Capitol Hill

This home is located at 23 5th St, SE:

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The flier says:

“ENCHANTING Victorian bay-front in a picture-perfect location. Richly-detailed facade sets the tone for the interior–4 rooms deep, each a jewel. Formal LR & DR, Chef’s Kitchen opens to inviting Famkily Rm. 2 fpls! Master BR w/ adjacent luxury Ba, walk-in closet, tranquil rear BR, 2nd full Ba, Office Nook, Improved storage bsmt. Private patio too!”

You can find more info here and photos here.

Well the location is seriously tough to beat but what do you think of the house itself? This 2 bed/2bath is going for $679,500 – sound right?

Voted one of the best real estate agents in DC by the Washington City Paper Readers’ Choice Poll in 2009, hipchickindc aka the not-so-hip Suzanne Des Marais is the Principal Broker (DC) for Urban Pace, LLC. She lives (and sells a lot of houses) in Bloomingdale, but works all over DC, with everyone from first time buyers to highly regarded developers. 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: 334 8th St NE
Legal Subdivision: Old City #1
Advertised Subdivision per Listing: Old City #1
Original List Price: $364,000.
List Price at Contract: $364,000.
List Date: 02/15/2011
Days on Market: 10
Settled Sales Price: $540,000.
Settlement Date: 03/31/2011
Seller Subsidy: $0.
Bank Owned?: No Short Sale? No
Type Of Financing: Conventional

Original Good Deal or Not post is: here

The listing can be seen: here. To see pics, open the listing link, click on the listing then scroll through from the main pic.

The subject house here was actually a secondary property on a twofer Good Deal or Not (GDoN) post. This small two bedroom home with no basement or parking, located within two blocks of Stanton Park on The Hill, was an estate sale. Commenters to the original GDoN post noted that it was essentially priced for auction. Some weren’t too complimentary of the listing agent for bringing back the 2004 bidding wars, but she did her job for the seller and drew apparently in the range of 20 offers. Ultimately, the settled sale price is 148% of the original list price. My question to readers is, what do you think it would have sold for if it had actually been priced at, say, $539,900.?

To give an idea of the market in that specific location, Here is everything within a quarter mile that is an active, pending, or settled (since 10/01/2010) listing. City wide, the average list to sale price ratio for March 2011 was 93.2%. For the zip code of 20002, it was 95.3% (including this outlier). Citywide for all houses priced under $375,000., the average list to sale ratio for March 2011 was 97.19%.

By the way, the other house on that original GDoN settled also. 803 Maryland Ave NE was originally listed for $629,000. Pricing was reduced to $599,000., which led to a settled sale at that price with a subsidy of $18,094. It was on the market for 91 days. You can see the listing and pics here. This house had a basement and a garage and was fully renovated. I’m guessing no bidding war and the purchaser was able to utilize FHA financing. Considering the subsidy, it sold for $40,906. more than the property mentioned above. Who do you think got the better deal?

This carriage house is located at 516 E Archibald Walk SE:

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The flier says:

“Small carriage house in excellent Eastern Market location: One block to Eastern Market Metro; one block to Barracks Row \ 8th Street restaurants; 15 minute WALK to the Capitol, Lincoln Park, SE riverfront parks, and Nationals stadium. 1 bedroom, 1 bath, plus office or small room upstairs. Open plan downstairs. Private brick patio. Fireplace. Wood laminate floors. Central AC and heat.”

You can find more info and photos here. Be sure to scroll down to see all the photos.

Thanks to a reader for noticing this former house of the day. It’s yours for $390,000 – sound realistic?

This home is located at 231 8th St, NE:

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The flier says:

“LOCATION! COVERED PARKING! Charming, LARGE 3BR/2.5BA Victorian offers very best of the Hill, only steps to Eastern Market, Lincoln Park, Stanton Park, Union Station! 3 finished levels, high ceilings, original HWF, light-filled, large lot, large yard, large house, OSP, FP, CAC, EIK, oak cabinets, stone countertops and much, much more!”

You can find more info here and photos here.

This 3 bed/2.5 bath is going for $779,000 – sound right?

We’ve also featured its awesome transom before:

This home is located at 1217 C St, NE:

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The flier says:

“Industrial Strength, Muscle-Bound Beauty, just two Blocks off Lincoln Park! Extremely Loft-Like. .. So like SoHo you’ll think you’re in NY. Rarely found 3000+ square feet of both functional and emotional space–A grand entertainer and an intimate romantic lair. Massive Master Suite w/ 18′ ceilings and bath built for five. Lower Level Arcade of a Rec Room plus guest quarters w/ third bath.”

You can find more info here and a mouse on house tour here.

Well this is a wild one – what do you think of the home itself. Does $848,750 sound right for this 3 bed/3.5 bath?

Voted one of the best real estate agents in DC by the Washington City Paper Readers’ Choice Poll in 2009, hipchickindc aka the not-so-hip Suzanne Des Marais is the Principal Broker (DC) for Urban Pace, LLC. She lives (and sells a lot of houses) in Bloomingdale, but works all over DC, with everyone from first time buyers to highly regarded developers. 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: 1507 A St SE
Legal Subdivision: Old City #1
Advertised Subdivision per Listing: Capitol Hill
Original List Price: $579,900.
List Price at Contract: $579,900.
List Date: 01/04/2011
Days on Market: 14
Settled Sales Price: $570,000.
Settlement Date: 02/15/2011
Seller Subsidy: $0.
Bank Owned?: No Short Sale? No
Type Of Financing: Conventional

Original Good Deal or Not post is: here

The listing can be seen: here. To see pics, open the listing link, click on the main pic and scroll through.

Sometimes when I see an address, it reminds me of a story for a nearby property. When I saw this one, my recall immediately went to a couple of first time buyers that I was working with in this area in the midst of the rising real estate boom of around 2004-2005. It was pre-Harris Teeter, but the rumor was out that HT was imminently on its way. My first time buyers had a somewhat limited budget and a location requirement for “The Hill” (which for some buyers, depending on price range, often means anything east of the Capitol). They had already been bid out on several multiple offer competitions, which were the norm back then. Finally, they came across a house that they liked on this block. We managed to get an offer in before anybody else and the owner was motivated and willing to negotiate. Ultimately, they walked away over a $5000. difference in price. My guess is that if they had bought the house then, it is worth about $250,000. more than they would have paid for it at the time. Oh well.

The Good Deal or Not (GDoN) post drew such comments as “This seems below market” and “Explanations for the low price…” One commenter made note that the recent sellers only purchased for $170,000. less than the current price in 2009. Actually, per the tax records, it looks like they picked it up in November 2010 for $265,000. Roby Thompson of Long and Foster was the listing agent. Scott Purcell, also of Long and Foster, represented the purchasers.