Real Estate

Good Deal or Not? Weekly Wed. House Porn Edition (Seriously Sweet This Week)

By Prince Of Petworth

This home is located at 2130 Cathedral Ave, NW:


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The flier says:

“Unique home perched on a hillside facing Rock Creek Park, this spectacular residence was designed & built by a renowned Washington architect in 1988 & the interior design was completed in 2002 by a nationally recognized interior designer. Sculpted geometric forms, the finest materials, custom designed built-ins, & superior craftmanship form a true work of art.”

More info and phenomenal photos here.

Holy cow, I was so psyched to stumble past this one. At first I thought I just found a sweet HoTD and was overjoyed to see it for sale. I love getting to see the inside of places like this. Amazing. I think this is my favorite one yet. And it has a new price – $2,395,000! So what do you think of this house? I think it raises the bar for my House Porn picks…

Good Deal or Not? Not Quite House Porn but I Needed a Nice Diversion Today Edition

By Prince Of Petworth

This home is located at 1901 Park Road, NW:


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The flier says:

“Gorgeous Estate home majestically situated on 19th & Park Road. Walking distance to Rock Creek Pk & Nat’l Zoo. Home has been well maintained by single owner for over 50 yrs. Beautiful parquet & hardwood floors & all orig woodwork. Huge finished English style basement w/ full bath and sep laundry rm. End unit w/ lrg eat-in kitchen, sep DR. Ideally located 5 min from Connecticut Ave.”

More info, photos and a virtual tour found here.

I really like the dining room ceiling but it seems like some of the other rooms may benefit some updating. I know folks disagree about the difference between houses needing/requiring vs. benefiting from updating. Sure you can live quite well here but if you’re gonna drop $919,000 wouldn’t you want more updated rooms? Of course I too agree that keeping the historical details (and the bar in the basement) but this home looks a bit dated to me. What do you guys think $919,000 sound reasonable or should it be updated?

Reader Submitted GDoN From Back in the Day – 105 years ago

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoP,

Does this count as a reader-suggested Good Deal or Not?? I think it’s a great deal at that price! That’s barely the price of a new iPhone and a weekly Chipotle burrito!!

I’m kidding, of course. A friend collects old magazine/news ads and found this one at a show this weekend. It’s from 105 years ago — an Evening Star ad for sales of housing (58 units total) in the area around Harvard between 7th and 11th Streets. Probably might be of interest to some of your readers, and it would be cool to find out if this model home still stands at 726 Dearborn Street, see how it’s held up all these years.”

Very cool.

Good Deal or Not? Condo Editions

By Prince Of Petworth

This condo is located at 1617 12th Street, NW:


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The flier says:

“Excellent opportunity to own this renovated condo in sought after Logan Circle. Features Stainless Steel Appliances, recessed lighting, 9′ ceilings, central cd/intercom, pergo floors, and more.”

Sadly there are no photos but more info can be found here. Assuming the place is renovated does $500,000 sound reasonable for a 2 bed 1 bath in this location?

Now I know one reader is offended when I post homes/condos that are under contract but, well, I still think it’s interesting. Do you guys think GDoN is useful if a unit is under contract? Amazingly the first five houses/condos I was going to put up today ended up being under contract. (As I said I walk around and snap photos of interesting units with for sign sales out front, I don’t know until I plug it into red fin whether or not it is under contract.) Anyway, the unit above is in a great location at 2008 16th Street, NW. More info and photos can be found here. I was stunned to see it for sale for $230,000. I suppose that’s why it’s under contract in under 7 days…

Good Deal or Not? Reader Request

By Prince Of Petworth

This home is located at 203 Morgan Street, NW:


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The flier says:

“REDUCED! MOTIVATED AND REALISTIC SELLER. GORGEOUS MODERN RENO OF THIS 2BR PLUS 1BR/1BA INLAW SUITE BSMT. VERY EUROPEAN, SLEEK, AND UNIQUE WITH AMAZING, TRULY HIGH END KITCHEN. MUST SEE. GREAT DESIGN, SUNNY SPACE, NO HALLWAYS, DARK FLOORS AND HIGH CEILINGS. UNIQUE, SPECIAL SPACE”

More info and photos found here.

