In This Year's Slower Market, Race to Sell Can Be a Marathon

Diane Kohn is in a race to sell her home.

It all began when a bright red rowhouse on Capitol Hill popped up on her computer screen on a bitter cold day in early February. The owners had reduced the asking price, and suddenly it fell within Kohn's house-hunting parameters -- single-family house or townhouse, two or more bedrooms and under $500,000.

So Kohn, an anti-corruption adviser for the U.S. State Department, took Metro after work and headed for Massachusetts Avenue and 17th St. SE. The house had all the features she had hoped for: spacious rooms; early 20th-century architectural detail; a formal dining room; and even a small yard for her dog, Molly.

In one smooth step that would make any real estate agent smile, Kohn agreed to the $475,000 asking price and put down a $9,000 earnest money deposit.

Now, all that stood between her and the house was her two-bedroom, two-bath condo on the other side of the Hill. She had to find someone to buy it, within 30 days. Otherwise, she risked losing the rowhouse to someone else, as her agreement with the seller stipulated.

And so, the clock began ticking on Kohn. It was Feb. 6.

She launched into a weeklong "deep cleaning" of the 755-square-foot space. She threw out four-foot-high newspaper stacks and stored boxes of books in neighbors' apartments.

Kohn's condo, a 15-minute walk from Union Station, is one of 17 in a three-story building on Eighth Street NE near Maryland Avenue that was once a Masonic Temple. In a residential neighborhood of mostly townhouses, the off-white building stands somewhat conspicuously, almost glowing against a night sky. Inside is a simple lobby with red-carpeted stairs leading to Kohn's top-floor unit. There are no elevators.

The condo's selling points are its layout and airy living room, featuring 16-foot ceilings, a fireplace and north-facing windows with views of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. A loft the size of a pool table, accessible by a ladder, overlooks that room.

To the right is the guest bedroom, with another loft large enough for a desk or a futon. On the other side of the living room is the kitchen, installed when the building was converted in the 1990s, and stairs leading up to a windowless master bedroom with generous closet space.

With an asking price of $414,900, the condo made its debut amid speculation about rising inventory of houses for sale and buyer uncertainty about prices. It was Feb. 12, the Sunday after Kohn found the rowhouse she hoped would be hers, and the day after a major storm coated the region with a foot of snow.

"We had a turnout that was not embarrassing but not encouraging," said Malcolm Carter, an agent with Long & Foster Real Estate who erected for-sale signs in the snow. He is representing Kohn with his partner, Alix Myerson. "Two hours before the open house, I was planning to cancel it," Carter said. "But I decided to go ahead with it partly because of Diane's needs and partly because the weather got better."