Found a City Center bargain

[Anonymous]

The place makes 0 sense to buy. The PITI on that is almost 5k. You can rent a 1br for half that price in a nice (nicer than Chinatown with its increasing crime, as someone else said Chanel was just robbed again) area..

DC really needs to do a better job in tackling crime. They need to increase penalties, and not let the criminals out while they are awaiting trial. For example let's take a look at car jacking or car breakins, some countries (back in the day) had problems with that but they implented stringent punishments (think 20-30 year minimum jail sentence for breaking into or stealing a car) and the problem pretty much disappeared overnight. No one wants to go to jail for 30 years just for stealing (risk/reward makes no sense).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You all sound like a bunch of petty, jealous and out of touch old ladies. It’s a friggin 1 BR CONDO in the downtown. It’s not one of your boring colonials in Upper Caucasia where nothing is going on. 635 square feet is a decent size for a 1 BR, especially one with an open floor plan, and that condo fees covers quite a bit not to mention a parking space.

We had a 640 sf condo in Logan that we sold several years ago for 500k. It was the same size as this unit, and was big enough to have a den and a bedroom and was plenty spacious.

This is not a bad deal at all. You’re all clueless.

Cool it, angry poster.

I lived in a condo similar to this one for a few years in my late 20s. It's the condo for an associate or analyst starting out in their career. You see the exact same soulless overpriced condo/apartment in every major city and global city. Identical twins exist in Dubai and Singapore and London and Tokyo and Sydney. And it is tiny. It's a hotel suite for people who have hotel lives, overpaid, overworked, overtravelled, and ephemeral, and that's all there is to it.

Yup. I truthfully last week was in a near clone of this except an additional bedroom on the other side, and same cabinets but gray, in Jakarta. They all look pretty much the same. Not much that can be done with them really they are so small. I lived in a similar but much bigger 1 br apartment for a decade. Regret it now.

Just curious, do you regret living in a 1 br for so long? Did you have other options, but not take them? (I'm always curious about how we get comfortable with things, and don't want to move, even if it's for a better situation.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not a bargain, but it's nice. Condo prices always need to be balanced with the condo fees - high fees mean lower prices. That means it's probably not a great investment, but you'd have to see if it is better than renting.

It looks like lots of Boston apartments - very compact but convenient.

I am not sure what the long term future is for City Center. The smash and grab robberies at the luxury stores are concerning (Chanel hit twice recently) and with the arena moving out of DC that may make the whole are less lively. It's too bad, because it had promise.

I hope the city council just doesn’t give up on downtown. It took years of planning and sweat and tears to bring nice retail back downtown. But it seems priorities lay elsewhere.

+1. If we give in, the city will be in greater decline. We should be glad that City Center was developed, and cheer for it to survive.

We also need to give at-risk teenagers more to do - let's fund after-school, evening, and weekend programs. It's often teenagers who are committing these crimes, including car-jacking. Who knows why their parents are allowing this, but presumably the parents are overwhelmed with managing their own teens, and need support. I saw a news story about a smash and grab at the Bethesda Nike store, and the thieves in the photos are clearly very young and presumably came there via Metro.

[Anonymous]

No one would use this as their primary residence anyway, so size is kind of irrelevant.

[Anonymous]

No dog in this fight, but I think the hate on this place is overdone. These apartments are well built and very nicely outfitted relative to your standard DC fare (appliance quality, cabinets, etc). Personally, I prefer that kind of quakity over quantity (ie, square feet). The HOA isn't cheap, but, again, lesser buildings still charge $600-700 and may not include parking / storage. Perhaps a little overpriced given where rates are, but don't think it should be compared to more dumpy 1-2 bedrooms (like some posted above). And remember that in comparing with a rental, you've got to factor in: 1) the tax savings on currently high interest rates; 2) the monthly equity your building. Once you do, and considering the higher quality build/design of these units (space concerns aside), I think these apts can make good sense for the right person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No dog in this fight, but I think the hate on this place is overdone. These apartments are well built and very nicely outfitted relative to your standard DC fare (appliance quality, cabinets, etc). Personally, I prefer that kind of quakity over quantity (ie, square feet). The HOA isn't cheap, but, again, lesser buildings still charge $600-700 and may not include parking / storage. Perhaps a little overpriced given where rates are, but don't think it should be compared to more dumpy 1-2 bedrooms (like some posted above). And remember that in comparing with a rental, you've got to factor in: 1) the tax savings on currently high interest rates; 2) the monthly equity your building. Once you do, and considering the higher quality build/design of these units (space concerns aside), I think these apts can make good sense for the right person.

