Tag Archives: neighborhood

What’s hot and what’s not in Seattle?

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Where to invest next in Seattle/Eastside neighborhoods? I’ve been thinking about the list Seattle Metropolitan Magazine came up in April (see below). With gas prices up, rapid transit going in, I think the next hot spots will be along those rapid transit routes like what happened in San Francisco and Portland.

Here are 2 lists, one from last month and one from 3 years ago. My clients usually make a decision where to buy based on either the commute or schools, sometimes as specific as a certain grade school. What about home age and style. It has been suggested that buyers like the homes their grandparents lived in, not the ones they grew up in, so Will the next batch of buyers want the 50’s and 60’s houses as has been suggested and if so, should we be buying in those areas? There was supposed to be a trend away from large homes, and that’s probably the case considering home prices are so high most can’t have the size home the buyers of the 90’s did.

Here is the Seattle Metropolitan Magazine list of 15 of the hottest neighborhoods in it’s April issue.

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Grandes Dames: established and well rooted neighborhoods:

  1. Medina: (recognize the house above?)
  2. Madison Park
  3. Admiral

The Rock Stars: fast rising districts surging with glamour and vitality.

  1. Ballard
  2. Pike/Pine Corridor
  3. Moss Bay, Kirkland

Cinderellas: Formerly neglected areas now traipsing to the ball

  1. South Lake Union (courtesy of Paul Allen)
  2. Columbia City
  3. Georgetown
  4. Westwood

Sleeping Beauties: Location, economy and neighborliness drawing overdue attention

  1. Upper Rainier Beach
  2. North Greenwood
  3. Monroe
  4. Stadium district, Tacoma
  5. Cape George Colony, Port Townsend

This is a dramatic change from 2003, when SeattleMagazine.com had their list of hot neighborhoods

  1. Bryant
  2. Montlake
  3. Sunset Hill
  4. North Beach
  5. Blue Ridge
  6. Olympic Manor
  7. Phinney Ridge
  8. Greenwood Manor
  9. North Admiral
  10. Westwood

Almost all of these were north of the U District.

Does this mean that our citizens are fickle and don’t have favorites more than 3 years in a row? Or was it this kind of story that drove the prices up in those neighborhoods so that they are now not affordable? Is it possible in 3 years that even Georgetown will be sizzling? I’d love to tap into the collective minds of RCG bloggers and see what you think.

I think Burien is an up-and-coming area and it’s not on either list. Any other hidden gems out there?

Marketing my Home on the Internet

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While my opinion that a good real estate blogger does not include their listings on their blog is well documented and much debated, there is always room for an exception… and marketing my OWN home is one of those!

[photopress:kids_at_easter.JPG,thumb,alignright]Essentially, we have about two weeks left before we put it on the market. We’re just waiting for the movers to take our stuff and then, after we refinish the wooden floors on the main floor, we’ll be ready to list!

So, here are the internet marketing items I have on my checklist (of course, we’ll do some off-line stuff like putting together fliers, but I’m more interested in exploring the online stuff!)

  • Add Our Home to the Free Directories. Craigslist and Google Base come to mind. Are there others I should consider?
  • Blog About Our Neighbors. I know that there is very limited things that a real estate agent can say about the family-friendly nature of a neighborhood, but not having a license gives me the freedom to talk in great detail about are wonderful neighbors. Things I’d like to mention are all the kids that live nearby (8 kids within a few houses!), our regular Sunday BBQs during the summer and our weekly game nights during the Winter. (And I’m sure the neighbors would love it if the new owners continued our tradition of hosting the annual neighborhood easter egg hunt!!!). When moving to a new home, one of the biggest mysteries is what are the neighbors going to be like and because the people on our street are so cool, I’d like to put together an extensive neighborhood blog post! (Honestly, the hardest part of accepting a position in LA was leaving the neighborhood!)

