Latest Round of Overpriced Condos in Clarendon in Arlington -- Part VII

Plenty of Overpriced Condos in Clarendon, Rosslyn & Ballston in Arlington

Yes it's time for another installment of the overpriced condo series.  I have a feeling there will never be a lack of Arlington condos about which to write.  Homeowners tend to be naturally prone to this disorder--OCD--overpriced condo disorder.  Perhaps that will be our new term as an amateur review just placed this blog at #41 on the most popular real estate blogs in the country.  Not too bad considering there are thousands of them now.  So let's get right to business and try to cure some Sellers of their OCD. 

NOTE: This post contains my personal opinions only and does not reflect the opinion of RE/MAX Allegiance and cannot be taken as advice for your particular situation.  My opinions are just that.  Speak with your agent for advice or call me for input 703-624-3270.  If y ou disagree on anything in particular feel free to state your concerns below.

And before I get the party started, if you are seriously considering buying a clarendon condo then do read this guide to buying on the orange line in Arlington.  And over here you can get general info on clarendon real estate.

Therapy for OCD--truth & common sense & consumer advocacy

1. 888 QUINCY ST N #PH207 This unit at Residences at Liberty Center with 1248 sq ft is listed at $841,000.  Uh yeah....1400 sq footers at Station Square 1 block to Clarendon metro have maxed at 750,000 with most selling around $700,000ish.  It is a much more sought after area which makes this smaller condo--even if the finishes are nicer--at least $100,000 overpriced in my opinion.  I'd be afraid for my buyers to pay more than $625,000 which is about $220,000 below their list price.  Not to mention the condo fees there are a beast. 

2. 880 POLLARD ST #704 2/2 $549,000 with 955 sq ft. at Ballston 880.  There has been an active listing there of same size priced at $479,000 and several foreclosures there in low $400,000 past year.  the Ballston 880 was heavily purchased by investors and many have gotten burned or are having to rent out their units for cash flow.  In my opinion it's at least $75,000 overpriced.

3. 2001 15TH ST N #1611 listed at $1,225,000 in my favorite condominium in the greater Clarendon area: Odyssey.  Is this a 2000 sq ft unit?  One would think so with this list price.  No it's just a plain old larger condo of 1451 sq ft.   you know the ones that usually sell for $675,000-750,000 in Arlington Virginia.  Throw in a great view and you're up to 850,000 TOPS!  The owner bought this last year for $961,735.  So even though prices have come down in the condo market, the owner increased the price 20%.  My friends this is classic OCD--overpriced condo disorder.  All real estate consultants like myself can do is diagnose it--but we have no cure yet. 

4. 3625 10TH ST N #310, ARLINGTON, VA  22201 $684,900. Alert they just dropped price today down to $639,000.  If there ever was a building the past 2 years where some buyers have gotten hosed it's the Monroe Condominium.  This units brags 1178 sq ft .  2BR/2.5BA and in case you didn't know the building delivered in 2006.  A number of these units have sold in the 670s/680s 1-2 years ago.  Have condo prices gone up or down since then.  I would say down.  Some larger units have sold in the 650,000 range right next to Clarendon metro.  And right now at Phoenix condo one can get almost 1300 sq ft for 599,900-630,000.  the Phoenix Condo is 2 blocks to Clarendon metro--a much more sought after location and a newer building with commerical builder--Keating.  My initial impression is that I'd be afraid--especially with Monroe's higher condo fees--for my client to pay more than $575,000. 

And sure enough look at this comp from March 2007--unit 301 --a 2/2.5 unit closed for $599,000 by a colleague within my brokerage of RE/MAX Allegiance.  This means the unit is a solid $100,000 overpriced.  Can you believe this nonsense!#@!  How do they get away with this--consumer ignorance that's how.  For my frank advice on picking the right consultant--like myself--on buying a condo in Clarendon, Arlington Virginia or anywhere for that matter read towards bottom of that article.  Don't get hosed (overpay)!

More Overpriced Condominiums in Arlington on Orange Line

5. 2001 15TH ST N #114, ARLINGTON, VA 22201for $749,900 Yes another overpriced condo at my favorite building: Odyssey Condo. This is a super large unit of  1698 sq ft. that is not in good shape to say the least.  How could tenants get a unit this messed up in such a short time.  It is bank owned and quite unique/choppy.   It originally listed for $849,000 by some hotshot whom I told him he was smokin' crack and kidding himself.  a month later he has dropped $100,000.  The unit was purchased for $650,000 in 2006.  So you think prices shot up 25% --NOT!  Consumers, this is why you go to selling agents (buyer agents) not listing agents for the truth about any listings.  I'd be uncomfortable with anybody paying more than $650,000 ish but given the bizarre layout, $600,000 might be more appropriate.

