Thanks to DC realtor Kevin Wood for compiling this list of home/condo sales for PoPville. Click below on “January 2012 Sales” for the full list of sales in PDF and excel formats.
Real Estate
Photo by PoPville flickr user Vileinist
Dear PoPville,
I have a 1912 Wardman rowhome in Eckington, designed by Albert Beers, 10 minutes from Big Bear and Rustik, on the G8 and 80 bus routes, about 12 minutes from Rhode Island Ave Metro Station. We’ve renovated but have kept all of the original details like trim, built-ins and parqkay floors. The house is spacious, move in ready, with a large yard and two parking spaces. We’re thinking of selling, but the realtor thinks that no one’s interested in houses with original character, and recommends pricing it well below other updated homes that have open floor plans and no original details, because she assumes that someone’s going to want to do a major upgrade. Is she right? Is no one interested in a historically interesting home? If he’s wrong, does anyone know of a DC realtor who specializes in selling homes with original character that aren’t a top of line upgrade?
Photo courtesy of Alex Cooper Auctioneers
Dear PoPville,
Thought you might find this story and associated picture interesting given the recent post concerning Petworth’s status as one of the hottest neighborhoods of 2012 in terms of real estate. Alex Cooper Auctioneers conducted a public auction on Wednesday January 16th to sell 514 Quincy St. NW. As you can see from the picture, the auction drew a huge crow including over 60 registered bidders.
The bidding started at $300,000 and ended up at $488,000. The home is a large, semi-detached home with 4 bedrooms, but needs complete renovations. The interest in this home really demonstrates how attractive Petworth has become for home buyers. The purchaser was not an investor and intends to live in the home following renovations. The family who sold the property had resided in it since the 1940’s, the family recollects that they paid around $20,000 for the property. The family was very pleased with the sale price.
514 Quincy St, NW via google street view
Photo by PoPville flickr user Mr. T in DC
A few folks have sent me links to this story – Popular $5,000 DC Homebuyer Tax Credit for first-time buyers not renewed for 2012 tax year:
First-time homeowners in the District of Columbia, who purchased their principal residence after Dec. 31, 2011, will not be able to take advantage of the popular $5,000 DC Homebuyer Tax Credit when they file taxes this year.
The tax credit that has made homebuying affordable for thousands of DC residents since it was first introduced nearly 15 years ago was axed from legislation during negotiations over the fiscal cliff and was not included in the American Taxpayer Relief Act signed by President Barack Obama last week, according to a spokesman for Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC).
An attempt to make the credit retroactive for 2012 purchases and extend it into 2013 was unsuccessful, but the congresswoman is working on a plan to get the credit reinstated, he said. There’s no specific plan of action or timeline in place yet.
And in yesterday’s GDoN post some readers were concerned that they were being priced out of the DC real estate market. So for this week’s Friday Question of the Day – I’m wondering how many of you who are considering buying a home in DC would be more inclined to do so if the $5,000 tax credit were reinstated for 2013?
|
Photo by PoPville flickr user a.w.miller
From an email:
Today Redfin announced a list of the hottest emerging neighborhoods and small cities for real estate in 16 cities across the country. The top three neighborhoods to watch in the Washington Area are Pimmit Hills in Fairfax, Petworth in Northwest DC and Fallsmead in Rockville. The ranking is based on input from Redfin real estate agents and analysis of current market data, including the number of homes for sale, sales volume, home prices, and sale-to-list price ratios. Below is the data for each neighborhood and a quote from a Redfin agent on why each neighborhood is so hot right now, comparing December 2012 data to that of December 2011:
Washington DC Area #1: Pimmit Hills, Fairfax, VA
“Pimmit Hills is right between the commercial haven and employment hub of Tyson’s Corner and Charming main street-esque Falls Church City. With an abundance of flat large lots, enhancement of the Tyson’s Corner area and additional transportation options Pimmit Hills looks to be a popular place for years to come.” -Redfin Agent Rob Wittman
Washington DC Area #2: Petworth, Northwest DC
“Petworth has easy access to exciting new corridors of restaurants and night life. In most places you are just a short walk to new restaurants by some of DC’s up-and-coming chefs and owners. New buildings, grocery stores, and renovations are being completed every day giving the neighborhood a rejuvenated and exciting feel.” -Redfin Agent Michael Alderfer
Washington DC Area #3: Fallsmead, Rockville, MD
“Fallsmead is in a highly desirable school district, and is close to the highway but doesn’t have highway noise. It has a lot of mid-sized homes and is a short distance to many centers of employment. There haven’t been many homes coming on the market lately, so the homes that do go on sale have had multiple offers made on them.” -Redfin Agent Philip Gvinter
This rental is located at 1107 Clifton Street, NW:
The listing says:
“Brand new luxury renovation. Never lived in! Open kit w/ granite & stainless appliances. Exposed brick in living rm & bedrm. Recessed lights. Huge spa bath w/ rainfall shower & multiple heads. Tons of closet space. Rent includes monitored alarm & water/sewer. Perfect location close to Columbia Heights & U Street Metros, Target, restaurants and more. Easy access to downtown. Pets case by case.”
This 1 bed/1 bath is going for $2,150/Mo.
Thanks to DC realtor Kevin Wood for compiling this list of home/condo sales for PoPville. Click below on “December 2012 Sales” for the full list of sales in PDF and excel formats.
Dear PoPville,
My husband and I live in Mount Pleasant, and have been watching our neighborhood real estate market since we bought our place in 2007. With an current inventory of ZERO single family homes in the area, and places going under contract within a week with multiple offers and no contingencies, we’re curious why there’s not more of a robust FSBO market. We’re considering the possibility of moving, and have a great place in the entry-level (for the neighborhood, of course) price point, but the idea of handing over 6% of the sales price–which could be the better part of our return on investment–to a realtor is really galling.
Without inviting the real estate lobby to argue for all the benefits of hiring a professional (staging, negotiation, open house management and so on), I’m curious for folks to weigh in on why they think more folks don’t try to sell by owner. (I say this also having moved from Madison, WI, which had a thriving FSBO market, where I bought my house with no problems from a lovely set of owners, so I’m familiar with the process.)