Where would you put Grandma
I haven't seen if the BACA blog put anything up about last night's meeting but there was some lively discussion about Mt. Lebanon Baptist Church's proposal that they are planning to bring before the Council about putting affordable senior housing in the MM Washington School building. And off topic but before I forget supposedly traffic is gonna be
crazy around here next week.
OK, back on topic. Some things. MM Washington is not occupied and the church is somewhere in the Mount Vernon Sq. part of the neighborhood, which is why most of us have never heard of the church. Apparently it's been there for 20 years. According to some historical record the building was previously an Italian Baptist Church. There were other representatives for the project who stated that their previous projects included Golden Rule Plaza, the one for old folks.
The negative voices at the gathering wondered about security, the homeless, and live in relatives. The developers mentioned there was a waiting list despite mentions from the assembly that they wouldn't want to put their grandparents/parents in the facility. There were also questions about space and activities shared with the community. The peanut gallery seemed to want the developers to say that they would keep the homeless or actively discriminate against the S.O.M.E. homeless when the facility opened up the activity room for shared events. They can't discriminate any more than anyone else who opens up an event for the public.
The developers mentioned different events or activities they hoped to have for residents. They made some mistakes in stating that there was a grocery store and pharmacy in walking distance. NY Ave is a road of death and that Safeway really isn't in 'safe' walking distance. Oh, and the heroin corner is not a pharmacy. Also they mentioned that the residents would determine what activities they'd have for the activity room, so it may wind up being closed off and turned into an old folk gym.
Giovanni asked about end of life as the project is an independent living facility. Someone (I took no notes this is all in my head) asked about 'grandchildren' and other relatives that may want to live there with granny. Then there was the issue of parking. Apparently the SOME and mental health employees are competing with residents for parking.
Well if there is a waiting list I guess it doesn't matter if I or you wouldn't want your Nanna over there. It isn't Riderwood* or South Florida (the retirement village of America). It does matter if it would be a good fit for the development of North Capitol and the residents of the Hanover section of the TC.
* This weekend I met a retired couple who live at Riderwood in Silver Spring and they just raved about it (good food, lots of clubs, and interesting residents) and made us almost want to sign up.
Labels: elderly, housing
BACA meeting tonight
7PM basement of Mt. Sinai Baptist Church.
Of the most interesting things is the speaker coming to talk about the MM Washington building which is slated to become senior housing.
Labels: BACA, housing
Renting and owning in the upper TC 1900 style
This is the one chart I've managed how to figure out to do. I could go through the training course to figure out Access 2007, but right now I'm going to fool around with it and hope for the best. So in fooling around with the data I present the above. It is the level of ownership and renting for blacks, whites and one Chinese guy, divided by gender. Just going by heads of households, blacks outnumbered whites in the northern (1st, O St, NJ, FL & RI Aves) portion of the Truxton Circle study area, and most households rented. There were two types of ownership shown here, mortgage and free. Free, meaning free and clear, meaning no mortgage and the heads owned the house outright.
Now given that most housing is rental housing it would stand to take it that people where a bit mobile, as renting a house doesn't tie one to a place for any longer than the lease. It will be interesting to see if I can get to the 1910 census how many people remained in the same spot for 10 years or more. I'm gonna bet very few, less than 5-10%. Looking through I know that at some point there is a large influx of North Carolina and South Carolina Afro-Americans who show up in later censuses, so far I see a lot of District natives, and people from Maryland and Virginia. And just as a note, so far no Italian borns, I'm guessing all those Italians who were
around to support the Catania were living in an enumeration district we haven't gotten to, or had not arrived. Well when I get the eastern TC data I'll play with that too.
Labels: housing, neighborhood history
Roommates- Not just for the recession
In Saturday's Washington Post section
about people taking on roommates because of the economic downturn, I kept thinking of that 18th & 19th century stock character of the widow or couple taking in borders like the Micawbers for David Coperfield. In early 20th century pulp fiction you have the murder mystery of a dead husband with the wife and the hot young male border as suspects. It is unfortunate that it takes an economic downturn for some folks to see having roommates or boarders as a positive.
For the most part I've always had roommates. When I bought my house, yet after I got it in decent shape to share, I took in roommates. I could afford to live without roommates, but the extra cash doesn't hurt, and I am sharing resources. Because I am the homeowner and it is a roommate situation
I can be picky about who gets to live with me. Finding a roommate can take weeks or a couple of months depending on the season. I've charged between $500 and $750 a month, depending on the state of the house, season, length of stay, included utilities, etc. I've gotten roommates from Craigslist, personal leads, and the Washington City Paper.
