Why is this house sitting? Arlington edition

[Anonymous]

This one baffles me - https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/401-N-Frederick-St-22203/home/11243060

SFHs under $1M in Arlington seem to fly off the shelf but this one has been sitting for almost a month. They are stretching calling it 3 beds since that's including the basement as a bedroom (??) but otherwise looks OK for the price / lot size compared to comps.

Any thoughts on why it's sitting?

[Anonymous]

My reactions:

Odd to have an ugly leaning chain link fence on a $1m house; that would need to be replaced

Backyard has a dilapidated putting green; that needs to be ripped up and returned to normal grass

Backyard is in rough shape with dead grass and the concrete patio looks like a bad DIY job

Only 2 truly functional bedrooms, and most people spending this much for a SFH want at bare minimum 3 legitimate bedrooms.

Upstairs bedrooms have those ceilings that cut into headroom; not a dealbreaker on their own but flat ceilings are preferable

Kitchen is serviceable but doesn’t look great or desirable

1,500 sq ft is a bit tight for spending this much

The whole picture just feels like a pile of compromises and the home (especially the exterior) gives off a vibe of owners who didn’t care to maintain the property.

Add up all the costs to resolve the above and you’re above $1 million. This is an $849k house at today’s interest rates, not a $939k house.

[Anonymous]

Look at the street view. Strikes me as a teardown, so I wonder if there's an issue with the easements that is making it unattractive to a developer, or if they need to wait for the seller to come down on price.

[Anonymous]

Answer is always, it is overpriced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look at the street view. Strikes me as a teardown, so I wonder if there's an issue with the easements that is making it unattractive to a developer, or if they need to wait for the seller to come down on price.

This is one of those properties that is awkwardly straddling the line—it’s currently a bit too overpriced to be a teardown, while also being unappealing with too much work ($$) to bring it up to standard to appeal to real live-in buyers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Answer is always, it is overpriced.

Of course, but in any given set of circumstances the question OPs are asking is WHY is it overpriced. What's the issue causing the mismatch between price and interested buyers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Answer is always, it is overpriced.

Yes but the questions here are always “Why is this house sitting at this price?”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at the street view. Strikes me as a teardown, so I wonder if there's an issue with the easements that is making it unattractive to a developer, or if they need to wait for the seller to come down on price.

This is one of those properties that is awkwardly straddling the line—it’s currently a bit too overpriced to be a teardown, while also being unappealing with too much work ($$) to bring it up to standard to appeal to real live-in buyers.

I agree, but I think the 2 real bedrooms is the real issue. Most people move to Arlington for the schools which means they have kids...a 3 bedroom SFH is sort of the bare minimum. A true basement bedroom might be passable, but this is just an open basement rec room being passed as a bedroom.

[Anonymous]

800-850k

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at the street view. Strikes me as a teardown, so I wonder if there's an issue with the easements that is making it unattractive to a developer, or if they need to wait for the seller to come down on price.

This is one of those properties that is awkwardly straddling the line—it’s currently a bit too overpriced to be a teardown, while also being unappealing with too much work ($$) to bring it up to standard to appeal to real live-in buyers.

I agree, but I think the 2 real bedrooms is the real issue. Most people move to Arlington for the schools which means they have kids...a 3 bedroom SFH is sort of the bare minimum. A true basement bedroom might be passable, but this is just an open basement rec room being passed as a bedroom.

I agree. It needs a real third bedroom for that price.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My reactions:

Odd to have an ugly leaning chain link fence on a $1m house; that would need to be replaced

Backyard has a dilapidated putting green; that needs to be ripped up and returned to normal grass

Backyard is in rough shape with dead grass and the concrete patio looks like a bad DIY job

Only 2 truly functional bedrooms, and most people spending this much for a SFH want at bare minimum 3 legitimate bedrooms.

Upstairs bedrooms have those ceilings that cut into headroom; not a dealbreaker on their own but flat ceilings are preferable

Kitchen is serviceable but doesn’t look great or desirable

1,500 sq ft is a bit tight for spending this much

The whole picture just feels like a pile of compromises and the home (especially the exterior) gives off a vibe of owners who didn’t care to maintain the property.

Add up all the costs to resolve the above and you’re above $1 million. This is an $849k house at today’s interest rates, not a $939k house.

I agree with all of these. That back yard and fence!

You walk in the door and there is nowhere to put anything, just right into the kitchen and living room. The kitchen cabinets are not great. It looks like they did "just enough" to list it.

[Anonymous]

It’s not a bad little house for Arlington, and it would probably sell very quickly under $850k. But at that price, I’d expect either a third bedroom or a living room or den big enough to fit a real sofa and television.

[Anonymous]

In addition to the yard and bedroom issues, the bathrooms are a problem at that price. The one in the basement is questionable and the one upstairs (that you need to share with the other bedroom) doesn't looks great either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look at the street view. Strikes me as a teardown, so I wonder if there's an issue with the easements that is making it unattractive to a developer, or if they need to wait for the seller to come down on price.

Small lot for a tear down in this neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at the street view. Strikes me as a teardown, so I wonder if there's an issue with the easements that is making it unattractive to a developer, or if they need to wait for the seller to come down on price.

This is one of those properties that is awkwardly straddling the line—it’s currently a bit too overpriced to be a teardown, while also being unappealing with too much work ($$) to bring it up to standard to appeal to real live-in buyers.

I agree, but I think the 2 real bedrooms is the real issue. Most people move to Arlington for the schools which means they have kids...a 3 bedroom SFH is sort of the bare minimum. A true basement bedroom might be passable, but this is just an open basement rec room being passed as a bedroom.

+100

If you have two kids do you put them both upstairs and just hope you can fit a queen bed in that tiny bedroom on the first floor? Or do you have one upstairs and one downstairs?