Observations

I am on my way back from a two day trip to washington DC(sitting in o'hare as I type), and got to spend some time looking at local condo's in downtown DC. One building offered a 750sqft studio condo for a mere $220k. There was no style to these, the fixtures and appliances were cheap, and the view was of a brick building across the street. My question is, if I was the selling agent, how would I get excited to sell something like this? I'm from a more modest market where that kind of money will get you a fairly new 2400 sqft ranch with a nice yard. I realize dowtown DC is a whole different world, but don't people still need to have some sort of value?