Roommates can be great, not just for the money. Depending on who I've had, I learned about other countries and cultures, experienced the way others view the world, picked up some cooking & drink tips, and had someone around the house so I'm not talking to myself all the time.
Now if you are thinking of renting out your extra room I have a few pointers.
1. Ignore scammers. These are the long winding nonsensical emails you'll get from foreign supermodels or freelancers with no set employment in DC or lawyers writing on behalf of their daughters/nieces. Even if they are the only responses you get all week, ignore them. They are a waste of your time.
2. Seriously interview and check references. This person will be living in your home and will have keys to it. I usually like to talk to at least one ex-roommate to find out how they are with cleaning, how responsible they are, etc.
3. Have a contract. I had a roommate agreement. The reason being is I wanted to clarify what my and what my roommate's responsibilities were, with cleaning, utilities, smoking, guests, and lost keys. You can find examples
here,
here, and
here (PDF).
4. Sometimes nobody is better than anybody. Try not to be desperate to get just anybody in. If you seriously can't afford the rent on your own, a deadbeat roommate just makes the situation worse.
Labels: housing
Find a home for Turtlegirl
Turtle Girl seems to have found something. My former supervisor's daughter just got a job working at National Airport and needs a place to stay. I'm calling said daughter Turtlegirl, because she likes to stay in her room on her computer. For some people she'd make an excellent roommate mainly for her keen staying the hell out of the way & being quiet superpowers. Like the mighty turtle she tends to retreat into her shell. She'll need to emerge for heating food up, laundry and hygienic activities.
If my room were available I would house her, but alas it is occupied by someone else. So I am calling out to those of you in Shaw or at least a 10 minute walk from a yellow, green or blue line station who is charging less than $800 and has Internet, cable, washer and dryer and kitchen privileges. Please email me - mari at inshaw dot com if you have room for Turtlegirl.Labels: housing
Housing Under $250K
I was noticing
a photo, more like a screen shot, from Scenic Artisan of the Redfin graphic showing housing under $250K. They are pretty much all east of the Park. Rock Creek Park, the one of several big dividing lines. The other things that divide are 16th Street NW and the Anacostia River.
And there is a big ole cluster of under $250K 2 bedroom, 1 bath houses east of the River, over near Capitol Heights. There are a few in what looks to be Petworth, parts of Columbia Heights and Brightwood. There are a couple in Truxton Circle proper.
One is on the corner of 3rd and P as an as is. There is another
on Florida Ave. But the problem with Florida Avenue, well a problem for me, is that there is almost no space between your front door and the sidewalk of a very busy street. In the NE, non-Shaw part of Truxton (see I love confusing y'all) on Florida is
another house for $170K. Also no room between the front door and the crappy sidewalk.
Labels: houses, housing
Sibling Rivalry & Slumlording All In One
I've been debating about if I should post this bit of family business on the blog. Everyso often I might mention my sister and my nieces, one of whom is my blog icon. But so I'm not explaining the story over and over, as I have forgotten who I've told and when and how much, I'm going to try here.
Shaw has a fair amount of subsidized housing, it is the thing that keeps the neighborhood economically diverse, which is good. However, I don't believe subsidized housing is a good long term solution for individual families. At least not my family. It's fine for seniors, as we do need to care for our elderly, but for young families with developing children, no. Not long term. My sister and her husband and her daughters (my nieces) live in subsidized housing in Florida, and finally G-d has provided the means for me to get them out of there.
My sister's family live in a run down apartment complex. Earlier this year the local paper announced that the conditions were so bad that HUD was going to revoke federal funding for that and another complex. From my own visits I observed poorly maintained parking lots with tons of pot holes, and a blue tarp covering the roof that had been there for a while.
Also going on is the Real Estate troubles which have hit Florida really hard. Poking around on-line I discovered a house near my mother's house for $7,500. Yes, $7,500 for a stick structure and a little plot of land. But the stick structure needed lots of work and in inquiring about it I hooked up with a Realtor. Bob, the Realtor worked with my Mom and my sister and found us a foreclosure that was clean and in almost move in condition for well under $40K. However, I've had to destroy all my savings and investments to make it happen. So there is some good in the foreclosure crisis.
