Crime Down?

So Frozentropics has this story up that there were no murders in Trinidad in 2009. Though we haven't, at this point, included Trinidad in our sales statistics, it does seem encouraging that the area, whose perception may have scared off some potential buyers from our area, seems to have gone a long way in getting a handle on a huge issue.

Now, as Inked suggests, it is possible that the 2008 year was an aberration and that a lot of the negative press was undeserved. On the other hand, deserved or not, such press (negative or otherwise) is the only way many people hear about our area and, as such, they may have made decisions not to buy here based on such stories.

So, should more be done to highlight positive trends in our area, like this one? Or, based on the seeming increases in other crime (i.e., theft, muggings) do we still have a long way to go before we can say our area is "getting safer"?

The Showdown!

This is "The Showdown", where we'll take two current listings in the Home AtLas area with similar features (be it price, location, amenities, etc.) and get a discussion going about the pros and cons of each, with the ultimate goal of declaring a "winner" based on reader feedback. We haven't decided yet whether or not to give the houses dorky, old-timey boxing monikers, but for now, we'll keep the pugilistic-puns to a minimum. With that said, here are this week's combatants:

Contestant #1 - 1243 Linden Place


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(light gray house on left)

Tale of the Tape

Address: 1243 Linen Place NE
Price: $474,900
BR: 2
BA: 1.5
Special Notes: Fenced back porch; Spiral staircase
Tour: Click on "virtual tour" link Here

Contestant #2 - 1102 K Street


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(Red brick house, second from left)

Tale of the Tape

Address: 1102 K Street NE
Price: $499,900
BR: 3
BA: 3
Special Notes: Garage, Unfinished basement
Tour: Here

Some quick thoughts. These houses are closely priced ($15k difference) but we note that the Linden house, which is defintely the smaller of the two, is only ~$15k less than the K Street one. On the other hand, are parking and a basement (unfinished) worth ~$15k to a potential buyer? Finally, is the Linden house's location (1 block from the "Entertainment District" of H Street) a selling point when compared to the K Street house?

Declare your winner in the comment section below...

October Sales Map

The list below shows the sales within the Home AtLas map during the month of October, 2009. The map below the list shows where within the Home AtLas map the high, low and median sales fell.

Address	List Price	Sale Price	Bedrooms	Baths
827 4th St NE	790,000	715,000	5	4.5
718 I St NE	669,000	659,000	4	3.5
719 G St NE	649,000	640,000	3	3
818 L St NE	624,500	618,000	4	3.5
653 K St NE	594,499	579,000	3	3.5
707 6th St NE	599,000	577,000	3	2
1200 Linden Pl NE	498,650	495,000	2	2.5
321 I St NE	482,000	482,000	3	2.5
419 K St NE	460,000	460,000	2	1.5
333 K St NE	459,000	459,000	2	2.5
910 6th St NE	449,900	425,000	3	1.5
1031 6th St NE	400,000	412,000	3	2.5
1018 Florida Ave NE	359,900	350,000	2	2.5
661 Morris Pl NE	339,000	339,000	2	1
818 13th St NE	297,900	285,000	3	2
910 7th St NE	208,900	211,200	2	2.5
1369 Florida Ave	155,000	200,000	2	1.5
1335 I St NE	124,900	125,900	4	2
AVERAGE	453,397.17	446,227.78	2.89	2.47

View Home Atlas October in a larger map

September Sales Map

The list below shows the sales within the Home AtLas map during the month of September, 2009. The map below the list shows where within the Home AtLas map the high, low and median sales fell.

Address	List Price	Sale Price	Bedrooms	Baths	Sold On
1101 6th St NE	747,000	747,000	4	3.5	9/15/2009
827 8th St NE	544,950	530,000	4	3.5	9/4/2009
938 4th St NE	479,900	485,000	3	3	9/28/2009
642 I St NE	444,900	444,900	3	2.5	9/28/2009
833 4th St NE	439,000	439,000	4	4.5	9/25/2009
920 3rd St NE	415,000	415,000	2	2	9/30/2009
1018 9th St NE	389,000	385,000	2	1.5	9/11/2009
909 8th St NE	349,000	349,000	3	2.5	9/28/2009
900 13th St NE	150,900	150,000	2	2	9/14/2009
AVERAGE	439,961.11	438,322.22	3.00	2.78

View Home Atlas Boundaries in a larger map

Home Atlas Boundaries

Here is the area around the H St NE Corridor we feel is most relevant to our discussions. All sales statistics and listing comparisons will be drawn from this area. If you feel there is merit in including other areas, please feel free to make your case in the comment section. We're happy to make changes if there is reason for them.


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Introduction

As the buzz around H Street NE continues to grow, we felt it timely to start a blog on a topic near to our hearts (and wallets) -- real estate. We're recent homeowners in the area who have both a personal and admittedly financial interest in seeing the neighborhood thrive.

We have enjoyed being front-row spectators to the progress the Atlas District (or H Street Corridor, or whatever name you prefer) has made over the past few years with the opening of new restaurants and bars, but have found that as homeowners we’ve been almost equally interested in following the trends and growth of the residential real estate market.

We know there are several sites out there which focus on real estate in DC, but few hone in on the residential side of the coin and none focus exclusively on the Atlas District (or, if they do, we haven’t found them).

With the burgeoning nightlife scene, planned streetscape overhaul and streetcar line, and the promise of continued development, our view is that H Street is an area unique to DC’s real estate market in terms of growth potential. With that in mind we’ve created this blog for three distinct reasons; (1) as a way to generate meaningful discussion on topics relevant to the residential real estate market and homeowners in and along the H Street Corridor, (2) to provide credible sales statistics to support those conversations, and (3) to discuss and analyze houses on the market in our neighborhood as they become available.

In sum, we hope this blog becomes a way for the neighborhood, and those interested in joining the neighborhood, to actively invest in their investments. We hope you’ll help us by participating in this experiment, wherever it may go.

The Breakdown

Each month we’ll bring you information on the latest sales statistics and trends, in and around the H St Corridor. We’ll also launch a discussion thread on a topic relevant to existing and potential homeowners (transportation issues, environmental concerns, safety, community relations, etc). We feel it’s important to present the issues that impact the average homeowner in their truest light, warts and all, to foster meaningful, realistic discussion. Who knows – maybe these discussions will generate the next big neighborhood ideas! Finally, we’ll post current sales listings from the neighborhood to compare so that readers can provide honest criticism and feedback. This feature may be useful to those looking to price their own home, find comparable sales listings and see what the consensus is on what's out there.