Comments on: Seattle Real Estate Market 2007 YTD

By: Kess

Kess — Tue, 22 May 2007 21:31:41 +0000

I will be relocating to Seattle end of May. I will like to buy a house that will appreciate well and that is within 30 minutes of Microsoft. My price range is around 750K. I have only visited Seattle once when I came for my job interview, however, I am a seasoned investor from Florida. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to buy in Seattle? Thanks.

By: ARDELL

ARDELL — Thu, 17 May 2007 00:25:10 +0000

Anything that takes up the whole yard, pool, deck, basketball court, is never a good thing. Yard sloping up is better than yard sloping down. More options for terracing. Yard sloping down is tough. It’s hard for me to visualize. Biggest concern for yard sloping down depends on the slope. Low maintenance is usually the issue at hand. If you can’t use it, people don’t want to spend a lot of time maintaining it, unlike an upward slope where you can see the plantings if you do a terraced garden.

Rule of thumb is you want enough room for a swingset with room to get in back and front of it. Can’t say I’ve ever seen anything creative on a downslope Chips tend to wash and slide down. That’s why I liked the option of reducing the slope and making it more usable. Was that an expensive option?

Inspectors like when some of the foundation is showing, especially if there is wood siding. In fact lowering the dirt around the house is common inspector suggestion.

I’ll try to get the photos up tonight.

By: sandy

sandy — Wed, 16 May 2007 22:08:16 +0000

Ardell: the pictures will be very helpful. Please do post them.
I think the reasons you point out re:rocks are very valid. True, I dont have kids now, but you bring up a good point. Are children not comfortable playing on decks? (I am clueless) Can you point me to additional options based on recent showings?

By: ARDELL

ARDELL — Wed, 16 May 2007 21:40:16 +0000

Sandy,

I took some pictures of my now installed lighting for you. I’ll try to get those before and after pictures up for you. I don’t have the same style as you, but will post them for what it’s worth.

To answer your question, I’ll answer from the buyer’s perspective of recent comments made to me at showings.

1) big rocks scared a woman to death. Kept picturing her son getting banged up on the rocks

2) builder used wood chips instead of grass on new construction yard. Buyer asked it chips could be replaced with sod.

3) Deck takes up almost entire yard. Buyer said he was thinking of having it cut in half.

It’s hard visualize 4, but I’m thinking 4 to create more usable space.

All deck and veggie garden makes it sound like you have no kids looking for a place to play. What are the odds the person you sell it to is never going to have kids looking for a place to play?

By: sandy

sandy — Wed, 16 May 2007 21:24:35 +0000

Ardell: This is off topic, but posting here nevertheless. I have question on building a deck in the back yard of a home. The back yard streches 17ft from the back of the house to the property fence boundry. About 8 ft of the yard is leveled while the rest has a downward grade of 3:1. The house also includes some additional yard space on the side of the house. We have been given some options by contractors and I wanted to get your thoughts on those. Option 1) concrete patio extending 8 ft to the back with the downward grade area covered with large rocks etc to make it seem more level, wood chips instead of grass. 2) deck of size 8ft X 15ft with grass area on back side say another 8 ft X 8ft and then the size garden patch 3) build a larger deck of the entire level back yard, and use the side area of 4ft X 12 ft for a veggie patch/garden 4) lower the level of the soil by 8 inches. Some foundation will seem exposed then to lower the grade of the slope.

What do people prefer to do? I like option 3 myself, but am woried I may be in the minority.

By: ARDELL

ARDELL — Wed, 16 May 2007 15:15:00 +0000

So a data analyst is someone who hasn’t seen the property and is just using pure numbers, is that correct?

I didn’t expect you to post the property here, but thought you might email it to me so I could check it out and post my thougts without revealing the property address. I totally get not posting a specific address with a story. I have that problem ALL the time.

By: Rich

Rich — Wed, 16 May 2007 15:09:27 +0000

not from 400K to 500K, but from 510K to 600K. data analyst means anybody who looks at appreciation of houses over time.

i agree with you that data sometimes doesn’t give the complete picture. In this case, it seems a good appreciation (by looking at the numbers) but actually it was not a good appreciation if you consider the remodeling cost.

that property is sold and since seller didn’t make anything on that, i don’t want to post the details. thanks.

By: ARDELL

ARDELL — Tue, 15 May 2007 19:11:57 +0000

Rich,

Who or what is “data analyst” that said a property went from $400,000 to $500,000 in six months, and what property was that? Is that something said online that I can view?

By: Rich

Rich — Tue, 15 May 2007 17:21:19 +0000

Thanks.

By: ARDELL

ARDELL — Tue, 15 May 2007 17:16:24 +0000

Rich,

Here’s that example I had in my head.

1999 bought for $117,500. Value of lot, as it was torn down and a new home put up which sold for $329,950 in 2000 at $160.95 per square foot. Just resold. Was listed for $585,000 in October of 06. On market for 138 days. Sold for $516,000 – $254.19 per squre foot. Quiet street. So-So neighborhood. North Seattle.

You do the math. Don’t listen to “data analyst” whoever that is. Do the math.