Since today’s GDoN post didn’t have any photos, I thought I’d share this listing sent from a reader. The reader writes: “I hate to come off as cruel, but this place is worth posting just for the hilarity of the photos. If you’re going to ask for @$800K, you might want to spend $200 to replace the Glad bag shower curtain, fix the hole in the wall, hide the cereal, and (most importantly) kick your family out of the bed.”

It’s even crazier when you realize the house is going for $799,950. You can see the photos here.

This is certainly one of the stranger listing photos I’ve seen (not as crazy as this one though):


Hipchickindc is a licensed real estate broker. She is the founder of 10 Square Team and is affiliated with Keller Williams Capital Properties. 10 Square Team is a princeofpetworth.com advertiser. 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: 532 24th St NE
Legal Subdivision: Old City #1
Advertised Subdivision per Listing: Old City #1
Original List Price: $399,000.
List Price at Contract: $399,000.
List Date: 11/10/2011
Days on Market: 57
Settled Sales Price: $380,000.
Settlement Date: 02/06/2012
Seller Subsidy: $0.
Bank Owned?: No Short Sale? No
Type Of Financing: Veterans Administration backed loan (VA), a 100% financing opportunity for qualified Veterans
Original GDoN post is: here.
The listing can be seen: here. To see pics, click on the main pic after opening the link and scroll through.

Good Deal or Not Revisited (GDoN-R) has looked at very, very few properties in this price range that were neither a) condo ownership, or b) in not very nice condition. Thus it amuses me that the comments on the original Good Deal or Not post (GDoN) for the renovated, livable subject property (with parking, no less) were largely tilted toward “overpriced”. (Recall that last week’s GDoN-R, was, in fact, not in very nice condition, was listed for $549,000. and sold for $700,000.) Alas, the adage of “location, location, location” comes very much into play.

This was not even the highest recent sale in the area within the past six months. There were three higher sales within relatively close proximity.

True, one can buy on the lower end of the pricing spectrum as well. Note, however, that active inventory is actually tight (surprise, surprise). Here are the recent sales in the past six months originally listed under $300,000. In some cases, certainly not all, these lower priced properties are getting bid over list price and are attracting cash investors. In 2010, the unrenovated properties were typically going for sub $150,000.

Hmmm. Let’s think about this. Investors see an opportunity to buy cheap (by DC standards) property, renovate it, and sell it for more to buyers willing to pay for the renovated product. Buyers, I might add, who want to live in a whole house rather than in a few hundred square feet. I’m not saying that this neighborhood is going to turn into Dupont Circle overnight, but it’s worth considering that a very short time ago, some of the same types of comments to the GDoN post could have been said regarding a few blocks to the west around H Street, or other areas like Bloomingdale or Petworth.


Hipchickindc is a licensed real estate broker. She is the founder of 10 Square Team and is affiliated with Keller Williams Capital Properties. 10 Square Team is a princeofpetworth.com advertiser. 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: 1480 Harvard St NW
Legal Subdivision: Columbia Heights
Advertised Subdivision per Listing: Columbia Heights
Original List Price: $549,000.
List Price at Contract: Looks like it was increased post settlement first to $560,000., then to $660,000.
List Date: 12/09/2011
Days on Market: 2
Settled Sales Price: $700,000.
Settlement Date: 01/27/2012
Seller Subsidy: $0.
Bank Owned?: No Short Sale? No
Type Of Financing: Cash
Original GDoN post is: here.
The listing can be seen: here. To see pics, click on the main pic after opening the link and scroll through. In this case, there are more pictures than usual for a property in this condition.

I think everything I’ve written about the real estate market in DC over the past few months has read something like this…“blah blah blah SCARCITY blah blah blah LACK OF ACTIVE INVENTORY blah blah blah FOUR PERCENT (and lower) MORTGAGE INTEREST RATES.” For better or worse, that’s pretty much how it goes right now.

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Hipchickindc is a licensed real estate broker. She is the founder of 10 Square Team and is affiliated with Keller Williams Capital Properties. 10 Square Team is a princeofpetworth.com advertiser. 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: 2023 R St NW
Legal Subdivision: Old City #2
Advertised Subdivision per Listing: Dupont
Original List Price 1st Listing: $2,875,000.
List Price at Contract: $2,595,000.
List Date: 06/13/2011
Days on Market: 131
Settled Sales Price: $2,325,000.
Settlement Date: 12/16/2011
Seller Subsidy: $0.
Bank Owned?: No Short Sale? No
Type Of Financing: Entered in listing data as “Private”
Original GDoN post is: here.
The listing can be seen: here. The virtual tour can be seen here. (By the way, on Homevisit virtual tours, the tour will load faster if you go to the far right and click on “view in standard resolution”.)

