Comments on: Seattle Area Appreciation

By: jd

jd — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 02:42:55 +0000

reading these are funny now. Indeed, as you said “history will tell who was right”, well, every real estate “guru” was wrong. Seattle is not immune. You can’t have 30-40% appreciation without consequences.

By: Who gives a RA about the banks, anyway? | Seattle Bubble — News & discussion about real estate & the housing bubble in the Seattle area.

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:27:15 +0000

[...] the worst of it, or have we just seen the tip of the iceberg? P.S. (RE: the title of the post – original comment (#10) / ongoing conversation / Sorry Ardell, I just couldn’t [...]

By: Sandy

Sandy — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 03:38:39 +0000

Several months later, I’m gonna respond to Ardell’s post number 13 from way back in February. By and large I’d agree with Ardell’s assessment of the character of Boeing employees. Here’s some insight into the why’s of that assessment. Aerospace is more prone than most industries to a boom and bust economic cycle. Layoffs happen about every 10 years (we’re 5 years into one of these cycles right now). Also, there are strikes periodically. So, the wise Boeing employee always has at the back of his mind, the idea that he’s going to need to have that money socked away somewhere that he can get to it if need be.

They don’t tend to put it into their houses as much because generally there is the expectation on some level that if Boeing experiences hard times and they get laid off, selling their home will be difficult to do. By that I mean, they just don’t tend to buy the more expensive houses. And they tend also to be somewhat conservative about financing.

Just saw Rhonda’s posts now, and would generally agree with her characterization. I would lower that retirement age goal for most of the younger set, however–most of the Boeing folks I know under 40 are hoping not to be working by 55.

By: Marcus

Marcus — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 22:40:59 +0000

Banking crisis… nope,that’ll never happen.

Nice call Eleua.

By: ARDELL

ARDELL — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 19:42:23 +0000

Stan,

Why were you “sick about it” and not happy? You lost me there. You must have had a good profit on that sale…why “sick” about that?

By: ARDELL

ARDELL — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 19:39:39 +0000

Stan,

60-01 is the least predictable market over the long term. It is still selling at a huge discount to the rest of the market. But it may always do that. The properties are still undervalued, by and large, say for the G or H Model on Swan Lake, by $100,000 or more.

But all it takes is 1 person, of 770 or so owners there, to file a suit against the Board, and the values can plummet. The key there is that for many years, due to somewhat frivolous or administrative type lawsuits, the properties were not able to be financed at zero down.

In that price range, not being able to finance with less than 10% down is a real value killer. Much the same as the co-op market. These are NOT co-ops, but the value considerations run more in line with co-ops, than the condo/townhomes that they are, because of financing limitations created by lawsuits.

Even if that phase is over…one or two people out of 770 getting a bug up their butt about something, and filing a suit about it, can create price havoc for the rest of the owners.

I’d like to see them split out the 8 midrises into separate HOAs, either individually or separately, so the elevator midrise buildings are separated from the townhomes for valuation purposes. There are of course many things that can be done, but segregating the townhomes into their own HOA would make a lot of sense for the complex as a whole.

Don’t hold your breath though. Big changes like that take massive approval by the owners and someone brave enough to spearhead a movement. Don’t see that happening.

All that said…I love the place, and hope that Gus the Swan is still alive and well.

By: 2007 Still looking like a Seller’s Market | Rain City Guide | A Seattle Real Estate Blog...

Fri, 02 Mar 2007 19:26:27 +0000

[...] So far, it appears that my prediction that 2007 will meet or exceed that of 2006, appears to be on target. [...]

By: Stan

Stan — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 19:20:51 +0000

Ardell, You are right on with you recount of the 60-01 saga. I sold one last fall in that 220k to 230k range and was actually almost sick about it. I remember when they were around 50k. Even then it was never one of my favorite communities. Where will it stop? Can you see these same units in 5 years going for $500k and more? Gawd helps us.

By: Bill Waters

Bill Waters — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 07:55:51 +0000

Tim, you should move to Seattle. Yeah, you’d have to give up the horses, but you’d never need tire chains to get to work. While the people in the outlying areas get stuck in their cars for 8 hours – people in the city are able to take advantage of less crowded restaurants and traffic free streets.

By: Tim

Tim — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 05:58:18 +0000

Dustin- you are the delete maestro today!