Although generally I would agree with you (especially quality over quantity), in this case I think we need to have baseline quantity and 600sq ft is simply not that. Furthermore (and I know you didn’t mean that when you said quality)that area is really declining, and part of real estate is location. I am sure most people would rather live in a higher quality area but with older interior than vice versa.

In terms of cost/financial sense, in this market and in terms of this property (or condos in that specific area) I also disagree. Property values for those condos in that area have been decreasing over the past 5 years, so you aren’t building that much equity. Furthermore, with the recent arena announcement and increasing crime, I would be willing to bet that they will continue to decrease there (or stay stagnant) so the equity argument not as strong.

Last, the actual payment/cost. The total monthly payment assuming 20 down and 7 rate is around 4800. From that, 1000 goes towards hoa, 500 towards property tax and around 2900 for interest (granted interest portion goes down overtime but chances are not significantly before sold). There your total monthly cost on the place that is just cost (does not contribute toward equity) is 4400 (ie only around 500 a month going towards the principal/equity). Sure you can itemize the interest and property tax and write that off, but even in a best case scenario that’s what, a couple hundred (per month) gained when compared to the standard deduction?

With such a cost breakdown it truly does not make sense to own that tiny apartment in a declining area, when you could rent something in a nicer area for 2500. Your cost of rent is still less than the 4400 cost that just disappears (not going towards equity).

[Anonymous]

I mean the fee includes water, gas and your parking spot more than likely. It's still high, but at least most of your utilities are covered.

[Anonymous]

Beautiful finishes on your glorified studio.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No dog in this fight, but I think the hate on this place is overdone. These apartments are well built and very nicely outfitted relative to your standard DC fare (appliance quality, cabinets, etc). Personally, I prefer that kind of quakity over quantity (ie, square feet). The HOA isn't cheap, but, again, lesser buildings still charge $600-700 and may not include parking / storage. Perhaps a little overpriced given where rates are, but don't think it should be compared to more dumpy 1-2 bedrooms (like some posted above). And remember that in comparing with a rental, you've got to factor in: 1) the tax savings on currently high interest rates; 2) the monthly equity your building. Once you do, and considering the higher quality build/design of these units (space concerns aside), I think these apts can make good sense for the right person.

Although generally I would agree with you (especially quality over quantity), in this case I think we need to have baseline quantity and 600sq ft is simply not that. Furthermore (and I know you didn’t mean that when you said quality)that area is really declining, and part of real estate is location. I am sure most people would rather live in a higher quality area but with older interior than vice versa.

In terms of cost/financial sense, in this market and in terms of this property (or condos in that specific area) I also disagree. Property values for those condos in that area have been decreasing over the past 5 years, so you aren’t building that much equity. Furthermore, with the recent arena announcement and increasing crime, I would be willing to bet that they will continue to decrease there (or stay stagnant) so the equity argument not as strong.

Last, the actual payment/cost. The total monthly payment assuming 20 down and 7 rate is around 4800. From that, 1000 goes towards hoa, 500 towards property tax and around 2900 for interest (granted interest portion goes down overtime but chances are not significantly before sold). There your total monthly cost on the place that is just cost (does not contribute toward equity) is 4400 (ie only around 500 a month going towards the principal/equity). Sure you can itemize the interest and property tax and write that off, but even in a best case scenario that’s what, a couple hundred (per month) gained when compared to the standard deduction?

With such a cost breakdown it truly does not make sense to own that tiny apartment in a declining area, when you could rent something in a nicer area for 2500. Your cost of rent is still less than the 4400 cost that just disappears (not going towards equity).

+1
buying this place makes zero financial sense and particularly for someone who would need to take a mortgage to finance it. With current rates the contribution to principal are minimal in the first years of the mortgage. And one also needs to consider the transaction costs of buying and selling. It would be very hard to come ahead on this purchase. You can rent a similar apartment for less than 3k in places like Rosslyn or Clarendon, with the added bonus of less crime and potentially a much better view, and invest the downpayment and closing costs instead.

[Anonymous]

It's obvious that 600 sq feet is too small when you look at that small bedroom closet, the horrible basic bathtub, and the bathroom sink that doesn't even have a vanity (am I the only one who needs counter space for toiletries?). For a luxury condo, there are some really odd choices about how to allocate space, but it probably just comes down to the fact that it needs to be bigger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For a luxury condo, there are some really odd choices about how to allocate space, but it probably just comes down to the fact that it needs to be bigger.

The target market for this building is someone who lives elsewhere and travels frequently to DC for work. It’s a hotel room alternative in most cases.