Deal of the Week: A Peculiar U Street Condo

• November 1st 2011

by Shilpi Paul

This installment of Deal of the Week is a peculiar property as the write-up below will show, but it could be a good bargain for a very particular buyer.

The price is certainly low by U Street Corridor standards. Two-bedroom condos listed for less than $350,000 are rare finds in the neighborhood these days, even if they are foreclosures in what appear to be good shape (like this one).

However, the condo’s odd layout may limit the buyer pool to open-minded bargain hunters. Located on the lower two floors of a row house on Westminster Street, a one-block street below U Street, the unit takes traditionally desirable elements like exposed brick and an open floor plan to an extreme level. The living room on the top floor doesn’t just have one exposed brick wall, it has three that rise from the floor to the ceiling, giving the top level a chimney-like feel. Exposed brick can be found in the kitchen and bathroom as well.

Downstairs, the layout gets even more interesting. The two bedrooms have showers and sinks in the rooms themselves, with a shared toilet (closed off, thankfully) in between. The master bedroom is particularly open: the sink and hand-formed concrete bathtub sit against the wall, and the room opens to weight-bearing columns and a hallway-like area.

While this home lives more like a one-bedroom, it comes with a parking space and a rear deck, and could be an affordable way for a buyer to live close to the action of U Street…they just might want to create some separation between where they sleep and where they bathe.

More details and photos below.

• Full Listing: 925 Westminster Street NW, #1 (map)
• Price: $349,900
• Bedrooms: Two
• Bathrooms: Two
• Square Footage: 900
• Listing Agent: James Lisowski, RE/MAX Allegiance

Here are some monthly payment calculations based on a 20 percent down payment and a 30-year fixed rate mortgage at 4.2 percent.

• Loan Amount: $279,920
• Principal and Interest: $1,369
• Condo Fees: $350/month
• Property Taxes: $320/month
• Total Monthly Payments: $2,039

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/deal_of_the_week_one_of_the_more_peculiar_u_street_condos/4473.