Close the Books on 700 35th

Continuing a discussion of Tree Section happenings, we begin first by closing the books, at last, on 700 35th, a home referred to only yesterday as "formerly one of MBC's favorite homes on the market."

700 35th (5br/4ba, 3675 sq. ft.) has now closed for $2.250m.

So here's a price history with an endpoint:

• June 2006: Acquired for $2.482m

• June 2008: Offered for sale at $2.697m(+$215k/+8%); later cut to $2.649m before quitting

• March 2009: Back on market at $2.349m

• Aug. 2009: Sold for $2.250m (-$232k/-9% from acquisition, over 3+ years)

Now let's see how well MBC readers forecast the final sale price in our pricing poll on this property.

It was a year ago, while 700 35th was still near $2.7m, that we called the poll (see "Pricing Poll: 700 35th," Aug. 2008; that story has a nice discussion of the home).

At that point, 26% in total thought the property would sell above $2.4m. (See the poll results story for a graphic.) A plurality, 34%, thought it would sell below $2.2m.

But the proper call was made by the 25% of voters in the middle, who opined that the sale price would come in at $2.2m-$2.4m. At the time, that was a bet that the price would close 9-17% below asking.

We'll reiterate here that 700 35th is a terrific property, spacious, on a corner lot with a surprisingly big, sunny yard. At one point we actually said:

The home has such inherent charms, you can imagine someone willfully "overpaying" by a bit if the sellers will adjust somewhat to meet the market.

Alas, both parties this year thought $2.25m was fair.

That's still a pretty serious notch above the recent closed price at similarly sized 2200 Palm (4br/4ba, 3650 sq. ft., $1.975m). Most would rate Palm's location as superior, if not the lot itself. And 2.25 is also a step above the level paid recently for must-have 1812 Palm (5br/4ba, 3225 sq. ft., $2.1m).

So, despite causing the outgoing owners a financial loss, 700 35th retained a premium status in a troubled market.

In other news...

Another closed price just came in at 599 26th (5br/4ba, 3525 sq. ft.). This home, less than 10 years old (2001 build) with a fantastic great room and lots of charm, was acquired new in early 2001 for $1.275m – quite a bit at the time; about 30% above the median price for MB.

26th began in late April at $1.995m, but since its corner lot runs along fairly busy Blanche Rd., we were unsure how well it would hold value in this market.

Turns out that 10% off that start was about right. The sale has closed for $1.794m (+519k/+41% over a price we might call "pre-bubble" from Feb. 2001). That's a tidy, and tax-free, profit for the sellers.

This could be an interesting one to chew on.

Some will say: $1.8m for a slightly large resale on Blanche?

But try this: Take a home you know that traded in 2001 and multiply the acquisition price from back then by 1.41. Does that potential market value today seem at all surprising?