End Unit vs Interior Unit Premium

[Anonymous]

We are looking at a townhouse in Bethesda, listed at $850k.

It's an end unit, and an interior unit sold for $800k a couple months ago.

Otherwise they look identical. Is an end unit worth a $50k premium at this price point?

[Anonymous]

Sometimes. Depends. Prices are going up and end units usually are bigger, home bigger yards/patios, and are quieter because you only have neighbors on one side.

[Anonymous]

Yes— work out the per month cot on your mortgage and see if its worth that much to have the extra light, less noice etc.

Without opening the thread I would have said $50k

[Anonymous]

Also depends on whether the end unit backs up against the side of a townhouse around the corner. With some layouts, what you gain in not having someone living on the other side of one wall, you lose in shortened back yard.

[Anonymous]

$50K seems like a steal. In my neck of DC, it is more like a 15-25% premium (900K vs 1.1M)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:$50K seems like a steal. In my neck of DC, it is more like a 15-25% premium (900K vs 1.1M)

Same premium in Glover Park. End units go for about $200,000 more than interior units. The upside is more light, half as many neighbors making noise, a bigger lot, bigger porch, more options if you want to expand the house. Only downside is that maintenance is more expensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:$50K seems like a steal. In my neck of DC, it is more like a 15-25% premium (900K vs 1.1M)

Cap Hill has this premium too. I'm surprised the premium is so much smaller in Bethesda. Is something wrong with the end unit (road noise, view, etc?). I'd snap up the end for $50K without blinking an eye.

[Anonymous]

I own an end-of-row rowhouse in DC and it is the gift that keeps on giving. We get A LOT more natural light than a typical rowhouse. My neighbors have to drag things through the house to get from the front yard to the back, but we just walk through our side year. Our house is a bit grander, with more square footage, and feels more like a "real house" than a row home. The longer I've lived here, the more I appreciate it.

[Anonymous]

It really depends on the location. In DC, many "end unit" row homes are right on an alley. I personally view that as a net negative -- alley traffic going right by your house and while your house can have windows on the unattached side (so more light), your views are of an alley. I wouldn't necessarily pay less for one of these but I wouldn't pay more.

Now an end unit where you have a side yard, windows that face the street (especially if a pleasant and not noisy street), plus much more convenient access to the back of the house? Yes, that would be worth 50k to me because those are all concrete upgrades.