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  • Financing Options. Interestingly, I’m in a place where I could offer the “right” people some innovative financing options… Like a lease-to-own, or something similar (as long as it is a win-win for both parties, I’m game for any idea!). Does something like this normally happen through the usual MLS channels or is there a special market for these types of properties? (Hint: if you contact me before we list, we might even be able to cut out some obvious fees.)
  • Blog About Our House. I promise not to overdo this, but I think one blog post about all the cool features of our home that might be too “personal” for the typical MLS listing would be appropriate on Rain City Guide. I’m thinking of things like the tree house I built in the backyard and the original art deco fixtures… I’d also like to add a map of all the recently sold homes (or maybe I’ll be lazy and just link to the appropriate ShackPrices page!)
  • Unique Icon. Robbie says he’ll give our home a unique icon on the maps of listed properties… Any ideas for what the icon should look like?
  • Enhance listing on Realtor.com. Around Move, people are shocked at how often real estate agents pay to get showcase listings and then don’t spruce up their listings by adding additional photos and other extras. Considering that Anna’s broker already pays for this service, I’ll make sure we spruce up our home!

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  • Get on the Redfin Blog. If I provide a direct link from my blog to my listing on Redfin (and beg people to click on the link!) maybe I can blow out their single home stats for a day and thereby get a mention in their blog!!! (hmmm…. Is there a way to get on the Zillowblog?)
  • Newspaper Coverage? Is someone at the Seattle Times, Seattle PI, Seattle Magazine and/or any other local newspaper interested in writing a story about preparing and then selling a 1920’s Crown Hill (N. Ballard) home? We’ve got lots of great photos and I could probably write most of the story for you! 🙂
    (This reminds me… I did an interview for a real estate technology story that was suppose to be in the May issue of the Seattle Magazine. I never saw or heard anything about that story… Did this story ever go live? )
  • Picture Cloud. These guys just sent me a link for a free photo cloud. Interesting technology and easy enough to put together, so I think I’ll try them out with our home. (By the way, their branded option is free, but if you type the code “raincity”, they they will give you credit for five unbranded clouds for a penny.) If you try them out before I post my cloud, let me know what you think!

Any other ideas as I prepare the marketing plan for our home? Has anyone ever had any luck marketing a home on the internet? What did you do?

Fremont: the Center of the Universe!

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While it has nothing to do with the MIT Forum, I thought it would be fun to present and comment on the TurnHere video of the Republic of Fremont along the lines of Dustin’s post on Ballard.

The video is a lot of fun and gives a great perspective on the funky, hip side of Fremont, while also acknowledging Fremont’s changing demographics.

The Russian in me can’t help but comment on the statue of Lenin that sits in a parking lot of a local Taco Del Mar. Roger Wheeler gives a brief history of the statue on the Fremont Chamber of Commerce website:

Poprad, Slovakia is the place, 1978 the year our story begins. Emil Venkov won a commission to sculpt and cast a bronze statue of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, Russian revolutionary leader. He worked for ten years, finishing in 1988 – just in time for the regime to collapse. Demand for Lenin bronzes was nil, with the exception of visiting American teacher Lewis Carpenter. He was intrigued by the bold and unusual design, Lenin striding out of – what – rifles, flames, wheat? Carpenter decided to take the statue home with him, a decoration for a Slovakian restaurant maybe. He decided big time. He mortgaged his house, bought the statue for $13,000, then paid $28,000 to truck it to Scandinavia and ship it via the Panama Canal to Washington state. Carpenter was killed in a car accident in 1994 and his mother, Lydia, was left with a seven-ton Lenin in her Issaquah back pasture. Lydia called Carpenter’s Fremont sculptor-friend, Peter Bevis. Bevis and the Fremont Artwalk Committee were looking for something big to kick off their event. Lenin was just certainly that. After much welding and grinding and banging at Bevis’ Fine Arts Foundry Lenin was ready to thrust his way into Fremont history, being unveiled at Artwalk amid much carping, griping, and fist banging from critics and former countrymen who remembered Lenin as something other than heavy-duty art. Lenin is for sale. For a mere $250,000 (obo), you too can join Lenin’s well-traveled history.

Fremont attracts many local artists there are quite a few galleries. One of my favorites is Frank and Dunya, which features art and collectibles from artists from all over the world.

