Queen Anne

Residential Housing Statistics in King County December 2009

I was just asked this week how is the Real Estate Market in King County since I mentioned earlier about Snohomish County. Well here is information which was requested about King County. Northwest Multiple Listing Service (MLS) reported as following statistics for Dec 2009. Jan 2010 stats will be published in the coming weeks. We still got 21 months of inventory in King County while Snohomish County got 19 months of inventory of homes for sale. UNITS ACTIVE PENDING SOLD DEC 09 UNITS 6,918 1,413 1462 DEC 08 UNITS 8,707 911 929 Total Unit +/- -1789 502 533 Difference DEC % -20.55% 55.10% 57.37% YTD 09 UNITS 33,744 23,019 16,022 YTD 08 UNITS 38,889 18,895 15,991 Total Unit +/- -5145 4124 31 Difference YTD % -13.23% 21.83% 0.19% 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... 

Heating Bills a Thing of the Past?

I’m pretty sure if the power company offered you a month off from paying your bill, you’d say yes. It might not happen tomorrow, but according to an article I just read in a Sierra Club magazine, in a few decades looks like large power bills will be a thing of the past. As we all know, it’s possible to build homes and offices that will not only be energy self-sufficient, but will produce zero carbon emmissions. In the short run this might be more costly to build (which is why some elements of the building industry look on the movement to increase energy efficiency requirements in building standards with dismay) but in the long run it will more than pay you back for the investment… in other words, save you money. So where a Green-Built house might cost you however thousand dollars more now, it will more than pay you back over time in utility bill savings. 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.... 

What is a Buyer’s Agent and Why Do I Need One?

WHAT IS A BUYER’S AGENT AND WHY DO I NEED ONE?   Q:  How do Buyers’ Agents Get Paid?   A:  Their services are free to the Buyer.   Q:  How does that work?   A:  When the Seller’s Agent signs a listing agreement with the Seller, they negotiate a commission.  They then offer a part of that commission, usually half, but it varies, to the Buyer’s Agent.  This is listed in the Agent part of the MLS.  So when a Buyer chooses a home and purchases it, the total commission is subtracted from the Seller’s side of the totals, and is paid out to the Seller’s Agent and the Buyer’s Agent.   Q:  But if the Buyer’s Agent gets paid by the Seller, do they really work for me?    A:  Good question!  Actually the Washington State laws have changed.  It used to be that both parties worked for the Seller!  Even though you might pick out your own agent to tour and help you, they would still be obligated to guard the best interest of the Seller of any property you saw.  That was deemed unfair to the Buyer and the law has been changed.  The Buyer’s Agent by law owes the Buyer confidentiality and fiduciary loyalty… i.e. has a responsiblity... 

Queen Anne Local Favorite, Julia’s Restaurant

There are a lot of great places to eat in Queen Anne, one of the favorite places for locals is definitely Julia’s.  These are the people that don’t bother to review it on Yelp because they already know where they are going when they want a meal out at a comfortable local place.  It’s not really plain, but it’s not prissy either.  Julia’s is in a converted Craftsman house on Queen Anne Ave N, with tables outside on the terrace as well.  When we went there yesterday we choose to be outside…we are not in the tripple digits anymore, thank heavens, but it’s still pretty warm even in the evenings.  Inside there are comfortable antique wooden tables and chairs in several small dining rooms, and as I said outside is the terrace with wrought iron tables and umbrellas.  A mother and daughter took the table next to us near the railing, and they were obviously Queen Anne residents since while they were eating at least 4 passersby stopped for long visits.  This is a community. The menu is comfortable and inviting.  Our server let us know that recent revisions have added some very interesting bites to the choices.  We loved the Steak Salad.  I’ve... 

Everyone Loves Queen Anne

The City’s Favorite Neighborhood and the Reasons Why You might say that any sentence that starts out with “everyone” has to be an exageration.  And I suppose it’s true that if you were to ask 20 Seattleites what their favortie neighborhood is, they would not all immediately blurt out “Queen Anne.”  In fact we are blessed with a number of wonderful, quirky, downright fantastic places to live in this laid-back, high speed Pacific Rim city, not to mention some equally popular and beloved Eastside and Northside areas.  But Queen Anne is special to the heart of Seattle, even for those who might choose to live elsewhere.  In one of the eleven parallel universes that exist according to String Theory, everyone lives in Queen Anne at least once. Why is it so beloved? Paragon Restaurant Well, perhaps it’s the winding streets lined with flowering trees, or the gorgeous restored vintage houses, or the walkability with some of the city’s best restaurants and shops.  Or could it be the proximity to Seattle Center with all it’s offerings, and the every-so-easy commute (only 2 miles but as much as 20 minutes in rush hour traffic) to downtown? ... 