So once I get some minor repairs done (some leaks, a hole in the wall, etc), figure out how to hook up the utilities, and get her to sign the lease, I will be my sister's landlord. She and the family will move to a working/middle class and diverse neighborhood. And if she can manage not to stiff me for the rent (taxes & insurance mainly), she will be able to buy the house at a discounted price after a number of years. Which is fair since she's in charge of all the maintenance. This moves my nieces out of an area of concentrated poverty and into an environment where they can be free to run in their own yard. The yard also give my BIL a place to garden.
This is not charity, it's taking care of family and an opportunity to live out my beliefs. As a society we should take care of the least fortunate, but we should also encourage them to become strong and independent so they on an individual level can help others as well. I see independence as freedom, and everyone should be free.
I want to thank my roommate whose help has been invaluable as she drove me to the inconvenient bank and the other places I needed to get to. And I need to thank my supervisor, who let me leave work with a moment's notice to deal with this.
So I'm going to put the blog in sleep mode while I take care of my new house, so the comments are in moderated mode. I'll be back to the blog in a week or so.
Labels: housing, real estate
Beware of Craigslist Scams
Seems someone was trying to rent out 429 Warner St NW as part of their scam. I've mentioned the various Craigslist housing scams
here,
here, and
here.
For the love of G-d, or whomever/whatever you hold dear use common sense when conducting a house search. If Ms. Future Landlord is off away in London or Leeds or the deepest darkest part of Angola, and can't show you the DC place, MOVE ON, IT'S A SCAM! Think, if someone can't even show you inside, how would they handle the AC not working or other landlord duties? They won't because IT'S A SCAM. On of my neighbors was sent to Bangledesh, has a local real estate company doing the management. So in a real life situation you'd be talking to a real estate office, not emailing some scammer. No excuses if you're out in BFE, Nebraska and you can't physically take a look at it. Stay in a hostel for a week or work with a real estate office/ management firm that has a number in the phone book, crash with your sister's ex-roommate's second cousin, but don't just hand money over to a complete stranger for a place you haven't seen.
Labels: crime, housing
Intern Housing Advice: $500 a month will not get you an apartment in Penn Quarter
Followup from
Intern Housing Advice: Scope your location. This is my advice to young ones who are coming here from where ever for an internship, fellowship or whatever to avoid the scams that haunt the housing boards on Craigslist.
Pretty much almost all the listings on Craigslist for DC apartments under $600, if they actually are in DC not College Park or Crystal City, smell fishy or are mislisted.
This is obviously a scam, using someone elses pictures. Well obvious to someone familiar with the city.
So let me quickly go over the scam. Say you are an intern looking for housing and you see this great ad for an apartment in DC for $450. You email the contact in the ad and they are willing to rent it to you sight unseen. You then send/wire/Paypal the deposit+ 1st month's rent or the application fee to this person you don't know from Adam, for a place you've never set foot in, and your money is gone.
Cheap rent is to be had in group houses and rooms for rent. Typically an honest ad will give an intersection the place is near and mention the neighborhood it's in. Group houses may also be funished, or at least have furnishings left over from the last roommate.
Labels: housing
Average Janitor Cannot Afford To Buy Average House in Bethesda
$10 gets you nowhere at Saks 5th Avenue.
The Metrobus operator will not drop me off in front of my house.
Handsome underwear models do not flirt with me.
There is no justice.
Someone over at the
National Housing Conference alerted me to their new study on home ownership and affordability called "
Paycheck to Paycheck: Wages and the Cost of Housing in America." According to their study Bethesda, MD is the 15th most expensive place to purchase a home, Washington, DC as a whole (I gather they factored in Georgetown and Barry Farm) ranks at number 24. Baltimore was at 34. For rentals DC and Bethesda tied at number 19.
The Area Median Income (AMI) around here for 2009 is
$64,000 (PDF) and the biggest job title is
office drone and executive assistant to the assistant peon (occ. code 43). There aren't a whole lot janitors making up a percentage of the official job pool.
The NHC study also looks at the affordability of the average home for first responders and school teachers. According to
their chart, school teachers and police officers can afford the fair market rent of the average two bedroom. Which is good to know when the odd developer comes shuffling through trying to push workforce housing for school teachers and police.
Labels: housing
Intern Housing Advice: Scope your location
In a few weeks we'll be getting some shiny new interns, or fellows. Apparently at some places you can't call interns, interns, something about a seedy connotation. At my place we got some gal last year who came to the area, rented waaaaaay out in Fairfax, with no car, and paying what I thought was too much for the location. So I'm putting out this public announcement in memory of her.
