January 24, 2006

What's It Worth To Ya?!?

A TALE OF TWO UNITS. One is in Cleveland Park. The other downtown. One is a co-op. The other is a condo. The asking price on one is $275,000. The ask on the other is $525,000, almost twice the price.

The Cleveland Park unit is at 3620 Connecticut Ave NW. The description says: "brand new absolutely stunning granite and stainless steel kitchen includes top of the line appliances. ... Hardwood floors throughout as well as built-in shelves." No parking, but its a block from the Metro. The downside to a co-op means a slightly higher mortgage rate and slightly lower closing costs.

The spacious Penn Quarter condo at 400 Mass. Ave. features many amenities such as 24hr security, a fitness center, a business center, a rooftop terrace w/outdoor pool and grills with a stunning view of the Capitol. No word on parking, which probably means no.


Cozy Co-0p
Spacious Condo


If you had $50,000 to put down, which would you pick? The Cleveland Park unit is a better neighborhood. Comes with only the bling, not the bling-bling, and has low fees. The Penn Quarter condo comes with not much of a neighborhood. Lots of bling-bling. More space. With the Cleveland Park unit, you put down a down payment and go on a great vacation for two years in row. With the Penn Quarter unit, you might not have the money to furnish it.

Which one is off market? Is Cleveland-Park unit priced too low or Penn-Quarter unit priced too high? If the Cleveland Park unit goes above the ask, does that mean the bubble is alive? If the Penn Quarter unit sells below the ask, does everyone repeat the new mantra: prices are coming down? Has the bubble burst?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, based on the pictures (which may be inaccurate), it looks like the Cleveland Park unit is about 400 square feet (tiny!). The Penn Quarter condo is at least twice as big (one bedroom plus den, although there doesn't appear to be any pictures of the den?) So, I assume there is another room they aren't showing us...either that, or it doesn't really exist.

Also, I think the Penn Quarter has parking; the other doesn't. That's worth 30-50k, right? Lastly, the Coop might have restrictions that lower its value, e.g. must be owner-occupied, no renters.

Just some guesses.

dcbubble.blogspot said...

The condo probably does not have parking.

I bet the Cleveland Park Unit is more like 500SF to 600 SF. You are probably right about the SF of the downtown one bedroom.

Anonymous said...

you can check the actual square footage on dc.gov, here --

https://www.taxpayerservicecenter.com/RP_Search.jsp?search_type=Assessment

Punch in the building address and select the correct unit on the page that pops up. From there, click on "view property features" and then you'll see the city's take on sqft -- which is the best publically available indication.

If you ever lose the link, you can get there from the dc.gov page by first going to the "databases" drop down menu on the lower left. Select "search property sales." From the susequent page, select "search real property assessment database" at the bottom of the list on the left.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, looks like you're right: no parking at Penn Quarter. And unless there really is another room that they aren't showing us, then the Penn Quarter place looks ridiculously expensive.

Cleveland Park looks to be more reasonably priced...I wonder if it was originally a studio? It has the studio look/size to it. Even at that price though, I wonder if it will go quickly...you can probably get so much more apartment for only a little more money. Not that I've done any serious looking lately...