DC Buyer: The Non-Profit Worker Looking to Upgrade From a Studio to a One-Bedroom

• February 3rd 2010

by Martin Smith

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DC Buyer is a series on UrbanTurf where we look at buyers from various demographics and provide available housing options for them in the current DC market. After presenting some choices, we will ask readers to help them make their choice.

This week, we’re looking for properties for David, a single, 29-year-old who works for a downtown non-profit. Even though his income is fairly modest at $49,000 per year, David is fortunate enough to have considerable equity from a studio apartment that he purchased in 2003. He does not own a car, has no student loan debt, and only carries an occasional balance on his credit cards. As a result, his FICO score is an impressive 755.

David has lived in the Adams Morgan area since he purchased his studio unit six years ago. He likes the neighborhood, and enjoys being able to walk to brunch with his friends as well as the 16th Street bus lines. He wants to upgrade to a one-bedroom unit for under $350,000, and at this point, he’s pretty much exclusively looking in the Adams Morgan/Kalorama area.

The first property that we found for David is a two-level, one-bedroom unit at 2627 Adams Mill Road. At $350,000, it is towards the high end of his price point, but it is in the exact part of the neighborhood David likes, and it has a beautiful new kitchen and a washer/dryer in the unit. The building has the added bonus of a large rooftop deck and a low $224 condo fee.

The second property is a two-bedroom, one-bath coop at 2100 19th Street, NW. It is rare to come across a two-bedroom unit in this area in this price point, and this one does have the drawback of a less-than-impressive kitchen and bathroom. Still, it is far more space for the money and David could use the second bedroom as a home office.

The last property is a newly renovated one-bedroom unit at 1701 16th Street, NW. This property is further south than David wanted, but the finishes are just as nice as the first property, and the price tag is substantially better at $326,900. This unit also has a new kitchen, a washer/dryer and access to the roof deck.

Given these three choices, where should David submit an offer?

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/dc_buyer_the_non-profit_worker_looking_to_upgrade_to_adams_morgan_one-bedro/1743.