Rain City Guide

10 Things You Should Know Before Moving to Seattle

Hi Cat!

I know I felt funny at first moving to Seattle from SoCal, and mostly avoided talking about where I was from by saying I was originally from Arizona… my family moved around a lot when I was a kid.

I think the areas you are interested in generally have a higher portion of residents from other places (at least in condos and apts) so are less bothered by people coming from elsewhere.

As far as missing sun, well, you are going to miss it coming from Hawaii, no doubt about it! Alki in West Seattle is a lot like SoCal Beach towns, so it seems sunnier sometimes.

Be sure that your place has a southern exposure so you get as much sun as possible. Queen Anne has it’s southern slope, and the western exposure of Interbay so those would be good places. Same with Capitol Hill on the westside overlooking Lake Union and Downtown. Stay away from shady valleys and nothern exposure condos and apts, they can seem very cold and dark in the winter.

Welcome to Seattle!

Why did YOU move to Seattle?

Hi D Rap,

I think there is a lot of creativity here in Seattle! Art, Music, Live Theater and more.

The Arts are very well represented and supported by the communities. While I don’t personally know much regarding Music and Live Theater, other than what I read about in the Seattle Weekly (a great place to find out more: http://www.seattleweekly.com/ ), I am familiar with the Fine Arts in the Galleries (Painting, Printmaking etc.) and it’s very vibrant.

Beyond those types of creativity, Seattle is filled with “Foodies” flocking to all our creative chefs in Seattle restaurants and cafes, then there are the Breweries (check out Laughing Buddha: http://laughingbuddhabeer.com/default.htm ) wineries and even chocolate factories at Theo Chocolates: ( http://www.theochocolate.com/ ). The Seattle Weekly has a great restaurant section too.

Seattle is a very creative place for many types of creative expresssion (lots of fun and creative Festivals too) so I am sure you will find what appeals to you and shake off those stifling shackles!

Northwest Flower & Garden Show is here in Seattle this weekend.

Hi SWRE,

I don’t agree that the NWF&GS is “geared for beginning gardeners”. While there is a lot to educate and inspire people just getting into gardening, the show is just as inspiring for more experienced gardeners as well.

I have been going to the show for over 12 years, with my first year as an absolute novice just before I bought my house, because I wanted a garden, and thought the show would be a great place to learn. In 2003 when I was the manager and a buyer at The Gray Barn Garden Center, and a much more experienced gardener, I enjoyed seeing the ideas and attending the seminars. Even now, though I am not such an active gardener I still go to learn and be inspired….and to shop!

The display gardens demonstrate ideas that are helpful to all levels with creative plant designs, and new plant introductions, this year a gorgeous new variety of red barked vine maple was in several displays. The seminars are conducted by well regarded, and knowledgble plantsmen and women, many are authors of recent books on plants and gardening.

The Northwest Flower & Garden Show has a lot for everyone!

Update regarding the show, I recieved this information:
“official attendance for the 2009 Northwest Flower & Garden Show was 54,443 — a three percent increase from last year’s attendance of 52,692.” So good news!

10 Things You Should Know Before Moving to Seattle

Hi Karen,

Well, it’s been a funny last few months here weather wise! The weatherman last night said it’s been 90 years since Snoqualmie Pass has had snow in June…no wonder everyone growing tomatos says the poor plants are just shivering in the garden.

But San Diego has June Gloom too from marine low clouds and fog that linger into the afternoon for most of the city and even late afternoon on the coast…so your co-workers can’t say it’s that sunny in San Diego in June! BTW, I grew up in San Diego with the term “Jume Gloom”…so it’s a normal situation.

Can’t wait to read you Anniversary post!

10 Things You Should Know Before Moving to Seattle

Hi Ang,

There are good places to live and rent west and north (mostly north for affordability) of the UW that should work out well in terms of rent and having a dog. Depending on what you can spend for rent you
might look in the Greenwood/Phinney Ridge areas, or looking northward to Lake Forest Park, Shoreline, Lynnwood (this last one is in Snohomish county) and others.

link to Seattle School District – careers

http://www.seattleschools.org/area/hr/index.dxml

Also, Google “seattle school district” and you will also get the names of the others in King County

Snohomish County School District is:
http://www.sno.wednet.edu/

Craigslist should give you some idea of rents:

http://seattle.craigslist.org/

Also a book I used a lot for moving to Seattle in 1994, was Seattle Survival Giude II. It is now in it’s 4th edition and has a lot of good information in it ( I have that copy too!)

http://www.amazon.com/Seattle-Survival-Guide-Essential-Handbook/dp/1570613397

I hope this helps!

