Probably the most frequent single question I get as a realtor from my friends and clients and contacts is “Are we in a real estate bubble?
Are We Brewing A Bubble In Seattle?
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Tag Archives: Redmond
Don’t Get Carried Away!
A couple of weeks ago I had occasion to take three different clients through the same house – an attractively-priced 1967 split-level home just north of Microsoft. So everybody knows that Microsoft will be hiring a lot more folks over the next few years, and a lot of those folks are thinking maybe they should pick up an investment rental in that area – with so much high-income job growth, there should continue to be great appreciation. Great logic. But don’t get carried away by the opportunity.
In this case, the home was priced at $375,000 – for a 1967 split-level home, 3 bedroom, 2.25 bath, 1,820 sf, 2-car garage. All the right specs. Price egregiously low. First, that low price led people to look at the house who were not anywhere near qualified for the price it would actually sell for. Second, that low price led investor bidders to fight over it in a bidding war that maybe should live in the annals of northwest real estate. So here’s what I have heard: the first winner got it for $475,000 – and then failed financing. Seller put it back on the market, same low price, same bidding war (if there were 10 to start with, there might be 9 still standing – hopefully fewer as they realized what it was really going to take to win it). Second winner got it for about $470,000.
Was it a great deal? I don’t think so. Was it a reasonable deal – maybe so. This place was structurally sound, but needed to be completely updated and refinished. It would be fair to say that a lot of the house was original (almost 40 years old) and worn out, including the garage doors – and on and on. The lower level would need to be stripped down to the studs and re-wired and re-sheetrocked. The baths needed to be redone. The kitchen space needed to be reconfigured (i.e. move walls) and then rebuilt. If the new owners are both thoughtful and handy at doing a lot of the work themselves, they will probably come out fine.
If you knew it was going to be $475,000 to start with, you might have looked for one in much better shape and saved yourself a lot of work. Don’t get carried away!
Psst – Want a free copy of Windows?
Granted, this post is not real estate related. However, since Rain City Guide is at the intersection of Real Estate Ave & Technology Blvd, I figured the goings on at Microsoft Way might interest some Rain City Readers.
For good or ill, Microsoft is still the 800 lb gorilla of the technology industry. Because of this, the success of the company has sizable impact on the price & availability of housing in the region. Therefore, it’s fair to say, that I’m hoping that Windows Vista won’t suck, and its success will lead to another growth spurt at the company which will increase the value of every-body’s home in the greater Redmond/Seattle area. (That way both the geeks & realtors will be happy)
Anyway, the purpose of this post if to inform the geeky among us that Microsoft is having a Windows Vista Install Fair this weekend. Here’s what you need to do in order to get a free copy Windows Vista.
- Have a computer that your willing to sacrifice that meets the following criteria..
- Your important data has been backed up! (This is pre-release software after all)
- Operating System is Windows XP SP2 (Home or Professional) English x86.
- Intel/AMD Processor running at 1 GHz or higher.
- Minimum of 512MB of RAM.
- Video adapter is AGP4x/8x or PCIe with a minimum of 64MB of RAM.
- Hard Disk has a minimum of 10GB of free space to allow for upgrade.
- Has a DVD-ROM Drive.
- Send mail to Windows Vista Install Fair Registration (wvifr@microsoft.com) and inform them that you wish to participate in either the Saturday (March 18th 2006) 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM session or the Sunday (March 19th 2006) 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM session.
- Bring yourself and your computer over to Building 27 on the Microsoft Campus at the scheduled time.
- Enjoy your free copy of Windows Vista Ultimate Edition (February 2006 CTP Version)
Well, I’m looking forward to playing around with all the cool new features and using an OS built for the 21st century. Here’s to hoping my laptop enjoys the experience!
Housing assistance for the middle class on the eastside
I have a client who has been searching for a condominium for 6-months. Typical problem — what he likes, he can’t afford — what he can afford, he doesn’t like. We even looked down at Othello Station and thought we might find something there. They had several units set aside for low income families to purchase. Here the problem was he made too much to qualify for the set-aside units but not enough to buy the market rate units. What’s a person to do?
Well, we found the answer. Last week we had offer and acceptance on a really nice 2 bedroom / 2 bath unit at Frazer Court in Redmond. How did he do it? There is a great program setup between King County and several eastside cities to preserve and increase the supply of housing for low and moderate income households in East King County.
This program is called ARCH (A Regional Coalition for Housing) and has several below market rate duplexes, condominiums and town homes located in various developments in East King County. During the initial marketing period, maximum income levels are established for buyers. Typically, each development will establish a maximum income for buyers somewhere between 80% and 100% of median income. In addition, maximum income guidelines are often adjusted for both household and unit size.
Finally – a program that helps out the buyer caught in the middle income bracket. Check it out at www.archhousing.org.