6. 880 POLLARD ST N #1001, ARLINGTON, VA  22203 $529,000 2BA/2BR in Ballston 880. This building was heavily bought out by investors and there are several short sales under contract and closed foreclosures all around $400,000.  This is terrible news for regular owners in the building.  There is even a "regular" listing for $479,000 for  2/2 there right  now.  In my opinion these are serious issues for the building making this listing seriously overpriced given the unique circumstances. 

7. 1220 FILLMORE ST N #905, ARLINGTON, VA 22201 in Station Square for $419,000 a 1BR of course.  The last one closed for $377,000 a few floors down.  So in my opinion is it's market value is $385,000.  Perhaps a list price of $399,900 would have been more appropriate....

8. 1021 GARFIELD ST N #227, ARLINGTON, VA 22201 for $408,999 in the well known epitome of the peak of the market club  Clarendon 1021 condo!    These 1BR are worth $360-370,00ish now which makes this a farce.  Again the ol' 399 would be a more appropriate list price.

9. 1024 UTAH ST N #915, ARLINGTON, VA 22201 in the Westview at Ballston for $396,000.  These are generally selling $330-340,000ish.  So even on top floor with great windows you just can't go up 15% in your list price.  A bedroom and den netted $376,000 in January 2008 so you have to go down from there.  Any appaiser would say to the seller the same thing I say to my 17month old son, "No go!". 

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NOTE: This post contains my personal opinions only and does not reflect the opinion of RE/MAX Allegiance and cannot be taken as advice for your particular situation.  Speak with your agent for advice or call me for input 703-624-3270.

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This blog entry currently has 18 comments posted.

Jay Seville

nearly 400 views in 1 day and no comments....what's up with that everybody? j

jb

Thanks Jay, I really appreciate these well researched lists of overpriced condos. To me it's just amazing when people list as high as do, especially when there is plenty of inventory out there to compare against.

Andrew

Now it's got 764 views... Actually, I just bookmarked this blog site, found it by googling Arlington real estate. I must say, I do love The Odyssey building too. Maybe some day I will decide to sell my townhouse and get an apt high up in the sky with the views of the monuments.

Andrew

Now it's got 764 views... Actually, I just bookmarked this blog site, found it by googling Arlington real estate. I must say, I do love The Odyssey building too. Maybe some day I will decide to sell my townhouse and get an apt high up in the sky with the views of the monuments.

Jay Seville

Thanks, Andrew. When you're ready to sell the townhouse let me know & I'll get you a lot more exposure than other agents. Read some of my "seller" tag articles to have your eyes opened on how to sell real estate: http://www.justnewlistings.com/arlington-virginia-blog/tags/sellers/

buildingdc.com

I can't agree with you more. I work with professional developers and I help them figure out unit price by producing forecasting model that monitors per sq ft cost/sale. I can't tell you how many times I have had to deal with developers that get sticker shock from what they think their property is worth to what it is actually worth.

Jay Seville

Iz! Long time no see. You should be checking in on RSS the day it comes out if you view your RSS feeds each day--in other words I expect you to be one of the 1st to comment. when are you going to be a man and 1) join facebook 2) \"friend\" me. I'll give you a MLS widget for your profile with your price range--cool stuff. Just met with great friend from high school junior high through facebook. Hadn't seen her since 97---it's a blast! Happy 4th...

sever@yahoo.com

Everyone situation is different and your opinion is effecting the ability for all of these places to sell, forcing all of these places to go to foreclosure. Thanks!!!

Laurnzo

ha..very good article, there is nothing better than the truth, these over price units and some buyers naivity are the reason for this hard hit on the housing business. I mean people get these overprice units without doing their homework and then put themselves in deep$#@^. I heard about someone buying a condo and couldn't make the second month payment..BS. This blog has pin point info to make you think and research before you do something stupid. I sure will pass it on to all my friends to look it up since alot of my friends and i are thinking of buying soon. Thanks man

Jay Seville

Sever, you do not know much about markets or real estate. I appreciate your empathy for the sellers, but you need to understand the big picture. I have about ZERO influence over the marketplace. That's the truth. The market controls market values of the property...I just am reporting my opinion of where the market stands in light of comps for each scenario. If any of these places cannot sell it is because the price is wrong for the marketplace. I received an email this week from a lady stating her lawywer would contact me to shut my site down, etc. for this article. Here's part of my response to her which turned out to be a fake email address so she did not receive it: ************************************ "For each email like yours, NAME, that arrives about 2x/year I receive a 100 emails from consumers out there in the marketplace thanking me for telling them the truth and helping them not to lose their money. If you are not supportive of that then it sounds like your are either misguided or of low character--why would you want home buyers to overpay? I'll be waiting to receive your answer, NAME. Why are you defending those who are trying to rip off good people in the marketplace who are often first time home buyers? The 1st time I went back and assessed how accurate I was with my overpriced picks, I believe I had gotten 24 out of 25 correct. jay

