Tag Archives: Local-News

Starbucks is Built for Growth

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Pike Place Market StarbucksI ran across this interesting article on how Starbucks manages their real estate. Corporate real estate is not my usual thing, but I thought the insights were quite interesting and show how important location is to the Starbucks brand.

Starbucks is a concept driven as much by real estate as it is by coffee and the coffee experience. These days Starbucks opens at least three new locations a day somewhere in the world. It has taken a lot of real estate to open up 9,000+ Starbucks locations and it will take even more real estate to reach their stated goal of 30,000 global locations.

The blog entry quoted above is from a review of Built for Growth by a former EVP of Real Estate with Starbucks. In the book, the author describes how “Starbucks gained market dominance through finding the best real estate locations.”

While not surprising, it’s interesting to hear the different ways that location has become an intergral part of Starbucks’ growth strategy.

Older Homes Appreciating Faster

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Hurley and Patterson CousinsThe Seattle Times had an interesting article that describes how home values of older homes have increased at substantially faster rates than new homes:

New homes may have the latest of everything, but as an investment, a new house simply does not bring the returns that an older home does. Countywide over the past five years, new houses have posted 4.8 percent annual appreciation, while older homes saw about 7 percent. In the past year, new houses appreciated 7.5 percent compared with old houses’ 10.4 percent.

I don’t think many Seattle agents would find this information surprising as most homes as so many of the homes around here have increased in value substantially over the past few years. My experience has been that there is a large subset of home buyers that are looking for homes with character in established neighborhoods. In an area like Seattle with very few new homes being built each year, people are finding ways to fix up old homes in ways that make them shine beyond a typical “old” home.

Most importantly, assuming an old home is located in a nice neighborhood, it is relatively easy to add $100K to $200K through straightforward improvements (update kitchens, build out basements/attics, etc), whereas the opportunity to substantially increase the value of new homes is more limited.

This same report included data on the medium home values for Seattle/King County. If you drill down through their menus, you can find out how many homes were sold in your neighborhood, along with the percent that were new and median price.

The Boeing Boom

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sasha with eyeglassThe Seattle PI had an article today describing how things are definitely picking up at the local Boeing facilities around the Puget Sound. This paragraph sums it up pretty well:

The company plans to open a second production line in Renton that will push output there to a record 31 planes a month. It is also requiring some 777 workers in Everett to work overtime and will replace a key executive there amid a series of production problems before it boosts output of that twin-aisle jetliner as well.

None of this comes as a surprise to me as I’ve been noticing a substantial increase in people who looking to move to the area related to Boeing jobs. In addition, some of the housing message boards such as craigslist and trip advisor seem to have a lot more questions about good places to live for people whose jobs are relocating to Everett and/or relocating to Renton.

For home owners, any sustained expansion of jobs to the region is great news and I’m of the opinion that job growth plays a larger role in keeping home prices high than any change in interest rates! The success of the tech industry (Microsoft, Amazon, etc) in the area has done wonders for our home values and with the additional growth from Boeing, the future looks real good for Seattle-area home owners.

Home Value Update from the Local Papers

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Daniel with BalloonBoth the Seattle Times and the PI have articles today about the continual high growth in home prices in the area:

I like this quote where Elizabeth Rhodes speculates about a possible housing bubble:

Fuel for speculation of a housing bubble — but not proof of one — increased yesterday on a report that strong buyer demand has pushed Central Puget Sound prices up 10 percent or more over last spring’s already high numbers.

I’m of the opinion that demand for homes in quality urban neighborhoods is here to stay, and while that doesn’t mean the high growth in values will last forever (it won’t), I think the high prices will…

Seattle Times Home and Real Estate Section

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Moving Companies

Looking to read some more on the local real estate market? The Seattle Times has a Home and Real Estate section that provides lots of interesting information, including a section on just about every neighborhood in Seattle.

Return on your Remodel Investment

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Yard WorkWhen looking to remodel your home you have to be clear about your objectives. Are you doing it for personal reasons? Or to add value to your home? Many home improvements don’t pay for themselves in terms of adding value to your home, while others are no-brainers if you can make the improvements. How do you find out which improvements are appropriate?

If you are making the improvement to add value there are definitely some resources that I can help point out. The National Association of Realtors posted an article that explicitly listed the pay-off for various home improvements. However, they don’t publish that information on the web, so if you would like to have specific improvements (like how much value can I add with a new fireplace?), then email me. I have a number of resources. If you are looking for general information, the Seattle Times posts articles occasionally that give overview statistics.

This article mentioned that the “Best Investment Bets” were:

  • Kitchen: Replace countertops with a quality, low-maintenance material, such as granite.
  • Bathrooms: Replace vinyl with tile or slate. Use dark grout that won’t show dirt.
  • Family room: If you don’t have a fireplace in the room, add one. If your hearth is half-baked, make it better.
  • Master bedroom: Add an organizational system to the closet, especially if you don’t have a walk-in.
  • Basement: Adding a bathroom — or rough-ins for a toilet, sink and shower — is the place to start.

Why do many home-improvement investments not pay for themselves? Mainly it has to do with people’s expectations. If you are adding or fixing something that people expect to be there, then it won’t add much value to your home. For example, people expect that the plumbing system works. If you have to pay $5,000 to fix the plumbing, you just aren’t likely to recoup that money through a higher home price. Same thing with a new roof.