schooling with the difference. Unless we’re talking 3 or 4 kids, there is something more to the story than just school access. It strikes me as a LOT of money for that house.
    - doot
      
      having lived in Petworth and AdMo, I don’t really see this as the greatest location. I bought a 2000 sq/ft, detached Craftsman in Brookland for $525k in March – at the metro in a few minutes by bus, full yard, huge open field in front of my house. It blows my mind that people are paying basically twice that for 3/4 the house and half the yard. explore the other quadrants !!!
  - Anonymous
    
    I’d personally love this location. Backs onto a park (quite) and on a street w/ not a lot of traffic (also quiet), yet still close to mass transit on 16th or Columbia Hts Metro and business in Columbia Hts and Mt. Pleasant St.
    Oh..and if they don’t use transit, RCP is an easy N-S corridor. Also, it looks like they could rent out the basement for extra $$$. I’m sure they brought a lot of cash to the table to get financing though.

Anonymous

Damn, I live a few houses down. Good for the seller to be able to walk away with that amount

Anonymous

A renovated house across the street from this recently sold for $1.2 million in a private transaction. That’s probably driving the comps for this place.
- Inglesider
  
  Just about everything has sold for over asking this year. We thought our new neighbor was crazy paying $60k over, but that’s turned out to be low.

Anonymous

LOL. I hope they are happy.

Sir Douchy

In situations like this where the accepted offer is way over the asking price I wonder how they manage to get through the appraisal. I suppose it’s possible they were able to bring a lot of cash to the table to cover whatever the mortgage wouldn’t, but still.

Anonymous

It also has an in-law suite, so I’m guessing the rental potential came into play.
anon

Or they priced it way under what it would appraise for to bring in a lot of potential buyers and spark a bidding war.
- Anonymous
  
  Yeah, this isn’t unusual at all. I remember bidding on a house in 2010 that was priced in the mid-700’s but was obviously worth a lot more (it had an in-law suite, and a carriage house, AND it was 1 block from Barracks Row). We set our escalation clause to $950k and were outbid by four other parties. It must have gone for at least $250k over asking.

Anonymous

This seems to be what Mt P houses are selling for now. Can’t beleive that I live in a million dollar house neighborhood.

Tooting my own horn

ooh, aren’t we special?
- anon
  
  I didn’t get the feeling that Anonymous 11:24 am was tooting his/her own horn.

dcmovin

Too bad they paved over any grass in the back. Suppose parking is so tough in that area, though.

rm

There was a house a few doors down from me on hobart that listed at 850 and had 12 offers in a weekend. It sold for 1mil. They took the 4th highest offer, all cash. The lowest escalation clause was $100k over asking. http://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/1718-Hobart-St-NW-20009/home/10006926

Another underlisted at 750 and had 29 offers that weekend sold for 911k. http://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/1735-Hobart-St-NW-20009/home/10007046

Anonymous

I’d pay 1 million for this place only if that was an original Jasper Johns in picture 29.

Anonymous

Haha. I’m pretty sure this is a flip house with staging furniture!
- Jason
  
  No, the former owner bought it and lived there for at least 3 years before selling it.

Anonymous

I love Mn t Pleasant houses but almost a million and your commercial strip is mostly crap? Its so odd to me how the commercial strip there pretty much seems to serve just group houses and latinos and no one else. No thanks. Rather pay that for a fixer upper west of the park. As for “access” to schools west of the park, thats for deal and wilson but I wouldnt even count on either as Cheh is determined to shrink those boundaries. The elem school is Bancroft which most folks who can afford this house are going to bail on after pre school. Its a good location for driving to Conn avenue though but not so much for metro on this side of the park.

Anonymous

Or buy a house for half the price and send your kids to private school.
- ZetteZelle
  
  mortgage interest is tax deductible. Private school tuition is not.
  - Anonymous
    
    I can’t wait until Congress caps this. It’s coming soon.
    - sapo
      
      It’s capped right now at $1 million for a married couple. Perhaps they’ll lower it. It’s probably an unfair policy.
    - stcohi
      
      Better keep waiting…not likely to happen anytime soon.
    - Anonymous
      
      I believe there are also income restrictions on this…
PDMtP

You will not get a fixer-upper west of the park for a million, except in upper upper Chevy Chase.
- anon
  
  Um, no: We just bought a non-fixer-upper in lower lower Chevy Chase, one block off Connecticut, for less than $750K.
  - anon
    
