Out and About - If it looks too good to be true . . .

Now here's a deal: In a new conversion a few blocks from the Convention Center and just off Massachusetts Avenue, a spic-and-span one-bedroom apartment with stainless appliances, under-mounted sinks, hardwood floors, granite countertops, recessed lighting and in-unit washer/dryer. The price with seller and lender inducements is a mere $301,500. If that's not a bargain, even in today's new market environment, what is?

Look again, starting with the kitchen. The new maple cabinetry is not only an outmoded design, but its quality is at best second rate. Those stainless appliances? They're an inferior brand. As for the drawers, they don't exist at all, not one of them. The dishwasher is not full size, and the refrigerator is small capacity. The electric cooktop has the appearance of four inexpensive hotplates grouped together. And don't even try to open the refrigerator and oven doors at the same time.

With regard to the rest of the apartment, the most glaring omission is closet space. There is but one place to hang clothes, and it's no bigger than an ordinary hall closet. Beyond that defect are the views: They are all but nonexistent, hemmed in by surrounding high-rise structures as this building is. As you might imagine, although the baths are tiled in marble and the tubs are extra deep, they fall far short of glamorous. And the washer/dryer is a combination unit by an unfamiliar manufacturer; it could not possibly handle a reasonable load of sheets and towels together.

Virtually all of the other one-bedroom units – 10 out of 84 of them sold after less than a month on the market - suffer from the developer having minimized everything in sight while undoubtedly hoping that prospective buyers will fail to notice the many cut corners. An inescapable problem with one unit, however, is the location of its bedroom, which is basically carved out of an end of the living room, separated only by a set of French doors.

Okay, so these condos are not even close to high end. Yet, no one would say they are outrageously priced. Their prices range from a low of $255,000 to no more than $465,000 (on the top floor). For renters with an informed eye seeking to enter the market, perhaps the tradeoffs in size and quality are reasonable for the opportunity to own at last. But the lesson is to look hard before leaping. To paraphrase what consumers hear over and again, if it looks to good to be true, look again. . . and again.

Some of the other properties listed by other agents and seen in the past week:

• In the gated Burleith of community Hillandale, a handsome 1981 four-level brick townhouse with elevator from the garage to the top floor, central vacuum system and extra parking. With views of a pretty manmade pond, cathedral ceiling in the living room and a table-space kitchen that could use modernizing, this home is dated but eminently livable. The master bedroom is on the second floor with an undistinguished bath and, overlooking the living room, a pleasant sitting area. Upstairs, two bedrooms share the single bath. The lower level also has a full bath plus a room that can be used flexibly; it opens to the patio. Given the location, space and community amenities such as swimming pool and tennis courts, the price of $1.25 million is not entirely unreasonable with a $370 monthly fee that includes painting of the trim every three years.
  
• A Dupont Circle two-bedroom condo with a sunny alcove, open modern kitchen, maple flooring, full-size washer/dryer and good closet space. In a pet friendly building converted in 2003, the apartment is listed too high based on a recent sale. In this market, the asking price of $575,000 with a $361 monthly fee that does not cover heating or cooling will not be easily met.
  
• In Shaw, a two-unit, 1880 brick home that has been sadly neglected for years inside and out. There is nothing this corner house doesn't need, starting with the shaky handrail up the carpeted stairs to the two bedrooms and hall bath on the second floor. The floors are seriously in need of refinishing, the kitchen is a travesty, and who knows what in the infrastructure requires attention. Because the bones are worthy, in no small part thanks to the double bay windows and the sunlight they admit, the nearly detached house has plenty of potential. But the $200,000-300,000 necessary to realize that potential makes the asking price of $700,000 far too high.
  
• A co-op in Cleveland Park with lots of character, two bedrooms, one and a half baths, a small formal dining room, a solarium and nine-and-a-half-foot ceilings. What this apartment doesn't have is central air conditioning and a washer/dryer in the unit. But the nicely improved kitchen is unusually spacious for this complex, there are 17 windows with views of tranquil parkland and gardens, and the charm of the unit is undeniable. At $615,000, with an $832 monthly fee that includes property taxes and heat, the co-op is priced according to recent sales in the complex.
  
