Reply to Are these H St. NE / Capitol Hill houses priced appropriately?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We love this block of houses on the 13th St NE block, just south of H St. This one just hit the market and seems on the lower end price-wise, compared to others of this size/location:

https://www.redfin.com/DC/Washington/718-13th-St-NE-20002/home/9909933[/quote]

Discounted for not having at least a powder room on the main level, which many buyers won't consider. And being that close to H will be enticing to some but equally off-putting to others.[/quote]

lol, can you really not walk up the stairs? I get that a powder room is nice, but it's still a seller's market on the Hill.  You find the right house you can afford zoned for a good school ... lack of a powder room is not going to stand in the way. [/quote]

People want powder rooms because not all house guests will want or be able to climb up stairs. Or they have kids and having an extra sink and toilet available comes in handy with kids. Or they wfh while a nanny is in the house and don't want to have to share a bathroom with her and the kids. And so on.

It might not be a deal breaker if someone really wants to live on the Hill and yes, wants in bound for a specific school. But other people might say, eh, my kid will go to a charter and I can get a house with what I want north of H.

It might still be a seller's market because of low inventory, but the buyer pool is shrinking and buyers aren't willing to pay as much because of higher rates. So yeah, the lack of a main floor powder room could cause certain people to cross that house off their list, which means fewer offers and lower sale prices.

This is not rocket science.[/quote]

It is not a dealbreaker for buyers looking in that price range. I promise, it’s not. [/quote]

Some buyers? Maybe. Many buyers. Most certainly yes.[/quote]

To be fair, people who are into historic urban homes, know, accept and often embrace the constraints. Its not limited to Capitol Hill or DC but valid from London to Stockholm to Paris.[/quote]

Yeah, the people insisting that no first floor powder room is a dealbreaker have either never been inside a Hill row house or they have $2 million budgets. Either way, they aren’t the buyers for a 900k row house near H Street. [/quote]

Our former house on the Hill was tiny, like 1600 sf, and had a powder room on the first floor. So did all the tiny houses our friends lived in.

(If other posters are going to claim their own personal anecdotes as actual data, then I will too.)[/quote]

Same, I know very few people with no first floor powder room. I think this was a major thing in the 90s/00s, where people who were selling homes prioritized putting them in (often as part of a kitchen renovation because it tends to be most cost effective that way to do it). And people who bought put them in, especially if there was only one bathroom upstairs, which is common.

I’m not saying you HAVE to have a powder room, but I’ve lived on the hill a long time and first floor half baths are very common. It’s now a lot harder and more expensive to renovate (and the standards fir a good reno are higher) so maybe some homes that never got one added are less likely to get them. But I’ve even seen tiny powder rooms in 750 sq ft homes. The idea that buyers on the hill don’t care doesn’t ring true to me at all. It’s a compromise people might accept, but most people prefer it.[/quote]

"buyers on the Hill" probably prefer a lot of things: outdoor space, parking, 4 bedrooms, finished basement, close to metro ... the point is, the location is the desirable part of the Hill, and buyers have idiosyncratic preferences.  The only thing that I think is a true deal-breaker on the Hill is size (most people want space for 2 kids) and the school.  Since we have both space for two kids and are zoned for an excellent school, lack of a powder room is not a concern when we sell, although of course I expect it to be considered in pricing to some degree.

FWIW I wouldn't pay extra for a powder room myself at this point. I too have seen the 750 sq foot home powder rooms, and I think they are pretty unattractive. Who wants a toilet basically sitting right next to their face in the already tiny living room/dining room?  We actually have space to add the powder room and I don't think I'd do it over other possible renos.  Much happier having the extra closet space, kitchen space, and bonus room space on the main floor.  [/quote]

forgot to add ... I think it is MUCH less awkward for guests to use my basement bathroom than a tiny powderoom. It is really awkward to excuse yourself from the dinner table and pee literally one foot away from everyone.  I think the only time I've really wished we had one was when we had elderly relatives visiting and I didn't like them going down the basement stairs. [/quote]

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