About Seattle's Matthews Beach

Waterfront home sales in Seattle began with an affordable waterfront abode on Lake Union and a luxury waterfront estate on Lake Washington. With sales in Wallingford and Matthews Beach starting the year off, the outlook is rosy for a continuation of the strengthening market for Seattle waterfront homes that we've been seeing for the past few years.

The houseboat sold on Lake Union in January was actually a two-story housebarge, with views of the Seattle skyline from nearly anywhere onboard. Based in Gasworks Marina just east of the park, the 2 bed, 1 bath floating residence was on the market for two months before selling for $350,000. Listed at $369,000 originally, the 5% reduction in price was fairly minimal for this market.

In Matthews Beach on Lake Washington, a classic Seattle lakefront home with plenty of modern updates sold for $1.5 million after just one month on the market. Listed for $1.585 million, this was again a fairly strong purchase price for the sellers at a 5% discount.

This house is situated far off the street and has terraced grounds making their way down to the lake, The upper level has a swimming pool and viewing area, while the no-bank lot reaches a sandy beach at the lakeside. The home has 5 beds, 3.5 baths, and 3,240 square feet of living space. Built originally in 1937, it has been updated throughout but still retains some of its classic character.

Seattle waterfront homes sold, January 2012

2143 N Northlake Wy #58, Seattle WA 98103

8920 Sand Point Wy NE, Seattle WA 98115

A home inspection is a critical component to buying or selling a home. If you want to get the maximum amount of money for a home or you want to purchase a stable home with little to no problems, then you must have it inspected by a reputable and qualified professional. But what exactly do Seattle home inspectors look for when they examine a house?

The primary goal of a Seattle home inspection is to make sure the house is safe and adheres to government regulations. Typically, the inspector will start by examining the structural integrity of the house. Things like cracks in the foundation, deteriorating support beams, and holes in unfortunate places can compromise the building and make it an unsafe place for people to live.

A home inspector will look at the quality of your home appliances. For example, they may examine your water heater to ensure it is functioning properly and adheres to the government code that regulates water heaters used in residential homes. This can be helpful in negotiating the price of the house. If you have to replace outdated appliances, you can ask the home sellers for a discount on the price as a concession for taking on that responsibility.

Some Seattle home inspectors may also look at a home’s energy efficiency. This includes determining if a home has adequate insulation in the walls, the windows and doors have proper weather stripping, and the appliances in the home are energy efficient among other things. A home that is lacking in these things can lead to high utility bills. To make sure a home is built right and safe for occupancy, hire qualified Seattle home inspectors to check your house.

This blog is courtesy of Adrian Willanger at Coldwell Banker Danforth & Associates 206 909-7536 helping people buy and sale homes in the Greater Seattle area.

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3. Green Certified Homes in Bothell, Lynnwood and Mill Creek selling faster than non-certified homes (7.3)
4. Seattle Green Builder freshens up marketing to reflect trend towards Zero-energy(7.2)
5. Bothell Home Inspection For The Buyer (7.1)

The first sale was a houseboat called "The Ark", moored in Seattle marina on Lake Union's northern shore in Wallingford. This is a fairly large houseboat that I took a cruise on last year on Lake Union. Unlike many houseboats, it really is a boat that's made to cruise the lakes in the summer. A very large boat, it's more spacious than most you'll find on Lake Union. The final sale price for The Ark was $240,000 after quite a long time on the market.

Our second sale, also on Lake Union, was a floating home slip in a new community on the eastern shore in Eastlake. This newly-developed 12-homesite location on Fairview Avenue has some of the most-expensive "lots" for floating homes, but the high quality construction and beautiful views at this location are well worth the expense. At $685,000, one would expect a multi-million dollar floating home to inhabit this residence fairly soon.

Out on Puget Sound in Ballard, a waterfront view condo sold for $840,000 after being on the market for just over one month. The Sunset West condo is a particularly large unit at 1,319 square feet, and even more rare because of the building's true waterfront location. The original price for the condo was $895,000.

The most-expensive Seattle waterfront home sale this week was a mid-century home in Matthews Beach that has been fully remodeled to modern standards. The property has 70 feet of Lake Washington waterfront, with a total lot of about 25,000 square feet. The 5 bed, 3.5 bath home is nearly 4600 square feet, and sold for $1.8 million after around 5.5 months on the market.

Sold Seattle Watefront Homes

Lake Washington in Seattle...

Lake Washington always looks so serene and calm in the pictures you see for Lake Washington homes for sale, but the lake is like other bodies of water ever changing.

In fact, yesterday, Lake Washington had white caps on it during one of our wind storms.  Elaine was getting ready for one of her Lake Washington waterfront listings and I asked her to film this on her iPhone - you can even hear the crazy wind we got...

So next time you see a calm nice picture of a home on Lake Washingotn in Seattle like this one, keep in mind that there is also some exciting wave action form time to time - not to mention an entertaining never ending parade of birds and boats!

There were five true waterfront homes sold in October in Seattle (not including Seattle Houseboats). From as far south as Rainier Beach to the north end at Matthews Beach, the spanned from $775k to $3 million. The highlights:

Seattle Waterfront Homes
A 4 bed, 3.5 bath Rainier Beach home sold for $774,000. The 1980s-built home has 50 feet of waterfront and two docks with covered moorage. Rainier Beach is a great place for more affordable Lake Washington homes. This large two-story house has 2900 sq ft of space and is perched right up on the lakefront, with great views.

In Magnolia, a Puget Sound waterfront home sold for just over $1.1 million. This is another early '80s home with 3 beds and 2.5 baths. At 2330 sq ft, it's a good sized home and and has 10,000 sq ft of land. There are 75 feet of saltwater waterfront, and spectacular views of the Olympic mountains like many Magnolia homes.

Matthews Beach homes offer some of the best waterfront values in the north end of Seattle. A 3 bed, 2.75 bath, 2900 sq ft home sold for $1.4 million near the end of October. This is a custom-built home less than a decade old. 2 boat lifts, a covered boat house, and a hot tub grace the Lake Washington shoreline of this compact lot. The builders did a great job of using every bit of space they could to make the home enjoyable.

On Alki Ave, another Puget Sound waterfront home sold in the first week of October. Most Alki Beach homes are actually on the land-side of Alki Ave, but as you reach the Western tip, this small outcropping enjoys true waterfront living. This house is a 3-story, narrow home, built in 2006. It sold for $1.8 million and has 3 beds and 3.25 baths. At 3000 sq ft, it has plenty of space and an elevator to ease the climb upstairs--beautiful home and location.

The final sale was in the Windermere neighborhood. Sold for $2.5 million, this home is fairly typical for Windermere neighborhood homes. Built in the mid '70s, it's a sprawling one story home with 3200 square feet of living space. The lot of 10,000 sq ft isn't particularly big for Windermere, but the Lake Washington waterfront is hard to come by in the neighborhood. When the market is moving, Windermere neighborhood homes don't last. This house was on the market for around 5 months, which is typical or even faster than the average waterfront sale right now.

Sam DeBord and Brian Wiegand
Seattle Real Estate Brokers
Seattle Homes
SeattleHome.com
(206) 552-8820