Beer Taste, Champagne Budget

This week, I’m looking for "This Old House" for some clients.  They like Victorians, and there’s an undiscovered neighborhood just across the DC line that has a lot of what we advertise as "Grande Dames in need of a little facelift".  At the height of last year’s white-hot market, you could find a good one nicely renovated in the mid-$400s – you know, granite, stainless appliances, restored wood floors.

When I checked the current inventory, there were several places that sounded like real possibilities in this price range.  I also noticed most of these listings had been around for a while – like three to six months.  Then, when I went to see the houses, I realized their asking prices would have made last summer’s greediest seller blush, and they had a white hot market for an excuse to ask huge prices!  What’s there now are what I call "granny" houses.  They’re great because no speculators have ruined them.  But, while planning her move to assisted living, granny clearly had things on her mind other than maintaining the house.

My favorite had a fabulous wrap around porch, and really high ceilings.  But, every square inch of walls and ceilings were covered with paneling and acoustic tiles.  Now, did granny just like paneling?  Or is it covering up funky plaster?  We saw lots of houses with linoleum squares glued to the old wood floors.  What would the floors look like with the tiles pulled up?  It’s hard to tell, and it could cost a lot of money to find out.

Throughout this neighborhood, you see old Victorians and bungalows that could just come alive with thoughtful restorations.  But restorations are expensive, and so many of these houses carried price tags that matched or even exceeded, the prices of last summer’s already "done" sales.

So, yes, there are houses that are staying on the market unsold for many months.  Is this evidence of a tanking real estate market?  A burst bubble?  A leaking basketball?

Nah!  It’s simple over-pricing.

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