Physically check out apts, group homes, rooms, don't just rely on the internet.
Seriously.
"Walking distance" and "close to" are subjective. So are at times location names. Where I am has been described as Dupont East, LeDriot, Logan East, Eckington, Bloomingdale, Shaw, Truxton, and NW. Only three of those are correct.
"Near metro" can mean the metro station is just across the street or the area is served by a metro bus a mile away that only runs every other hour and never on weekends. If you have to depend on the bus and the place is in PG County, avoid at all costs. Metro bus service there is crap.
When I advertise my extra bedroom I tend to demand that perspective roommates visit the house. Besides being a way to separate the serious house searchers from the flakes and Nigerian scam artists, it lets me gauge a person's comfort with the neighborhood. The TC ain't right for everybody. The bars on the windows of about 80% of the houses on my block bother some people. The demographics on the street may be unsettling or the houses seem too small and cramped. Things you can't tell or judge by simply looking at a few pictures on-line.
'But', you say I live all the way out in BFE, USA and I'm in school, I can't take off time to look at places.' When I was a grad student at UMASS-Amherst I took the 3 hour bus ride to Boston to look for housing before my internship started. When I went to London for work, I stayed in youth hostels and cheap tourist hotels before I landed in a group house in Earls Court. So I'm really not feeling that excuse.
Next time: Intern Housing Advice: $500 a month will not get you an apartment in Penn Quarter.
Labels: housing
Leaving the keys & walking away
Please don't do that. I've only heard two people actually say that out loud about their houses. Neither one of them live in the DC metro area. One was my mom, and this is a periodic threat, so I don't take it that seriously. The other was some guy from the mid-west visiting, who got a little over his head.
When I was passing out fliers yesterday, I came across this scene of keys on the fence and thought of that phrase of leaving the keys and walking away. As far as I know these are some lost keys in front of a house that doesn't look occupied.
From what little I know, walking away does not help, unless the house is actually worth more than what's owed, because at some point the bank will come after you for the difference.
Labels: housing
Affordable Housing in DC online
I have finally done my taxes and as I wandered over the the DC.Gov website to fill in the blank to do my DC income tax on line I noticed something on the front page about searching affordable housing on-line. Going back to search for the announcement, I can't seem to find it but the link is on the Department of Housing and Community Development's page.It appears that the DC Dept of Housing and Community Development has partnered/contracted (I can't tell) with
Social Serve.Com in listing affordable housing in DC that is either for sale or for rent with the site
DC Housing Search.Org. For fun I played around with it looking for 'affordable' housing for sale then plugging in some numbers for rent. I also searched to see what's affordable in the 20001 zip code. The results were a bit wrong, bringing up some NE (20001 is Old City NW) addresses. Among the misses were some hits like a couple of 2 bedrooms on the 200 blk of Florida Avenue for $1,500, an apartment at 413 P St., Golden Rule Plaza, and the studios in the Phyllis Weatley YWCA on Rhode Island Avenue. I also fooled around with the 20009 and 20011 zip codes and found properties there too, but the search feature has more so one could search by distance to public transit, handicap accessibility, pets, security deposit needed, criminal check and you can exclude the properties on the waiting list. There is also a
neat little chart to decide how much rent you should pay based on your hourly wage.
Labels: housing
The Going Rate
Between visiting friends and hosting relatives who really should use the opportunity of staying at my place to hunt for a job (hint*hint*), my 2nd bedroom has been fairly occupied. However, I do plan to rent it out again for summer and the 2009-2010 academic year. The big renovation of 2007 wiped out my emergency fund. It wiped out all my funds. Near the end of 2008, I finally finished paying off the air conditioning. Next year I want to take care of the cellar and finish putting a shower in the 1/2 bath. I can't do another loan. And so begins the slow build up of the house/emergency fund, which requires money, hence the renting out of the 2nd bedroom.
Figuring out how much to rent it out for requires a bit of research. If I was just renting my place, logically I'd go halvies with whomever I was renting with. But I'm a homeowner and my mortgages alone are a tiny bit more than the average rental price for a 2 bedroom in the far eastern corners of Shaw. Also there are other costs such as repairs, maintenance, etc., that I haven't figured out monthly. I check what people are asking for as far as roommates go, because that's the market I'm in. The general price in a roommate situation varies between $600 and $1100 a month. The fun part is trying to figure out what justifies the higher price. Some places include utilities. Some don't. Some places have Internet and cable, some don't. Then there is maid service, private bath, proximity to the metro, size, number of roommates, pets in the house, and other factors.
