20th Century Architecture across from Moore Theater

Got the sunshine bug?  Pulled out your shorts and sneaks yet?  Here’s something you might enjoy on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday (Apr-Dec).  For inquiring minds: when you notice fern motifs on the interior of Macy’s downtown or stone eagles perched on top of the Seattle Athletic Club’s building; and for guests who are visiting our city and wanting to explore ~ Seattle Architecture Foundation (SAF) offers an array of city tours highlighting architecture, details, design and art!  Moving out and about to experience urban Seattle and our neighborhoods enlightens participants and sparks conversation.  Here are some that you can discuss afterward over an outdoor dinner and a glass of fine NW wine:  Green Building Tours (The Cobb and Skinner Buildings tour.  Or The Starbucks Center tour.); Art Deco Diamonds and Gold; Design Details Lions, Griffins and Walruses; Harvard Belmont District historic millions and quite a few more.  See you around town…looking up!

Marybeth Cicirello * 206.214.6556 * marybeth.cicirello@exprealty.com * Downtown Seattle Real Estate

New Light Rail

The Central Link Light Rail began operating from the Seattle Downtown to the Seatac Airport and back last year, in 2009.  On July 17, 2009 there was a preview ride, with a video!  Central Link uses 35 train cars and is 15.6 miles in length.

The University Link span of the project began construction in 2009 and will be completed in 2016.  This part of the project is a 3.15 mile run through two tunnels bored from Downtown running through Capitol Hill to the University of Washington.  This will provide transportation (by 2030) for 70,000 riders per day to the U and Husky Stadium.  Click here for an airiel view of the UW station.

There is also an exciting East Link option, although not scheduled to start construction until 2013 or 2014.  This will run under I-5, a stop on Mercer Island, through Bellevue, through Overlake Station near the large Bellevue border Microsoft campus, and end in downtown Redmond.

A Northlink project is scheduled to run from the U District, at Brooklyn Station, through Roosevelt Station, through Northgate Station, and hence all the way to Lynnwood.   This schedule for construction is currently being developed.

Love this Ride the Light Rail Time Lapse from YouTube!

Classic Craftsman house in Mount Baker

Seattle is known for an early 20th-century American architecture called Craftsman.  People who visit our city notice the abundance of Craftsman houses & bungalows and note that these aren’t quite so common (or exist at all!) in their own home towns.  Considering the weather in the NW and our history in lumber and fishing industries, it’s an architectural response to Seattle’s rainy season and blue collar roots.

Bungalow in Genesee

The term “bungalow” refers to the size of many Craftsman homes we may see in parts of West Seattle, Wallingford, Fremont, or Genesee and some still have original built-in benches, ironing board closets and bookshelves.  Larger – more formal – Craftsman houses  can be found in Queen Anne, Leschi, Capitol Hill and Mount Baker with deep eaves, asymmetrical facades and wide street-facing gables.  Generally, the structural, siding and interior element is wood and the floorplans are similar, but still irregular from home to home.  In Seattle’s in-demand neighborhoods, a solid Craftsman house will range upward from $699,000 and a Craftsman bungalow upward from $450,000, with some exceptions.

Marybeth Cicirello * 206.214.6556 * marybeth.cicirello@exprealty.com * Downtown Seattle Real Estate

Seattle Neighborhood market data is unique to each...

As of April 25, 2010, the statistic is that a median single-family home in “The Seattle Market” is $392,731.00 and I can say confidently right now, there is no move-in ready 3-bedroom house on Montlake, Capitol Hill, Mount Baker or Queen Anne for this price.  But in Maple Leaf?  Yes this price point will buy a house and yard, maybe a nice 2-bedroom mid-century home.  In West Seattle?  Yes definitely in some micro-neighborhoods in West Seattle this is possible.  In Beacon Hill?  Yes again, a mid-century or Craftsman bungalow at $392,731.00 is definitely possible.  So for buyers, it quickly becomes clear what neighborhoods your price point allows and this makes your search constructive and efficient.  And for sellers, be the best option in a certain bracket within your neighborhood, because even in this economy, we still see multiple offer situations if you’re priced right.  Buyers know a good residence when they see it!

