…when it comes to building standards and saving energy. Check out this article about home size and energy consumption that recently appeared on TreeHugger:
Setting a maximum amount of energy consumption allowed per home and having Super-sizers work out alternatives (solar/increased insulation) to cover the excess need is a pretty interesting idea…
*all information from sources deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
7768 Fletcher Bay Road
3 br/2.5 ba
Was $550,000
Now $499,000
7784 West Port Madison Road
3 br, 1.5 ba
Was $710,000
Now $690,000
9647 NE Radio School Rd
4 br, 3 ba
Was $639,000
Now $629,950
*all information from sources deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
14085 SunriseDrive NE
4 br, 2.5 ba
Nwmls#27024941
Was $695,000, now $639,000
Open 1-4
14655 Sunrise
Drive NE
3 br, 2 ba
Nwmls#27115954
$679,000
Open 1-4
*all information from sources deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
Whether or not you have kids or even ever plan on procreating at all you should consider school districts in your home buying process. A home in a school district with high test scores can have a price premium of 10% as compared to a similar home in a neighboring district with lower scores according to a Seattle PI article yesterday. Resale is also a consideration since a home in a good school district will often sell quicker.
…she recently sold a home in the Bellevue district in three days with seven offers and a final price of $501,000, while a home in the Renton district took 60 days and sold for $480,000.
“They were almost identical homes,” Shore said. “The square-footage was just about the same, the year was the same, the style was the same.”
Matthew Gardner, a local land-use economist, said schools were part of the reason he moved from the Renton School District to Issaquah.
If kids won’t be part of your life in the near future, you might consider getting more for you money by staying away from school districts in high demand like Bellevue or Issaquah.
So how do you figure out what schools are near the property you’re interested in? Redfin has a cool feature where you can add schools to the map view. All you have to do is click on “Change View” above the map and click on “Schools”.
To find school district maps and associated test scores check out the Seattle Times School Guide.
Recent post on Sweet Digs Seattle:
Bainbridge Island: Fort Ward Fall-Out
An evening bike ride around my favorite Seattle slope always leads me over to Volunteer Park and the surrounding streets. The most gentrified part of the hilltop has some of Seattle’s historic homes and nicest vistas. This area is called “Millionaires’ Row” because you need to be one to live here. The average sale price over the last year for homes in this area is just over $1 million.
On Saturday, September 8 the Museum of History and Industry is doing a guided walking tour of Millionaires’ Row from 10 a.m.-noon starting at Volunteer Park.
The glut of houses on Bainbridge is becoming rather—a hem–hard to ignore.
I drove around in the Fort Ward area the other day and randomly counted 13 houses for sale in a half-mile radius.
Here’s a sampling of what’s for sale in Fort Ward:
1768 Fort Ward Hill
3 br/2.5 ba
1,888 sq. ft.
Built 1997
$238 sq. ft.
Nwmls#26165168
$450,000
1815 Parkview Drive NE
3 br, 3.25 ba
2,833 sq. ft.
Built 2006
$217 sq. ft.
Nwmls#2706645
$615,000
1907 Douglas Drive
3 br, 2.5 ba
2,265 sq. ft.
Built 2003
$252 sq. ft.
Nwmls#27140350
$569,950
1878 Fort Ward Hill
4 br/2.5 ba
Built 1999
$253 sq. ft.
Nwmls#27064975
$520,000
1861 Fort Ward Hill
3 br, 3.25 ba
2,833 sq. ft.
Built 2006
$217 sq. ft.
Nwmls#27066446
$615,000
1939 Parkview Drive NE
3 br, 2.5 ba
4,752 sq. ft.
$294 sq. ft.
Built 1910
Nwmls#27063896
$1,395,000
*all information from sources deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
In Seattle the median price for a single family home is $481,000 so unless you can put about 13% down you’ll need a jumbo loan (which is any loan over $417,000). Well the fallout from the sub-prime lending debacle is affecting some lender’s ability to provide jumbo loans even to well qualified buyers. Elizabeth Rhodes reported this weekend on a Seattle area couple who’s loan disappeared the night before closing on their new home because the mortgage broker had suddenly lost the ability to provide jumbos.
