Yikes.
3404 HOCKETT ST
FALLS CHURCH, VA 22042
List Price: $249,902
Prior Sale: $800,000 2/28/2006
-68.8%
"UNIQUE REO BACK ON MARKET** EXTENSIVE COUNTY VIOLATIONS NEED CORRECTION (NO OCCUPANCY ALLOWED AT THIS TIME)**THIS PROPERTY IS CHEAP BUT NOT FOR EVERYBODY**PRICE IS FIRM** CASH OFFERS ONLY--NO EXCEPTIONS**SERIOUS BUYERS ONLY**Over $400K BELOW CURRENT MARKET VALUE DUE TO NEEDED CORRECTIONS** PROPERTY SOLD COMPLETELY AS/IS****HURRY, OFFERS PRESENTED IMMEDIATELY AS THEY COME IN**"
22 comments:
I'd love to see pictures of the inside.
A pet peeve of mine is the placement of windows on a lot of these newer houses. It's like they design the inside without any concern whatsoever for what the outside looks like. Check out that small circular window all by its lonesome to the right of the front door. The image that springs to mind is Mr. Potatohead, a house with various window and door types arranged randomly on the exterior.
Truly scary. Wouldn't pay $100K for it myself.
Jeff B,
Which is worse? A poor street-view, or those wasted windows that look into garages or even worse that look into ground-floor master bedroom closets (like you want all your expensive clothing to get ruined by sun exposure!)
It must be possible to do have both, windows that make sense for the rooms, and that make an appealing curb-view, but apparently it was one or the other in the bubble building boom.
That place screams "asstacular"
for some reason "EXTENSIVE COUNTY VIOLATIONS" jumps out at me whenever i see something in Falls Church that has a bumpout or extra kitchen in the basement. all those ridiculous mcmansions in Pimmit should come w/ red flags in the front lawn.
Ugh - I wonder who designed this, a builder or the owner?
Michaelangelo, Mimar Sinan, Antoni Gaudi, Frank Lloyd Wright, etc, are rolling over in their graves right now...
I looked up the previous 5 listings for this property. They all have no interior photos.
I think what you are buying is a hollywood front facade only. Let the wind blow it over.
If this was real... I'd buy it.
Frank
NEW FEATURE ALERT
You can now email the listing agent directly. While I highly recommend against this, and many REO listing agents will never reply, I have decided that buyers are grown ups and will let you all do this. Information is to be free, so I will put all the data out there that I can (I hide the email address from spam crawlers though).
Please don't abuse the system (ie sending offers or emailing many many agents).
Again, there is no question that I can think of that shouldn't first go to a buyer's agent. (the stuff I see asked to the listing agent is horribly not in the buyers best interest, but I did warn them)
Frank
The 2008 assessment shows the land is valued at $275,000.
Cara,
I guess that's the root of the problem, few of the newer designs pull off both a nice interior and exterior layout. Certainly it can't be THAT hard. Seeing a terribly designed exterior is at least a clear warning that the inside probably isn't much better, I guess.
I think the exterior blows my mind more because you'd think the developer would at least try to sucker you in with a nice-looking outside. It's almost a slap in the face when they they throw up a house that looks like it was designed by a 4-year old and still expect to sell it (and usually do).
I saw that listing a few days ago and was like "WTF??!!!" Those windows... sweet Jesus. The housing bubble was like giving a construction crew to a child with ADD. Lot's of people.... from not around here originally... figured they can/should just build whatever was in their heads at the moment, without regard to cultural norms. Not that this doesn't happen everywhere in the world all the time, but it was rampant with the housing bubble.
welcome back to N Arl, market sanity.
this home is still overpriced @ $640K, but not as outrageously @ $700K as a month ago.
BTW, does anyone know roughly the cost of adding(finishing?) a bathroom in the basement with rough-in in Arlington? TIA.
That was a quick drop on that house MM, I remember looking at the listing last month. I guess they're pretty motivated to sell it.
You'd definitely be better off tearing that piece of sh*t house down and rebuilding. God, that is awful.
If it's the one I'm thinking of, I got the sheet (ok, 30-ish page report from a PE) on it. Not only does it have building code violations (roof and part of the foundation are going to have to be redone), the builder did an unapproved footprint expansion... onto protected wetlands... that happen to be in a flood zone. Between the remediation for existing code violations and the footprint problems, that house is a tear-down. (Of course, if part/all of that property is protected wetlands and a floodplain, the real question will be if a new house can be there...)
Foreclosure Information Meeting
Fairfax County will host a foreclosure information meeting for homeowners and renters who live in the county on Tuesday, Jan. 27. The event will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. in Rooms 220A, B and C at the South County Center, 8350 Richmond Highway, Alexandria.
My wife and I went touring yesterday . . . and wow. I cannot believe the POS dump houses they built in the past 5 years. Just pure trash. One house, built '05, listed 200k in Fauquier, 3+ acres, looked decent. Yeah, the footer in the basement is separated by 6 inches, the subpump is broken water backup and damage in the basement. The balcony sags, b/c of the foundation problems the basement doors won't open. The house has cracks in it . . . . and that's just what we saw from a 30 min visit!
Next house, McMansion in Bealton, looked decent on the outside, REA didn't show so we looked around. We to the back, about 3-4 inches of solid ice at the bottom of the basement steps. We looked in the basement, a solid sheen of ice (prob. a couple inches think) in the basement! 250k on less than .25 acre, built 05-06! Whiskey Tango Foxtrot! The homes built are just plain junk, even the McMansions. Each of these homes sold for 500k+ in 05-06.
I mean, shoot, I have a 6 year old Saturn with 90k+ miles on it that is in better shape than these houses! In fact, I might take a wager that my Saturn outlasts these tract shacks.
If these these are the types of homes avail. in my price rage <250k . . . my oh my . . . we have a ways to go. I've almost sworn off buying anything built 02-06.
gte,
I think if something pops up and you are quick about it, you can find something decent in that price range. Fauquier still has some inventory to go through. Do you use FranklyMLS?
FRANK LL0SA Va Broker- BLOG.FranklyRealty.com said...
Again, there is no question that I can think of that shouldn't first go to a buyer's agent. (the stuff I see asked to the listing agent is horribly not in the buyers best interest, but I did warn them)
My first questions for an agent:
1. City or well water?
2. Sewer or septic?
3. When was the septic put in? When was the last time it was pumped?
4. What type/rating insulation?
5. Breaker box or fuse?
6. Flood zone?
7. What type of attic access?
8. What type heat/AC?
9. SER rating?
10. HOA? Details
Who would most likely have these answers? A buyer’s agent or the listing agent? Why would it not be in the best interest of the buyer to ask the listing agent these questions?
gte811i said...
My wife and I went touring yesterday . . . and wow. I cannot believe the POS dump houses they built in the past 5 years. Just pure trash.
Same here and I just can’t believe it. Just for a moment let’s forget the ARMs and liars loans. “You mean to tell me someone paid a half-mil for this?” My mind goes bonkers. And now at $200k? At $200K I expect some quality, hell scratch that, just a solid built, ready to move in, no worries house. I can’t believe the number of dark, dank, foul smelling “finished basements” I’ve been in. I have co-workers who purchased in the last five years, paid top dollar, and have been working on their house ever since. And I’m not talking “regular maintenance”. I’m talking money pit.
Yes Robert, those are questions that you should have your buyer agent ask the listing agent.
Listing agents get pissed when represented buyers ask them questions directly and put demands on their time.
It is the buyer agents job to get these answers.
Frank
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