The reader writes:

“I was thinking of making an offer on a house which I actually found through a comment on one of your other GDoNs. It is an interesting place and the rental basement which goes for about 950/month makes it affordable for me.

I went to two open houses and really love it but I’m nervous about it since it’s my first house. I was concerned about the lack of storage and the owner said he would construct a huge new closet in an existing nook.. Anyway, I’m going back this weekend and figured if the PoP crowd said it was a good deal I may just bite the bullet.”

I like that it’s on a nice “mini” street. Help the reader out – $474,900 sound reasonable for this house?

GDoN Revisited by Hipchickindc

By Prince Of Petworth

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: 1745 U St NW

Original List Price: $1,399,900.

List Price at Contract: $1,249,900.

List Date: 10/24/2008

Days on Market: 165

Settled Sales Price: $1,175,000.

Settlement Date: 05/21/2009

Seller Subsidy: $24,032.

Bank Owned?: No

Type Of Financing: Cash

Listing History: Most recent sale was in February 2008 for $540,000. When the property was a shell. More info below.

Original GDoN Post is: Here.

Recent Listing is: Here. To see interior pics, click on camera icon at top left after you open the link.

It

Good Deal or Not? Double Door Edition

By Prince Of Petworth

This home is located at 473 Ridge Street, NW:


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The flier says:

“Delightful south-facing & renovated 2BR home on charming & quiet blk in great Mt. Vernon Square area. Walk to Metro, City Vista, new Safeway, Results, Busboys & Poets. Hardwood flrs, crown molding, exposed brick, sep living & dining areas, fireplace, renov bath & kit w/ granite counters, huge lot with plenty of room to garden, entertain AND park 2 cars. A real gem!”

More info and a virtual tour found here.

I was excited to see this house for sale because we looked at the double (front) doors a few months back. This 2 bed 1 bath is going for $369,000. Sound reasonable? What do you think of the home itself?

Good Deal or Not? Weekly Wed. House Porn Edition (Reader Request)

By Prince Of Petworth

This home is located at 949 S Street, NW:


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The flier says:

“Vic reno to perfection, 4br( incl MBS w/ custom closets)/3.5 lux BA, 2 beautiful high income producing apts. Mix of traditional & contemporary, unique, hwfs, custom KI/BAs, 3FPS, Mould, columns, 45 wdws, wine cellar, potent roof deck, landcape yard and 3 pkg. .. and so much more.”

More info here and a virtual tour here.

Wow, this is some proper house porn. What do you think of the house itself? It’s yours for $1,850,000.

Good Deal or Not? “FAB-U-LOUS” Edition

By Prince Of Petworth

This home is located at 1258 10th Street, NW:


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The flier says:

“The FAB-U-LOUS 1200 block of 10th is a hidden treasure! This semi-detached 2BR/2.5BA top-2-btm renov is on a block w/ beautiful, well kept homes & great neighbors! LARGER than it looks w/ great light from N/S/E, high ceilings, wood flrs, gas fp, custom built-ins, stuctured wiring thruout, large MBR w/ tray ceiling, gorgeous kit w/ 3 windows, wine fridge, 2 Juliet balconies, slate patio & PARKING!”

More info and photos found here.

Well no doubt this a nice renovation. I’m also interested to hear what you think about the value of the new wiring (you can see in one of the photos). But this 2 bed 2.5 bath will not come cheap – $693,000? Is the renovation/location that good? Wow, I actually see that the status says, “Contingent (No Kick Out)”. So did they get a good deal?

Good Deal or Not? Turret Edition

By Prince Of Petworth

This condo is located at 1301 T Street, NW:


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The flier says:

“Fantastic location! Just 1 block to U St. Metro. Attractive corner 3 unit condo. The turret is the dining room just off a fully equipped kitchen w/ granite counters. The LR has built-ins, skylight & a gas FP. MBR has a balcony. Unique fetures & wood floors throughout. Off street parking is included and pets are welcome. .. huge wrap around yard to play in. A charmer in a great neighborhood!!”

More info found here and a virtual tour found here.

I think this is a pretty interesting unit. You have to check out the virtual tour. The rooms are really uniquely shaped in a pretty cool way. It’s also nice that it’s got skylights. What do you think of the shapes of the rooms? Does $499,000 sound good for a 2 bed 1 bath unit in this location?

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