Bedrooms and Buyers on Capitol Hill

Guest contributor Jessica Wilkie is a Hill resident and Realtor with DCRealEstate.com. This post also appeared on her blog, Wilkie on the Hill.

Buyers count bedrooms. But are two enough…five too many? Houses for sale in DC zip 20003–that sold in June this year– tell a story.

Those with 2-3 bedrooms have consistently sold the highest:

2 bedrooms–16 sold
3 bedrooms–16 sold
4 bedrooms–2 sold
5 bedrooms–1 sold
1 bedroom–1 sold

But that’s not all. Here is something else to consider…. Over the past year, 3-BR homes took an average of 59 days to sell, versus 38 days for 2-BRs. Interesting. And here’s a seasonal twist… 2-BRs sold faster in winter in the past year, and 3-BRs sold faster in the summertime. “Why?”, you ask? Perhaps because families tend to wait until summertime to move. Also, there are probably more 2 bedrooms available than any other combination in our neighborhood of historic row houses. Knowing that 2-BRs sell faster than larger homes in the winter, you might go ahead and choose to list your 2-BR in the colder months. Likewise, if you have a 3-BR, or larger, you might wait until summer to put it on the market. Too much second-guessing for you? While these are tips for sellers to keep in mind when starting to think about putting your home on the market, it is even more important to remember that properties that show well at decent prices will sell anytime of year.