Some other things mentioned in the video include:

  • The weekly Fremont Sunday Market is an outdoor European-style Market has something for everyone!
  • With the charm of an old home setting, the Fremont Coffee Company is one of the best coffee shops in Fremont (but definitely not the only great one!).
  • The Fremont Troll that sits under the Aurora Bridge is definitely a fun attraction. Interestingly, a street that leads into the troll was recently named Troll Avenue.
  • Sonic Boom Record is a great local record store.

Local Treasure: Welkom to Ballard!

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As some of you may have noticed, I’ve been taking a break from writing to take care of my beautiful baby boy. During this time off the Ballard community has been so wonderful to me and my family, I thought it would be fun to highlight one of the aspects that makes Ballard a wonderful place to raise a family. Interestingly, this will likely give a different (although hopefully complementary) view of life in Ballard than the video that Dustin linked to the other day.

Ballard is known for having one of the largest Norwegian populations outside of Norway. But the Nordic influences are not limited to Norway as there is a huge Scandinavian influence all around. Along with the Nordic Heritage Museum, there are many local specialty stores that sell things like pickled herring, specialty breads and other traditional Nordic foods.

In addition, the Leif Ericson Lodge plays a wonderful role in uniting the local population through a ton of community events. Lief Ericson Lodge was first organized on May 13 1903 and currently has 2,000 members. Just this past Saturday it had a large bazaar with lots of music, dancing, singing and wonderful food.

We became involved in the community through a wonderful dance class (called Barneleikarringen) that Dustin attends with our daughter every Tuesday night. The class is taught by a wonderful elderly couple who dedicate their time and effort in order to share their cultural dances and stories with the kids. Despite the fact that neither Dustin or I have Nordic heritage (that we know of anyway), everyone at the lodge has been wonderful to our family. (By the way, anyone with children is invited to attend this great dance class… It starts at 6:30pm every Tuesday and the suggested donation is $5/month, which probably doesn’t even cover the cost of the treats that pass out after each class.)

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There are a bunch of benefits to taking part in this dance class that the kids simply love. For starters, they get to walk in the Norwegian Constitution Day Parade as well as dance at a slew of community functions.

(By the way, they also have dancing lessons geared toward adults, but I don’t know much about that… yet!)

The strong Nordic roots are just one more reason that Ballard is a wonderful place to live.

Capturing Downtown Ballard on Video

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A few months ago, I received an email from someone who was working with Inman News to create neighborhood videos. I remember checking out a video from Inman a long time ago that seemed like one big ad for an agent, so I didn’t expect much from the videos and the idea of following up quickly fell off my radar.

However, I’m here to say that I missed the boat on this one… I wish to make amends right here and now because these neighborhood videos are awesome!

This first neighborhood video I want to present on Rain City Guide is a tour of Ballard narrated by a local musician. While it isn’t Hollywood-production material, the five-minute video gives a fun perspective on some of the endearing features of Ballard.


(If you see a bunch of white space above, it means you need to install Flash… It’s worth the effort.)

Here are links to things seen and/or heard on the video:

If you want to see more video’s from Seattle’s neighborhoods, just keep following Rain City Guide, as I’ll put a similar post together for each of the neighborhoods that have already been featured!

But if you can’t wait and/or you want to see other featured neighborhoods from throughout the country, you can either go directly to the source or watch them via Google Video (My recommendation). And budding filmmakers: Click here and then on “Become a TurnHere Filmmaker” to find out how you can get paid to make a film of your neighborhood.

On a related note, Google Video just keeps getting better and better. If you have some time to kill, check out these videos they have collected from the National Archives.

Renovations – Return on Investment

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Over the years I have had many people ask me the question, “Should I renovate the house that I have, or should I move?”. We have all seen the numerous charts that show the return on investment of various renovations. I just checked a few of those charts and found the following results: Remodel your kitchen anywhere from 70% to 103% return, depending on who wrote the article. Add a bedroom, 80% vs. adding a master suite: 73%.

Every time I see these charts showing the percentage of return, I put them down thinking that none of them actually answer the question and none of them are the least bit accurate. One house might achieve a 200% return on investment, while another might return 25% with the exact same renovations.

