Tag Archives: Moving-to-Seattle

10 Things You Should Know Before Moving to Seattle

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Where do you find inspiration?

Out of all the places to find inspiration for a blog post, my current favorite is deep within the RCG stats where I can find the search terms that people use to reach this site. Today, someone came to RCG looking for: [things+you+should+know+before+moving+to+Seattle], and while we likely disappointed that particular visitor, I would like to make amends by offering up this list of ten things you should know before moving to Seattle:

rain in Seattle1) It rains.

2) No really, it rains a lot here. Despite what they say about it raining more in Atlanta, Boston, or D.C., the rain in Seattle can be like a slow trickle that never turns off. But the rain is okay… really… because one day… some day… it stops. And on those first few warm, sunny spring days, all of life is good in a way that Californians will never understand (unless they move to Seattle).

3) Seattle isn’t always comfortable being a high-tech town. Sure we design operating systems, sell stuff online, try to appraise every home in America and stream lots of music and movies, but a substantial portion of the population relates much more to the art of building airplanes.

4) Consensus Rules. Just agree with me on this one or I’ll never be able to get to #5.

5) Traffic Rules. People in Seattle talk a lot more about traffic than the weather. Depending on where you are moving from, traffic will either be horrible or a non-issue. Most blue-state people will laugh at Seattle traffic because you can normally get between any two points in the City in under a half-hour at all times of the day. Red-state people see the parking lot known as SR 520 and wonder why we haven’t build another bridge yet (see #4 for a hint at the answer).

6) Seattle is not that big. We have all the stuff associated with life in a major city: Theaters, traffic, ballets, sports teams, traffic, skyscrapers, music, etc., but you really don’t have to travel far to feel like you are in rural America.

7) Seattle is closer to Asia than Mexico. If one of the staples of your diet consists of cheap and tasty Mexican food, then you will eventually replace that staple with Pho. The sooner you accept this (and the sooner you stop saying “The Mexican food is so much better in California”), the sooner Seattleites will let you know about the good Asian restaurants. (And by the way, since we’re talking about good food, I feel obliged to mention that the Mexican food I remember growing up with in California was so much better than anything you can find in Seattle…)

8) The intersection of NE 50th St and 40th Ave NE is about a mile away from 50th Ave NE and NE 40th St. In the Seattle area, all the street names are numbered and given one of nine directions (NW, N, NE, SW, S, SE, E, W or blank). The numbers begin at 1 in downtown Seattle and radiate out wards. The directions also radiate out, but are city specific, unless, of course, they aren’t… Like at the intersection of 244th St SW, 100th Ave W, N 205th St and 8th Ave NW. There is logic to the entire street system and if you live here long enough, you will understand. Until then, you will be confused and miss appointments, meetings, birthdays, etc.. On a related real estate note, if you are new to Seattle, do not attempt to search for a home without a real estate agent. The street system was designed by a committee of real estate agents who wanted to ensure that you need their help to locate a home. 😉 Also on a related note, Redfin has proposed new street names (featuring real names) for all streets in a effort to ensure the viability of their business model, but at this point, they are still very far from getting consensus on their proposed naming convention.

9) Paul Allen.

10) Despite what you might have read in Wired, Fremont is the Center of the Universe.

Have I covered everything?

Buyer Tip – Successful Negotiation of the Home Inspection

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You can ask for the moon in Phase 1 of the inspection contingency. But if the seller’s response to that is less than satisfactory, you need to get specific in your response to the seller’s response.

Let’s say you give the seller a big laundry list of “stuff” that is “wrong” with the house under Phase 1. of the Inspection Contingency.

Seller comes back in Phase 2. offering to fix only one of those things.

To be successful at getting more than that in Phase 3, you should go back with a very specific, and pretty much final request, such as:

I will buy the home “as is” with regard to all times noted in the inspection if the price is reduced from $514,000 to $512,000.” Or “I will buy the home “as is” with regard to all other items noted in the inspection contingency IF Items #2, 7 and 9 are repaired prior to closing and receipts for those repairs are delivered at closing with at least a 30 day warranty on those repairs”. There are many and better ways to state this, but be specific about what you want the seller to actually DO when you get to the final round.

The long winded version is on my blog. Trying to cut down on the verbiage over here. I tend to “overstate my case” to put it kindly, which results in blog-clog 🙂

And don’t forget…as with any negotiation…timing is everything.

