Talk to me about Pied a Terres for the Middle Class Set (aka a studio condo in downtown)

[Anonymous]

You could look around Foggy Bottom - close to everything and an easy rental to GW or Georgetown students or state department/World Bank/IMF employees if you move away.

[Anonymous]

I second Penn Quarter. The poster with a park probably lives at City Vista - that area is booming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You could look around Foggy Bottom - close to everything and an easy rental to GW or Georgetown students or state department/World Bank/IMF employees if you move away.

I was just going to say the same exact thing. We used to live there, now renting out, always a supply of renters. Location is super convenient, two metro lines, lots of new restaurants opened up, plus a short walk to Gtown and Dupont and even Downtown and National mall is a doable walk. We also enjoyed the river trails for running and biking so nearby, Trader Joes and now Whole foods and more restaurants.

[Anonymous]

Do you have to be downtown? There are so many new condo buildings opening on 14th now and in the next year. That area would be my preference.

[Anonymous]

Coops vary on whether/how long you can rent, mostly because they need to keep a certain ratio of occupant owners for tax reasons. Then again, I'm hearing of more condos needing to do that these days, too, to keep within guidelines for lenders, so there may not be an enormous difference there. That said, I do live in a neighborhood with several coops and those that don't allow it at all seem to have decidedly lower values and take longer to sell, so I'd avoid that.

I think on site maintenance is useful if you'll be away a lot, so that if a pipe bursts or whatever while you're away, it can be speedily addressed. Front desk staff that can take deliveries are nice for the same reason. (Though, admittedly, I use them to sign for wine shipments mostly ; )

I'd have a look at SW. Some cafes and restaurants down here, but also pretty peaceful and free of car noise. And convenient to fun restaurants on the Hill and Penn Quarter. Big studios, too.

[Anonymous]

How often do you plan to use it? Unless you have lots of disposable income (in which case you aren't Middle Class) seems to me it would be more cost efficient to simply grab a hotel room on nights you want to stay downtown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I second Penn Quarter. The poster with a park probably lives at City Vista - that area is booming.

+1

I do live in City Vista (and love it).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Coops vary on whether/how long you can rent, mostly because they need to keep a certain ratio of occupant owners for tax reasons. Then again, I'm hearing of more condos needing to do that these days, too, to keep within guidelines for lenders, so there may not be an enormous difference there. That said, I do live in a neighborhood with several coops and those that don't allow it at all seem to have decidedly lower values and take longer to sell, so I'd avoid that.

I think on site maintenance is useful if you'll be away a lot, so that if a pipe bursts or whatever while you're away, it can be speedily addressed. Front desk staff that can take deliveries are nice for the same reason. (Though, admittedly, I use them to sign for wine shipments mostly ; )

I'd have a look at SW. Some cafes and restaurants down here, but also pretty peaceful and free of car noise. And convenient to fun restaurants on the Hill and Penn Quarter. Big studios, too.

Thanks PP - any specific building recommendations in SW?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How often do you plan to use it? Unless you have lots of disposable income (in which case you aren't Middle Class) seems to me it would be more cost efficient to simply grab a hotel room on nights you want to stay downtown.

+1 here - we thought about having a pied a terre in NYC which we get to often, but in the end, the hassle of maintaining it, furnishing it, and not knowing where what is when seemed like a hassle. In the end, we thought we might only use it 3-4 times a month, in which case a hotel seemed like a better break even.

Of course, if you're planning on using it more often, it may make sense. I'd think about where you would most often be on the nights/days you want to stay over and then look in the vicinity. There's not much sense in getting a place if you end up having to commute to it!

[Anonymous]

I would rent/buy by the ballpark. It's going to be the next hottest neighborhood in DC. Canal Park is beautiful, close to downtown and the restaurants are coming.

[Anonymous]

If it's not an investment, I would think that it would be a lot cheaper to just stay in a downtown hotel from time to time. You could do this two or three times a month and save over a mortgage, etc.

Plus it would be kinda fun to stay in different parts of the city, and there's no need to clean or maintain anything.

If you look at hotels.com, you could probably get something really nice for $200 including parking ... so even every weekend would be less than half of what you might spend on a studio.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why? As an investment? Because you live in Leesburg and sometimes don't want to commute home?

When I read pied a terre, I think "place to meet my girlfriend for a quickie." Sorry, I just do.

Aw come on. The average teeth-per-resident out here has doubled since 2005.

[Anonymous]

Ugh - why would you waste money on this? It's not NYC or Paris. Makes much more sense to just rent a hotel room for a few nights a month (you can get great last minute deals on Hotwire or Priceline for nice places) and spend the rest on real travel or a vacation home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ugh - why would you waste money on this? It's not NYC or Paris. Makes much more sense to just rent a hotel room for a few nights a month (you can get great last minute deals on Hotwire or Priceline for nice places) and spend the rest on real travel or a vacation home.

I agree that logically there are other ways to go, but this is a desirable solution for us. I also agree it is not necessarily the most cost efficient (but given our anticipated use, I suspect would at least equate to a hotel in price, though if it does not, not a consideration), but that being said, it is still something we are pursuing as an option. We don't commute to NYC or Paris, so a studio there would have no benefit to us....and this isn't an investment, nor is it tied to whether DC has cache or is exciting - its a convenient solution to an actual challenge that fits within our budget.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why? As an investment? Because you live in Leesburg and sometimes don't want to commute home?

When I read pied a terre, I think "place to meet my girlfriend for a quickie." Sorry, I just do.

Aw come on. The average teeth-per-resident out here has doubled since 2005.

Sorry PPs don't live in Leesburg, but would love to be closer to the Williams Sonoma outlet! Maybe I will start a s/o pied a terre thread for Leesburg; I will get my popcorn for that one.