“Not all condos are equal, though.” Sold in 5 Days for $885,000

Good Deal or Not Revisited (GDoN-R) is a weekly post that reviews the settled sales data of a recent individual real estate transaction in the District of Columbia. Each post is intended as a case study and a snapshot of the real estate market at a particular moment in time. GDoN-R generally posts on Friday in the late morning.

GDoN-R has been written exclusively for PoPville since 2009 by Suzanne Des Marais. Suzanne is a practicing Realtor with Compass. Unless specifically noted, neither she nor the company that she is affiliated with represented any of the parties or were directly involved in the transaction reported below. Unless otherwise noted, the source of information is Metropolitan Regional Information Systems (MRIS), which is the local multiple listing system and/or Smartcharts by Showingtime. Information is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

Featured Property: 405 O St NW #2
Legal Subdivision: Old City #2
Advertised Subdivision per Listing: Old City #2
Bedrooms: 3 Baths: 3 Parking: Street Ownership: Condo Monthly fee: $284.94
Living Square Footage per Listing: 1690 square feet
Original List Price: $849,900. List Price at Contract: $849,900.
List Date: 1/19/2018 Days on Market: 5
Settled Sales Price: $885,000.
Seller Subsidy: $0.
Settled Price per Square Foot: $524.
Settlement Date: 2/28/2018
Transaction type: Standard

Original GDoN post can be seen: here.

The original listing can be seen here: here.

Last week, GDoN-R reported on the sale of a duplex condo in Columbia Heights/Park View that settled with a $503. price per square foot. The subject property of this post is also an upper duplex condo in NW DC, located further south and east (in Shaw near the O Street Market Development) in relation to last week’s, and sold at $524. per square foot. While it might not seem like much of a difference, that extra $20. or so per square foot can mean a few tens of thousands of dollars to the Seller.

Pricing per square foot is less helpful and reliable with fee simple houses because there are typically too many other variables to factor (such as finished square footage versus unfinished) and the measurements are not as consistent. Because the comparisons are more consistent, using price per square foot with condos can be a good approach to looking at apples in relation to apples, so to speak.

Not all condos are equal, though. Agents still need to factor in amenities, such as a roof deck in this case, as well as parking, whether a unit is a two-level or a flat, an upper or a lower, etc. Variables, such as parking, are subtracted prior to calculating, and parking spaces are worth more or less depending on location. Larger duplex units tend to have a lower price per square foot than tiny units, and new construction can have a significantly higher price per square foot than units that were converted even just four or five years ago.

The listing agent for this transaction was Sebastien Courret with Compass (per disclosure above, the writer is affiliated with the same brokerage). Chad Dudley, with Remax Realty Services, represented the Purchaser.