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: 1901 19^th St NW #301 and #401

With a sexy location and a condo fee of $525. per month, these 897 square foot 2 bedroom 1 bath condos elicited spirited debate as a PoP Good Deal or Not (GDoN) back on the 23rd of October 2008. To see the original discussion, click here.

Alas, what has become of them?

Neither has gone to settlement yet, but Unit 301 is under contract with a pending settlement date of 31 January 2009 (which is actually a Saturday, so we’ll assume the 30th or the following Monday). We won’t know what the final sales price is until settlement, but the list price at contract was $500,000. As evident in the pictures, which can be seen by clicking the link then clicking the filmstrip icon at the top left, this unit was nicely updated. According to the comments back in October, a contract had fallen through, and the current contract was ratified on 15 December 2008. The total time period on market, including the previous under contract time period, was 110 days.

These units were on the same tier, so presumably were the same floor plan. Typically, a higher level floor garners a bit of a premium in pricing, however, the additional walkup may have cancelled out the upper floor benefit somewhat and the pictures indicate that the kitchen had late 1980’s melamine cabinets. At last look it was priced at $499,900. It may have hurt that it was originally priced at $519,900. Comments indicate that Unit 401 was rented as of 01/15/2009 and withdrawn from the market. The listing can be seen here. Pics are best viewed by clicking the camera icon at top left.

Other 2 bedroom comps in the immediate area can be seen here.

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: 303 Rock Creek Church Rd NW

Original List Price: $469,900.

List Price at Contract: $399,000.

List Date: 09/10/2008

Days on Market: 91

Settled Sales Price: $379,500.

Settlement Date: 01/05/2009

Seller Subsidy: $6,000.

Bank Owned?: No

Recent Purchase and Re-Sale: Yes

Original GDoN Post is here.

You may notice that this week’s Good Deal or Not Revisited (GDoN-R) is in very close proximity to two very recent GDoN-R subjects, 23 Rock Creek Church Rd NW and 139 Varnum St NW. This may seem somewhat curious, especially given the breadth of PoP’s coverage. I’m keeping a list of all of the GDoNs, and for all the listings he’s pointed out to us in Columbia Heights and touching in to Logan and Dupont, for what it’s worth, it’s the close-ish-to-Metro Petworth properties that have actually gone to settlement lately. Prince, I guess that means your ‘hood is hot (but you knew that already…)

Seriously, though, it is curious to see that out of a handful of recent settled properties from all the GDoNs, the majority have been in this little pocket of Petworth. It makes some sense, in that much of the real estate activity going on right now seems to be financially conservative first time buyers looking to stay well under the $417,000. conforming loan limit. I thought these might also be FHA buyers, but none of these three properties were. Both 139 Varnum and 303 Rock Creek Church Rd NW were purchased with conventional loans, which currently require at least a ten percent down payment. 23 Rock Creek Church Rd NW was a foreclosure that was purchased using all cash. Continues after the jump. (more…)

This home is located at 2533 11th Street, NW:

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The flier says:

“EXTREMELY LARGE ROWHOUSE IN CONVENIENT COLUMBIA HEIGHTS. FEATURES 5BR, 3FB, HARDWOOD FLOORS, TILE, CLEAN CARPETS, IN-LAW SUITE, WASHER/DRYER, SMALL BACKYARD AND MORE. SUPER LOCATION WITH THREE FINISHED LEVELS. BEING SOLD “AS IS”

More info but sadly no interior photos found here. It’s interesting to note that the exterior of the house is painted a different color than the shot I got this past weekend. Which paint job do you prefer? It seems clear that because there are no interior photos and it’s being sold as is there is probably a bit of work that needs to be done. So does $650,000 for a large (5 bedrooms) house on a great street, sound right? Personally, I’m a huge fan of 11th Street. But this might seem a bit high if it needs work done. What would be a more appropriate price?

hipchickindc is a licensed real estate broker with extensive experience handling the sales of distressed properties.  Her clients include reputable developers, architects, and homeowners prepared to finance and manage major renovations.  The opinions expressed below are her own and do not necessarily reflect those of the company or professional associations that she is affiliated with.

Initially, I was pleased to see the bright yellow signs on several of the abandoned, neglected, yet architecturally and historically significant homes in my neighborhood.  I’ve been interested in some of the properties for years.  To me, they represent possibilities for change and revitalization.

I’m sure the DC Government feels the same way because in 2008, the Property Acquisition and Disposition Division was established.  The tag line of their web page even says, “Revitalizing Communities One Home at a Time”.

The yellow signs announce in bold lettering that over thirty properties owned by DC Government will be auctioned off on the 30^th of January 2009.  Potential buyers are directed to the Alex Cooper Auctioneers website.  I dutifully followed the crumbs and came upon the DC Gov Auction pages here: http://realestate.alexcooper.com/featured/gallery/7/#

In addition to the signs and the web page, listings of the properties have begun to appear in the local multiple listing system.  The ones that I have seen indicate a list price of $20,000.  The remarks clearly indicate that the price is subject to auction.  You can see the listings here: http://matrix.mris.com/Matrix/Public/Email.aspx?ID=28497228299

Buyers that are interested should attend the Buyer Seminar scheduled for the January 22^nd, 2009.  More information is available on the Alex Cooper link.

Here is some information you should be aware of before even bothering to attend the seminar: Continues after the jump. (more…)