Bank Owned Homes for Sale in Queen Anne

These days there is an interesting niche among available properties, and that is Bank Owned properties.  A client of mine that previously purchased a condo for his kids asked me to be on the lookout for a good deal as he needs a bigger home.  There are a lot of well-priced homes on the market right now as those who were hit by the slow-down in sales in the winter are making an attempt to be the “best, lowest priced” property in the neighborhood.  But in my experience, Bank Owned properties are usually among the lowest priced, and it doesn’t stop there as we can still negotiate.  Some are as-is although they have to put them in condition for a lender to approve a loan, which means no safety hazzards.  Often they are just fine, not even fixers, but usually could use a little “TLC” whether it’s a new coat of paint on some of the walls or some more extensive upgrades.  The price reflects the bank attitude that it will be the problem of the new owner.  We still do all the research on comparables to make sure we understand a fair value for the property, but it’s one of the best places to know you are going to find a lot of opportunity to get... 

Queen Anne Housing Stats for July 2009-Current

Being one of Seattle’s most desirable neighborhoods, of course you’re wondering how real estate in Queen Anne is doing. Here are some current stats for what sold in July and what is currently available! Residential: 1 bedroom:   2 on market: $59,000-$75,000 (both are houseboats) 2 bedroom:   24 on market: $299,000-$1,075,000 3 bedroom:   60 on market: $379,500-$2,185,000 4 bedroom:   45 on market: $350,000-$3,895,000 5 bedroom+: 17 on market: $599,000-$5,950,000 Condos: Studio:      11 on market: $179,950-$239,000 1 bedroom:  55 on market: $120,000-$529,000 2 bedroom:  85 on market: $230,000-$4,950,000 3 bedroom:  17 on market: $379,900-$1,675,000 Multi-Family: Duplex: 8 on market: $499,900-$849,000 Triplex: 5 on market: $599,900-$949,500 Fourplex: 4 on market: $699,000-$1,525,000 5-plex+: 3 on market: $1,150,000-$2,600,000 Vacant Land: 7 on market: $275,000-$2,099,000  

Seattle Rated #1 Smartest City

I ran into a website called Smarter Cities, a project of the Natural Resources Defense Council. The website provides rankings and great informational pieces on environmental progress/sustainability in large, medium sized, and smaller cities in the USA. Really it’s no surprise that Seattle was ranked at the top of the large city list…Seattlites are certainly aficionados of Green living! We’ve also been ranked the ‘healthiest city’, ’smartest (intelligence wise, as well; we do have Bill Gates and co., Boeing, Amazon…beat that, other cities) city’, and ’strongest real estate market’ in the nation, oh, and, (haha,)  ironically, ‘most sunglasses owned/bought per capita’! Here are the stats by criteria; San Francisco followed us overall at #2. Overall ranking: #1 Standard of living: #4 Green building: #1 Air quality: #1 Environmental standards and participation: #9 Transportation: #5 Recycling: #3 Green space: #2 Energy production and conservation:#1 Water quality: #4 To view these stats in more detail, visit their site! Thanks to Gabe who referred me to this! Amy Kizaki Buyer’s Agent 206.384.7169 amy@seattlepowersearch.com  

Florentia Clayworks in Queen Anne

Queen Anne Hill, besides the great streets for strolling and admiring the craftsman style homes, has many tempting small shops, coffee houses, restaurants.  But Clayworks down on the south side of the Fremont Bridge at 218 Florentia Street is a Face Cups Keep You Company quirky little clay studio and gallery that is fun to wander into and meet the current artist in residence.  If you ever get the chance it would be worth dropping by, and there is often someone there who will be happy to give you a tour and Florentia Face explain how the collective works.  Various ceramic artists both work and display their work here in the gallery, and it will be an adventure to see the different interpretations side by side.  Clay is such an “earthy” medium it evokes home and hearth (and heart!) so I always feel more centered when I have visited this little gallery and seen what’s current. It opened in 2006 after it’s founding members left their workspace at Pottery Northwest and needed a suitable studio space to carry on their work.  The space was an old store front and much work was needed to transform it into it’s Clayworks has a timeless feeling current Work... 

Tales from the trenches, a short story about short sales.

So far this year I have had three short sale listings, all 3 of which I sold.  Sounds great, doesn’t it?   However, of those three I was only able to close none of them…  that’s right, NONE OF THEM!  Why?  You ask?  Because the banks keep finding ways to get in the way… The most recent bank folly... My most recent deal collapse was just this Tuesday!  The bank representative (loss mitigation specialist) called me and told me that the bank had sold the property to HUD at a foreclosure auction 11 days prior!  This came as a shock to me, since I’d had multiple offers on this property since May, and had just received an “approval to participate in a shortsale” document package from the bank only 7 days before!  So, you can imagine my disbelief when I found out the bank had sold the property and THEN issued the approval to participate!!!  It is important to note that the statistics are showing only 10% successful closing rates on short sale properties in general (of course it depends on whose stats you like).  So, I knew upfront that it was going to be a challenge.  I don’t mind challenges, but I do expect organizations to apply... 

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