About Seattle's Maple Leaf

Maple Leaf in Seattle:

The Maple Leaf neighborhood in Seattle offers some good views and wonderful urban choices -this neighborhood is high up on the hill and has some wonderful city and lake views, but also has lots to offer its residents!

Want to be near Green Lake, but can't quite afford it? Maple Leaf is a great choice! Want a good Seattle neighborhood with lots of appeal? Check out Maple Leaf!

Maple Leaf real estate is primarily residential and it is just South of the great transit center in Northgate. Schools and parks here make it even more appealing, but don't forget to check out all the great retail right in this neighborhood, too! Snappy Dragon easily offers the very best Chinese food in Seattle (complete with a wonderful vegetarian menu) and Math-N-Stuff is the teacher's choice for educational supplies for miles around.

Maple Leaf homes available right now start at $315,000 for a 3 bedroom townhouse, but most of the neighborhood is single family homes - Maple Leaf has something to offer everyone and is also a quick commute to Downtown Seattle.

Cooper Jacobs Real Estate Services, Seattle real estate 206-251-5948

I think this is pretty cool! Seattle Magazine glomped together all the Seattle suburbs and in city neighborhoods and compared them to come up with a list of best neighborhoods to live in.

The funny part is that the suburbs absolutely rocked the competition with Kenmore taking #1 and Shoreline taking the number 2 spot. In fact, the only in city Seattle neighborhood that made the top ten was Northgate.

Congrats Northgate! Affordable prices and the revamped Northgate Mall must have no doubt played a part. Seattle Magazine used a point system and included schools and affordability so Seattle in city was probably pretty penalized, but I am surprised Maple Leaf at the very least did not get into that top ten spot at least.

Other Seattle "neighborhoods" in the top ten: Bellevue, Mountlake Terrace, Mercer Island, Redmond, Des Moines, Federal Way, Kent (for those of you out of area, these are all suburbs).

So in city top spot: Northgate

Nearby:

I would also highly recommend checking out Maple Leaf real estate when you get a chance - If for no other reason than to eat at Judy Fu's Snappy Dragon, the Maple Leaf Grill, or visit the amazing educational store Math N Stuff!

Effective January 31st, 2009:

WAC 308-124C-050 Home inspector referrals.

"Each licensed designated broker will establish a written office policy that includes a procedure for referring home inspectors to buyers or sellers. The policy will address the consumer's right to freely pick a home inspector of the buyer's or seller's choice and prevent any collusion between the home inspector and a real estate licensee.

If a licensee refers a home inspector to a buyer or seller with whom they have or have had a relationship including, but not limited to, a business or familial relationship, then full disclosure of the relations must be provided in writing prior to the buyer or seller using the services of the home inspector."

This won't change any of my business practices except that I have to put a policy in writing as of today, but I have to wonder what went wrong to necessitate what to me seems like common sense. It is scary to think that collusion could happen between two people that should be your strongest allies in such a monumental transaction.

Courtney Cooper, Designated Broker, Cooper Jacobs Real Estate Services, Seattle real estate

I recently posted a little powerpoint on my website (ABODEN.com) about this, but I thought I might go into a little more detail.

My latest research shows that the Maple Leaf neighborhood in North Seattle is fairing better in the housing market than some other areas.

Check out the diagrams and I'll explain:

• Long story short - over half the homes in Maple Leaf are selling in 30 days or less (orange area).

Here's another diagram showing how much homes actually sold for compared to how much they listed for:

• Long story short - Homes that sold in less than 30 days went for over 99% of their listed price (again, orange bar on right graph).
• After 30 days, though, sellers took a much bigger hit on the price (all other bars).

Here's my opinion on these stats:

Example: Seller A and Seller B have the exact same home for sale on the same street. Everything is the same except Seller A priced their home at $400,000 and Seller B priced their home at $412,000 (which was the top of the pricing scale their Realtor gave them).

Who's house will stay on the market longer? Seller B, right? Yep.

Seller A is part of that "30 days or less" category in the diagram. Seller B is part of the "more than 30 days" group.

Seller B, after 30 days has gone by, has to reduce the price of their home to be competitive.

What price do they reduce to? Seller A's price. Why? Because that price got the home sold while Seller B's home is still on the market collecting dust.

So Seller B reduces their price to $400,000 and their home gets sold for $395,000. All together, Seller B had to wait 3 months before their home sold because they didn't price it right to begin with. They were too greedy.

So, how much did it cost them to overprice their home? Let's take a look:

$412,000 (original price for Seller B)

- 12,000 (perceived loss. They didn't really lose this amount because it wouldn't have sold at this price)

- $6,000 (3 months of mortgage payments while the home was on the market)

- $5,000 (buyers took advantage of seller's desperation. Wouldn't offer more than $395k)

- $1,500 (cost for 3 months of professional home staging)

Total Loss (perceived and otherwise) = $24,500.00

Total Actual Loss = $12,500.00

Ultimately, Seller B sold their home for about 4% less of their original price. This is also what's indicated on the diagram. Homes taking longer than 30 days to sell are selling at around 2 -4% less.

How can you avoid this frustration as a home seller? Here's my advice:

If you know that the housing market in Seattle is on a mild downward turn, don't price your home at the current market price!

Price your home just ahead of the downward curve! You'll sell your home in 30 days or less and avoid the losses accumulated by Seller B.

This is only one aspect of selling your home quickly and making the most of your time and money. If you need more help with selling your home in North Seattle, let's talk.

- Jay Silver

Looking for resources for green gardening in Seattle?

The Washington Toxics Coalition has a wonderful site for your education! They also offer cute little signs for your yard in exchange for pledging to a few things... I have seen these in some local Seattle front yards and I love that people are willing to show how much they care.

Seattle Green Gardening is Just The Beginning...

Green gardening is a huge part of going green in Seattle overall and pesticides have no place in my garden, but the Washington Toxics Coalition has information for the entire household that range from garden info to cleaning products to art and hobby materials or building materials that are toxic. This is great information to have on hand for anyone who is thinking about green remodeling or looking into the Built Green program.

Are you interested in Seattle green real estate? realestate@cooperjacobs.com