Toured this house. Didn’t like the side entrance and thought the exterior look was weird. But the living spaces were beautiful. Del Ray is great and not surprised it sold for this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s amazing how when a new construction house gets posted, people line up to disparage it. But a renovated older house, people are like OF COURSE it’s worth selling your grandmother for, look at the CHARM.

I'm not sure what's "amazing" or confusing for you here?

That’s a fair question. I guess what I find amazing is that there are pros and cons to buying an old versus new house. Generally most people who actually live in them would tell you that the practical benefits of a new build outweigh their lack of charm. And yet, the overwhelming sentiment on DCUM is vehemently anti-new and pro-old.

It’s silly to love these houses and call them charm filled just because they’re old. These are the catalog houses. They’re not well built. Most of them need to be gutted. Nostalgia does not make it so.

Anonymous wrote:It’s amazing how when a new construction house gets posted, people line up to disparage it. But a renovated older house, people are like OF COURSE it’s worth selling your grandmother for, look at the CHARM.

I'm not sure what's "amazing" or confusing for you here?

Anonymous wrote:I follow the market here closely and thought listing this house at 1.3M was a stretch. But it closed at 1.5! Teeny lot, shared driveway, radiant heat, and mediocre finishes. I also have a hard time believing this house is actually 2,200 sq ft. No way this one appraised.

https://www.redfin.com/VA/Alexandria/307-E-Windsor-Ave-22301/unit-A/home/11844504?utm_medium=share&utm_source=web_share&utm_campaign=copy&s_id=G4voV6I9Tpi7q403UKXT1A

Radiant heat is a plus. But dang that house is fugly from the outside.

I live in the area and I am also shocked (and sad because we can probably not afford to move somewhere bigger). It is nicely done, but there's very little storage. No coat closet.

I agree with the PPs though - there's just so little inventory that all it takes is a couple of motivated buyers to catapult the prices up.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s amazing how when a new construction house gets posted, people line up to disparage it. But a renovated older house, people are like OF COURSE it’s worth selling your grandmother for, look at the CHARM.

Maybe that tells you that new houses, unless they are incredibly high end custom homes by Dc’s premier architects, tend to look like garbage and they just don’t build them like they used to.

New homes are more practical. They are better air sealed and more energy efficient, they have better closet space, the plumbing and electrical is up to code. Yes, the new ones are all built to look like garbage modern farmhouses, but this is just aesthetic.

Ugly exterior, but cute inside. Functional floor plan.

Wow. I live in Del Ray in 2100 sq feet with a similar layout, and did not realize prices had increased this much. I thought for $1.5 you needed over 2500 square feet. Feeling more comfortable about spending $$$ for an upcoming kitchen renovation.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s amazing how when a new construction house gets posted, people line up to disparage it. But a renovated older house, people are like OF COURSE it’s worth selling your grandmother for, look at the CHARM.

Maybe that tells you that new houses, unless they are incredibly high end custom homes by Dc’s premier architects, tend to look like garbage and they just don’t build them like they used to.

No. I had a home much like this in Del Ray, and while it was okay when the kids were young, there was no storage, the schools were not okay, and we outgrew it. It had myriad issues. Was not built well. The charm faded.

That is really nice for Del Ray.

Anonymous wrote:It’s amazing how when a new construction house gets posted, people line up to disparage it. But a renovated older house, people are like OF COURSE it’s worth selling your grandmother for, look at the CHARM.

Maybe that tells you that new houses, unless they are incredibly high end custom homes by Dc’s premier architects, tend to look like garbage and they just don’t build them like they used to.

Anonymous wrote:Interesting that both listing and buying agent are from TTR Sotheby's International Realty.

Why do you find that interesting?

I really don’t think this is surprising for Del Ray. A lot of people really like the neighborhood and it’s a nice house with a yard, driveway and garage.

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, I'm looking at the floor plan, and I'm not sure how they're getting 2100 finished sq ft out of it and 1000sq ft below grade unfinished.

They are counting the garage in the finished.