Author: Laura Reiter
Recent posts
July 15, 2007
A couple of days ago, I posted about an investment remodel that fetched less than asking price. I started looking at comparisons, and this property popped up. It’s east of Rainier in the Columbia Heights area and my esteemed fellow South Ender, Polly, blogged about it in January.
Here’s the rags to riches story: the house was purchased by the handyfolks in April of 2006 for $260,000. It was painted, refinished, re-roofed, and improved in mere months and re-listed for the asking price of $379,950. It must have stirred up some bidding frenzy, because in February, it closed for the tidy sum of $387,450. Dang, you can take this one to the bank.
July 15, 2007
The Central District is showing a handful of price cuts today, which, to the casual observer, appears to be an increase from previous weeks. They are as follows:
1124 21st Ave. S
4 beds/2.5 baths
2,640 square feet
Was: $765,000
Now: $750,000
707 29th Ave. S.
4 beds/2 baths
1,340 square feet
Was: $359,950
Now:$349,950
832 29th Ave S. #B
3 beds/2.5 baths
2,240 square feet
Was: $589,500
Now: $575,000
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2711 S. Irving St.
4 beds/2.5 baths
1,437 square feet
Was: $415,000
Now: $405,000
July 13, 2007
A recent article in the Seattle P-I by Debera Carlton Harrell focused on some of the conflicting opinions regarding city efforts to bring urban programs to the Rainier Valley corridor. The tricky part is that many South Seattle communities already have active neighborhood plans, which detail their own independent intentions for development and growth. As it states in the article:
“… residents do agree that neighborhood plans still reflect continuing concerns such as public safety, street improvements, maintaining single-family and affordable housing, and creating economically vibrant business districts.”
Whether the city’s plans for the South End run in opposition to community goals seems to be still up for debate, but it does appear that city government has taken a keen interest in our neck of the woods.
July 13, 2007
I checked out this place in the heady days before the reviewing ban, so fortunately, I could look up the original price from the miraculous vaults of the internet.
Back in January, the asking price for this house was $449,000, which I reckoned might have been a bit optimistic. The house had an odd layout, and too many sacrifices seem to have been made for the sake of expediency. It took four months to sell, finally settling on the price of $399,000. It definitely could have been worse, but this makes me curious to see more results for some of other flips in the South End neighborhoods. I’ll start digging…
July 6, 2007
The weather forecast for this weekend looks wonderful, especially for attending the Georgetown Art and Garden Walk this Sunday, July 8th. It’s a great chance to tour some of the amazing old buildings in Georgetown and see their transformation into artist studios and retail spaces. Also open will be the crazy-cool Georgetown Powerplant Museum, which features giant steam turbines, dangerous staircases and metal stuff you probably can’t identify.
I plan on checking out the live music, private gardens and food consumables as well. There are plenty of great watering holes in the area to refresh visitors after some serious perusing. It’ll be lively, eclectic and friendly, as long as visitors don’t complain about the airplane noise.
Free maps will be distributed from the Bank of America, 1112 S. Bailey St. from 10 am to 5 pm.
July 6, 2007
Here is a list of some of the South End properties open for viewing this Sunday, July 8th. I’ve been seeing lots of new listings pop up in the Columbia City area, so it is definitely worth a Sunday neighborhood drive-by as well.
Seward Park/Columbia City
6315 52nd Ave S.
1903 remodeled 3 bedroom house.
$539,000
5307 32nd Ave S.
4 bedroom brick tudor.
$475,000
6226 Hampton Road S.
Spacious mid-century brick home.
$789,000
5519 56th Ave S.
4 bedroom brick tudor.
$599,000
4327 Jill Pl. S.
3 bedroom new construction townhouse.
$464,000
Beacon Hill
8345 39th Ave S.
3 bedroom view home.
$289,950
2916 S. Hudson St.
Rambler on quiet dead-end street.
$365,000
3511 S. Thistle St.
Mid-century modern with views.
$529,000
July 5, 2007
I heard that traffic was a complete pain for visitors to West Seattle on the 4th of July, so maybe lowered prices are just an added incentive to move to the land of Puget Sound views. The following five Alki and Admiral properties have been recently reduced.
2717 49th Ave SW
Lemon yellow house with 3 bedrooms.
Was: $450,000
Now: $424,990
3018 62nd Ave SW #2
2 bedroom condo in 3 story building.
Was: $459,950
Now: $449,950
3550 SW Admiral Way
View house with 3 bedrooms.
Was: $719,950
Now: $699,950
5618 SW Admiral Way
Brick tudor with 3 bedrooms.
Was: $712,000
Now: $695,000
2104 Alki Ave SW #103
1 bedroom condo on the beach.
Was: $374,000
Now: $366,500
June 25, 2007
Big changes keep coming for Landmark District of Columbia City, the latest of which is detailed in this recent Seattle PI article by Aubrey Cohen. The crime-frequented Columbia Plaza, an old grocery store divided into indoor market stalls, will be the site of new condos and retail space.
HAL Real Estate Investments announced Monday that it paid Kin Properties of Florida slightly more than $6.6 million for the 74,500-square-foot Columbia Plaza property, which is bordered by Rainier Avenue South, South Edmunds Street and Columbia Park, down the street from the Columbia City library and a few blocks from Sound Transit’s Columbia City Station.
Honestly, this seems like it can only be a good thing for Columbia City homeowners and business owners. But, as evidenced by the firestorm of comments on the Seattle PI site, concerns are already being raised about the push for gentrification and the loss of diversity. Although I can understand where some of the backlash is coming from, it just seems nutty that crime magnets such as the Columbia Plaza should be tolerated in order to keep our neighborhood dynamic. We’ll see what HAL Real Estate cooks up for the site; hopefully it’ll have a good portion of community flavor with one hundred percent fewer shootings.
June 25, 2007
It’s been rare to find a free-standing house with property for less than $300,000 for quite some time now, even in the rougher edges of South Seattle. In cases like this house, it’s interesting to know that despite the paucity of bargains, the price didn’t get pushed up (or down, for that matter) dramatically.
2840 S. Juneau St.
2 bedrooms, 1 bath
830 square feet
Asking price: $299,950 in 2/07
Selling price: $305,000 in 4/07
June 22, 2007
Open House Date and Time:
Sunday, June 24th, 2007, 2-5pm
1436 E 32nd St
Tacoma, WA 98404
Seller Comments
Favorite Restaurant in the Area: The Old Spaghetti Factory in downtown Tacoma because where else can you find Mizithra cheese spaghetti?
Favorite Places to Go: Ruston Way is Tacoma’s own Alki: beautiful views of the Sound and long paths for walking and biking, but watch out for the crowds.
Best Features of the Home: The wood floors are original from 1903 and refinished to a beautiful shine. Having a big yard (9,757 sq ft lot) in the city was always a big plus for us.
What’s in the Neighborhood: Tacoma Mall is only a 5 minute drive away.
What I Will Miss the Most: The yard gave us plenty of space to try our hand at gardening.
If you want to promote an open house on Redfin’s blog, send an e-mail to sweetdigsseattle (at) redfin (dot) com. Anyone can apply, regardless of which brokerage you use.