Distressed Property Law

As far as marketing to help match distressed home sellers to buyers interested and willing to enter into a contract that involves another party, the lender(s) who may or may not be cooperative in the negotiation process for a short sale, the listing agent can only disclose that (and must) because it is a material fact.

But a homeowner can be distressed without it being a material fact. In that case the agent cannot disclose the sellers distress since it is a breach of fiduciary duty.

The NWMLS says this:

“Agents are not required to disclose to selling licensees and buyers that a property is a Distressed Home. In many transactions, disclosing this fact could be a breach of the listing agent’s fiduciary duties to seller because it is not in the seller’s best interest to have this fact disclosed. If a buyer knows that the property is a Distressed Home, the buyer may gain advantage over a seller in negotiations.”

So buyers can unknowningly make an offer on a distressed property, and only when (if) the property becomes a shortsale or in within 20 days of a foreclosure sale, be made aware of the fact that they are in contract with a distressed seller.

It’s the notice of a foreclosure sale in 20 days that is the potential mind field for both the seller and buyer.

The buyer once notified can withdraw from the contract, have their earnest money refunded, and the seller to reimburse the buyer any costs the buyer has incurred during the contract period. The seller loses their “get out of foreclosure card” since they are not likely to be able to find another buyer and may have to pay for the buyers inspection, etc. on top of that.

The buyer could actually become a fiduciary to the seller because of this 20 day notice of a foreclosure sale, this is why the buyer is allowed to withdraw from the contract if they choose to.

Jillayne, I think you are right because in some ways this law will be helpful, as those with expertise step in as others withdraw from this playing field. But in other ways I think it will penalize distressed sellers and possibly buyers.

Distressed Property Law

From what I have read, not all short sales are distressed homes and subject to the new law. This is what the NWMLS has to say:

“For example, if a seller is not in default on the mortgage and is perfectly capable of making the payments, but the loan on the property exceeds the value of the property, the sale is short, but the property is not a Distressed Home.”

So the home owner who is selling for other reasons than they cannot afford the mortgage payments, and the current market value that a buyer is willing to pay is less than the loan amount, and if that seller is able to pay the difference…then they are not a distress seller.

Distressed Property Law

Right now I see that this may be creating a separate class of sellers who, while being offered protections under this new legistration, may find themselves being ostracized, because of all the additional liabilities, from a pool of brokers willing to list the properties, and from buyers who under other circumstances, would have bought the house. That is very unfortunate (BAD) news for distressed home sellers.

Proccuring the best buyer, or in some cases, ANY buyer, it is best to offer the home to the largest pool of potential buyers. This legistration is now limiting the pool of buyers to those and their agents who are willing to take on the aditional liabilites.

If I am representing, lets say a first time homebuyer, are they going to want to add to the stress of buying their first home the addtional liability of possibly becoming the fiduciary to the seller? What about having to pay out of pocket for an attorney to draw up the additional (original ) paperwork for documents that no organization (NWMLS, SKCAR, or Washington State) has even provided an outline for? How is my first time homebuyer expected to agree to all this? What is the incentive to buy this house, with all these additional potential issues? Wouldn’t it be easier to just not even consider distressed homes?

If the above scenario becomes the norm, then how is limiting the buyer pool a good thing for distressed home sellers?

"It's just like a normal auction, except...

Hi Justin,

I would get rid of “Pot. in-law apt.” at the end and say a bit more about weekly price reductions. No websites are allowed on the mls marketing remarks, so that’s why you can’t include yours, although the rule is to prevent an agents’ branding or marketing.

Good luck and again keep us posted!

8 New Seattle Neighborhood Blogs Added to Neighborhood Round-Up

Hi Pumpkin! Welcome to RCG!

Here comes the sun!!!

Hi ARDELL, have you noticed how mild the temp is today? Even with with the cloud cover, it does not feel cold. There is warm air moving up from California and it’s coming tomorrow! Have fun on your photo day.

10 Things You Should Know Before Moving to Seattle

Hi Adrianna,

Thank you for sending the link on the schools!

Sunday Night Stats on Monday Morning

Hi ARDELL,

See you at your Brokers Open today!