Back when I only had 1 mortgage, I could charge something cheap, $575 including utilities. The second mortgage made me jack it up, but I don't think I found the right price since. I had one roommate negotiate the price down, because I was so far (7-10 mins walking is far) from the metro. So once again I'll make up a number, run it up the flag pole and see who salutes. And seeing how many bites I get (not counting the Nigerian scam artists), I'll know what the going rate is.
Labels: housing
More than just transportation
Yesterday I got an email about something I heard about on the radio this morning. The
Terwilliger Cost Calculator is part of the Urban Land Institute's Terwilliger Center for Workforce Housing with the Center for Housing Policy and the Center for Neighborhood Technology report "
Beltway Burden: The Combined Cost of Housing and Transportation in the Greater Washington, DC, Metropolitan Area."(PDF)
I played with the calculator. I had to use the Internet Explorer version despite being in Firefox. I plugged in different areas, Shaw, Riverdale, Arlington, and the far reaches of Alexandria. Except for Arlington where the income was higher, most other places had the transportation/housing costs to income around 50% or higher.
Yet in past conservations with co-workers, though housing costs are cited as one reason for moving far out, there are other factors at play.
These factors include spouses/partners who don't work in the metro center, but out in far reaches of Fairfax, Bowie, and Baltimore. They include large dogs, whom the owners believe need a large yard. A desire for a school system you don't have to think about. And a desire to live in a setting like the one they left back home. Problem is with this area, the house with lot that is average in St. Pete, FL is expensive in Rockville. The other problem is a lot of us aren't from here and trying to re-create the familiar here is pricey.
Labels: housing, transportation
Crowding- and good intentions gone lost
I forget which census year it was but one year there were 11 people living in the house I currently occupy. As far as I know, the house has always been a two bedroom and I believe the cellar is a late 20th century addition. My house is about 1,000 sq ft.
I have read that overcrowding could be blamed on segregation. Segregation was probably one of several causes, if there are so many structures in the city and many of those structures are off limits due to covenants and other restrictions, then that limits housing choices. I get a sense that economics had something to do with it as well, but that is just a guess.
Anywho, a turn of the century description of crowded rental housing comes from a report from Clare de Graffenried:
I have no doubt that lodgers are harbored in these alleys whose presence, for many reasons not creditable to the occupants, is always concealed. The confessed facts are startling enough. We have here accounts of 7 persons living in two rooms-- the mother and her sons, 21, 17 and 7 years of age, occupying one bedchamber. Again, 9 individuals live in two romse[sic]; 11 people in four rooms. Five, almost all adults, sleep in one room-- the mother 43, a son 21, and daughters 19, 17, and 14; and 4 persons use another room-- a mother 45, and aunt 70, and a son 22, and a baby 9 months old.
--Page 18 of Kober, George "The History and Development of the Housing Movement in the City of Washington, DC" Washington, DC 1907.
Doing a Google search for Miss de Graffenried, brought up
Between Justice and Beauty by Howard Gillette, Jr., which on page 113 where he notes that she goes for the dramatic story over statistics. Later Gillette writes on page regarding the predecessor of the Washington Sanitary Improvement Company, which built the houses on Bates Street:
By 1904 the company housed 140 families, 30 of whom were black. Since the overwhelming majority of alley dwellers were black, the company clearly did not direct its attention to those in greatest need.-- page 115
In Kober in 1909 writes about their housing efforts:
It should be stated, that while the original intention was to provide homes for alley residents and thereby remove the slums, it was considered best to begin this movement by providing improved dwellings for the better class of wage earners, in the belief that houses vacated by them would be rented by the next grade, and so on until the bottom of the ladder was reached. --page 31
Labels: history, housing
More from The History and Development of the Housing Movement
Here's something else from George Kober's
The History of Development of the Housing Movement in the City of Washington, D.C. regarding slum housing:
But even in modern cities unhealthful habitations abound and have been permitted to be erected without interference.
We have them in Washington and Georgetown in considerable number, which greatly increased during the War, when the slave deserted the plantation to find refuge and liberty in the District of Columbia, the only spot at that time in the United States that offered such a boon.
The rapid influx of a negro population, estimated to have been between 30,000 and 40,000, imperatively demanded immediate accommodation. In consequence of this necessity, hovels of every description arose as if by magic. The result of this abnormal growth of a class of people destitute of means and education, ignorant of physical laws, at a time of war and confusion has been the erection of cheap dwellings, as much of the material having been obtained from army camps and hospitals.
