Forget the $300k, Forget It All

March 2007 – the month that keeps on giving.

That was MBC's very first month, and it seems now that several of our first story topics were interesting choices. Some have taken 2-3 years or more to flesh out.

Here's another installment of a long, long story arc begun in MBC's early days.

Today we're talking about 521 MBB, a little duplex just a few doors up from Ardmore on MBB.

Perhaps you've been the third or fourth car stuck at the light at Ardmore once or twice, and glanced over to the right to see it.

521 MBB was purchased, no doubt as an investment, in August 2006 for $1.495m.

It drew MBC's surprised attention when, just 6 months later, the same home was marked up to $1.895m, enough to net the flipper/owners $300k for a very short hold. (See "I waited 6 months, now give me $300k" – hence the title of today's entry.)

That tidy $300k in flipper cash did not materialize. Not even during that epic, final rally of the local bubble in Spring 2007.

MBC returned to the story when the listing returned to market 18 months later, in Nov. 2008. The listing was then claiming that the seller "is now motivated," but with the price at $1.625m – $55k higher than the last (failed) listing had dropped to, once upon a time. (See "Now Motivated.")

But now, all talk of markups is long gone.

521 MBB is just another MB short sale.

The duplex is up now at $980k, a fairly dramatic drop of -$515k/-34% from the Aug. 2006 acquisition price.

What we knew all along was that the owners had paid too much at that particular peak in Summer 2006. But 34% too much? What do you think people would have said if MBC had called things that bearishly in our first month online?

Looks like we've got one installment left in this saga – when they finally close it out.