Photo via creative commons by flickr use evoque

Thanks to a reader for sharing this email from the current owners:

“The LaundroMutt needs new owners…or we will be closing our doors come April 30th, 2010.

We, the owners, have found ourselves too busy with our other business commitments and must sell the LaundroMutt. We would very much like to see this great business continue in the neighborhood and we have loads of ideas to increase revenue and bring additional, exciting services to the customers….but we simply do not have the time or resources to do this.

We are accepting all offers from interested buyers….but are looking to move quickly. It is a great, fun place to work with cool customers (2 and 4 legged). We will gladly share all ideas we have for expanding the business in order to increase revenue and best serve the loyal customers and supportive neighborhood.

Please contact sueb@homewardtrails.org or lrol@aol.com if you are interested.”

A reader sang their praises back in Oct. ‘09. Laundromutt is located at 1722 Florida Ave., NW.

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I don’t think this deserves a horse’s ass award at the moment because I think the building is looking rather nice. However, it has been in this state for a number of months. Do any nearby neighbors happen to know what’s going on?

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I received a couple of renderings for the parcel that is set to be developed at 1421 Euclid Street, NW. Above is from Dantes Partners. The proposal above is for 37 rental apartments. You can see all the other renderings plus more info on the project here. Do you have a favorite?

Ed. Note: Back in Dec. Council Member Graham said that Justice Park funding was back on track. However I don’t think construction has started yet, last time I passed it.

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This apartment is located at 1801 Calvert Street, NW:

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The Craigslist ad says:

“Very comfortable one-bedroom apartment in the heart of Adams Morgan. Separate living and dining areas, central air conditioning, washer and dryer in unit, private balcony with city views and a roof deck in the building.”

Does $1695 sound reasonable for this 1 bedroom with balcony?

Ed. Note: there is also a $35 application fee. Yesterday some folks thought that was an indication of fraud. I believe many apartments have a legit $35 fee. Of course you always have to be cautious with Craigslist.

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Photo by PoPville flickr user jsmjr

“Dear PoP,

What is the value of a covered parking space between Logan and Dupont Circle? I’ve heard anywhere from 25-50k. Also, when determining price per sq ft for condos, is parking factored in (i.e. 650 sq. ft. condo at 400k = 615/sq ft, but 650 sq ft condo at 400k – 40k for parking = $550/ sq ft.)?

Hope you (or the loyal readers) can help!”

and

“Now that we’ve dealt with basement rental apts. can we find out about renting a parking space? I’m about to rent out a space behind my house – should I have some kind of lease or other agreement? Can we both just sign a general “Nothing that may ever happen to your car for any reason will ever be my fault or liability” kind of thing?”

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This picture from theraspberryexpress is wild. I can’t tell if it will be terrible or delicious…

Submit your photos via email or to the PoPville flickr pool here.

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This building is located at 2719 13th Street, NW:

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The flier says:

“Living up to its reputation for unparalleled custom detailing, Brook Rose Development unveils a 2-year Columbia Heights restoration filled with intricate carpentry & finishes normally reserved for multi-million-dollar homes. One of only 2 units, this huge 2300 sqft 3BR 3BA + den duplex “lives” like a timeless, elegant residence with private entrance & parking – a “must-see”

You can find more info and here.

Wow, I’m really digging the photos. What do you guys think of the renovations? This house was split into two units. Unit #2 has already gone under contract for $899,000. Does $799,000 sound reasonable for this 3 bed/3bath?

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Photo by PoPville flickr user hohandy. Looks like the first bloom hit!

You can talk about whatever is on your mind – quality of life issues, a beautiful tree you spotted, scuttlebutt, or any random questions/thoughts you may have. I’ll open this thread every Monday and Friday. So anything good happen to you this week?

How are you gonna take advantage of the great weather this weekend?

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Photo from PoPville flickr user fromcaliw/love

Griffin & Murphy, LLP, is a boutique law firm in Washington, D.C. concentrating its practice in real estate law (including development, finance, leasing, zoning and condominium conversions), as well as estate planning and probate, civil litigation, and business law. The attorneys of Griffin & Murphy, LLP are licensed to practice law in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. Griffin and Murphy, LLP was founded in 1981.

Please send any legal questions relating to real estate, rentals, buildings, renovations or other legal items to princeofpetworth (at) gmail (dot) com, each week one question will be featured. You can find previous questions featured here.

Question:

I recently moved into a brand new condo building. It’s small, with only 12 units. The problem is that the lights dim significantly and often, sometimes when I plug in the iron or the HVAC kicks on, other times for no apparent reason. This is very bad on refrigerators, electronics, and the life of everything electrical in the house. I’ve asked the developer about it who assures me it’s “normal” for this to happen. I’ve never lived in a home where this happens, and I don’t know anyone else in the city who has this problem, so I’m not finding it too normal. My question is: How long are the developer and builder responsible for making good on fixing the problem if an independent electrician rebuts the “it’s normal” argument? Thanks. David

Answer:

We are not sure what you mean when you describe your building as a “brand new condo building.” Is your building a fully renovated older building which was completely gutted and rehabilitated, or is your building one that was built new from the ground up? As you will see later, this distinction may be relevant in determining why you are now experiencing electrical problems. In either case, your building should have adequate electric service. The electrical problems you are experiencing are not normal and are not acceptable. The more pressing questions are (i) what is causing these problems, and (ii) what recourse you have against the developer to force him to correct these problems?

