A $50,000 Anacostia Rowhouse, Transformed

• March 4, 2013

by Shilpi Paul

K Leszczak’s home.

When her home search started in earnest a few years ago, 25-year-old K Leszczak realized that finding an appealing condo, co-op or rowhouse for around $200,000 in neighborhoods like Logan Circle, Bloomingdale and Foggy Bottom was proving to be difficult.

Her frustration led her to run a search for homes on the market with no price parameters. That online real estate hunt that led her east of the river, where she happened upon a renovated home close to Historic Anacostia and the river that reminded her of Brooklyn. The home, located at 1214 U Street SE, was very tastefully renovated. (UrbanTurf featured it back in 2010, and it was subsequently covered on HGTV.)

Further searching led her to the now-defunct blog And Now, Anacostia, authored by the home’s owner David Garber. In the blog, Garber, now an ANC commissioner in Capitol Riverfront, noted residential and retail investments and heralded Anacostia as an “oft-forgotten neighborhood” whose time was coming.

Inspired by the blog and the renovated U Street SE house, Leszczak put in a $54,000 offer on an Anacostia rowhouse in very rough condition. “The house was unlivable,” Leszczak told UrbanTurf. “Mold, holes, electricity was turned off, no appliances — disgusting.”

Leszczak’s offer was accepted and she spent a year renovating the entire home, spending upwards of $100,000. After getting the systems updated and installing drywall, Leszczak set about renovating the bulk of the home with just the help of family and friends. “I became a frequent customer of Home Depot, IKEA, Lowes and Community Forklift,” said Leszczak.

She completed her project last fall, and now has her eyes on a couple foreclosed properties on Shannon Place SE. Check out the home in the photos below.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/a_50000_anacostia_rowhouse_transformed/6738