One of the most delightful things about Seattle is the abundance of nature surrounding us.  Although this is a large metropolitan city, I appreciate the fact that you can escape to nature at any time.  Big or large, we have parks situated in every neighborhood and convenient access to rivers, lakes, and vast ocean.  However, with the rapid development and higher cost of real estate, many Seattleites resorted to condos and townhomes that did not leave much space for those with green thumbs.  So, when I noticed community gardens or patches popping up everywhere, I wasn’t surprised at all.

Community gardens are simply a piece of land gardened by a group of people.  The neat thing about them is that not only it provides a mean for people to garden and produce fresh produce, it also promotes sense of community, healthier urban environment, and pride of ownership.  People can experience both the joy of growing and being in touch with the source of their food.

In Seattle, the city began the non-profit organization P-Patch Trust 35 years ago.  According to the City of Seattle website, the organization acquires, builds and protects community gardens in Seattle.  Most of the supplies are provided at the sites, such as water and tools.  Your responsibility as a community gardener is to care for your plot.

Interesting facts about P-Patch:

- The “P” originally stood for “Picardo”, after the family who owned Picardo Farm, part of which became the original P-Patch.

-The P-Patch program only allows organic farming techniques to be used on these plots.

-The P-Patch community gardeners give back to the city by supplying 7 to 10 tons of produce to Seattle food banks each year.

-You are not allowed to sell what you grow, only share it or donate it.

As the broadening interest in organic food source and gardening increases, you will see the demand for community gardens increase.  The city currently has 55 patches in the city but most of them do have a waiting list.  If you are interested in starting your own Community Patch or for more information, check out City of Seattle website!

Community Patch in Seattle Neighborhoods

In this atmosphere of a treasure hunt among the bounty of the present and past, Blooming Home should be on your list of treasure hunting venues.  Conveniently located right near University Village and the fantastic Ravenna-Brant neighborhood where cool is the middle name of every shop on the block, once you enter count on being here a while, and coming out loaded down with treasure!

This shop used to be in Kirkland and has moved here recently.  They have a great variety of things, in a mixture of styles.  If you are tired of some of your treasures and think someone else might adore them, just call for an appointment and take them in.  Your check will be mailed to you when they sell and you will then have some cash to go spend on new (to you) items for your new look at home!

Let us know what you find, it’s half the fun!

First, a daily happy hour both from 3 to 6 and from 9 to 11.  Truly happy, all bar menu items are half off, and margarita and other pizzas are $6.  Bottles of wine, red white or rose, are $14, and beer is $3.

Handmade pasta prepared daily.  Antipasti like Carpaccio di manzo con barbaforte, “natural Washington beef carpaccio, parmagiano and grated horseradish”, or Focaccia al rosmarino, “wood fired garlic and rosemary focaccia” or Lumache al burro, “baked escargot with organic butter, herbs and garlic.” to name just a few.  Ensalate like Latuga, nocciole, e caprino, “butter lettuce, goat cheese, and toasted hazelnuts” or Pasta i fagioli, “pasta, beans and parmigiano.”  and you’ll have to believe me, that is just a smattering of the lunch menu, and it only gets better!

The atmosphere is smooth and warm, with a winsome little bistro tune winding it’s way around the focal bar and the fun paintings hung horizontally on the ceiling, blandly gazing down at the diners enjoying the masterpieces parading out from the kitchen.  According to many people, this is food heaven, and if you still have any doubts, read the amazing meals described in the Seattle Times article.  Other reviews are disappointed in the service or food, so it’s up to you, maybe try happy hour and see what you think!  I’m certainly going to drag a few friends along next time to get lots of opinions, not to mention get to taste and share lots of the extremely modern and stylish dishes on this Italian menu!