--Pages 4-5
That could explain the shanty nature of some of the 'houses' pictured in the book and in other places I've seen regarding bad DC housing. The weirdest thing is people paid rent to live in these poorly constructed shacks. In 1874 the amount ranged from $2.50-$10.00. In an 1896 survey unfit housing rents were about $8-10.50. What's that in 2009 dollars? No clue the BLS inflation calculator only goes back to 1913. But $10 1913 dollars equals $214.57 in today's dollars. Roughly.
Later I will cover overcrowding.
Labels: history, housing
1909 book on alleys and crappy DC housing
Weller, Charles Frederick. Neglected neighbors :stories of life in the alleys, tenements and shanties of the national capital. Philadelphia : J.C. Winston, 1909. Is available online at
http://pds.lib.harvard.edu/pds/view/3370011. It does the whole city. However the author appears to be concerned solely with white occupants of slum housing.
Labels: history, housing
Inauguration Housing Fantasies
I haven't put my house on Craigslist or anything to try to cash in on the whole inauguration rental thing. Yet, but it is very tempting.
There are several reasons of why I haven't. For one, I don't know if I will have a roommate scheduled to be in my guest room at that time. I like to have short term roommates, so I don't want to screw up that. Secondly, there is family. My mother's people are country and homey and I'm wondering at what point someone will bug my mother, or father (less country, more moochie), to bug me to put them up for the inauguration. However, I'm sure several family members have written my place off because I live in a tiny house in a "bad" neighborhood. It's not "bad" it just lacks a driveway and loads of parking, which would make Auntie's 3 bedroom house in Riverdale, the Other Aunt's 3 bedroom in northern PG Co., and the Cousin's 3 bedroom in NoVa, all with generous amounts of pull in parking, way more attractive than my place.
But if I were to rent out my place, the money would be more to ease my mind, than for the space. Everytime I get a new roommate, my anxiety level rises because of how they treat the space. So what amount would soothe my nerves? Oh maybe, $1,000-$2,000 a day, my mental health is very valuable to me. If the people were relatives? Free, nerves would still be frayed, but frayed nerves and relatives go hand in hand. Besides if I charged relatives a few bucks I'd never hear the end of it..... even if all the money went into somebodies college fund. Friends? Possibly free, depends. I might demand a few cases of wine, the good stuff. Nothing soothes the nerves like a few cases of wine. Complete strangers? I'm quite sure they'd be happy to add to the nieces' college fund, and in that area my mind would be eased.
But seriously, I'm waiting to see what the relatives want.
Labels: housing
General Real Estate post
Hey I remember that doey eyed look. That's the look of a young first time homebuyer. I used to have that look.
Meltdown, schmeltdown people are still buying in the hood if today's encounter with a young woman and her Realtor was anything to gauge anything by. The pair were walking up and down the block pointing at houses, I assume, after they looked at the one house on my side of the street that is still on the market. I was outside puttering in the yard, and we chatted for a bit. Normally I'd talk up the neighborhood a bit more, but the house they were looking at has a family renting, with one really good kid in it. If Ms. Doe Eye or anyone else were to buy it, I'm sure the family could find equal and suitable housing, but moving is such a pain.
I believe the market is slow but not dead, as the house with the loud and out there residents disappeared from the real estate listings, I gather it is under contract. We'll see in a month or so. I suspect another house on the block being fixed up will hit the market in a month or two, and maybe it might sell in the next 9 or 10 months. Maybe. Though it maybe wrong to judge a place that's on 2/3rds done, I don't think it would be a quick sell manly due to proportions and the aesthetic. IT and I took a quick peak at the place while workmen were still working. I think it reveals too much of a suburban Maryland aesthetic trying to shoehorn itself into a small DC rowhouse. The house was around 1,000 sf with 2.5 bathrooms. If you have a 1,000 sf house I think you may understand the problem of a 2.5 bathroom house. I have a 1,000 sf house and just 1.5 (would be 1.75 or 2 if I had $5,000 fall into my lap). One of the bedroom bathrooms was tiny and hard for IT to turn around in. IT is a thin man. The bedroom for this tiny bath was also quite small and maybe, just maybe could have a double bed and nothing else. More than likely it could have a twin and a dresser/ desk, or just be an office. Anyway it's still not finished, and it will be interesting to see if the builder will do anything to make it easy to imagine the space as something besides cramped.
Labels: housing, real estate