Marybeth Cicirello * 206.214.6556 * marybeth.cicirello@exprealty.com * Downtown Seattle Real Estate

The big news in the Madison Park real estate market last month was the report by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (MLS) that the median price of Seattle homes sold in January was actually higher than in the same month a year earlier. For the city as a whole, this represented a 2.63% increase over the past year (houses and combos combined). It is the first time in almost two years that there has been a year-over-year increase in Seattle’s residential property values. The rest of King County did not fare as well, however, with home values continuing their downward trend.

But how did prices hold up in our neighborhood? Madison Park itself is a market that’s a bit too small for year-to-year median price comparisons to be meaningful (seven total home sales in January 2009 and only five this year). But for our general area of the City (MLS Area 390, which also includes Capitol Hill, Montlake, Madison Valley, Madrona, and Leschi), the news was pretty good. There was a modest 2.1% increase in value between January last year and this. This improvement, however, perhaps has more to do with a year over year change in the mix of sales (houses versus condos) than a real move up in home values.

Nevertheless, it’s a good start to 2010. Whether this welcome news means we’re on an upward trajectory will only become evident when we’ve got a few more months of sales data in hand. It’s just possible, however, that for our area of Seattle—like for the rest of the City—the downward slope of real estate values has been arrested. At minimum, the rate of decline seems to have abated.

Thanks to Bryan Tagas for providing this article. To read more, click here to see the full piece on his website.

For more information on Madison Park real estate, please contact Rob LeRoy at eXp Realty at 206.883.6668, or by e-mail at rob.leroy@exprealty.com

The Japanese Garden in the Arboretum is about to end its winter hiatus, reopening on Sunday, February 14, for its 50th Anniversary season. Rated by a garden journal as one of the ten favorite Japanese gardens in the country, Seattle’s Japanese Garden was inaugurated in July 1960, after only four months of construction. It’s now ready to celebrate a half century of giving pleasure to visitors seeking sanctuary and a connection to nature.

The concept of adding a Japanese Garden to the Arboretum goes back to 1937, but it took another twenty years for the idea to gain enough popular support to enable fundraising to begin for the project (a war against Japan had intervened). In 1959, with funds in hand and the design completed, Juki Iida and Nobumasa Kitamura were hired to build the garden, which originally was scheduled to take up to three years to complete. Using heavy construction equipment, a somewhat scaled-back design, and a capable crew of mostly Japanese-American gardeners, the builders transformed an Arboretum ravine into a colorful and tranquil garden, offset by boulders, water features and formal elements. And they did it all in record time. (That’s Juki Iida in the photo below, standing on the site during the construction). Click here to read more.

Thanks to Bryan Tagas at Madison Park Blogger for letting me re-post this great article!

Thanks for reading! For more information on the Madison Park area and Madison Park real estate, please contact Rob LeRoy at 206.883.6668 or rob.leroy@exprealty.com, or visit his website www.TheRealEstateNovelist.com!

The Real Estate Novelist

As seen above chart, Residential active listings units dropped 20.55% from 8707 units in 2008 to 6918 units in December 2009 while Pending Residential units increased 55.10%, as Dec 09 pending listings were 1413 units compare to 911 units in December 2008.  There is a huge increase in sold units at 57.37%, 1462 units closed in 2009 vs 929 units in 2008.  Snohomish County Sold Residential unit increase is at 89.02% when compared to 2008.

As seen above chart, Median Price declined all across for Active, Pending and Sold Listings.  For December 09 sold median price was $380,000, dropped 6% compare to Dec 2008 while year to date Median price dropped further to 11.62%.

As seen above chart, the other important indicator to watch is “Days on the market” (DOM). There isn’t a significant difference, as little as 1.19% for Dec 09 and 6.85% for the year.

Over all, Inventory of homes dropping while sold home units are increasing. December 2009 Market Trend is showing a promising future for buyers and sellers. Yes, values are declining as there is activity out there…..

If you would like more personalized information for your area, please contact me via emailSebnem.oden@exprealty.com or visiting my website www.ProKeyRE.com

Wishing you a prosperous real estate future….

So how do we make it practical and attractive not only to spend the $ up front for long term savings, but to include the more than 100 million homes and offices we already have in the new technologies that result in these long-term savings? Looks like the plan is in place. Economically it makes sense to retrofit. Almost all older buildings could use improvements that pay for themselves and cut their power consumption in half. The loans to do it would be paid by the savings in energy. The programs to support these upgrades are starting to appear. Ideally, homeowners and small businesses could call a toll-free number and find out what local resources and loans are available to start their retrofit process in a cost effective way. Many local communities have started to develop this resources so check locally whereever you are and find out if your city provides the consumer information service to get started.

