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Notable residential land use activity in Seattle's urban core

02-09-10
Ben Kakimoto - Seattle Condo Specialist
Ben Kakimoto - Seattle Condo Specialist: Real Estate Agent in Seattle, WA
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  • Office: (206) 295-4683
  • Mobile: (206) 295-4683

The following are upcoming land use review board meetings of new residential projects in the Seattle core districts, either planned as apartments or condos. Where applicable, I've noted existing condominiums located in the vicinity of the proposed structures.

2nd & Pike Tower

2030 8th Avenue. 38-story 350-unit residential tower proposed in the Denny Triangle area. Located at 8th and Lenora, the building would be situated NW of the Cosmopolitan and SW of the 2200.

Design Review Early Design Guidance Meeting
February 9, 2010 at 5:30 PM
Seattle City Hall
Download the design proposal workbook (12 MB PDF)

2nd & Pike Tower (1430 2nd Ave). 35-story residential tower at the SE corner of 2nd & Pike. At one point the project was to include a hotel, Candela, which has since been removed from the proposal. The project is situated on the SE corner of the intersection, across from the Newmark Tower.

Design Review Second Early Design Guidance Meeting
February 9, 2010 at 7:00 PM
Seattle City Hall
Download the design proposal workbook (7MB PDF)

1200 Stewart. Twin 35-story towers proposed at the corner of Denny and Stewart to contain residential, hotel and retail space.

Design Review Board Meeting
February 23, 2010 at 5:30 pm
Seattle City Hall

151 John Street. This is a 7-story residential building proposed at the corner of John Street and Warren Avenue next to the Seattle Center. This the lot adjacent to the north of Queen Court.

Design Review Board Meeting
March 3, 2010 at 6:30 PM
Queen Anne Community Center

3031 Western Ave. This is Martin Selig's 14-story 78-unit apartment proposal that's situated at the north end of the Olympic Sculpture Park and west of the Alexandria.

Design Review Board Meeting
March 9, 2010 at 5:30 pm
Seattle City Hall

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Invest Wisely with Seattle Short Sale Realty

02-09-10
Karen Bellas
Karen Bellas: Real Estate - Other in Phoenix, AZ
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  • Office: (480) 345-4069

If you are looking for a way to make a deal in the housing market in Seattle, then have a look at the Seattle WA short sale realty for sale. These houses represent the best bargain deals that you can get to reap gains in the future. Seattle is a lovely place to own a house in. Seattle is considerably one of the most beautiful cities in the world because of the lush greenery and constant rainfall. Seattle has a wonderful collection of neighborhoods like Georgetown, Magnolia, Queen Anne, Greenwood and many more.

Seattle for years has been the center for performing arts; there are several performances that take place at the Benaroya Hall, McCaw Hall, the 5th Avenue Theatre and many more. The mild weather of the city allows the residents to enjoy a range of outdoor fun. People love walking around the Green Lake and the Discovery Park, which is also the largest park in the city has some great facilities. You can also enjoy hiking and skiing in the nearby Cascade or Olympic Mountains.

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The State of Seattle's Waterfront Real Estate: 2009 Statistics

02-08-10
Sam DeBord - Seattle Real Estate Broker
Sam DeBord - Seattle Real Estate Broker: Real Estate Agent in Seattle, WA
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  • Mobile: (206) 658-3225

2009 was an up-and-down year for Seattle's real estate market in general. Half of the year was slumping prices and slow sales, followed by surging demand of first time buyers and a flurry of sales to close out the year. The lowest-priced sale of the year was a $48,000 houseboat on Lake Union--the ultimate in cheap waterfront living. On the other end of the scale, we topped out just over $15 million for a Lake Washington home in Mercer Island's East Seattle neighborhood.

Seattle waterfront

Waterfront home sellers in the greater Seattle real estate market felt the pain of a recession which has put a drag on luxury market purchases in general. While things were looking up by the end of 2009, the overall waterfront market is still recovering from the hits it has taken since mid-2007. This has created some very attractive opportunities for home buyers.

