Its location along the orange line metro has help Arlington to maintain relatively strong home prices in comparison to other areas in the Northern Virginia jurisdiction. A couple of years ago, you couldn't find townhomes, semi-detached homes and even single homes for under $450,000. It would be a s-t-r-e-t-c-h to find them.
Now is a different story.
Information on MRIS shows that in Arlington, there are 47 active listings for a combination of townhomes, semi-detached and single homes. Most of these homes are found in the south part of Arlington around Columbia Pike, Glebe road area (zipcode: 22204). A few located around Shirlington area (zipcode: 22206). Seventeen of the 47 homes is either short-sale, pre-foreclosure or bank-owned. That represents 36% of homes under $450k!
Sample of properties that are either pre-foreclosure, bank-owned and/or short sale.
812 Orme St. S.
Bought Jan 2007
Price paid: $419,000
List price: $420,000
-barely breaking even
3017 20th St. Ct. S.
Bought June 2006
Price paid: $500,000
List price: $420,000
-16%
1109 Columbus S.
Bought April 2006
Price paid: $530,000
HSBC bought for:$442,659
List price: $449,900
-16.4%
2510 2nd St. S [Penrose]
Bought March 2005
Price paid: $421,000
List price: $399,900
short sale
-5%
5114 12th St. S.
Bought Feb 2006
Price paid: $570,000
List price: $419,990
-26.3%
2785 24th St. S.
Bought Jul 2006
Price paid: $479,000
List price: $419,000
-12.5%
748 Granada St. S.
Bought Sept 2006
Price paid: $475,000
List price: $449,888
-5.2%
2721 Veitch St. S.
Bought Jul 2005
Price paid $400,000
List price: $359,900
short sale
-10%
2208 Monroe St. S.
Bought May 2006
Price paid: $335,000
List price: $247,900
-26%
3804 Kemper Rd.
Bought May 2005
Price paid: $375,000
List price: $320,000
-14.6%
5510 22nd St. N
Bought Feb 2006
Price paid: $520,000
List price: $450,000
pre-foreclosure
-15.5%
2025 6th St. S.
Bought Nov 2005
Price paid: $508,000
List price: $429,900
short sale
-15.35%
5035 25th S.
Bought July 2006
Price paid: $580,000
List price: $429,900
-25.8%
View these listings above, here. All of the home listings under $450,000, view here. Please note that the other 30 homes on the market under $450k don't fall under the category above.
I noticed while doing the writing that 1) a number of homes were at sometime in the past were owned by a large number of minorities, 2) at the time of purchase, the lender might have some information that under normal circumstances, that these folks can't afford it. Look at the prices and time of purchase.
On the other hand, these are opportunities for buyers or investors. When investments under non-performing loans (banks don't make money if
their money sits on a vacant home) go up in value, it will have an
impact on the bank shares. That means banks will have to sell their properties, pronto. They need to 'clean up' their balance sheet from bad loans. Write-offs are bad stuff that investors don't like.
Before you're buying bank owned properties, you want to get pre-approval (or approval is better) for your loan first, then make sure that you have flexible time. Don't expect that the bank will get back with you - like tomorrow! It's not happening. It takes weeks (seriously!) before the bank gets back with you - whether they accept or reject your offer.