Here in Seattle, Seattle City Light has announced that it’s proud to be one of the first four Utilities in the country which is working with Microsoft in an innovative consumer support program. They are providing consumers an online application (FREE!) that helps them track their energy usage and then get personalized recommendations for improved energy efficiency! You can (and I am definitely going to, so I’ll report back) sign up to be one of the first customers to use the product! (Microsoft Hohm for Seattle.)

The activity taking place at the highest levels of government are already moving us toward lower public building utility bills. Often the second-biggest government expense after saleries, Obama’s first economic recovery packaged included retrofitting public buildings. This will help get into place worker training and factories which make energy-efficient windows, furnaces, insulation, as well as air conditioning. Local and state government energy bills will be much lower and will be able to repay the loans with their savings. Good to know!

A lot of Seattlites have never been to the Rainier Valley and they are missing a lot.  Nestled below Beacon Hill is one of the most intreging areas of urban improvement and a spectacular life.  Driving down the main thoroughfare from downtown Seattle, Martin Luther King Way S., you’ll see a considerable amount of new housing, condominiums, urban parks and rapidly changing demographics.  This is truly the most diverse area in Seattle, where you can meet someone from most ethnic groups at your neighborhood Starbucks.  If you like diversity in dining, there are restaurants of every type on MLK or Rainier Ave, the other main arterial. 

One of the favorite places for people to visit in the valley is Seward Park, a 300 acre park on a small peninsula out into Lake Washington facing Mercer Island.  The park contains miles of jogging, biking or walking trails, picnic and barbeque areas and a small amphitheater for year round concerts.  Oh yes, there’s plenty of grass to lay out on those beautiful summer days to get a tan or play frisbee.  Not long ago, I also visited with some people that were fishing for catfish off of the shore near where my friends son was wading in the water.  This is just one of the many parks in the area, including small urban parks for children in neighborhoods to play in, ball parks for those that play softball or baseball and soccer fields.  And lest we forget…Sayres Memorial Park is just down the road from Seward Park and is the main hubbub during Seafair as the Stan Sayres Hydroplane pits are there and culminate Seattle’s Seafair celebration.  Having spent a day there watching the Air Force Blue Angels fly overhead and the Hydroplanes roar past, I can say first hand it is the place to be.   

Let’s not forget the new light rail system that was put in down MLK.  This state of the art system can be caught at different places along the route at beautiful new stations.  From there you can get to work in downtown Seattle in no time and guess what?  You don’t need to waste your hard earned money on gas and parking and it’s environmentaly friendly.  So save some money, save the environment, save the tension of battling other drivers and arrive relaxed at work or back at home.   And guess what, the light rail also goes by Safeco and Qwest fields when you want to go and cheer on our Mariners, Seahawks or Sounders. 

What is life in the Rainier Valley?  It is a glimpse into the future of how people may choose to live.  No cars, enjoying family and meeting many different people in all types of cultures.  Living in the Rainier Valley is a glimpse of our future.

I was up in the Vancouver BC area last week and my friend Laura Howren took me with her to see a property she just listed in Chilliwack. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the area, it’s a city in the Fraser Valley region in BC about an hour and a half away from Vancouver (home to the 2010 Winter Olympics!!) with an abundance of recreational activities…hiking, fishing, golfing, water sports, you name it.

This log home is currently a short term executive rental, rented out on a nightly or weekly basis, and is in a perfect location as it’s only 35 minutes to Harrison Hot Springs and 25 minutes to Cultus Lake, a popular camping destination. Think 26′ ceilings with ceiling-to-floor windows that take advantage of light, beautiful Hans Rhodes natural rock fire place, large recreation room in the daylight basement and a private master suite on the upper level…it’s literally the perfect Getaway!

With the exchange rates today at $1.08, with US dollars it’s like getting an 8% discount right off the top of the purchase price. The listed price is $969,000 and the home has 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, about 2600 sqft and is just shy of 2.5 acres, which may be able to be subdividable in the future. The furniture is negotiable, and for those who would like to keep it as a vacation rental, the seller will negotiate the websites for the lodge as well!

For more information, visit VancouverPowerSearch.com or contact Laura at 604.209.3674 or at laura@vancouverpowersearch.com.

Click here to see a virtual tour of the property and more pictures!