Seattle Waterfront Home Sales

Median sale prices of waterfront homes in King County dropped 4% from $716,000 in 2007 to $690,000 in 2008. 2009 saw a much larger 20% drop with the median sale price being $550,000. While those numbers certainly show an increase in affordability, take them with a grain of salt. Waterfront homes did not lose 20% of their value in 2009, there were just very few high-end sales last year, pushing the median lower. The total sales numbers have been skewed much further toward lower-end homes in the past two years as consumers have tightened their belts--even luxury home buyers.

In the meantime, the marketing time required to sell a waterfront home has increased markedly. With fewer buyers in the market, marketing time went up from a median of 38 days in 2007 to 66 days in 2008 and 70 days in 2009. Sellers had to try quite a bit harder to entice buyers to make a large purchase, and many home buyers actually downsized to save costs.

Marketing Time For Seattle Waterfront Homes

One theory that persists in the high-end real estate market is that these home owners don't "have to sell". More than the average home owner, they have more discretionary funds, more ability to carry mortgages on multiple homes, or the financial confidence to sit on their current property until they get the price they want.

While there is certainly truth to that theory in some situations, we're also seeing some cracks in the foundation. Waterfront home owners can certainly ride out the slow market, but there is always a limit. There were some very significant price drops this year on $15 million and $20 million properties that didn't budge much at all during 2008. These home owners are still investors, and they understand when it's time to cut their losses and make a sale happen.

For home sellers in 2010, the good news is that things continue to stabilize in the overall market. On a monthly basis, total home sales are on the rebound. Prices seem to have found a bottom for now. When the base of the market improves, the luxury market gets a delayed bounce. That's a bounce that can't come too soon for some waterfront home owners who have waited patiently to sell these past two years. For waterfront home buyers--the deal is there for the taking.

Sam DeBord and Brian Wiegand
SeattleHome.com - Washington State Realty - (206) 658-3225
Real Estate Brokers, Realtors, Green Certified Pros


seattle houseboats
seattle real estate market

Statistics not compiled or published by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

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Seattle Real Estate Update: Superbowl Sunday Open Houses

02-08-10
Courtney Cooper
Courtney Cooper: Real Estate Agent in Seattle, WA
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  • Office: (206) 251-5948
  • Mobile: (206) 850-8841

Seattle floating homes for saleSeattle Real Estate: Superbowl Sunday or not, the buyers were out in full force yesterday! I figured yesterday would be a loss as far as getting any traffic into the houses that our company held open, but wanted to give it a shot anyway. Molly held open 9042 6th Ave NW, which is a great Greenwood home for sale on the edge of Crown Hill and had quite a few interested buyers through. Morgan held open the Seattle houseboat for sale that we listed this last week - lots of great people through and some very strong interest.

The one recurring Seattle real estate theme that we have heard for weeks now is that the inventory is so low that there are not as many choices. We keep hearing form potential sellers that they think their home won't sell in this market, but the truth is that priced right and presented well, it could sell faster than you think! It is just a matter of finding the right buyers for the right houses and lack of inventory is contributing towards lower than possible sales for right now more than most anything else - maybe even more than tighter lending guidelines. Let us know if you want a current martket analysis and opinion for your Seattle home.

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Do You Qualify for the Homebuyer Tax Credit?

02-07-10
Frank Kliewer
Frank Kliewer: Real Estate Agent in Woodinville, WA
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  • Mobile: (206) 794-9900

Do You Qualify for the Homebuyer Tax Credit? ---

We came across a site that offer a multiple choice quiz that is very well done in determining eligibility for the Homebuyer Tax Credit.

homebuyertaxcredit.com

This very informative site is appropriately named homebuyertaxcredit.com and has in addition to the very helpful quiz many videos and other resource material. I gave the quiz a tough time by answering some of the questions in a manner that I knew would disqualify me, but the quiz continued to be helpful with information, and allowed a "go back" to change answers.

No registration is required to take the quiz, but if you want more information, or a Realtor to contact you, that option comes after the qualification quiz comes to an end. Give it a try, no obligation, just a good learning experience at homebuyertaxcredit.com . . .

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