Who Benefits from a Buyer's Agreement?

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(Editor’s Note: I’m happy to introduce Russ Cofano as a new contributor on Rain City Guide. He is a practicing real estate lawyer in Seattle with a tremendous amount of legal and business experience. Among his many roles and accomplishments, Russ is the former retained General Counsel for the Washington Assn of REALTORS (“WAR”), Seattle-King County Assn of REALTORS and Tacoma-Pierce County Assn of REALTORS; he was a key contributor/drafter of important real estate legislation in the State of Washington such as the Real Estate Brokerage Relationships Act and the Residential Transfer Disclosure Act; and he is an expert on MLS and Intellectual Property issues having been invited to speak at national real estate conferences including Inman’s Connect in San Francisco and MLS Connection. Russ can be reached at Russ@cofanolaw.com)

In the 90’s (sounds so long ago, doesn’t it), the concept of buyer agency entered the real estate brokerage world. For years, buyers working with agents were always surprised to find out that the agent typically was a sub-agent of the listing agent and legally represented the seller, not the buyer. This was true even though that agent almost never had any contact with the seller and usually had a much more significant relationship with the buyer. For a variety of reason (mostly because it made sense), the historical concept of sub-agency went away and agents working with buyers actually started representing those buyers.

As this concept took hold, folks like me would tour around far and wide and talk about the virtues of getting an agreement in place with buyers. This seemed to make sense because, heck, listing agents got sellers to sign listing agreements so why wouldn’t a buyer sign something similar. Well, if it wasn’t for my quick feet and years on the basketball court, I would have had many a projectile hit me in the head when I would suggest to agents this new way of dealing with buyers. The response was usually based on the fact that most agents felt that buyer’s would never be willing to commit themselves to a single agent like seller’s do in the listing agreement. In the same breath, those same agents would curse about those cheating buyers who would use them for days, weeks and months and then leave them at the last minute to work with someone else or (egads!) work without representation.

Fast forward to 2006. In Washington (as well as many states around the country), we have agency laws that define both seller and buyer agency roles. In Washington, if an agent is working with a buyer and is not the listing agent on the property that buyer wants to purchase, that agent will be the buyer’s agent (unless they have an agreement otherwise).

So what do buyers legally get from buyer agents. Well, look behind door number 2, and you will see the following duties:

  1. To be loyal to the buyer by taking no action that is adverse or detrimental to the buyer’s interest in a transaction;
  2. To timely disclose to the buyer any conflicts of interest;
  3. To advise the buyer to seek expert advice on matters relating to the transaction that are beyond the agent’s expertise;
  4. Not to disclose any confidential information from or about the buyer, except under subpoena or court order, even after termination of the agency relationship; and
  5. Unless otherwise agreed to in writing after the buyer’s agent has delivered the Agency Law Pamphlet, to make a good faith and continuous effort to find a property for the buyer; except that a buyer’s agent is not obligated to: (i) Seek additional properties to purchase while the buyer is a party to an existing contract to purchase; or (ii) show properties as to which there is no written agreement to pay compensation to the buyer’s agent.

My question is this: Doesn’t a good buyer’s agent deliver significantly more value to a buyer than those measly duties outlined above? If so, why would a buyer not be willing to sign an agreement that requires the agent to deliver all those “extras

Republicans in Seattle?

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Everyone knows that Seattle is a Democrat town… So when I threw my zip code into this handy google map hack that maps political contributions, I expected to see a lot of blue markers:

Conclusion: Despite what you may have thought, there ARE some Republicans in Seattle. 😉

And for those of you who are building innovative real estate search sites, you should definitely include political contribution information! It would be a fun way to test neighborhood compatibility!

Republicans in Seattle?

Is Santa Planning on Moving to Seattle?

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I don’t mean to brag, but I was just checking my log files and I noticed that someone from the North Pole found my site while searching for real estate on Google.

I imagine the street level up there is pretty high this time of year. I wonder if one of the elves is thinking of getting out of manufacturing and into a more high-tech job?