• In SoFlo, just north of K Street, a totally renovated 3,500-SF home with three bedrooms and two baths upstairs and one of each in the lower level, which has the potential of becoming a rental unit. The work is not of the highest quality – if it were, the house would too easily outdistance the others on the block – but the renovation is quite decent. Some folks might object to the pistachio- and lemon-colored walls, which clash with the remaining original features such as the pocket doors and mantle, but the price reduced from $599,000 to $579,000 after a few weeks is appropriate. With landscaping, the owner could expect more.
  
• A tastefully renovated semi-detached rowhouse with many thoughtful details on a charming Dupont Circle block. With a total of four bedrooms and three and a half baths, this classic Victorian has a three-level owner's apartment and a legal rental unit that has been well improved, even with granite countertops in the small kitchen. The unit brings in $1,595 monthly. As for the rest of the house, the home has many assets, including an excellent kitchen, beautiful baths and high ceilings. Unfortunately, it has no parking or yard. The price of $1.075 million is lower than available comparables, but it may prove to be too high.
  
• In the U Street corridor north Logan Circle, a two-story bayfront Victorian with three bedrooms sharing one bath upstairs, plus one and a half more baths including the lower level. The newly remodeled kitchen with slate floor and room for a table opens to a new deck and garden, but no parking, though the garden could be sacrificed for that function. Among the features in this attached home are exposed brick walls, skylights, a fireplace in the living room and a basement that has been finished to include an odd open bath with a door where most needed. There is no central air conditioning. The price has been reduced from $799,000 to $759,000, which is getting there.
  
• A conventional American University Park colonial, all of which is (disconcertingly) being used for office space. Two blocks from the Metro on a triangular corner lot, this 1954 property with four bedrooms, two and a half baths and central air conditioning has little to commend it but its location. The price of $899,000 is surprisingly out of line because its condition is questionable and it shows so poorly.
  
• In Kalorama, a two-bedroom, two-bath first-floor apartment in a distinguished building. With a parking space, greenery noticeable from the living room, a poor kitchen that has had only its cabinets replaced, and the opportunity to be transformed into a dramatic space, this condo has an arresting set of heavily ornamented support columns throughout and gorgeous crown molding. The $739 monthly fee includes extra storage space, roof deck, heat, air conditioning and cable TV. Pets are allowed. But the place needs a lot – a lot – of work, and that makes the offering price of $769,000 seem excessive.
  
• An Eckington condo on a block of North Capitol that is beginning to shrug off its urban grittiness. In a newly renovated building, the 1,950-SF apartment features big, airy rooms, modern kitchen with the usual look, three bedrooms, a master bath with large whirlpool and Euro-style shower, one and a half additional baths, a den and, sorry to report, hollow-core doors. But other pluses are the high ceilings, maple hardwood floors, 42-inch plasma TV, crown molding and contemporary styling. The price: $585,000.
  
• In Logan Circle, an exceptionally renovated 1880s semi-detached rowhouse with 3,336 square feet, two rental efficiencies, a drop-dead open kitchen with stainless counters, a living room with slate flooring and a fireplace, second and third floors with white oak flooring, fireplace in the family room, three bedrooms and three deluxe baths. Listed at $1.495 last fall with the improvement incomplete, this home is a bargain at $1.395 million today.
  
• A lovely, well-located Georgetown rowhouse with original pine floors, period paint colors that are, therefore, noticeably unpopular today, first-rate kitchen, three bedrooms and two lovely baths on the second floor and a guest suite in the lower level. There is no parking, so the price of $1.479 million for this 1900 home seems somewhat excessive.
  
• In Dupont Circle, four remaining apartments in a new conversion just off 17th Street. Although prices were recently reduced slightly, they are not justified by the room sizes, the high ceilings, hardwood floors and so-called designer kitchens and baths. The closet space is abysmal – one small one in a bedroom, period. There is no parking. And the views are of brick walls a few feet from most windows. The most expensive of these condos has two bedrooms, two baths and a plasma TV. It is not even close to being worth the $599,000 asking price with a $296 monthly fee. No wonder these have sat on the market for months.
  
• A Logan Circle conversion into three sleek - and expensive – condos. The one for which bank robbery might be considered, though rashly, is the penthouse. It has three bedrooms, three baths, table-space chef's kitchen with top appliances, luxurious bath with limestone, separate shower and whirlpool tub, a balcony, a roof terrace and secure parking. Other features include a den, space to accommodate an elevator, floor-to-ceiling windows, a den and a laundry room. Despite the amount of drama dripping in this apartment, the price of $1.5 million with a $480 monthly fee that covers little is pretty aggressive.