    In fact, a redfin search shows six properties in Chevy Chase on sale for less than a million, and I’m guessing most of them are not fixer-uppers.
  - PDMtP
    
    Um, feel free to put in this house’s price and see what there is west of the park. Much of it is in Chevy Chase (okay, some of it is “far far” rather than “upper upper,” but you’re either north or east and not walking to much), much of it is less accessible than MtP, and if you’re paying less – you’re assuming that this house went above list but none of the others will – you’re not paying a lot less. Point is, shit’s expensive, and it’s not like there are all these awesome deals in central neighborhoods west of the park that the fools who bought this house missed out on.

mt pleasant income

Average family income (2010$)
1979 $75,980
1989 $77,704
1999 $90,838
2010 $130,790

mt pleasant income

Also evident is the transition of this neighborhood from one of modest to fairly high incomes, an example of gentrification.

Average family income (2010$) Ratio to DC average

1979 $75,98 98%
1989 $77,704 83%
1999 $90,838 89%
2010 $130,790 114%

Anonymous

If the HHI is only 130, how are these people affording houses? Mine is a bit more than that and I’m having issues with 400k places…
- wobble
  
  It is an average – presumably a mean – which can mislead. There is a split demographic in MP — young people and Hispanics with incomes much below the means living in modest apartments, and DINKs and other affluent families with incomes well above the mean that can afford the houses.

sapo

It seems all the close-in DC real estate is going in this direction.

John B.

People actually want to live in the city now (although certain neighborhoods in particular) and this is one consequence of people moving into the city rather than fleeing it. Demand goes up and so do the prices.

na

Rhere is a house in Bloomingdale we looked at and has since sold for $176,300 over asking price!!!

You can see it on Redfin in the listing info: http://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/401-R-St-NW-20001/home/9883533

Jaycee

I went to the open house for this house – it was PACKED and felt cramped….made me nervous about entertaining. But everything was new upstairs. The rental unit in the basement wasn’t great. We got an email saying they got 11 offers.

Anonymous

This was a cash transaction.

Anonymous

While Mt. P is lovely, I’m surprised by the number of buyers who are willing to write no-appraisal/ no-contingency offers in the neighborhood. Who are all these buyers who can afford to take such risks with houses that are 60-70 years old? We wanted to buy “close in” but were out bid by such buyers in Mt. P, Tenleytown, Glover Park, and Cleveland Park. We ended up buying a rowhouse in the Palisades, which isn’t close in but is still a lovely neighborhood not too far away, although not nearly as good with public transit opportunities.

Anonymous

Honestly, I think you got the better buy. Palisades is gorgeous and will always be the stable, upper middle class enclave of DC. Mt. Pleasant is going to continue having it’s up’s and down’s over the decades and there’s a possibility it’s school zoning will change.
- Original Anon
  
  Thanks! It was a gamble. I just hope that more people (and hopefully more transport/retail/dining options) follow… Curious about why you think Mt. P will continue to have ups and downs? Although I haven’t lived in that neighborhood recently it seems like most neighborhoods east of the park are moving up quickly.
  - PDMtP
    
    Mount Pleasant has been a nice, stable neighborhood for a very long time (I moved there in 1995). It’s perceptions that have caught up. It’s also closer than people think – I can walk to 14th Street, Cleveland Park, and U Street in under half an hour; it’s a bummer that Mt Pleasant St proper isn’t doing better, but there is a farmer’s market, a good hardware store, a few worthy restaurants, a supermarket that will do when you’re not loading up, decent coffee, etc.
    
    That said, I paid a lot less, and I’m surprised too that prices have gone quite so high (although a lot of the houses are pretty nice).
    - Anonymous
      
      having recently sat outside eating dinner along Mt Pleasant street on a pleasant sunday and witnessing a variety of wasted dudes harrassing every single woman that walked by, I can’t agree that palisades and Mt Pleasant are comparable.

Anonymous

I agree with what everyone is saying about loacation and high demand but nine hundred forty thousand dollars and there is no yard…no space for the hypothetical child (going to the schools west of the park) to toss a ball?! I just can’t get down with that.

Anonymous

Have you been to some of the neighborhoods in Northern Virginia, where people actually do have yards big enough to toss a ball to a hypothetical kid? I used to live out there, and never ever saw a kid outside. Kids don’t go outside these days, and if they do there’s always parks within walking distance in DC.
Anonymous

For most people a yard is like the jacuzzi tub or “entertaining spaces” that people go gaga over but rarely end up using.
P.W.