I don’t know about you, but ever since Mitt Romney released his tax returns, I keep thinking about what I would do if I had that kind of cash available. I’m generally a Bloomingdale girl, but it does occasionally cross my mind that it might be fun to own a ginormous house with a hot tub on the roof deck. I also like the idea of being down the street from Teaism and I’m a Phillips Collection member, so it would be very convenient for popping in more frequently. And sometimes, as one of the commenters to the original Good Deal or Not (GDoN) post said, I would like to have a couch in my kitchen.

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Hipchickindc is a licensed real estate broker. She is the founder of 10 Square Team and is affiliated with Keller Williams Capital Properties. 10 Square Team is a princeofpetworth.com advertiser. 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: 1454 Euclid St NW #5
Legal Subdivision: Columbia Heights
Advertised Subdivision per Listing: Columbia Heights
Original List Price 1st Listing: $439,000.
List Price at Contract: $419,000.
List Date: 07/07/2011
Days on Market: 147
Settled Sales Price: $395,000.
Settled Price Per Square Foot: $436.
Settlement Date: 12/30/2011
Seller Subsidy: $0.
Bank Owned?: No Short Sale? No
Type Of Financing: Conventional
Original GDoN post is: here.
The listing can be seen: here. Here is the virtual tour .

Meridian Hill Condominium is an eight unit conversion dating from the early 1990’s. There appear to be at least a couple of original owners, who no doubt have seen dramatic change to the neighborhood over the past two decades. Those original owners were smart to hold on though, as prices to buy these condos new were sub-$100,000. The subject property, unit five, was first purchased for $71,400. in May 1992. It later sold in June 2000 for $96,000.

For this listing, the unit remained on the market for 147 days before going under contract, which is a long time in relation to typical Good Deal or Not (GDoN) properties (the past ten GDoN Revisited properties averaged 17 days on the market). Although the original list price of $439,000. seems fairly reasonable for a duplex boutique condo with an attractive Victorian exterior, that put the price per square foot up into the high $400’s. While brand new high end condos in Columbia Heights can fetch into the mid $500’s per square foot, the final price of this unit reflects the differential of an older style unit.


Hipchickindc is a licensed real estate broker. She is the founder of 10 Square Team and is affiliated with Keller Williams Capital Properties. 10 Square Team is a princeofpetworth.com advertiser. 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: 640 Q St NW
Legal Subdivision: Old City #2
Advertised Subdivision per Listing: Shaw
Original List Price: $699,990.
List Price at Contract: $699,990.
List Date: 11/18/2011
Days on Market: 6
Settled Sales Price: $679,000.
Settlement Date: 12/27/2011
Seller Subsidy: $1,500.
Bank Owned?: No Short Sale? No
Type Of Financing: Conventional
Original GDoN post is: here.
The listing can be seen: here.

Purchased for $300,000. less a $2500. subsidy (and $25,000. below the listed price) in late September 2011, 640 Q St NW was back on the market close to two months later and under contract again in less than a week. The property is located on the edge of significant retail development.

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Hipchickindc is a licensed real estate broker. Her latest business venture can be seen here. 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: 1801 13th St NW
Legal Subdivision: Old City #2
Advertised Subdivision per Listing: Old City #2
Original List Price 1st Listing: $599,000.
List Price at Contract: $599,000.
List Date 1st Listing: 10/27/2011
Days on Market: 11
Settled Sales Price: $950,000.
Settlement Date: 12/16/2011
Seller Subsidy: $0.
Bank Owned?: No Short Sale? No
Type Of Financing: Non-contingent on financing
Original (not offically a) GDoN post is: here.
The listing can be seen: here.

Per the disclaimer at the very top of this post, I am hereby disclosing that the listing agent, Jason Martin, is a colleague affiliated with Keller Williams Capital Properties. Jason was kind enough to share that the property attracted over twenty offers within a short time of being put on the market. Pam Wye, with TTR Sothebys represented the purchaser. I wasn’t able to reach Pam before the holidays for any comment on the buyer’s plans, so hopefully she’ll pop in to comment.

Rather than a typical house or condo sale, this property was marketed as a multi-unit building with two apartments plus a church on the first level. Many commenters on the original post stopped in to say nice things about the long time owner, Pastor Sutton. Thanks to commenter Joel for posting this link to photos of a worship service at the church.

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This home is located at 1704 P St, NW:


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The flier says:

“Located in the heart of Dupont Circle & steps to Metro, retail & dining, this exquisite 4-level Victorian row house has grand room sizes, high ceilings, hardwoods on 3 levels, detailed millwork, stunning period details, terrace for al fresco dining & spacious Kitchen w/ center island & breakfast area. Ample closets & storage space. Nearby Garage Parking is Half-Block Away (seller will pay for 1yr).”

You can find more info here and photos here.

This 5 bed/3 bath is yours for $1,299,000.


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