Clean it out, refresh it, rent it

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Gunners Lake Village, Germantown MD — Rear exterior — siding and brick, mature trees

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The opportunity

A private, off-market townhome in Gunners Lake Village, offered directly by the seller through Edward Dumitrache, REALTOR®. It is not on the MLS — no open houses, no competing offers driving up the price.

The play here is buy-and-hold. Clean it out, refresh the cosmetics, and rent it. The Zillow Rental Estimate for this home is ~$2,562/month, and a comparable interior unit nearby is currently listed at $2,600 — so the rent assumption is supported by live market asking, not just an algorithm. It does not require reconfiguring the floor plan or splitting the bath to work as a rental.

Condition is the main line item. Every room is heavily packed with the owner's belongings, so a full clean-out comes before any cosmetic work. The kitchen and both bathrooms are original and dated. The unfinished utility strip in the basement shows exposed framing and insulation board, and the rear deck framing is weathered and worth an inspection. Structurally the home is reported good, and the roof is reported newer.

On value. The ARV shown — $435,000 — is the after-renovation figure: fully renovated with the oversized upstairs bath split into two full baths. That is the ceiling for this property, and it is the best comp-supported of the three tiers, backed directly by the five closed sales below. Every closed comp on this street has two or more full baths, and isolating this market's 1-bath vs. 2-bath sales suggests the split alone adds roughly $30,000–$40,000. The upstairs bath is unusually large and appears splittable based on the layout, though a licensed contractor would need to confirm feasibility.

You don't have to renovate that far for this to work as a rental. Two intermediate tiers: as-is with no work at all, $340,000–$365,000; cosmetic refresh keeping the single full bath, $395,000–$410,000. Treat both as working estimates rather than comp-backed figures — virtually every renovated sale nearby also has 2+ full baths, so no closed sale matches either profile exactly. The ARV above is what to underwrite a refinance or eventual exit against; these two are context for where you land short of a full renovation.

The seller has decided against doing any work himself — his words were that he "doesn't have the energy to do anything to it" — which is why this is a strict as-is private sale rather than a renovation listing or an open-market offering.

Two numbers you still need. No rehab budget is attached — scope has not been priced by a contractor, so no projected spread is shown. And the HOA fee for this community is not yet confirmed, which matters directly to rental cash flow. Get both before you underwrite.

Property

Highlights

• Private off-market sale — no MLS marketing, no open houses, no bidding war
• Zillow Rental Estimate ~$2,562/mo; a nearby interior unit is currently listed at $2,600
• Cosmetic-refresh play — no structural work or bath reconfiguration required to rent it
• Brick fireplace and walk-out lower level to a large fenced backyard
• Roof reported newer
• Optional upside: the oversized upstairs bath appears splittable into two full baths (contractor confirmation required)
• Motivated seller: 8 listing attempts since 2003, most recently withdrawn June 2026 at $375K after only 15 days

Comps supporting the ARV

Recent nearby closed sales.

Gunners Lake Village, Germantown

The exact street number is withheld while this is off-market. The street and zip are here so you can pull your own comps for Gunners Lake Village, MD 20874. Serious buyers get the full address on request.

Questions buyers ask