1014 Rhode Island Ave NE

Well I found this lovely clip on the internet of 1014 Rhode Island NE on fire. I reported on the structure before. The date is 8/16/2014, that's almost 2 years ago and nothing has happened.

1000 M St NW- 2016 update

This is an update from the 2014 update.

Still vacant.

But now it has one of those yellow stickers on it that all the popular vacant houses are sporting these days.

As far as I can tell back in 1981, Maria Angelidou, Jagdish & Elsip Sakaria bought the property from 3 other persons. Around 2006-2007 the city condemned the property and the principle owner M Angelidou apparently corrected the problem, and it is no longer considered condemned. There were a few permits for work here and there. The last permit for work was obtained in 2012 for the fence and iron grills. I should note that this property is in a Historic District so extra hoops must be jumped. Also as of this date the owner(s) owe the city $138,009.70 in taxes for a property valued at about $1.3 million dollars.

On the outside this is a beautiful home and a desirable address. But as I learn more about property I understand a bit more about the complications of things and sometimes why pretty houses and not so pretty addresses remain in limbo or left wallowing in being less than it could be. Sometimes owners are overwhelmed and unwilling to admit failure. Sometimes they are dead, and their heirs and executors have little motivation to do one thing or another and doing nothing is the easiest path. There are various things that can go wrong. Property can bind divorcees, fighting family members, business partners who've had a falling out and other combinations of people, unwillingly together, tying it and them up. I have no idea of what the deal is here. Even when the owners are peaceful and alive, there could be other reasons, sometimes that reason is greed or unrealistic desires.

Anyway, since 2014 it has been taxed at the vacant tax rate and the payments have not caught up with it.