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Parking Reservations
For Barbara Worth, two years of free parking at a nearby garage was what she needed to seal the purchase of a condominium in Logan Circle.
(By James A. Parcell For The Washington Post)
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John Goodloe, an agent with Weichert Realtors, represented a husband and wife who were trying to sell their condo and parking space at the Solo Piazza in Logan Circle last June. They had plenty of offers for the condo but none for both. Goodloe said he was baffled.
"We thought that it would be more attractive, but what happened was because of the location of the condo being right downtown and close to an awful lot of things, the person who purchased it did not need a car," he said.
So Goodloe listed the parking space separately. He was allowed to do so because it had a separate deed. Most buildings require owners to sell their units and spaces in tandem. Because of security concerns, many also forbid owners from selling their spots to people who do not live in the building. Goodloe's clients could sell their spot only to a resident of their building. Still, they got $48,000. Their asking price had been $35,000.
Mack said she, too, was fortunate to have bought a parking space with a separate deed. She has decided to try to sell the unit for $328,000 and has placed a separate ad for the parking space on Craigslist. She is asking $25,000 for the space.
"I just want to sell it outright," she said. "I don't want to worry about it."
Perhaps she had trouble selling the space because her building is near three Metro stations. Or because Southwest Washington is not as crowded as neighborhoods such as Logan Circle, Dupont Circle and Georgetown.
Or maybe it was that parking spaces, like condos, have become so expensive that too many people have been priced out of the market.
Agents speak often of the parking space on 21st Street in Georgetown that was listed for $100,000 but sold for $111,500 in May 2005, the height of the local real estate frenzy.
"It's not any better-lacquered or painted. It doesn't have a disco ball hanging on it. It's a parking space," said Lance Horsley, an agent for Long & Foster who specializes in lofts. "They're more valuable than they were, and they'll always hold their value until the day -- which is not going to happen in my lifetime -- when mass transportation here in D.C. really hits its stride."
When it comes to the effect of parking availability on resale values, "it's a double-edged sword," said Andy Greenspan of Long & Foster in Bethesda. "If someone can afford it and is willing to pay a premium on top of the cost of the unit itself and it fits in their budget, they can have parking as long as they need it.
"If they want parking but find that it's going to be a stretch to make ends meet . . . they may find the extra thousands of dollars for the space is too much."
The average price for parking spaces increased about 25 percent per year between 2003 and 2005, according to Delta Associates, an Alexandria-based real estate research firm. Since then, the price has stalled but not dropped.
