You can talk about whatever is on your mind – quality of life issues, a beautiful tree you spotted, scuttlebutt, or any random questions/thoughts you may have. I’ll open this thread every Monday and Friday. Anything good happen this week?
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Author: Prince Of Petworth
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In real life, hipchickindc is licensed as a real estate broker in the District of Columbia and Virginia, and as a real estate salesperson in Maryland. 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: 529 Newton Pl NW
Original List Price: $329,955.
List Price at Contract: $249,955.
List Date: 04/04/2009
Days on Market: 86 days
Settled Sales Price: $230,000.
Settlement Date: 08/24/2009
Seller Subsidy: $8,500.
Bank Owned?: No
Type Of Financing: FHA with 3.5% down payment
1st GDoN Post is: Here.
1st GDoN Revisited Post is: Here.
2nd GDoN Post is: Here.
All three listings of this property since 2005: Here.
If this house looks familiar, it might be because we’ve looked it over a few times already (see links above.) A poster child for the changes in the DC real estate market over the past few years, this property has been through a foreclosure and two renovations since 2005. In reviewing the listings, note that in 2005, it was listed as having three bedrooms and one bath. By 2008, it was reconfigured to two bedrooms and two full baths. In 2009, it took on a new life as a two bedroom, one bath home.
When we looked at the March 2009 sale of this property, I noted that it was a cash purchase and speculated that it was likely bought by an investor. I learned later that it had been acquired by a group of investors that I’ve done a few deals with.
The recent buyer of the newly renovated property paid (net) almost $30,000. less than the property changed hands for as a shell in 2005.
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I’ve been thinking long and hard about this. In the worst economy since the Great Depression do I really want to quit my well paid day job? Yes I do. Yes I did. I was recently rereading an old James Michener book and this quote jumped out at me:
“The permanent temptation of life is to confuse dreams with reality. The permanent defeat of life comes when dreams are surrendered to reality.”
I come from the generation where my parents encouraged me to find a job that I truly love. In my professional career I have been a paralegal, reporter, Air Force analyst, reporter again, congressional liaison, and finally a Homeland Security analyst. I’ve gained much from each of these experiences but I’ve never really loved them as a long term full time job. It was on a lark that I started neighborhood blogging in Nov. 2006 and it has become a true passion. When you find your passion sometimes you just have to pull the trigger. Thanks to the support of advertisers and the incredible growth the site has achieved, I am now able to make it a full time job. And for that I am most grateful to you guys who make the site what it is today through your comments and tips.
So mark your calendars, on Nov. 5th I’ll be throwing a big 3 year anniversary party and re-launch. Nothing is really going to change between now and November. However, in November I’ll be re-releasing the site with many upgrades that make the site easier to navigate. Part of that redesign will incorporate neighborhood specific pages. I have described my vision of PoPville here. In addition my goal is to bring the attention I give to Petworth and Columbia Heights to most of DC’s neighborhoods. I will never sacrifice my coverage of Petworth, Columbia Heights and my love of the Beautiful Life, but with more time I only hope to bring equal coverage to nearly all of DC’s neighborhoods. But more on that in the coming months.
I have one small request from you guys. For my neighborhood specific pages I’m looking for new banner photos that captures each neighborhood. I have chosen the tree from Grant Circle to represent Petworth. I’m looking for photos from you guys to represent – Columbia Heights, Mt. Pleasant, U Street, Shaw, Mt. Vernon Square, H Street, NE, Foggy Bottom, Bloomingdale, Georgetown, etc. really any neighborhood you’d like to see covered. Please send me your photos representing these neighborhoods to princeofpetworth(at)gmail(dot)com.
In the meantime I’m just gonna try to make my dreams a reality.
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Well, I went into Inglourious Basterds hoping to see the best film of the summer. A number of friends highly recommended it. They are no longer my friends. Now, I’m a huge Tarantino fan. Violence in films doesn’t upset me. And of course, I’m Jewish, so I thought I’d love this film. I could not have been more wrong. I was constantly checking my watch throughout the film. It was utterly boring. There was no character development at all and scarcely any compelling plot. It was just plain boring. And like I said, I really enjoyed Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction and the other Tarantino films.
So help me out – what was the best film of this summer? And for fun, what was the worst?
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Congrats to USA! USA!
“$1150 JUST REDUCED! Efficiency Apt, *Gated Community* FURNISHED! – (Trendy U St, DC)”
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Last year was a great time. I definitely think it is worth checking out.
The Adams Morgan Day Festival Web site says:
“The Adams Morgan Day 18th Street Festival is characterized by two large signature music stages and other innovative & dynamic cultural, music, arts and dance activities. The famous Columbia and Florida Stages (located strategically on 18th Street at Columbia Rd and at Florida Ave.) feature live music acts from all genres from Central and South America, Latin rock, salsa, jazz, to soul, funk and American rock.
Adams Morgan Day showcases the local business area
as an ethnic, eclectic retail, entertainment and restaurant locale.
•Arts on Belmont has long been a popular draw with its high quality of original artisans and range of media exhibited: glassware and metalwork, paintings, jewelry, sculpture & photography. Nestled on shade tree lined street of historic town homes, Arts on Belmont is a beautiful venue with articles in all price ranges.
•New in 2009 is the Green Pavilon with purveyors of all things green located together under one large tent! The Green Pavilon is near the Kids Area on the Marie Reed School field. Another new feature also originated by Adams Morgan Main Street in 2005, is the dynamic Dance Plaza (located on the grounds of the Marie Reed School) with interactive dance workshops that encourage audience participation, and cover the range and styles of many cultures.
•The Cultural Stage (located at Unity Park-Columbia Rd and Euclid St.NW) also boasts a variety of acts, including poetry, theater, dance and music, even the Sitar Arts Center of Adams Morgan. Jazz Oasis in the Park was new in 2007. For residents with children who may want a quieter, more contained area, Kalorama Park is the place to sit on a bench, spread a blanket, listen to quality jazz
•The new festival layout originated by AdamsMorgan Main Street in 2004 highlights the neighborhood scale architecture and leaves all the business storefront façades visible to festival.”
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Ah, this one cracked me up. Well done, Som records. Well done.
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“Dear PoP,
I saw this lovely little chalk homage to the waning days of summer while walking home past 17th and MtP yesterday and thought I’d share. Shout out to the inspired artist who transformed this tiny wedge of the urban landscape into something delicious-looking and happiness-inducing!”
Awesome!
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Not sure if you can tell from this photo but the tree coming out of the bush is painted gold. It’s up in Crestwood.
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I’ve featured this door before but walking on the other side of the street, I realized this house has an incredible roof deck. This is part of what makes this blog fun for me, I can walk down the same street a hundred times and notice 100 different things about it.