A couple of days ago, I posted about an investment remodel that fetched less than asking price. I started looking at comparisons, and this property popped up. It’s east of Rainier in the Columbia Heights area and my esteemed fellow South Ender, Polly, blogged about it in January.

Here’s the rags to riches story: the house was purchased by the handyfolks in April of 2006 for $260,000. It was painted, refinished, re-roofed, and improved in mere months and re-listed for the asking price of $379,950. It must have stirred up some bidding frenzy, because in February, it closed for the tidy sum of $387,450. Dang, you can take this one to the bank.

1124 21^st Ave. S
4 beds/2.5 baths
2,640 square feet
Was: $765,000
Now: $750,000

707 29^th Ave. S.
4 beds/2 baths
1,340 square feet
Was: $359,950
Now:$349,950

 832 29^th Ave S. #B
3 beds/2.5 baths
2,240 square feet
Was: $589,500
Now: $575,000
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2711 S. Irving St.
4 beds/2.5 baths
1,437 square feet
Was: $415,000
Now: $405,000

“… residents do agree that neighborhood plans still reflect continuing concerns such as public safety, street improvements, maintaining single-family and affordable housing, and creating economically vibrant business districts.”

Whether the city’s plans for the South End run in opposition to community goals seems to be still up for debate, but it does appear that city government has taken a keen interest in our neck of the woods.

I checked out this place in the heady days before the reviewing ban, so fortunately, I could look up the original price from the miraculous vaults of the internet.

Back in January, the asking price for this house was $449,000, which I reckoned might have been a bit optimistic. The house had an odd layout, and too many sacrifices seem to have been made for the sake of expediency. It took four months to sell, finally settling on the price of $399,000. It definitely could have been worse, but this makes me curious to see more results for some of other flips in the South End neighborhoods. I’ll start digging…

The weather forecast for this weekend looks wonderful, especially for attending the Georgetown Art and Garden Walk this Sunday, July 8th. It’s a great chance to tour some of the amazing old buildings in Georgetown and see their transformation into artist studios and retail spaces. Also open will be the crazy-cool Georgetown Powerplant Museum, which features giant steam turbines, dangerous staircases and metal stuff you probably can’t identify.

I plan on checking out the live music, private gardens and food consumables as well. There are plenty of great watering holes in the area to refresh visitors after some serious perusing. It’ll be lively, eclectic and friendly, as long as visitors don’t complain about the airplane noise.

Free maps will be distributed from the Bank of America, 1112 S. Bailey St. from 10 am to 5 pm.

Seward Park/Columbia City

6315 52nd Ave S.
1903 remodeled 3 bedroom house.
$539,000

5307 32nd Ave S.
4 bedroom brick tudor.
$475,000

6226 Hampton Road S.
Spacious mid-century brick home.
$789,000

5519 56th Ave S.
4 bedroom brick tudor.
$599,000

4327 Jill Pl. S.
3 bedroom new construction townhouse.
$464,000

Beacon Hill

8345 39th Ave S.
3 bedroom view home.
$289,950

2916 S. Hudson St.
Rambler on quiet dead-end street.
$365,000

3511 S. Thistle St.
Mid-century modern with views.
$529,000

2717 49th Ave SW
Lemon yellow house with 3 bedrooms.
Was: $450,000
Now: $424,990

3018 62nd Ave SW #2
2 bedroom condo in 3 story building.
Was: $459,950
Now: $449,950

3550 SW Admiral Way
View house with 3 bedrooms.
Was: $719,950
Now: $699,950

5618 SW Admiral Way
Brick tudor with 3 bedrooms.
Was: $712,000
Now: $695,000

2104 Alki Ave SW #103
1 bedroom condo on the beach.
Was: $374,000
Now: $366,500

Honestly, this seems like it can only be a good thing for Columbia City homeowners and business owners. But, as evidenced by the firestorm of comments on the Seattle PI site, concerns are already being raised about the push for gentrification and the loss of diversity. Although I can understand where some of the backlash is coming from, it just seems nutty that crime magnets such as the Columbia Plaza should be tolerated in order to keep our neighborhood dynamic. We’ll see what HAL Real Estate cooks up for the site; hopefully it’ll have a good portion of community flavor with one hundred percent fewer shootings.

2840 S. Juneau St.
2 bedrooms, 1 bath
830 square feet

Asking price: $299,950 in 2/07
Selling price: $305,000 in 4/07

Seller Comments

Favorite Restaurant in the Area: The Old Spaghetti Factory in downtown Tacoma because where else can you find Mizithra cheese spaghetti?

Favorite Places to Go: Ruston Way is Tacoma’s own Alki: beautiful views of the Sound and long paths for walking and biking, but watch out for the crowds.

Best Features of the Home: The wood floors are original from 1903 and refinished to a beautiful shine. Having a big yard (9,757 sq ft lot) in the city was always a big plus for us.

What’s in the Neighborhood: Tacoma Mall is only a 5 minute drive away.

What I Will Miss the Most: The yard gave us plenty of space to try our hand at gardening.

If you want to promote an open house on Redfin’s blog, send an e-mail to sweetdigsseattle (at) redfin (dot) com. Anyone can apply, regardless of which brokerage you use.