Seattle Sweet Digs

June 22, 2007

Sweet Digs: Townhouse Schmownhouse

Open houses this weekend:
Saturday & Sunday, June 23-24, 12-4pm
4 W Raye St
Seattle, WA 98119

Saturday & Sunday, June 23-24, 1-4pm
8120 NE 125th St
Kirkland, WA 98034

Sunday, June 24, 2-5pm
1436 E 32nd St
Tacoma, WA 98404

Surprise, surprise! The most clicked listing today is a property that has been on the market for over a hundred days, continuing our trend for the week. This time we have a new townhome in north Green Lake and it’s priced at $329,888. I think that’s the first time I’ve ever seen a home price end in triple eight. Property is often divided into two categories: Condo and House. I believe Townhouse is a third and distinct property type. I think it’s for those people that want a condo because they don’t have to take care of lawn but they also don’t want to pay condo dues and like not having neighbors overhead. If you’re lucky you can even get a little airspace between your walls and your neighbors in a townhouse which is amazing for dampening sound. Any townhouse lovers (or haters) out there want to comment on why you do (or don’t) fancy this type of property?

Price: $329,888
8518 Nesbit Ave N
Seattle, WA 98103
Beds: 2
Baths: 2.5
Sq. Ft.: 1,374
Year Built: 2007
$/Sq. Ft.: $240
MLS#: 27016255
On Redfin: 143 days

green Sweet Digs: Townhouse Schmownhouse

Posted by marie.hagman on June 22, 2007 11:45 AM | del.icio.us | Digg

  • Marie Hagman
    Wow, I didn't know professional holiday light installation was so lucrative!

    I agree with you Jaime, I prefer homes to condos myself.
  • Marie Hagman
    Wow, I didn't know professional holiday light installation was so lucrative!

    I agree with you Jaime, I prefer homes to condos myself.
  • Jaime
    I would never own a condo because I don't want my monthly dues to go toward installing blue outdoor Christmas lights. Happened to my friend last year. Total cost of installation: $3,000. Um, what? At least in a townhouse, my neighbors would put up their own blue holiday lights and I wouldn't have to pay for it. And if I want to put in hardwood floors, I can do so in my townhome without asking permission of the condo board. Owning a condo is not really owning because you can't do much to your "property" without getting permission from a group of people who don't even pay your mortgage.
  • Marie Hagman
    A reader sent us an email that may shed some light on the triple eight in the price of this home... evidently 8 is a very lucky number in Chinese culture and is symbolic of "sudden fortune". I hope the buyers of this townhome have good luck with their neighbors :)

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numbers_in_Chinese_culture
  • Marie Hagman
    mc222 - that's really too bad. Some neighborhoods have a neighborhood associations that create rules about anything from acceptable grass height to the colors you can paint your house. Given that a townhouse situation means your even closer to your neighbors than in a house, I would think this would be standard. In the end, I guess the bottom line is you can't pick your neighbors.
  • mc222
    Marie, these were the owners, none of the units were rented out. There were 6 units in all and with the exception of 1 other couple, everybody did exactly as they pleased.
  • Marilyn Krichko
    I don't agree that they are all like roaches. That is, unless you mean that they have been around forever. There is one on Queen Anne that you can go and check out this weekend. Just go to http://seattle.redfin.com/blog/2007/06/seattle_open_houses_june_2324.html
  • Marie Hagman
    Phinsmum - I personally agree with you 100%.
  • Marie Hagman
    mc222 - where the people you lived next to in your townhome the actual owners that were trashing the place or were they renters? I wonder if people are buying townhomes as investment property to rent out. It would seem easier to do that with a townhome than a condo since there are usually rules that prevent too many units from becoming rentals and houses have yards that tenants usually don't want to take care of.
  • Phinsmum
    I hate townhomes and I wish I could exclude them from Redfin searches. I hate how hastily they go up and how unimaginative the architecture is. They're like roaches.
  • mc222
    Well, we've done all 3 -- single family house to a condo, to a townhouse and back to single family -- I'll never buy a townhouse again. Sure, it's great to have no dues and very little maintenance, but since there are no bylaws your neighbors can do whatever they please -- leave garbage cans and empty boxes in the common area, throw cigarette butts in the driveway, have loud parties and generally trash the place. And I'm talking about higher end homes in an upscale neighborhood, priced in the high 500's to low 600's.

    Never again.
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