Out and About - Some sellers still haven’t gotten the message

Consider this Capitol Hill rowhouse in Southeast. Although the marketing materials suggest that “nothing was spared,” the investor who bought and renovated the property is trying to pull the wool over the eyes of prospective purchasers.

Perhaps the most glaring overstatement is that the property has three bedrooms upstairs. Neither a buyer nor, more importantly, the D.C. government would consider a small windowless room fit for sleeping. To call it a bedroom is impermissible; by law a bedroom must have a minimum of 70 square feet, a closet and a window large enough and low enough for someone to use as an escape route. No window, no bedroom. It’s maybe a den, office or media room, but a bedroom it is not. Not! In this case, the space would best be used a laundry room.

The developer included other features, good ones such as crown molding, but the intent undoubtedly was to distract potential buyers. For example, although the kitchen appliances are stainless steel, they are way below top of the line. The top-mounted, heavy glass sinks are a stylish touch, as is the whirlpool bath, but the bathrooms otherwise lack distinction. And they are off bedrooms that really are too small to be called honestly “masters.” In addition, the patio out back is inviting enough, but its presence disguises the absence of parking spaces that could be there instead.

Clearly, the owner is hoping to make a big profit: That’s why he or she purchased the house to begin with. Well, if that owner persists in listing the place for $799,000, buyers will be hanging back until the Potomac freezes over. And the owner will be out in the cold.

Some other properties seen in the past week:

• In Bethesda's Bradley Hills, a three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath detached home that is all too obviously an estate sale. With a garage unremarkably converted into an extra room, poor maintenance everywhere, central air conditioning, a large backyard, a riotous variety of paint colors and a dank finished basement, this home needs plenty of attention. Even taking into account its convenient location, the property has an unwarranted price of $829,900.
  
• A lovely two-bedroom, two-bath condo in a nicely converted Dupont Circle building that is pet friendly. Among the apartment's assets are a classically modern kitchen with cherry cabinets and granite countertops. Among its defects is the placement of the kitchen, through which visitors must pass to reach the living area, which boasts hardwood floors and crown molding. Still, the flow is otherwise pleasing, the sunlight ample, the bathrooms handsome, the fireplace welcoming and the sitting nook in the master bedroom most appealing. The asking price of $629,000 is perhaps ambitious, given that only rental parking (at $220 a month) is available three whole blocks away. The monthly fee is $365, not including utilities.
  
• In Columbia Heights, a two-bedroom, one-and-a-half-bath basement condo - yes, basement - in a newly renovated building. Disgracefully overpriced at a reduced price of $379,900, it is dark and claustrophobic, despite its 900 square feet and eight windows that you know are small and high. It has been on the market since early August, and the price went down at the beginning of the year. Not far enough!
  
• A beautifully well-maintained 1360-SF condo with two bedroom, two baths and loft in Alexandria. Built in 2002, this apartment boasts an attractive open kitchen, numerous large windows, capacious balcony and fabulous walk-in closets. Listed at $499,900 and with a respectable $285/month condo fee, this unit won't linger on the market.
  
• In Logan Circle, a two-bedroom, one-bath, 891-SF condo that has some hardwood floors; an open kitchen with vinyl floor, merely adequate maple cabinets and stainless appliances that are not top of the line; a tiny living room that has a wood-burning fireplace; track lighting; and a superb location. The $425,000 asking price represents good value.
  
• In Kalorama, a gorgeously renovated 1910 rowhouse with five bedrooms, four and a half baths, beautiful pine floors, elegant kitchen, pleasant in-law suite, restored marble fireplaces, generous closet space, deck but no backyard worth mentioning, no parking, and all new everything, even doubled-up floor joists. Despite the quality and desirable location of this 3,000-SF home, it is very well priced at $1.549 million.
  
• A charming detached home evocative of an English country cottage in the Brookdale neighborhood of Bethesda. Although the kitchen has laminate countertops, it is sunny, welcoming and well served by the breakfast room addition, which overlooks a superbly landscaped garden and patio. Six blocks from the Friendship Heights Metro station, this home benefits from seamless additions, including a cozy hideaway office, but it suffers from having only two upstairs bedrooms, one of them quite small, too much wall-to-wall carpeting in various hues, a dark paneled basement, and one of two baths only half improved. In any case, the asking price for this 1937 home seems about right at $815,000.
  
• In northeast Logan Circle, a four-bedroom, one-and-a-half-bath rowhouse that has been shamelessly renovated on the cheap. So, that's one bath for the four bedrooms. The hardwood floors were pre-finished, the addition of second-rate cabinets was stinting, there is carpeting upstairs, the numerous folding doors are third rate, and the patio faces a street. Why, then, has the owner/agent continued to list the place for $899,000 for more than a month without any takers?
  
• A spacious four-level Wardman home that was clearly renovated on a budget in Crestwood. "Gracious" is an over-used word that well describes the roominess of this dwelling, which has four bedrooms, three and a half baths, a finished attic best used for an office or playroom, an unfinished lower level with potential, a two-car detached garage, high ceilings and good-size foyer. Although the house was renovated in 2002, the work does not match the space, so the kitchen, for example, seems out of place and, in any case, not very well done. And no one bothered to do anything with the depressing old doors that, with refinishing, would be sensational. Also, there is no central air conditioning. But a considerable investment in at least cosmetics would pay off nicely for this 1923 home, which was on the market last year at $925,000 and is now at a somewhat more realistic $825,000.
  
• A stylish efficiency apartment that actually seems designed efficiently. Converted 15 months ago, this condo offers plenty of light, a quite decent open kitchen at the far end, the opportunity for good separation between sleeping and living areas, and a wall of cabinetry that conveys. It is listed at a fair price of $229,900 with a $160 monthly fee that covers little that would be costly.
  
• In Bloomingdale, a handsome old brick Victorian with exterior architectural ornaments typical of the neighborhood, which borders Eckington, huge tall windows and a classic interior layout with original wood details. There are five bedrooms, two and a half baths, a skylight, an indifferently improved kitchen, albeit with granite and new cabinets, and at least one period working fireplace. That the lower level shows better than the upper two stories speaks volumes about the work that needs to be done - like everything, from the floors covered with emerald green carpeting to the baths tiled a dated sky blue. It originally went on the market in September at $740,000 and now is offered at too high a price of $599,000.
  
• An unexceptionally renovated Logan Circle rowhouse that has just two bedrooms, two and a half baths, a small and grim rear yard, inexpensively modernized open kitchen, skylights and a deck - a modicum of sizzle with a soupçon of steak. It is offered at $659,000, which suggests an understanding that this home would make a pretty good condo alternative.
  
• In Chevy Chase, D.C., a two-bedroom, one-and-half-bath semi-detached house that has small bedrooms and needs work. The sole full bath is basically an awkwardly designed long closet, giving new meaning to "water closet." The location is especially nice, but the 200 days that this property has been on the market proves that the asking price of $489,000 is just too much.