O.k. I'm just going to come out and say it: I'm a total sucker for all that "year in review" propaganda that we'll be 
seeing on TV this week. One minute I'll be diligently writing a blog post, and the next I'm entranced by something as horrendous as "The 100 Biggest Celebrity Oopses of 2011!"
With that in mind, I also think it's interesting to go back through the MLS and see what happened on our lovely little peninsula over the last year. We'll be doing a detailed "year in review" post next week with statistics for the West Seattle market at large, but for today we just wanted to share a couple of sales you may find interesting. Notably, who got the most bang for their buck, and who laid out the most bucks for a home in West Seattle in 2011.
Congratulations are definitely in order to the smart shopper who swooped in on this bank-owned townhome on 8th Ave SW, across from Westcrest Park. Originally listed in 2010 for $149,000, this 762 square foot, 1 bedroom/ 1 bath townhome had a series of price drops until being canceled when the list price was down to 70K. My guess is that's when it became a bank owned property (the seller of record is U.S. Bank). It was re-listed at a paltry $44,900, and the buyer scored it for 38K! I also gleaned from the tax records that the buyer put down between 20-25%, and has a mortgage of $28,500.
This was a downright brilliant move if you ask me. If this buyer took out a 30 year fixed and got, say, a 4% interest rate, the principal & interest payment is $336 bucks a month! Even with taxes & insurance it's probably still under $600- you can't rent a shack within 10 miles of downtown Seattle for that. And, if the buyer doesn't stay there, it's a guaranteed income-generator as a rental, and someday the market's going to go back up. . . someday.
At the complete other end of the spectrum: It appears West Seattle's highest sale for 2011 was this gorgeous waterfront home on Arroyo Beach Place SW. Listed for 1.795M, the sale closed on September first, and the sale price was a little over 90% of the list price at 1.625M. Given the market, this was actually a quick sale for this price range, as we've seen lots of million+ homes sitting on the market for months. . . like, lots and lots of months. We toured this home when it was listed, and while I found the interior a little boring, it's really all about the location. Sixty feet of low-bank waterfront with a bulkhead and "covered parking" for your boat, a nearly 18,000 square foot lot. . . you would never know you were 20 minutes from downtown Seattle here, it feels like you're up in the San Juans.
Just for fun I thought I'd calculate these buyers' mortgage and compare it with our smart shopper above: they took out a mortgage for 1.3M, which would indicate they put 20% down (325K) in order to avoid private mortgage insurance (=good move). The property taxes are currently $14,844 dollars a year (ouch!), and insurance on a property like this will not be inexpensive, I'd ballpark it somewhere around 6K annually. If they opted for a 30 year fixed and got about a 4% rate, their principal & interest would be $6,406 per month, with an additional $1750-ish for taxes & insurance, for a monthly housing expense around $8,150. Of course, these are educated guesses, and it's certainly possible these owners will pay off their home when they sell one they may already own, or many other scenarios could be in play, but right now they're coughing up over eight grand a month for housing. . . wow.
If you'd like us to send you the MLS reports for either of these properties so you can see the photos and complete information, drop us a note at iheartwsrealestate@gmail.com. Cheers!
Of course, keep in mind it's also incredibly treacherous for driving, and there are other hazards to keep in mind as well: Just up the street from us, the weight of the ice caused two HUGE branches to break off this tree. If you are street parked under a large evergreen, you might want to move.
Not to mention, you may want to walk quickly under any large evergreens.
