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About Tacoma's Downtown

Wintergrass is this weekend. Tacoma go out and support great music

Scott Cowan -Tacoma & Pierce County Area: Real Estate Agent in Tacoma, WA

Wintergrass 2009 started yesterday and runs through Sunday. 200 musicians, 30 bands, 6 six stages, 4 venues. Great Bluegrass music is featured all weekend in downtown Tacoma.

You can find out more by visiting the Wintergrass website here.

If you are looking to get out this weekend and see Tacoma then this is one of the best reasons you have to get out and visit Tacoma!

Wintergrass 2009

Flags watching over me...

Dinah Lee Griffey Allyn, Belfair,& LakeLand-Homes & Land: Real Estate Agent in Allyn, WA

Flags over Tacoma

I went to the Tacoma Home and Garden show this last week, and it was a lot of fun. I took my daughter, and we spent the day. We saw a lot of great products and met some great people. As we were leaving that night, a strange noise caught my attention, and I was awe struck by the flags displayed in the wind just outside. They towered over the city below, and I got chills as I thought of all of those who had given so much to allow them to fly free here. To stand above the city as a symbol of protection and mite, yet resting above us proclaiming acceptance and peace. It was a remarkable moment, and though I was chilled to the bone I could not break my gaze as I stated the pledge of allegiance quietly to my self in honor of the great presence I was in.

To all of you who made this moment in my life possible...THANK YOU.

Tacoma condo | Marcato

Brett Tousley | Tacoma WA Real Estate | (253) 820-2745: Real Estate Agent in Puyallup, WA

I was out touring several Tacoma condos on a foggy, gray morning here in the city of destiny. Wading through the months of inventory available to find the "deals" has become a weekly exercise that I've really started to enjoy.

With the high end finishes, 10 year tax abatement, lower prices, cheap rates and so much to do now in the city, Tacoma condos are starting to look like a good buy again. Something I've learned to really focus on are the resales in the newer buildings. Great deals can be had if you know where to look.

Tacoma Condo| Marcato

I ended my tour at the Marcato to meet with a prospective listing client. Unlike much of the higher end condos available in Tacoma, the Marcato seems to be moving pretty well. Units are priced more reasonably than some of the other buildings, but offer the same or better features and benefits than the competition.

If you'd like to explore buying a Tacoma condo, give me a call and I'll show you the top ten deals I've found this week!

Tacoma Houses & Condos 2008 Sales Statistics: Part 1 - Downtown 98402

Marguerite Giguere Specializing in Tacoma, WA: Real Estate Agent in Tacoma, WA

Sold Signs
Sold Signs

So I promised earlier this week that I would break down the 2008 Sales Statistics for Homes & Condos in the City of Tacoma neighborhood by neighborhood.

I know folks around here are pretty sensitive about where neighborhood lines are drawn. I swear I almost heard someone go to blows over whether the were "Stadium" or "North Slope". God forbid you start thediscussion of "North End" or "Near North End". I've decided that for the purposes of these statistics we are going to go by zip code, thereby sparing me the need to defend my definition of neighborhoods. I just hate conflict...

So today we will start with Downtown Tacoma, in the form of zip code 98402.

There aren't a ton of single family homes in 98402, but 4 houses sold. They ranged in price from $87,600 - $276,000. 5 houses expired or were cancelled.

As for Condos, well, I thought it best to just make an old fashioned list. There is still a TON of condo inventory available downtown. There are 131 condos on the market right now. There were 25 condos sold this year in 98402 ranging from $174,000- $1,375,000. Here they are in order (by Building) from most sold to least sold:

Marcato - 9 Sold

Esplanade- 6 Sold

Perkins Lofts - 3 Sold

Roberson - 2 Sold

Bayview - 1 Sold

Walker - 1 Sold

Triangle Townhomes - 1 Sold

Granville - 1 Sold

Cliff Street Lofts - 1 Sold (sniff... sniff..)

Below is a list of Expired and Cancelled Condo Listings in 98402 for 2008. Sometimes the same unit will expire, relist, and cancel (or sometimes sell) so sometimes 1 unit will have several checks. Note that the largest number of expireds/cancelleds are in the largest condo buildings, which makes sense.

Roberson - 70 (they expired and cancelled and relisted this year, so theirs #'s are especially high)

Esplanade - 31

Lexington Square - 26

Overlook on Broadway - 15

Thea's Landing - 11

Marcato - 10

Cliff Street Lofts - 9

Sky Terrace - 8

Triangle Townhomes - 7

Perkins Lofts - 7

The Mecca - 6

Walker - 5

505 Broadway - 4

Panscape Condos - 4

440 St Helens - 4

Granville - 4

Broadway Five - 3

Vintage Y - 2

Bridge Lofts - 2

Luna - 1

Galleria - 1

SELLERS: If you are living in a building that has a high number of expireds/cancelleds with no sales for the past year and you are thinking of selling, you and your agent are going to want to take a close look at the pricing and make sure that you enter the market under where your neighbors listed and failed.

BUYERS: Make sure to negotiate agressively on your pricing and terms. Incentives I've heard about include paying your homeowners dues ahead for a year, paying for a years worth (or more) of leased parking, etc. Closing costs of 3% should be pretty much a given, also.

If you are interested in seeing these homes and condos for yourself, send me an email at TheSkydivingAgent@gmail.com and I would be happy to send you a detailed list.

Next up, Hilltop- 98405. For more Downtown Tacoma Real Estate information visit Get Real Tacoma.

The Last 9 Downtown Tacoma Condos to Sell

Marguerite Giguere Specializing in Tacoma, WA: Real Estate Agent in Tacoma, WA

It's been a couple weeks since we reviewed the Downtown Tacoma Condos that have sold, so here you are. There were 9 condos that closed, 6 of those I already wrote about earlier this week located at The Esplanade.

Selling like (price reduced) hot cakes.

CitySteps continued the great townhouse blowout with 2 sold this week, both for $219,990. They were units #105 & 106 2 bedroom, 2 bathrooms, with 1113 square feet. One was originally listed at $259,990. The final condo was over with Survon at Marcato, unit #319. A 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 1040 square foot that was originally listed at $369,000. It sold for $309,000. For information on Marcato check out another of last weeks posts here.

I believe it is worth mentioning that right now there are 225 condos listed for sale in 98402, 98405, & 98403.There are 24 that are pending sale. That gives us an 11% sales ratio- which is DEFINETLY a buyers market. If you want a good explanation of a sales ratio, I recommend reading Tacoma Realtor Tom Hume's post on the topic. He explains it well. Basically, less that 50% is a buyers market, more than 50% is a sellers market.

It is also worth mentioning that in the past 2 weeks int the same downtown area, 1 condo listing was cancelled, 1 was temporarily taken off the market, and 4 expired. That's one way to get the inventory down.