Real Estate

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: 1406 Corcoran St NW #C

Original List Price: $765,000.

List Price at Contract: $649,000.

List Date: 04/24/2008

Days on Market: 239

Settled Sales Price: $635,000.

Settlement Date: 02/18/2009

Seller Subsidy: $0

Bank Owned?: No

Recent Purchase and Re-Sale: No. Last reported transaction was in 2000 for $301,500.

Original GDoN Post is here.

Recent listing can be found here.

To see pics, click the filmstrip icon at top left of that listing.

After a hefty 239 days on the market, this duplex condo unit finally went to contract, following a few rounds of price reductions. PoP readers commented a bit on not liking the ubiquitous tile throughout the unit, but the 17 foot ceilings, roof deck, garage, and location might even qualify this as good condo porn.

This property falls into a tricky price range for conventional financing of late. With second trusts a notion of the past, minimum down on something like this going conventional is 10%. Given that many folks might rely on equity from another property or cash out from a stock portfolio to make that happen, it considerably narrows down the pool of ready and able buyers. Still, the buyer of a property in this price range is within the “super conforming” interest rate range, which means the low cost of borrowing is very attractive for those who can do it right now.

Good deal? Considering that the last Penthouse unit (#D, albeit with hardwood instead of all that tile) sold in July of 2007 for $676,000., I’ll say “yes”.

 

This condo is located at 1435 Chapin Street, NW:

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The flier says:

“WOW! New, never been lived in HUGE 1BR+den/1.5BA with parking!!! Just a 1/2 block to Meridian Hill Park and a few blocks to either U Street or Columbia Heights Metro. .. best of all worlds!! HWD floors, Silestone counters, Stainless Appliances, W/ D, SOUTH facing windows with LOTS of light & pet friendly! Become a part of the HOT U Street neighborhood!!!!”

More info and a virtual tour found here.

So this is a 2 bedroom 1.5 bath located fairly close to Meridian Hill Park and U Street. It’s got a very open layout. The asking price is $459,000. In addition to whether or not you think the price is realistic, what do you think of the condo itself?

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 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.

It might seem a bit anticlimactic to be talking 2008 market numbers in February.  For what it’s worth, Metropolitan Regional Information Systems (MRIS) unceremoniously rolled the official numbers out last week.  (Agents had until the end of January to update all 2008 listing information, hence the timing).  I figured the numbers would still be of interest, so here they are.

First of all, let’s be clear at what we’re looking at.  This is Pure DC, people.  Most media sources that describe the “Washington DC Metropolitan Area Real Estate Market” are giving you DC, Loudon County, Gaithersburg, with the kitchen sink thrown in, too.  Right here we are talking only District of Columbia and all District of Columbia.

You’ve heard, “Location.Location.Location.”  The second rule of real estate is that all markets are local.  Of course, we could get intensely specific and look at the numerous micro markets within the District.  Intuitively, most people get that the Petworth market is different from Georgetown.  For a moment, however, let’s step back and look at the overall performance of the residential real estate market for DC as a whole.

Not surprisingly, there was an almost 25% reduction in the dollar volume of settled sales from 2007 to 2008.  The total dollar volume of sales declined from $3,988,755,576. to $3,001,913,863.    Additionally, the number of units sold (a whole house equals a unit, as does a condo or co-op unit) decreased from 7,422 in 2007 to 5,563 in 2008.  That is a 25.05% drop.  Average days on market went up from 69 in 2007, to 80 in 2008.   Continues after the jump. (more…)

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.

Before I go into the specifics of this sale, I wanted to mention that this property was listed by Connie Maffin, with Coldwell Banker, and was probably her last sale. Connie passed away on the 16^th of February 2009 and is mourned by the many people whose lives she touched. She was Past President of the Washington DC Association of REALTORS (WDCAR), WDCAR’s 2007 REALTOR of the Year, and Chairperson of the Real Estate Board of the District of Columbia. Connie was a member of the Committee of 100, the city’s oldest planning organization and citizens’ lobby, a member of Lambda Alpha, an international land economics society, a longtime member and officer of the Logan Circle Community Association, and served as a trustee of the DC Preservation League.

Featured Property: 1417 Swann St NW

General PoP reader commentary applauded the block (although the Gingko Tree issue was noted). Readers had mixed views on the benefit of the home having been built as recently as 1989, and many felt that the property was too small to justify the price.

The results show that the location called for a settled sales price over $700,000., Gingko Trees notwithstanding.

Original List Price: $789,500.

List Price at Contract: $735,500.

List Date: 08/15/2008

Days on Market: 143

Settled Sales Price: $735,000.

Settlement Date: 02/17/2009

Seller Subsidy: $17,050.

Bank Owned?: No

Recent Purchase and Re-Sale: No. Last reported transaction was in 1995 for $233,500.

Original GDoN Post with comments is: here.