Rock Creek Park is across the street. I think kids could find a way to entertain themselves in there.
- DPRDenizen
  
  And the Zoo, which ain’t a bad place to hang out with young kids. We gave zero attention to yard when we bought EoP as we have a DPR rec center basically across the street with amenities we had to drive to in NoVa growing up. To me, this is one of the greatest parts of living in DC with kids. We own no car but never are short of tons of options for play, recreation.

Jason

Can we say DC housing bubble? I lived 2 houses away for 11 years (1999-2010) and loved the neighborhood and especially this street. If you drive, it’s a great neighborhood. Not so much for walking to conveniences and it is a hike to the Columbia Heights Metro. City-wide, housing prices have gone up so much faster than incomes that I could never afford that same house today.

Anonymous

The funny thing is that a lot of these places are group houses that the tenants inside could NEVER afford to buy. Grad students paying $800/month for a bedroom in a $900K house. It’s madness.

justinbc

This one just closed today in Dupont for 325K over the 900K asking price ($1.225M). It’s literally described as a shell in the listing.
http://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/1516-Q-St-NW-20009/home/9868450

Anonymous

if the buyer has a young kid, its highly unlikely they are going to elem West of the Park. janney, the best elem in the City is no longer taking out of bound students and I woudn’t be surprised if the others do the same.

soozles

I lived in Mt. P for 20 years (and still co-own a house there). It’s a great neighborhood—beautiful, quiet, next to the park, and at the beginning of the line for the 42/43 bus, which goes everywhere and runs frequently. We often walked to Adams Morgan and Dupont, and CH is a cinch. It is also an easy bike commute to downtown. While the back yard is small, the front yard is fairly deep. It’s also an historic neighborhood that has retained its beauty.

Re: Bancroft, my kids went there and had great teachers. My understanding is now there is a waiting list because it also has a bilingual program.

andy

It’s beyond a waiting list at this point. Bancroft has one of the City’s longest waiting lists, if I remember.
- Anonymous
  
  No it doesn’t. Its not Oyster. A lot of neighborhood folks want in for preschool but most “high SES” families (I will let interpret that) bail after first grade. The school as mediocre test scores, little diversity past kindergarten. People (all people) love free preschool, but by and large bail if they are able when its time for some actual learning. I hope Bancroft gets better. I hope my own neighborhood schools gets batter (Bruce Monroe) but beyond pre school I won’t hold my breath.
  - soozles
    
    Actually, except for dearth of white children, Bancroft is very diverse—a pretty even mix of Latino, African American, and Vietnamese. All announcements were in three languages, and all classes were taught in English and Spanish. In the sixth grade, anyway, each classroom had TWO teachers, not one teacher and an aide, but two teachers. This was especially helpful for my kids who had special needs and benefitted from the extra attention.
    
    The school also has a pretty active PTA, which is important in school improvement. Don’t know about your claims regarding only sending children to pre-school, but yes, there is a waiting list.
    - Bancroft Wait Lister
      
      Bancroft has a pretty long wait list, at least for ps3 and pk4. Last year it was one of the top 10 most requested schools in the DCPS lottery. We’re in-boundary for Bancroft and on the wait list.
      
      The earlier years are definitely quite diverse–taking a tour of the PS3/4 classrooms is like looking at a Benneton ad. I’ll concede that there’s still a lot of high-SES flight in older grades–only time will tell if that slows down as more SES families move to the neighborhood, Bancroft is more competitive, etc.

Marcus Aurelius

If I was searching for a home now, I would be less worried about escalation clauses and more worried about all cash transactions. (Someone mentioned that this was an all cash deal.) It’s one thing to have to bring $200k to the table as a downpayment. It’s something else to have to bring $1million cash.

