26 P St NE- Tall piece of crap for sale.. 1.5 mil

100_0787.JPGI believe in the Invisible Hand. And I believe the Invisible Hand, in it’s own time, will smite those sellers who have no respect for buyers.
26 P Street, NE, that butt ugly pop up across the street from DDOT’s parking lot, is on the market, for $1,500,000.00, down from the earlier 1.7 mil price tag.
There are several pieces of crap that have languished on the market, mucked up by small time ‘developers’ who have been b*tch slapped by the Invisible Hand (see weird condo on Q & Marion ). This is another that I bet will sit, unsold and vacant for years.
The seller’s must be on crack or something, as per the script for the property listing:

Must Sell NOW. This property will Double in price in two years please check the area by visiting www.nomabid.org. this building is a New Construction. four units configured as residential but has c-3-c zoning – many business applications. four stories, nine bedrooms/nine bath. Great view of US Capital and Monument. Fantastic future and location. very close to new york ave metro/red line. harris teeters market, Dept of Justise, major hotels, returants, retail openning soon.

Location Description:
Few block to US Capital/union station.

One- run spell check. For anything over $200K run spell check.

Will double in 2 years? Only if the additional two floors are torn down, the burnt shells next door are bought and the group of lots are razed and a good architect designs a building. Not your blind kid brother who took some design classes online and thinks he can draw a pretty building.

‘New construction.’ New and fugly. However I’d question the quality of the construction considering that the top floors is evidence of bad decision making.

‘four units configured as residential but has c-3-c zoning – many business applications. four stories, nine bedrooms/nine bath.’ The zoning I think is a clue into the height. But the whole business/residential thing is a clue the the builders had no clue.

‘Few block to US Capital/union station’. Liar, liar, pants on fire.

Now there are the folks who say, well, if you had historic district, this would never happen. Well, to quote another neighbor, I chose not to live in an historic district, and I take the risks that come with that decision. And if someone throws up one of those ugly additions, that’s the chance I take. For myself, I believe that builders who vomit up these additions are rewarded with a building that doesn’t sell. And I hope that the more I point out that ugly DC pop ups (as opposed to the few popups and additions that aren’t crap) don’t sell, builders won’t put them up.

Fun with ProQuest:1825 T Street NW

Yes, this is a couple of blocks west of 16th Street, so definately not in Shaw. But I came across a Washington Post article* when looking for Northwest slum housing with no electricity. 1825 T Street was built as negro housing, replacing 5 frame houses that once sat on that spot. It was part of a plan to clear (tear down) slum housing from 16th to Conneticut Avenue. Currently they are condos, and appear to have been condos since the 80s. I thought it was interesting, so thus, I post.

*”Apartments To Replace Slum Area.” by Robert P. Jordan. The Washington Post (1877-1954) [Washington, D.C.] 9 Jul 1950,R1. ProQuest Historical Newspapers The Washington Post (1877 – 1992). ProQuest.

DC will auction off nuisance properties

Their own properties that is.
You’ve complained about them. I’ve complained about them. DC owned properties that do nothing but harbor rats and trash. Well it looks like they are on the auction block (HT: Bloomingdale Blog)
Let me point out two Shaw properties on the auction block, 1713 New Jersey Ave. NW and 1504 6th St. NW. Most of the properties are in NE, and Columbia Heights. They all look like shells. But some of them are huge looking mansions, shells of mansions but huge. They’d probably make some well endowed non-profit a nice home.

214 P St NW


Vacant on P 2
Originally uploaded by In Shaw

Broken windows, bad paint, weedy yard, just a lot of ugly. According to the DC tax database this vacant house is a class 3 exeception, so it is paying regular taxes, and not the vacant house rate. The owner is Steward Investments in Clinton, MD and they came to possess it in 2006 for 419K.
I am not going to quibble about that value, as the house next door is up for sale for $750K.

This Could Be Yours For $199K


1624 4th St NW
Originally uploaded by In Shaw

Looking on Redfin there are a few places in NW DC that can be had for less than $200K. This is one. It will more than likely need work. However, it may be one of those things you can fix up while living rough. Sort of a bachelor project or something for a super handy couple.
Yet, it is interesting to see the number “1” in front of the numbers for some abodes again. Haven’t seen that number starting housing prices since 2003. Don’t be fooled by the 4 bedroom 3 bath claim. Houses on that side of the street are small and are usually 2 bedroom and at the most 2 bathrooms.

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.