Here in Washington, we have seen the rapid gentrification of some formerly funky neighborhoods. And in some never funky areas, there has been a lot of new development.
Every parking lot becomes the site of a new "luxury" condo building. Any lovely old Victorian townhomes coming on the market are apt to be transformed into 4-unit condominiums, also with every bell and whistle they can possibly fit in.
But what happens a couple of years later, after the new condos have been around a while and had time to mature?
This year, I've been working with several buyers looking for "nice" 2-bedroom condos. They are in different price ranges, and with one I'm doing a lot of previewing. And I'm starting to notice that while some of the new and converted buildings are aging quite gracefully, others are beginning to look pretty thin at the elbows after a short time.
- The cabinest under the granite counter tops are not holding up too well.
- The flooring, often some sort of engineered wood or laminate, is looking a little, well, tacky.
- Some of the open floor plans just don't work unless you plan to dine at the kitchen counter for every meal - in smaller condos there was often too little room for even a small dining table.
- The baths have some of the same issues that the kitchens do, with cabinetry wearing poorly and tile that is no longer in favor.
- The wood on the roof deck is splintering.
- The lobby is starting to look a little bit tacky.
Tomorrow, I'm showing a five or so year old renovation as well as new construction, and as I go through examples of both, there is one common denominator in the quality projects - the flooring. It seems that if they get that right, the rest of the work is quite good. And I don't want to tell you how many "dogs" I've been through that had fabulous on-line photos to get to good ones! That's for another post!
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