If your building is a fully rehabilitated structure rather than one that was newly constructed, then the problem may be that the original electrical service to the building may still be in place. When buildings are renovated, a new and upgraded electrical service is ordered from Pepco. It often takes a long time for Pepco to come and put in this new and upgraded electrical service. It is not unheard of for a developer to sell condo units and allow occupancy with the old electrical service in place while waiting for the new and upgraded service to be installed by Pepco. If this has occurred in your building, then this would explain the diminished electrical service to your unit. Continues after the jump. More… »

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In real life, hipchickindc is licensed as a real estate broker in the District of Columbia, and as a real estate salesperson in Maryland. Unless specifically noted, neither she nor the company that she is affiliated with represented any of the parties or were directly involved in the transaction reported below. Unless otherwise noted, the source of information is Metropolitan Regional Information Systems (MRIS), which is the local multiple listing system. Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

Featured Properties: 1113 Lamont St NW

Original List Price: $985,000.

List Price at Contract: $985,000.

List Date: 11/16/2009

Days on Market: 60

Settled Sales Price: $940,000.

Settlement Date: 03/10/2010

Seller Subsidy: $0.

Bank Owned?: No

Type Of Financing: Conventional

Original GDoN Post is: here.

Recent Listing is: here. I’ve also included the 2001 listing.

Having focused the past three Good Deal or Not Revisted (GDoN-R) posts on cash deals and flips, I was happy to come across this owner-occupied, non-foreclosure, straight forward conventionally financed deal. Good Deal or Not (GDoN) commenters were skeptical of the $900k+ price tag in Columbia Heights, but it ultimately sold within less than a 5% differential from the original list price. Continues after the jump. More… »

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Yesterday afternoon when I tweeted about how cool the Corehaus Design store is, it got me thinking about the best non restaurant/bar stores that have recently opened up in DC. It seems like every week we are talking about new restaurants and bars opening up in the city, which I think is great. But I also like to discover other cool new retail options. Personally, I think Corehaus is the coolest to open up in a long time. Kultura is pretty sweet as well.

So my question to you guys is – what’s the coolest non restaurant/bar to have recently opened up in the city? If none have opened recently – what are some cool retail shops that fall below the radar? Could be house stuff, a hardware store, clothing, other furniture, used books, comic books etc.?

Ed. Note: And on an unrelated note because the weather is going to be so nice this weekend I wanted to share a previous FQoTD where we discussed nice things to do around the city outside.

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PoPville flickr user EmailRamon found the great sign above and I found the one below. It’s not as good as the one above but Cigars and Cheese just looked really funny to me:

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From an email:

I’m writing to pass along some information on a report released this week by D.C. Hunger Solutions called When Healthy Food is Out of Reach. The report found a wide discrepancy among the District’s neighborhoods in terms of availability of healthy food. Here are some of the key findings:

* The ratio of full-service grocery stores to residents varies widely among the District’s wards. Ward 3 has five times as many full-service grocers per capita as Ward 4.
* On average, residents of Wards 4, 5, and 7 must travel longer distances than residents in other wards to reach the closest full-service grocery store.
* The District loses more than $112 million in annual grocery revenues to neighboring jurisdictions because existing grocery retail is insufficient to meet residents’ demand.
* Some areas of the District—particularly in Wards 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8—are underserved by full-service grocery retail, compared to other areas. (The recent closure of one of Ward 5’s three full-service grocery stores has compounded the problem.)

For those that live in Wards 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 (and all folks for that matter) do you feel that you are underserved by full-service grocery stores?

As a Ward 4 resident I am very happy with the new Yes! Organic Market at Taylor and Georgia. But when I want a “regular” grocery store I walk all the way to the Giant in Columbia Heights (with my awesome granny cart) instead of using the less than appealing Safeway at Georgia and Quincy. Hopefully I’ll have an update on the future of that store in the next week or so.

You can read the press release here:  http://www.dchunger.org/press/grocery_gap.htm

And you can download the full report here: http://www.dchunger.org/pdf/grocerygap.pdf

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The regular contest above was indeed from the Radius on 13th St, NW. Congrats to Murdoch with:

“That was a hell of a key party.”

And the bonus contest winner for St. Paddy’s goes to MnomeNa with:

“It wasn’t always so difficult to get a gay marriage license.”

Runner up to darrinshane with:

“If England see this our “special relationship” is SO over.”

Winners please email me directly so I can get you PoP t-shirts.

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