The first consideration is the location of the house. Let’s take two identical houses. In one of them you can see cars going by at a steady pace and you are considering in your list of renovations new, triple pane, sound proof windows to block out the traffic noise. The other is an “interior lot” in a quiet neighborhood. Clearly the return on investment in renovating the house in the quiet location will be much greater than the return in the noisy traffic location, even if the two homes are identical both before and after the renovations.

The second consideration is the functional obsolescence of the style or “flow” of the house. I don’t like to disparage a certain style of home, so let’s let the builders do that for me. If you currently own a style of home that is no longer built. If no or very, very few homes are being built in the exact style of your current home anywhere in the country, then you likely live in a functionally obsolescent style that will be discounted below the value of other styles in your neighborhood. You can spend thousands and thousands of dollars renovating that home and return only $.25 on every dollar that you put into it. This would be particularly true if the style and flow are not in tune to the needs and desires of today’s home buyers and it is also in a noisy location.

The highest return will involve correcting a specific type of functional obsolescence. The charts may tell you that adding a bedroom may return 70% and adding a bathroom may return 85%. In truth, adding a 6th bedroom to a 5 bedroom house and a 4th bathroom to a 3 bath house, may return you next to nothing, especially if that extra bedroom and bath is in the underground basement. But adding a 3rd bedroom and a bath in the form of a master suite to a 2 bedroom, 1 bath rambler on a great lot in a great location, can easily return double your investment dollars.

Worth mentioning is the question, “Should I add a second story?”. Not if the footprint of the main level is too small. Again we are back to the issue of functional obsolescence. If the footprint of the home is 790 square feet, adding a second story would not irradicate the functional obsolescence of the small size of the main living areas. My opinion is that the main floor should be about 1,200 square feet for one to consider adding a second story, unless you can expand the square footage of the main level at the same time.

So back to the question. Should I stay (and renovate) or should I go (sell and buy a different house).

If your current house is not a style that you would build today, and if your lot is not located in a place where you would build a new house today, then you should sell it. Limit your investment dollars only to those things that will produce the highest return, like painting it inside and out and beefing up the curb appeal and making what you have better. My limit for this type of improvement is no more than 1% of the current value of the home. If you could sell it today for $450,000, then only put $4,500 into it and put all of that $4,500 into material and do the labor yourself. Same as getting a house ready for market, even if you are staying.

If you have a perfect location but an obsolete style, then you should consider building a new home on your existing lot. If you have a great house on a great lot that just needs to be updated, then by all means you should stay and renovate the house.

If you and your husband or wife don’t agree on what you should or shouldn’t do to your existing home, invite me to dinner and I’ll make you a list 🙂

Walkable neighborhood: Capitol Hill

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I’m going to vote for 15th Avenue, home of the Victrola, Seattle’s best bagels (at the creatively named Bagel Deli), mediocre or dive bars, and Seattle’s crummiest QFC as one of Seattle’s most walkable neighborhoods. Trader Joe’s and 2 organic food stores are within 8 blocks, Safeway is right across from Swedish Medical Center and, most importantly for a walkable neighborhood, one can walk right out into the street without fear because there are so many pedestrians that they almost mingle with the slow moving bikes, cars, and buses – an accidental implementation of an unconventional “traffic calming” idea that I love. Dustin can definitely tell you more about this if you’re curious.

As the Seattle Times once pointed out, Seattle could definitely do a better job embracing car alternatives I propose street living rooms. And maybe more mass transit.

I also like the art at the Victrola right now:
Art at the Victrola in January 2006.

Throw your walkable neighborhood review in the comments and we’ll see what we can do to get a list of the best and the worst neighborhoods for walking.

-Galen
ShackPrices.com

Introduction, The CanterHole and other reasons you shouldn't live near a bar

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Howdy folks, I’ll be guest blogging here for a while. Like Dustin said, I’m the co-creator of ShackPrices.com. I’m not much for introductions, so I’ll jump right in.