Anonymous

Who the hell has that much cash just laying around?!?!
That’s what astounds me when it comes to these deals – there’s so many of them!
I thought I grew up in a fairly well off family ($250K+ HH income), but that kind of money is just unheard of. I’d be lucky if my dad kicked $20K after I get married and want to buy a place.
Are big shots (athletes, Big Law partners, C-level executives) really buying in places like Mount Pleasant?!? Seem weird to me that young couples are coming to the table with that much liquid cash.
- Anonymous
  
  +1
- JB
  
  Definitely a lot of cash for young people, but can be in part from helped by two earners. For example, a home of two lawyers at big law firms could have a gross household income of 300k+ when they get out of law school — with lock-step salaries and each putting in 8-10 years of work, getting up to $1M cash is certainly doable even after loans.
- Anonymous
  
  Actually, yes. I can think of several mid-level Obama Administration officials that live, or have lived, in Mount Pleasant.
- Anon
  
  I can think of several people who are consultants, lawyers, professors, and World Bank or IMF staff who live there. Those prices don’t such a reach for them.
  - Anonymous
    
    Not to mention accomplished authors, artists and photographers, including a Pulitzer prize winner.
    - Anonymous
      
      We saw a house in Mount Pleasant a few years ago that had the owners still in it. My realtor was pretty sure she recognized the man from CNN.
P.W.

Some of these buyers are investors, as real estate in global cities such as DC, New York, London and Paris has been one of the better investments after the economy tanked.

For all we know, this house could have been purchased by some rich guy overseas looking for a safe place to store his money (safe in terms of return on investment).

fz

I know the discussion is about the price, but why would anyone put a skylight in a bedroom? I would not be able to sleep once the sun is up, which would be terrible on weekends.

Anonymous

Someone always asks this question, and a lot of people chime in saying they would like the natural light waking them up (I’m one of them). It’s a matter of personal taste.
Anon

I know! It’s one of those things that makes a house look bright in the open house but is an annoyance after. I know a few people with huge skylights in their master bedroom that have this issue, and it’s $$$ to get custom shades for them.

JB

Do people think DC is setting itself up for another bubble? A friend of mine suggested this to me over the weekend (party due to the fact that DC prices didn’t really drop much in the last bubble) and there is such a disparity between wages and house prices.
I feel like prices are escalating really fast again and while I don’t personally think prices in DC are going to go down, I do feel like the escalation is going to slow down. (Houses on my street have increased in value 50% in 3 years – I just don’t think that is a sustainable level.)

Anonymous

i think we’ve reached a crest of drastic increases and that things will level off in economically sound neighborhoods and modestly increase in economically growing neighborhoods, especially with rising interest rates and a slow down in population growth.
Marcus Aurelius

There may be a bubble and it may burst, but if it does, the damage should be less than it was the last time around. It’s not nearly as easy to get a home loan now as it used to be, so the people buying these expensive homes are more likely to be financially able to afford the mortgage payments. Of course, one’s financial situation can change quickly. But there should be far fewer loans out there that are unaffordable from the get go – which is what happened in the last bubble.
- Anonymous
  
  Right– the people buying these homes are most likely two-income households with each earner being highly educated and having skills/experience that are in demand.

BeverlyS

These overbids and all cash deals are crushing my house-hunting spirit. How the heck can two non-profit employees ever expect to get a house?!

P.W.

Silver Spring.
Marcus Aurelius

Just don’t “expect” to get a house in Mount Pleasant, or Adams Morgan, or DuPont Circle, or Palisades, or Georgetown, or x super hot and expensive neighborhood – unless one or both of you is the well-compensated CEO of a non-profit 🙂
Anonymous

deanwood is affordable.

Anonymous

http://www.reactiongifs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/laughter.gif

TJ

I can’t say I’m on board with the prices, in part because the higher the prices go the less friendly the neighbors become, but Mt. Pleasant is a wonderful place to live. One of the best urban parks in America is the back door and the Zoo is just down the street. it’s a 15 minute walk from fabulous commercial districts. If the main commercial strip on Mt. Pleasant St. ever decides to step it up a bit this place would be near perfect.

Eric

What a stupid and ignorant comment to make. What evidence (besides anecdotal) do you have that the higher prices go, the less friendly neighbors become?

Anonymous

For all our squabbling about the price of this place, let’s just all be thankful we are in DC.

Check out this guy in NYC who was looking to spend $750K on crappy 1 BR apartment. Thank god I left New York.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/21/realestate/in-soho-an-apres-studio-apartment.html

Jason

Nationwide, housing starts were down dramatically in June, especially in the multi-family sector. I know this may not be reflective of DC, but even a small slow-down or deop does not bode well for anyone unless you’re on the selling side of the transaction. WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE with more money than the Catholic Church?!? It’s all but impossible to save a 20% downpayment when rents are so high here. Now I need to think about coming up with $600 or $700k in cash for a decent condo? Where’s my XANAX?

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