[photopress:santa_moving_to_seattle.jpg,full,centered]

Also, if you look closely, you’ll notice that my North Pole visitor had cookies enabled 🙂

Local Treasure: Golden Gardens

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[photopress:golden_gardens_beach.gif,thumb,alignright]There’s a fun story on the City of Seattle’s website about the history of the Golden Gardens park. Turns out this local gem was named and developed “in 1907 as an attraction at the end of the novel, new electric car lines being built by realtors to induce townfolk to take a ‘Sunday outing’ out of town and through the woods to a picnic or swim at a beach. (Along the way they were made aware of the real estate available!)”

Wow! Back then agents understood that a rail project adds to property values! 🙂

Of course, some things never change:

“In 1933, the community celebrated the opening of Seaview Avenue, a narrow two-lane road alongside the railroad, but on its own fill behind a new rock seawall, that ended abruptly with a new railroad underpass connecting with the old parking lot and providing a drive through the park, as well as auto access to the beach area. Then traffic really became a problem!“

[photopress:golden_gardens.JPG,thumb,alignleft]Why was (and is) parking so tight? Because Golden Gardens is still a great place to take a ‘Sunday outing’ (or an outing on any day of the week!). The park has a little bit for everyone…. There are beaches and creeks for the kids, fire pits for the teens and wonderful views and trails for the rest of us!

Want more? More history of Golden Gardens in this acrobat file (pdf). More on Seattle’s first electric streetcar. More archived photos of Seattle. More archived photos of Golden Gardens. More modern shots of Golden Gardens.

And, of course, there are more local treasures on Rain City Guide.

Inbox: Where to Live Based on the Quality of Seattle Public Schools?

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I’ve been having a dialog with one of my readers who is looking forward to moving to Seattle. His last email summarized some of the research he has done on Seattle schools, and I thought the entire email is so good that it deserved a wider audience:

Dear Anna —

I’ve got another issue you might want to explore on your blog, and get readers’ feedback. Do people looking to buy real estate in Seattle base their choice of neighborhoods on the quality of schools? From my understanding of the Seattle public school system, it seems that one does not need to consider high schools among ones neighborhood selection criteria, since at least in term’s of today’s system, there’s no admission advantage (other than just being close) that accrues to living in the “reference area” of ones preferred high school. However, there does appear to be an advantage to living in the reference area of ones preferred elementary and junior high schools. And if budget cuts ultimately mean cutbacks in school choice (though that has been averted for the time being), then it’s likely that it will be even more important. So, what this means is that if school quality is important to you, you should look at the neighborhood elementary and junior high schools.

However, if one looks at the Seattle city schools in comparison to suburban schools in terms of grade scores (as tabulated by the Seattle Times School Guide), quite a few elementary schools (e.g., Lowell, View Ridge, Wedgwood, Hay, Lawton, North Beach, Whittier, etc.) compete with the best suburban schools (Mercer Island, Bainbridge Island, etc.). However, at the junior high school level, all but a few junior high schools (Eckstein, Tops, Washington) fall out of step with the best suburban schools. And at the high school level, only the Center School ranks with schools on Bainbridge, Mercer Island, Bellevue, Issaquah and the Northshore. The obvious conclusion, then, is that if you seek top notch schooling in the upper grades, your choice comes down to having your child compete for a place at a few select Seattle city public junior highs or high schools, or else looking at private schools, or moving to the suburbs.

What do you think of this analysis? What other school related-factors are there to consider?

I hope you don’t see this as too self-serving. It strikes me as it is a fundamental part of buying real estate, but is rarely fleshed out in public, probably because of the hot-button racial issues involved.

(I’ve left the writer of this email anonymous at his request)

When he asks if any other factors should be considered, I think of some of the specialty programs that different schools offer. For example, all of the 5th grade students at Greenwood Elementary School are taught how to fly airplanes (Cessna 172’s). I imagine that some parents would be willing to give up a few test score points to know that their child was in a more stimulating environment.

What other specialty programs are there that might be of interest to parents moving to Seattle?

What other school-related factors should he consider in looking for a home in Seattle?

I would definitely like to open up his questions to other readers, so please feel free to leave comments below.

Ballard History.

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[photopress:shilshole_boats.jpg,thumb,alignright]The City of Seattle’s website has an interesting tour of Ballard history that has some fun gems of information (including some wonderful historic photos).