Gracious in the Ravenna-Bryant neighborhood is all about making a house a home.  What you will find here is just what you were looking for and more.  A sense of history, and some very friendly and knowledgeable new friends to talk it all over with.  Furniture, paintings, china, objects d’art, and all that goes with a home is arranged in eye catching groupings that themselves inspire and give hints at a way to go about things that’s not only designed, but deeply felt.

The park is 52 acres big.  There are two playgrounds, one at either end, Cowen Park and this one, Lower Ravenna Park.  There is a natural ravine joining them together, with a small creek.  There is a wide trail and it is about a 20 minute walk from one end to the other.  In Lower Ravenna park there is a playfield, this playground, and tennis courts.  If you go back north of the tennis courts and keep walking up the hill, there is a series of small meadows.  There are picnic tables, there is solitude, there are the voices of birds, there is a peace that flows back from the leftover moments of long ago.

Just a note with a little more Seattle history, but have you heard of the Olmstead Brothers?  They inherited, according to the Wikipedia (I linked it in case you have a more extensive interest) the first Landscape Architecture firm in the nation!  They did many “high-profile” projects including Bryn Mawr college, the Seattle Park System (in 1903), and the Highlands (in 1907).  They designed a chain of parks which were linked by Boulevards, and Ravenna Boulevard was one of those.  The strip of treed garden down the middle of Ravenna Boulevard lends a gracious feeling to the neighborhood and helps green the heart of the city.

The Ravenna neighborhood is green, safe, and just north of the University of Washington, with many professors and staff residing there for the convenience and for love of the area.  There are many bungalows built in the 1930s and 1940s, both Cape Cods and Craftsman style, as well as some of the brick Tudors I’ve highlighted in articles on Ballard and Queen Anne.  These days many families with young children have chosen Ravenna as their neighborhood and the parks are full of happy voices.

I imagine that once upon a time in Seattle, oh, say eighty or a hundred years ago, High Tea was a commonly presented treat for visitors in ladies’ parlors and the city’s grand hotels.  These days of course we relax in a coffee house with wifi and peruse our laptop or get busy alternatively texting our friends and emailing.  Not to imply the coffee house is in any way lesser, but the once commonly available experience of High Tea at this point in our history has become rare and to be treasured.  Queen Mary Tea Room offers this experience in the brand-name neighborhood of Ravenna, just north and east of the U District.

The question occurs, is this more a thing for “the ladies”?  I suspect yes, but the gentlemen will have to weigh in on this as I can’t quite read your minds, even after all this time trying to learn how.  In any case, if you come to Queen Mary’s tea shop in Ravenna either with a party or just a friend or your little lady, for a tea party, you will not be disappointed.  The glories of the cakes!  The aroma of truly good tea!  The staff devoted to your enjoyment and happy to explain every nuance of the rather ceremonial tradition of pouring out, of how to select the tea best for your afternoon enjoyment or perhaps a gift for a friend.

Imagine bringing someone you know here for a surprise tea party.  Just the thought brings a smile to my lips, I can’t wait to bring Mary Beth here to celebrate (you know what, my dear!).  Just don’t tell her and ruin the surprise… oh, but if you bring your own friend, do drop a note and let me know how it went.  What a lark!

There is a similar feeling to what you get when you enter a Waldorf environment for young kids, which uses the pastel colors to provide them a sense of balance, safety, and nurturing with the freedom to explore and make the world theirs.  The colors and shapes of childhood at the highest level is a language that speaks to one without words, like a gentle breeze blowing among the willow leaves down by the creek.  And you don’t have to be a child to enter the world, just be willing to unteather from your cell phone and enter a slightly dreamy state where this soft and peace filled world comes in and makes itself at home in your heart.

What a lot of projects, fun, games, laughter is lined up on these shelves.  The nice roomy bird house with the peace doves (nesting on a real egg which will hatch soon!!) is on child level. Wandering through the shop (which the website calls a “showroom” as they offer so much online too) you hear the coo coo now and then, and maybe that soft and very happy sound is why they are a symbol of peace.  If your child has never heard that sound in real life, I would say that is reason enough to bring them for a visit and a play. The pet hedgehog will delight them too.  Arrayed around are also creation stations where kids can do crafts and the shop offers birthday parties and other creation events.  This shop is for “happy tree-hugging kids.”  But don’t think you’ll leave with a light bag of goodies, I predict you won’t be able to help loading up, there is too much here that’s special.

