January 12, 2006

Whats It Worth To Ya?

FRUMPY DC IS LONG GONE. When HGTV features real estate in DC, you know Washington has risen on the style-meter. Still not on par with Miami or San Francisco but definitely a notch or two above, say, Pittsburgh. This is nothing to brag about, but DC used to pride itself on its lack of fashion and style. But things have changed.


You Can See For Miles
Swanky


Spending almost $900K used to mean stately Georgetown, but now it can mean hip, happening Columbia Heights/Adams Morgan where Designer Challenge helped make this luxury penthouse cozy. It certainly has all the bells and whistles: 17 ft ceilings, travertine marble and bamboo floors, remote control blinds, parking, direct elevator access blah blah.

Will it go for this much?

Now some say “There is a condo glut.” True. Others say: “For practically a million bucks you should get lots more space than one bedroom and loft.” Also true. But look at this place. It’s amazing. Real estate should and is about return on equity and price per square foot, but sometime you just gotta say WTF.

Perhaps the market has peaked and the asking price reflects the old market, but this place defies logic. Say you are an empty-nester living in Rockthesda Md and are sitting on tons of equity, why not sell and buy here? Ahhh...but at what price?

DC Bubble is not responsible for any errors, claims or assertions made in this posting.

4 comments:

HomeImprovementNinja said...

On the one hand, if a 1BR sells for close to $1mm, that helps my property values, but on the other hand, where are all the people who are supposed to buy these $1mm dollar apts supposed to come from? This isn't NY; most people don't work on wall street. This city is people with government hacks and granola-eating hippies working for non-profits.

Anonymous said...

What makes this condo worth a million huh!! Is it the below average cabinetry; is it the couple of thousand worth of indistinct stainless steel appliances; is it the non-descript views of the national cathedral or is it the company of the Salvadorian ruffians on the street below.

I am sick of these middle class mamma’s boy investors. Not only is their slip-shod interior decoration jobs offensive but their audacity to ask of 899000 just makes me wanna leave a huge pile of turd on their doorstep. I don’t think any of these losers have ever earned an honest living or tried to produce anything of value for society: their game is speculative excesses on mom’s retirement savings. They envision themselves as some sort of real-estate magnet and incessantly beat-off dreaming of Melania Trump (alternatively the seller is probably an alternative couple in their late thirties); but in reality they are nothing but laggards trying to make the most of a bubble that has already burst.

Best of luck and don’t quit your day jobs!!

Anonymous said...

^^^ How do you really feel. j/k. I must agree though I don't see anything special about this *ONE* bedromm + loft condo that makes it worth 900K especially in that location. Heck I don't even think it's worth 500k but I'm sure, given the local market, some sucker would pay that (500k that is, hopefully noone is stupid enough to pay the asking price for this place).

Anonymous said...

Since I live near by, i made an appointment with the owner and went to check it out. I must say I would buy on-the-spot if I had that kind of money or if the rates were just %1 lower. This is probably the coolest penthouse loft I've seen in DC in a long time and the view of the city is absolutely fantastic. my2c