GDoN Revisited by hipchickindc – 532 24th St, NE

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: 532 24th St NE
Legal Subdivision: Old City #1
Advertised Subdivision per Listing: Old City #1
Original List Price: $399,000.
List Price at Contract: $399,000.
List Date: 11/10/2011
Days on Market: 57
Settled Sales Price: $380,000.
Settlement Date: 02/06/2012
Seller Subsidy: $0.
Bank Owned?: No Short Sale? No
Type Of Financing: Veterans Administration backed loan (VA), a 100% financing opportunity for qualified Veterans
Original GDoN post is: here.
The listing can be seen: here. To see pics, click on the main pic after opening the link and scroll through.

Good Deal or Not Revisited (GDoN-R) has looked at very, very few properties in this price range that were neither a) condo ownership, or b) in not very nice condition. Thus it amuses me that the comments on the original Good Deal or Not post (GDoN) for the renovated, livable subject property (with parking, no less) were largely tilted toward “overpriced”. (Recall that last week’s GDoN-R, was, in fact, not in very nice condition, was listed for $549,000. and sold for $700,000.) Alas, the adage of “location, location, location” comes very much into play.

This was not even the highest recent sale in the area within the past six months. There were three higher sales within relatively close proximity.

True, one can buy on the lower end of the pricing spectrum as well. Note, however, that active inventory is actually tight (surprise, surprise). Here are the recent sales in the past six months originally listed under $300,000. In some cases, certainly not all, these lower priced properties are getting bid over list price and are attracting cash investors. In 2010, the unrenovated properties were typically going for sub $150,000.

Hmmm. Let’s think about this. Investors see an opportunity to buy cheap (by DC standards) property, renovate it, and sell it for more to buyers willing to pay for the renovated product. Buyers, I might add, who want to live in a whole house rather than in a few hundred square feet. I’m not saying that this neighborhood is going to turn into Dupont Circle overnight, but it’s worth considering that a very short time ago, some of the same types of comments to the GDoN post could have been said regarding a few blocks to the west around H Street, or other areas like Bloomingdale or Petworth.