Why is this house sitting? Arlington edition

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not a desirable part of north Arlington which is why developers aren’t biting. A 6500 sq ft lot would sell at this price in almost any other area.

The house below is nearby to the one we are discussing and it sold to a developer for $925K in December for the lot. I think there's another reason developers are staying away (easement issue perhaps like a PP mentioned?)

https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/501-N-Jefferson-St-22205/home/11242628

[Anonymous]

It also looks like someone did a kind of cheap renovation on it, so now they’re trying to recoup the costs AND make money, but they didn’t really add any space or amenities, they just painted walls, refinished floors, and re-tiled the bathrooms and put new LVT in the basement.

[Anonymous]

We tried to sell a home (different area) with 2 bedrooms upstairs and two in the walkout basement. It was difficult.

We loved layout because we have 1 child and the house felt cozy. We did not make much profit when we were finally able to sell it.

The back and front of this house is a major turnoff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s basically only one bathroom and two bedrooms up.

Bad schools.

Priced too high.

Right off Carlin springs.

I don’t love this Home, but Ashlawn and WL are amazing schools – it gets not so great middle school with Kenmore but no middle school in Arlington is really all that.

[Anonymous]

Crime is getting out of hand in Arlington. People are avoiding.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think the yard is a real issue. These pictures were taken a few weeks ago before things started to green up. Our yard looked bedraggled then too, but it's filled in and greened up a ton since then. I think that's just the end of winter look. And if you hate to the putting green, I bet you could ask for an allowance to have it removed. Any landscaper could do that. The fence isn't great, but it would work for a dog until you save up to replace it with wood. Not a huge deal.

If everything else inside was great people might overlook the yard. But when every other aspect of the house is lacking, it’s a huge turnoff for potential buyers to look at the yard and say that’s $15k of fencing replacement plus navigating that with three different neighbors, $5k to rip up and return the stained putting green to grass, $5k for some decent minimal plants, $10-15k to rip up that terribly done ugly concrete patio and put in something that looks decent…

They add that up and realize it’s easier to just buy a different house. Not to mention the exterior is a big flashing sign that says “this home was not cared for or well-maintained”

That said, the answer isn’t for the sellers to spruce up the yard…it’s to drop the asking price by $100k.

[Anonymous]

I know that neighborhood well. Houses are being sold for $1.5m down the street. The Jefferson house looks close but is on the other side of the running trail that is a roadblock.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not a desirable part of north Arlington which is why developers aren’t biting. A 6500 sq ft lot would sell at this price in almost any other area.

The house below is nearby to the one we are discussing and it sold to a developer for $925K in December for the lot. I think there's another reason developers are staying away (easement issue perhaps like a PP mentioned?)

https://www.redfin.com/VA/Arlington/501-N-Jefferson-St-22205/home/11242628

That lot is better. Bigger (7400 sq ft), wooded on one side and in the back, further from Carlin Springs. Those things greatly affect pricing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Crime is getting out of hand in Arlington. People are avoiding.

Yeah, the weekend incident at Pentagon City Mall was wild. It's an issue with pretty much any close-in suburb. Part of the reason many people prefer Fairfax Co.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Answer is always, it is overpriced.

As always, the least helpful response on any of these threads. Just don't respond. You're not being clever here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Crime is getting out of hand in Arlington. People are avoiding.

Yeah, the weekend incident at Pentagon City Mall was wild. It's an issue with pretty much any close-in suburb. Part of the reason many people prefer Fairfax Co.

Yeah, nothing screams safety like Hybla Valley or Culmore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Are you considering the sun room the 3rd bedroom? From the listing I think they are considering the basement rec room a “possible guest suite.” Seems a stretch.

I honestly wasn’t even sure what the third bedroom was. I just guessed it was the sun room. The basement as the third bedroom is even worse!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Crime is getting out of hand in Arlington. People are avoiding.

Yeah, the weekend incident at Pentagon City Mall was wild. It's an issue with pretty much any close-in suburb. Part of the reason many people prefer Fairfax Co.

Yeah, nothing screams safety like Hybla Valley or Culmore.

Culmore is more poor than dangerous. But it's definitely an eyesore.

[Anonymous]

There must be some kind of easement problem or something impeding easy redevelopment. Under a million for a 6,000 sq ft lot in Arlington is cheap even in less desired areas of north Arlington. In my neighborhood here the lot alone would be worth $1.3.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Crime is getting out of hand in Arlington. People are avoiding.

Yeah, the weekend incident at Pentagon City Mall was wild. It's an issue with pretty much any close-in suburb. Part of the reason many people prefer Fairfax Co.

Where Tyson’s Mall is located?