“The first claim in the future city and neighborhood of Ballard was filed in 1852, the same year settlers arrived in Seattle itself. Development proceeded slowly until railroad entrepreneurs Thomas Burke and Daniel Gilman (remembered now with the Burke-Gilman Trail) assembled a large tract in 1888 for the construction of a new community.
Meanwhile, a ship’s captain named William Rankin Ballard lost a bet with a business partner and found himself the owner of 160 acres of seemingly worthless logged-off land adjacent to the planned Gilman Park development. Burke and Gilman hired him to manage their project, and appreciative residents named their new city after Ballard when they incorporated in 1890.”

“The large wave of Scandinavian emigrants were coming to this are and in 1889, when Seattle all but burned down, Ballard’s sawmills supplied materials to rebuild the city. For years, Ballard was the No. 1 producer of wood shingles in the world, earning it the nickname “Shingle Town USA.”

“Back than Ballard was a rough-and-tumble town. Factory whistles signaled the start and end of the day. Ballard was also a fishing town, and on Salmon Bay – the birthplace of Ballard – Alaska fishing trawlers remain a dominant presence. Men heading home would stop along Market Street to buy supper or hoist a beer in one of Ballard’s many saloons.”

“Now we define Ballard by boundaries on North 110th NW st. , South and West Salmon and Shilshol Bays and the East by 3rd Ave NW and Phinney Ridge. Ballard includes the neighborhoods of Loyal Heights, Crown Hill, Blue Ridge, Bitter Lake and Broadview. While the others are primarily residential, Broadview, roughly the area between North 105th Street and 145th Street from Puget Sound east to Aurora Avenue, is a community that has seen big changes in housing and urbanization. “

Ballard Treasure: Hiram M. Chittenden Locks

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[photopress:404_0447_IMG.JPG,thumb,alignright]This is the first post in what I hope will be a regular feature. My plan is to post on local treasures… Potential topics include interesting places, events, people, businesses that make Seattle a special place to live.

The Hiram M. Chittendem Locks (also known as the Ballard Locks) map

What are they?
The Ballard locks opened in 1916 and were built to raise or lower vessels 6 to 26 feet (depending on tide and lake level) to compensate for the difference between the levels of Lake Washington and Puget Sound. Back when the locks were first designed and built, Ballard was a major economic center with a substantial portion of Seattle’s fishing and freight traffic passing through this area. Today, commercial fishing boats still pass through the locks but almost all of the freight traffic has moved to much larger and deeper ports in other parts of the state. The majority of the boat traffic passing through the locks are personal boats either returning from an ocean trip (likely to the beautiful San Juan islands) or a visiting boat from some other part of the world.

How do the locks work?
Think of it like a huge modified bathtub. The important elements of this bathtub are that it has a plug (to stop water), a spigot (to let water in) and two gates (one on the freshwater side and one on the saltwater side). In order to get a boat from the saltwater to the freshwater, the saltwater-side gate is opened and the boat enters. Then the saltwater gate is closed (forming a bathtub) and the tub is plugged. When the spigot is turned on, freshwater fills the water level of the bathtub up to the level of the freshwater canal (thanks to gravity!). Then the freshwater-side gate is opened and the boat can enter the canal.

At this point, boats that want to go from freshwater to saltwater can enter the bathtub. Once the freshwater-side gate has been closed, the plug is pulled causing the water-level to fall until it reaches the level of the saltwater. At this point the saltwater-side gate is opened and a boat can enter the salt water!

Other Activities at the Locks
In addition to watching the boats rise and fall with the water level at the locks, there are other activities at the Ballard Locks that can make for a wonderful afternoon. There is a nearby Salmon run and during the summer, some interesting gardens and sculptures, and the grounds are home to some great entertainment on weekends during the summer.

From the locks it is just a short walk along a spillway to get to the “fish ladder” that allows fish to bypass the locks and get to their natual habitat on Lake Washington and beyond. Sockeye, Chinook and Coho salmon, as well as cutthroat trout and steelhead use the ladder to migrate through the canal to Lake Washington. All of this is fun and educational making it a great place to take kids!

Another fun activity at the Ballard Locks is to visit the beautiful botanical gardens. Spreading over seven acres bordering on the canal are some 500 species and 1,500 varieties of mature trees, shrubs and flowers from all over the world. In addition, a small stage is set up most weekend days during the summer on a grassy knoll making this a fun place to spread a blanket and enjoy a picnic.

More links:

Do you have an idea for a local treasure that you’d like to see featured on Rain City Guide? Let me know.