If you are the parent of a college kid,  you might want to take a minute to think about real estate investing.  You’re already spending a ton of money sending the kid to school, “investing” in his or her future, so why not hedge your bets on an investment that might actually pay you back someday?  Think about it- you’ve got at least four years of living expenses to pay for on top of the tuition. You can either throw it away paying for a tiny, overpriced dorm or some dumpy, overpriced rental, OR you can take that money and put it toward something that has a future. Like real estate.  Let me explain…

I went to Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA, so I will use that area as an example, though the numbers would likely look quite similar in just about any college town. Rates per person at Western’s dorms run roughly $500 (3 kids in a room) to $800+ (single occupancy) per month, NOT including food expenses.  Rental rates anywhere near campus run about $400-600 a month per room, depending on the number of rooms.  Studios and 1-bedrooms are commonly $700-900/month, whereas you might find a decent  3-bedroom for $1400.   Let’s be conservative and say it’s about $600/month on average, per room. Over 4 years (48 months) that’s almost $30,000(!) that you will NEVER get back.  As Everett Dirksen famously said,“ A billion here, a billion there…pretty soon you’re talking about real money!”

Consider this:  Right now, you can buy a 1-bedroom, 600 square foot condo, built in 2006, less than a half-mile from Western Washington University, for $120k.  With 20% down at 6% interest, the monthly payment, which includes taxes, insurance, and HOA dues (W/S/G) comes to about $825, leaving only electricity and cable for expenses.  Sounds like kind of a lot, doesn’t it? Let’s take a closer look.

• Similar units in this building are currently renting for between $725 and $800.

• You can write off some (maybe  all) of your interest payments , giving you roughly 25% back at tax time, depending on your bracket, making the effective monthly expense closer to $600. Make sure to talk to your accountant about this and other creative write-offs you might find…

• As an owner, your monthly expenses remain fixed over time.  According to a colleague who studies rent growth in the area, rents near Western have increased at an average of about 6% per year, over the past 5 years.  Assuming that trend were to continue, the monthly rent on that same unit would go up  to almost $900-$1000 by the 4th year of your student’s education. Over 4 years, that would cost you between $38000-$42000 in rent! Gone, flushed….never to be seen again…

• Don’t forget about appreciation! Even in these tough times, most analysts are expecting the market to have corrected itself in the next couple of years, meaning there is a good chance the value of your investment will begin to increase during the 4-5 years that your student will live there. That’s right, you might even MAKE money on this thing! Worst case, you can always hang onto it to make sure the kid doesn’t try to move back in with you after college…

This is just one example, of course.  There  are several other condo opportunities I can point you toward.  There are also houses and duplexes, etc… The numbers can look even better if you buy something with more rooms. Then, you can collect $500-$700/month of OTHER PEOPLE’S money! That ‘s the best kind of money, after all…

If you’d like to look more seriously at this type of investment, keep in mind that there are all kinds of different programs available, requiring anywhere from 3.5% to 20% down.  You can buy as an investment property, as a second home for yourself, or possibly as a first home for the kid. Each of these options has it’s own credit and income requirements, as well as unique tax implications.  Again, I would suggest consulting your accountant, as well as a mortgage professional, to make sure you understand clearly these particular details. You can talk to me if you want to know where to find these properties.

Thanks for reading! Please leave comments or suggestions below, e-mail me at rob.leroy@exprealty.com, or call me at 206.883.6668 …and yes, you CAN hire me as your real estate agent!

Rob LeRoy is a Seattle real estate agent and social media marketing coach with eXp Realty.

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