Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Sale, resale and bathrooms

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On 6/17/2003 8:59 AM, "Dahako [at] aol.com" <Dahako [at] aol.com> wrote:

> A realtor friend of one of our members has been urging her to put another
> bathroom in her unit because units that size with 2 bathrooms (rather than a
> bath and powder room or just one bathroom) sell better in our market.
> 
> Does anyone out there have any insight into whether/how real estate truisms
> for a market in general hold up for cohousing?

I just finished trying to rent a two-bedroom unit at Takoma Village that has
two bathrooms. It was hard because the space is small. Having two bathrooms
makes it smaller. While it is true that most new two-bedrooms are being
built with two bathrooms and this makes them attractive to unrelated
roommates, the space trade off may not be worth it. The last tenant and the
next one will use the second bathroom as a closet, putting shelves in the
shower, and others did not rent because it made the space too small.

In addition, realtors are interested in spaces that sell quickly to the
current market. You have to judge whether there will be sufficient numbers
of people like you in the market when you choose to sell. Rob has shared a
number of stories about houses in his community that included too many
special features that cost more than the local market was willing to pay for
them. Is a second bathroom in a small apartment one of them?

If I had consulted a real estate agent when I designed my apartment, they
would have given a thumbs down on everything I decided to do -- leave all
the walls out instead of making it a two bedroom apartment with 2 baths.
Everyone who walks in loves it and the 850 square feet looks palatial. I
also plan to redo the kitchen to put in a wall mounted oven and a _two_
burner range top so there is more counter space and cupboards instead of a
huge oven I never use and a range top that I cover to use for counter.

BUT I'm also in one of the fastest growing demographics in the nation --
single women who prefer living alone to picking up someone else's socks. AND
by the time I move out, the place will need to be renovated anyway.


Sharon
-- 
Sharon Villines, Washington DC
Where all roads lead to Casablanca




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