The evening before their home purchase was to close, Gary Becker and his wife, Amy Dacus, learned their mortgage to buy a Woodinville home had evaporated.
Unlike subprime borrowers defaulting on loans, the couple had a stellar credit score, a 20 percent down payment, strong employment history and had effortlessly purchased three prior homes.
But their new home’s $670,000 sales price was large enough to require a “jumbo” loan, so named because it was for more than $417,000, the limit the nation’s largest mortgage backers will fund.
Their California mortgage broker had unexpectedly lost its ability to provide jumbos — an event being repeated by lenders nationwide as the underlying funding for these large loans grows scarcer.
If it’s going to be hard for people in Seattle to get jumbo loans, microeconomics will tell you that when demand decreases and supply is increasing, price will go down.
Sometimes it’s the little extras that really make something special - those finishing touches that add a little pizzazz. I would have bought my car even if it didn’t come with seat warmers, but man are they nice and now I don’t know how I could ever do without. This is the first time I’ve used them in the summer sadly, but that’s a different story. I won’t be the millionth person to go on a tirade about how crappy the weather has been this year.
Today’s most clicked properties all have a little extra somethin’ somethin’. The house on Beacon Hill has a workshop for the tinkerer, the Cap Hill condo a wine cooler for the connoisseur, and the Sammamish house has wainscoting throughout for a decorative flair.
Price: $450,000
2610 18th Ave S
Seattle, WA 98144
Beds: 3
Baths: 1.75
Sq. Ft.: 1,650
$/Sq. Ft.: $273
Lot Size: 4,000 sq. ft.
Year Built: 1928
MLS#: 27146659
Price: $369,950
421 10th Ave E #C
Seattle, WA 98102
Beds: 1
Baths: 1
Sq. Ft.: 723
$/Sq. Ft.: $512
Lot Size: -
Year Built: 2006
Community: Capitol Hill
County: King
MLS#: 27137908
Price: $620,000
22431 NE 9 Dr
Sammamish, WA 98074
Beds: 5
Baths: 3.25
Sq. Ft.: 2,990
$/Sq. Ft.: $207
Lot Size: 8,319 sq. ft.
Year Built: 1992
MLS#: 27145783
Recent posts on Sweet Digs Seattle:
Bainbridge Island: Open 8/26
Open House in the City of Destiny—Tacoma
Almost 2 bathrooms for every bedroom and over a $1000 per square foot, now that’s extravagance. The most expensive mansion listed last week is a tad under ten mil and fully decked out. You’ll never get bored in this Mercer Island play land.
Price: $9,495,000
2205 60th Ave SE
Mercer Island, WA 98040
Beds: 5
Baths: 9
Sq. Ft.: 8,490
$/Sq. Ft.: $1,118
Lot Size: 0.76 acres
MLS#: 27152832
When building something, it’s important to start with a solid foundation. The least expensive property listed this week doesn’t have one.
Price: $85,000
1210 East 67th St
Tacoma, WA 98404
Beds: 1
Baths: 1
Sq. Ft.: 700
$/Sq. Ft.: $121
Lot Size: 8,400 sq. ft.
Type: Residential
Style: 1 Story
Year Built: 1921
MLS#: 27152860
7584 NE Meadowmeer Lane
3 br, 2 ba
1,591 sq. ft.
Built 1977
nwmls#2711610
$489,900
Open 1-4
13887 John Street
3 br, 2.5 ba
1,630 sq. ft.
Built 1988
nwmls#27098274
$480,000
Open 1-4
9156 NE Briar Rose Lane
4 br, 2.5 ba
3,837 sq. ft.
Built 2007
nwmls#27115544
$998,000
Open 1-4
9548 NE Idelweis Court
4 br, 2.75 ba
4,125 sq. ft.
Built 2004
Nwmls#27110944
$915,000
Open 1-4
*all information from sources deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
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