That’s what my neighbor Alex replied when I said I was surprised about the attention real estate in Woodbridge is getting now.

Last week, a house in Woodbridge a couple blocks away listed for $9,000 in an apparent foreclosure. It’s a brick facade and fully intact (with original trim) with 5 bedrooms, but needs a kitchen and bathroom gut. It’s 2200 square feet, so a bit smaller than the Sullivan House, and probably needs 30 grand in renovations. No garage or anything else in the backyard. Hell, I’d buy it for $9,000 tonight without even looking at it.

However, the scuttlebutt in the neighborhood is that it’ll go for $75,000 to $125,000. Dozens and dozens of groups have taken tours already.

It was less than three years ago that I picked up the Sullivan House, turret and carriage house and all, for $45,000 on a cold winter’s day. Only one other person had expressed serious interest in it.

A high price for a Woodbridge home then, by my reckoning, was $100-$125K. Just 3 years later, it’s $175-200K.

Different times, indeed.