What's Hot: Mortgage Rates Fall Towards 6% Following Fed Cut
DC Buyer: The 30 Year-Old Teacher in 16th Street Heights
✉️ Want to forward this article? Click here.
6 Rhode Island Avenue
In this new feature, UrbanTurf looks at buyers from various demographics and provides 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 look at a single woman named Marie, 30, who works as a teacher in 16th Street Heights. Given her advanced degree and several years of experience, Marie makes $58,000 a year, and she has been aggressive about managing her debt, only carrying a $1,500 credit card balance and $10,000 in student loan debt. Marie’s careful management of her finances has earned her a FICO score of 715, and she has saved about $24,000 to put towards a down payment on her new home. She’s going to be looking for a home in the $225,000 to $250,000 range.
Marie is a first-time buyer who is interested in a one-bedroom condo. She likes the idea of new construction or renovated condos because she’s not very handy and doesn’t want to have to do extensive renovations or maintenance. In her free time, Marie likes heading to happy hour with her friends in Columbia Heights, hitting the museums downtown, and discovering new musicians on U Street.
3902 14th Street NW
The first property that we found that fits Marie’s criteria is a one-bedroom, one-bath condo on the corner of 14th and Randolph Streets in Columbia Heights. While not a luxury condo, this unit offers good space for the price ($237,500) and is convenient to public transportation (Columbia Heights Metro is about a 13-minute walk). The condo fee of $271 is reasonable, and the unit does feature wood floors and new appliances. The downside for Marie is that the only laundry in the building is in the basement, and she wants machines in her unit, if possible.
The second possible property is a two-bedroom, two-bath unit in Bloomingdale for $239,700.
The condo is in a small 9-unit boutique building about ten blocks from NoMa’s new Harris Teeter grocery store. Aside from the large size of the unit, the kitchen is completely new, and it has its own washer/dryer. While it offers a lot of space for the money, the unit is fairly far from where Marie works and she estimates that her commute would be about 40 minutes.
Given these two choices, where should she put in her offer?
See other articles related to: 16th street heights, bloomingdale, columbia heights, dc buyer, dclofts, editors choice
This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.production.logicbrush.com/articles/blog/dc_buyer_the_30_year-old_teacher_in_16th_street_heights/1694.
Most Popular... This Week • Last 30 Days • Ever
A plan to add another new residential building to the Friendship Heights pipeline is ... read »
Mortgage rate buydowns can be a good option for buyers who want to save money on inte... read »
Plans filed this week provide the latest look at the 106-key hotel in the works at an... read »
The eight-bedroom, 35,000 square-foot home in McLean known as The Cliffs went under c... read »
The large new development would take the place of the Ballston One office building al... read »
- Donohoe Files PUD For 127-Unit Development in Friendship Heights
- How Does a Mortgage Rate Buydown Work?
- A Look At Georgetown's New 100-Key Hotel Along The Canal
- A $30 Million Sale? One Of The DC Area's Most Expensive Homes Finds A Buyer
- Updated Plans Filed For 328-Unit Development At Arlington Office Site
DC Real Estate Guides
Short guides to navigating the DC-area real estate market
We've collected all our helpful guides for buying, selling and renting in and around Washington, DC in one place. Start browsing below!
First-Timer Primers
Intro guides for first-time home buyers
Unique Spaces
Awesome and unusual real estate from across the DC Metro