$284,000 Over Asking for a LeDroit Park Rowhouse

• July 1, 2015

by Tianna Mañón

Sellers of a 1914 LeDroit Park rowhouse were shocked last month when their home went under contract for almost $300,000 more than its listing price.

“In 11 years of selling, 500 transactions and $400 million in sales, this is the highest percentage over asking I’ve ever seen,” said David Bediz, the real estate agent for the property, which closed Friday.

1858 3rd Street NW (map), a four-bedroom, three-bathroom rowhouse, was listed for $949,900, a price in line with the average sold price for four-bedroom attached homes in the neighborhood, according to data from RealEstate Business Intelligence.

But it sold for $284,100 more, closing at $1,234,000. The sale price was 28 percent more than the listing price.

The home brought in 18 offers in total, though 16 came in under $1.1 million. The remaining two potential buyers put in aggressive offers, with one escalating to a cap of $1.5 million — more than $550,000 over the asking price for the home.

“He had the attitude of ‘I don’t care what it takes; I want this property,’” Bediz said.

Negotiations on the home, featured in Best New Listings and Under Contract, lasted just six days before the property went to the highest bidder.

The home’s six years of careful renovation likely attracted the exorbitant sales price.

When the sellers first purchased the home, it was in need of a major overhaul. So the homeowners began the long six-year process. The homeowners finished up with a redesign of the backyard and within a month of finishing that “last puzzle piece,” as Bediz described it, they were ready to sell the home.

In addition to the downstairs in-law suite, which likely also helped bring up the sales price, the home is full of high-quality, carefully-designed details, from the kitchen’s counter-to-ceiling tiled backsplash to the bathroom’s elongated white subway tile. The bedrooms and living spaces have cut-outs intended to highlight furniture, from a contrast-colored nook for a bed in an upstairs bedroom to a splash of exposed brick in the living room meant for the TV or a piece of art.

“It’s not the largest house and it doesn’t have the most bedrooms but because they were loving and thoughtful with every square inch of the home, none of that mattered,” Bediz said. “It was the little thoughtful things they did that made it so universally appealing.”

Here are more photos and details of the home:

• Full Listing: 1858 3rd Street NW (map)
• List Price: $949,900
• Days on Market: 6
• Bedrooms: Four
• Bathrooms: Three
• Year Built: 1914
• Listing Agent: David Bediz, Keller Williams Capital Properties

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/ledroit_rowhouse_sells_for_284000_over_asking/10071