This Article is From May 25, 2016

Where Will The Obamas Live Next Year? No One Knows Yet

Where Will The Obamas Live Next Year? No One Knows Yet

According to the National Journal, the Obamas plan to rent a home in D.C.'s Kalorama neighborhood. (AFP File Photo)

Washington: It's a terrific nugget for the cocktail party circuit. A feather in the hat of the District's haute neighborhoods. A Washington rumor with a Jan. 20, 2017, expiration date: the Obamas' next address after 1600 Pennsylvania.

Ever since President Barack Obama announced that the first family planned to stay in Washington post-White House so that Sasha Obama can finish high school at Sidwell Friends School, the city has been buzzing with guesses. Would the Obamas buy or rent? Stay in D.C. proper or move out to the 'burbs? A condo or a colonial?

According to the National Journal, the Obamas plan to rent a home in D.C.'s Kalorama neighborhood, an area rife with diplomats and the like. But the White House has stayed mum on the matter, according to the media outlet, and there's no attribution to the real estate scoop (not a source inside 1600 Pennsylvania or one with intimate knowledge of the family's real estate plans) because here's the thing: No one will know until the Obamas want them to.

"That'd be stupid," said one local high-profile real estate agent when asked whether the White House might be leaking information about the commander in chief's next move. No agent worth their license would risk their reputation by blabbing. Add to that the fact that the Obamas are especially adept at keeping their private lives private, and the prospect of news about their future home becoming public before an official announcement becomes even more slim.

When the Clintons bought their home near Massachusetts Avenue NW during the last weeks of Bill Clinton's presidency, their house hunting was equal parts stealthy and quick. At the time, the White House announced the news in a brief statement on Dec. 29, 2000: "We appreciate all the hard work of everyone who made our search for a place in Washington, D.C., productive and enjoyable."

That search had begun quietly only a month before, just after Hillary Clinton won her Senate race in New York. Originally the Clintons were looking for a home to rent with room enough for daughter Chelsea, Hillary Clinton's mother, Dorothy Rodham, and Buddy, their chocolate Labrador retriever. Plans quickly pivoted when a few weeks later Hillary Clinton snagged at $8 million book deal with Simon & Schuster in mid-December. Now the first couple could comfortably afford to buy, and the clock was already ticking.

After narrowing the list to four houses (all toured by Hillary and Chelsea before showing Bill) and even putting an offer on a home they later decided against (too many stairs for Dorothy), the Clintons closed on a six-bedroom brick Georgian for $2.85 million three days after Christmas.

Whether renting or buying, it's not a stretch to assume the Obamas' home search will follow a similar path to that of their predecessors, who were only the second first family since President Woodrow Wilson's to buy a home in Washington after leaving the White House. Like the Clintons, the Obamas will need to make room for their children, a mother-in-law, four-legged family members and the Secret Service.

But first, said Susan Berger, one of the agents involved in the Clinton real estate deal, the Obamas have to find an agent they can trust.

"Privacy," Berger said, "is a very very important part of this business."

© 2016 The Washington Post

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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