Crap house, 1/2 a mill


POP-up.JPG
Originally uploaded by In Shaw

According to our friends at redfin, this lovely piece of crap is up for sale for $500,000. As you see, it is a shell.
Here is what the script about it says:

APPROVED PLANS AND PERMITS EXISTS FOR THIS ONE STOREY ADDITION AND CONDO CONVERSION TO 2 BED 2.5 BATH LUXURY CONDOS. .. .STARTED CONDO REGISTRATION, PLUMBING, FOUNDATION AND BLOCKWORK TO 3RD FLOOR, INTERIOR FRAMING AND ROOFING. ONE OF PRIVATE LENDERS DIED, THE ESTATE EXECUTORS PRESSED TO CLOSE HIS ACCOUNTS, BUILDER/OWNER COULD NOT FINISH WORK; WHAT A DISTRESS. I NEED A QUICK SALE, BRING ALL OFFERS PLEASE.

First, I am sorry for your loss.
Second, Luxury…. There is nothing luxury about this, no guarantee that it would have been luxury even if a lender lived, and was just really sick.
And, third, my mind races wondering, ok, your individual, not a bank or financial institution, lender dies, what does that have to do with anything? I could understand if a part owner, part investor died that would be a problem for the other owner/investor and builder. But if my lender/ mortgage bank was to implode, go out of business, etc, then my mortgage would get sold to another lender, as it is an asset.

So let me get this straight. You buy a property at the top of the market for $405K in 2005. You screw around with it to try to turn it into two condos, mess up the windows, and throw a pop up on top, which could be incredibly ugly. The city discovers, hey, this is vacant and in 2008 starts charging you at the vacant rate and now you owe $13K in taxes, some of it looking like back taxes from 2007 too. At some point somebody necessary to this scheme passes on to the great beyond. And so you place this mess on the market, during a downturn.
Best of luck with that.
My deepest condolences to the people who have to live near this.

Make your dog parks where you may

Coming home yesterday from the R Street exit of the Shaw/Howard station, noticed a man with his mid-sized black dog finishing up a romp around the enclosed space that was the Waltha Daniel’s Library. It appears that the gate was open on the 8th Street side and I guess the pair made use of the temporary green space. As far as a more formal option goes, ANC 2C02 Kevin Chapple has a posting about a petition for a dog park in Shaw.
I don’t own a dog, but I see a need for dog parks. And to the argument that parks should be for people. Well they are for people, people with dogs.