James

Sounds like you have a bone to pick with fellow realtor Frank Llosa. Here is his blog: http://blog.franklyrealty.com/. In short, he advocates "lying" on county records. e.g., instead of buying a condo for $400k, record it as $410k with $10k cash back. That tricks everybody around you into thinking that you overpaid. Sidenote, I lived in Arlington from 2005 to 2008 and I'm thankful that I rented an apartment the whole time instead of buying a condo. I was floored by the amounts of money people around me were willing to pay for the privilege of ownership, as if owning was ALWAYS better than renting. They either had deep pockets or were much more willing to pay for ownership than I was. A coworker bought a 1 bedroom in Eastview for $370k. Freakin' 20 years old and 634 square feet according to county records. After a more detailed search of those records, I found that a few unfortunate souls were on the wrong end of a flip and paid $480k+ for their 1 bedrooms at Clarendon 1021.

Jay Seville

James, Frank is not advocating lying. He is a consumer advocate and passionate about bringing realtor lies and builder lies & tricks into the light for consumers since he started his blog. Delve into this archives to see what I mean. If I'm buying a condo--which I believe is safe to do now for the correct price--why wouldn't I want the sales price a bit higher in exchange for keeping my $10,000 in closing costs in my pocket? The $10,000 higher sales price hardly costs me anything each month in terms of the slightly larger mortgage, but I love keeping my $10,000 in my pocket or investments rather than losing it to closing costs. Seriously! I never thought about it in terms of trying to make your property's assessment as high as possible for resale purposes. To me that impact would be very minor--market values rule regardless of crappy tax records compared to the reasons for a seller subsidy mentioned above. Renting is NOT always better than owning. Frank has written about that on the pro-rent side before if you search his blog. How many realtors have the integrity to do that? Not many so I believe you've really misunderstood Frank--he is a defender of homebuyers like myself. Your friend who paid $370,000 for Eastview sounds like he got smoked unless there was a den in addition to the bedroom. Most of those are worth about $330,000ish. p.s. the name is jay...not james. No biggie.

Izzy

I think OCD (overpriced condo syndrome) is a hilarious! Thanks for helping everyone to keep it real!

John Xjjkkkjkjk

Anything in Clarendon is a great buy. You can try to time a bottom point in the market, but housing prices will begin to rise again. Remember that (1) the population size is always rising, (2) new construction costs always are on the increase, (3) DC Metro is a transient area and always will be -- transient locations are always good for increasing home values. Today's prices will look cheap 7 years down the road.

James

Jay: I think that it may be helpful to explain how you do your research on some of these condos. For example when we were looking at places in Station Square we found that there is a huge range of upgrades available, some units have fireplaces, wood floors, storage units, stainless steel appliances, ceramic tiles, patios, etc. and others don't. Just looking at the previous closing prices can be a bit misleading - I assume that you do additional diligence above and beyond simply reviewing prior closing prices?

Jay Seville

James, good point, and in some cases those issues are taken into account and other times probably not. Those issues are VERY minor in the market value since the overwhelming majority have similar finishes--especially in the newer buildings and any upgrades do NOT necessarily translate into significantly higher market values. Location and size play a much larger role in the market values. This I know--when I went and checked my record about 8 months ago I nailed it on 24 out of 25 condos. So my record of market observations is pretty good. If I'm not sure--it does not go on my list. But these are only my opinions everybody and you must do due diligence with your realtor or ask myself to represent you--I mostly work with buyers. J

James

I think Arlington has some of the most absurdly over-priced condos in the area. When you had new 1BRs going for $150-175K back in 2000-2001 and they are now going for $350+, it's just a ridiculous appreciatoin that was fueled by mainly speculation. It's pretty obvious due to the #'s that went rental. 1021 is a perfect example of a condo that is overpriced PLUS their cabinets, counters, bathrooms, floors and appliances are all LOW CONSTRUCTION GRADE. It was a rental that got turned to condos at the last minute. I laugh when I see what people are trying to sell 1BRs for in there. They are worth $300K at the low end. I love how people think Granite and SS appliances = 50K or more.

Craig

I like your approach to real estate. Love your blog as well when you do it. I think both Odyssey and 1021 presetn incredible buying opportunities. they are the two elite buildings on teh Orange line and when the dust settles they will appreicate faster then there counter parts. So getting into a unit now at a good price only will allow you to be in a great position later on. In looking at the records you are probably 10-15k off in 1021 for 1 bedroom. There is a big range difference for 640 sq feet versus 750 sq feet.Everyone wants to live in Clarendon. The ody is a diverse building and hard to price because most floor plans and views are really different. Keep up the great work..

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