Where: 2537 Joppa, in St. Louis Park’s Fern Hill neighborhood, 2 blocks west of Cedar Lake.
What: 1 1/2 story home built in 1950 with almost 2,000 finished square feet.
How (much): listed for $285,000
When: market time = 2 weeks (listed August 27); scheduled to close Oct. 15 (currently “Pending” on MLS)
Who: sold by Ross Kaplan, Edina Realty City Lakes; co-listed by Linda Platt and Jonathan Spar, Edina Realty
How did this 1950, 1 1/2 story two blocks from Cedar Lake sell in two weeks?
For starters, it helped that it was . . . two blocks from Cedar Lake.
So did an attractive list price, $285,000, that discounted for needed updating — and then some.
Plus nice curb appeal, a .24 acre lot, and an especially open Living and Dining Room with huge picture windows (pictured above).
Other Factors
So what about the tax assessed value, $404,400?
That certainly didn’t hurt the Buyer’s perception of value.
However, as I’ve blogged previously (“Selling Price as % of Tax Assessed Value“), the tax value can be artificially high, especially when it’s been years — or decades — since the home has changed hands (as was the case here — the Seller bought the home in 1975 . . . for $46,000!).
Selling house fast during the downturn economy may take some time but the property should not be undervalued. It should be evaluated accordingly in relation with the market price today.