Price Pick of the Week

6408 Arden Road, Cabin John
Original Listing Price: $799,999 (May 13, 2008)
Current Listing Price: $699,999 (June 6, 2008)
Slash rate: 12.5 percent
Square footage: Roughly 1,500

This three-bedroom bungalow is ripe for the picking—and the demolishing. “Opportunity to renovate or tear down and build new,” states the listing. “Seller is Motivated!!! Bring ALL OFFERS!” The first part of these remarks is easy to understand: This Cabin John abode sits across the street and side-by-side with three brand new homes put on the market for roughly $1.7 million, says Coldwell Banker agent Rod Howard. The entire block is in transition, with spacious suburban palaces in, and cute little bungalows gone. But what accounts for the “Motivated!!!” seller? Real Estate bust aside, the owners of this property are contending with their own unique housing crises. They’re dying to move into the city and currently hold a contract on a condo in Logan Circle, but it has a condition: They have to sell their old house before closing. But there’s another snag to their exit from suburbia. Turns out the couple worked abroad for much of the time they’ve owned their Cabin John home. In order to avoid tax penalties, they need to live in their old residence for 24 of the last 60 months, says Howard. That means they’re staying put until August. They did get an offer on their property from a developer earlier this year, but couldn’t leave in a satisfactory amount of time. To grease the wheels for a sale now, they lowered their home’s price $100,000 after the house was on the market for less than a month. “Closing Must AFTER July 31, 2008,” the listing states. Who knew August in the District could be so appealing?

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