Since Washington’s smoking ban went into effect, I have been happily wearing my nice-ish clothes to bars and generally enjoying the dank, non-smoky smells of the bars near my house. I tell you this because if you live near a bar or are considering buying a place near one, you might soon be savoring the sweet smell (and noise) of smokers hanging out at the door. In densely populated Capitol Hill, the complaints have already begun, as supra-bar apartment dwellers have found that just enough air gets through the cracks in their windows for them to reconsider their hip living quarters. The Stranger reports:

Maybe a case can be made for the enforcement of the laughable 25-foot rule that comes with the smoking ban. Just ask those on the first floor of the apartment building above Canterbury Ale & Eats on 15th Avenue. On Friday night they felt like a chimney for the pack of smokers who gathered outside the bar’s entrance. The Seattle police told one apartment dweller that they weren’t enforcing the 25-foot rule but that the public health department was. Naturally, the health department said the police were enforcing it. Which is it? In practice, none of the above.

I will definitely keep this in mind when I next move. If it’s bad in the middle of December, imagine smoke sneaking into your sealed condo at 7 P.M. on a 90-degree summer day.

On a side note, I went to check out the “smoke-free” Canterbury last night (it wasn’t after 9:30) and met the “Rosa Parks of smoking.” I guess I have no idea what a hard life smokers live.

Belltown to get community center

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[photopress:walking_along_the_waterfront.JPG,thumb,alignright]While it won’t make Belltown the most family-friendly area of Seattle, it is nice to know that this area is getting a new community center.

The first thing that came to my mind when I read the article was that the couple that run the UptownSeattle blog are leaving a little too soon… I can tell that they really like the area and it would have been a great sign for the neighborhood if they would have felt better about raising a kid in Belltown.

The Ballard Community

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Ballard MapThe community of Ballard is located in northwest Seattle. Ballard is famous for its Nordic roots, Ballard locks and wonderful family-focused neighborhoods.

According to the City of Seattle, Ballard is made up of a group of smaller neighborhoods, including Sunset Hill, Loyal Heights, Whittier Heights, West Woodland and Adams. In practice, Sunset Hill and Loyal Heights are normally broken out as distinct neighborhoods, while the other areas are more commonly called “Ballard”. In addition, real estate agents sometimes lump parts of Crown Hill and Phinny Ridge into Ballard.

Downtown
Downtown Ballard is a wonderful walking district centered on Market St and Ballard Ave. The area is filled with great shops, dining, and lots of resident artists. Much more information on the local scene can be found at:InBallard .
Some local venues of interest include:

Nordic Heritage
Ballard’s nordic heritage shines through in the attitude of the locals (pretty laid-back and family oriented), the historical sites (such as the nordic heritage museum), the Luthern Churches all over town, and the many festivals in the area (such as the Seafoodfest and the annual Norwegian Constitution Day Parade.

Ballard History
Here is a description presented by the Ballard Historical Society:

In Ballard, you’ll find a microcosm of Pacific Northwest history, tradition and architecture. Bordered by Puget Sound, Shilshole Bay and Salmon Bay, Ballard has a rich history filled with maritime connections. Originally home to mill workers, fishermen and boat builders—many of whom emigrated from Scandinavia—Ballard was a separate city until annexed to Seattle in 1907. Today Ballard maintains its character as a small town within a big city, blessed with varied architecture and a notable Historic Landmark District.

Ballard Community
Ballard has a very strong community with lots of local parks, very good schools, a new library (complete May 2005), and an active community center.

Real Estate Information
Most of Ballard was built-out between 1890 and 1940, with a higher percentage of older homes the closer that you get to the canal area. The price of homes in Ballard varies tremendously. While there are still “deals” to be found for around $300K in some parts of Ballard, many homes with a view of the Sound can go for upwards of a million dollars. There is so much that could be said about real estate in Ballard that I’m not going to even attempt it here… If you want to find out more, try my Ballard Info category of listings.

Ballard Blogs
A great way to get a feel for Ballard is through the many people who live here. Conveniently, I’m not the only Ballard native with a blog. Are you a Ballard Blogger who wants to be added to this list? Just let me know! Here are some others:

Other sites with information on Ballard: