December 11, 2006

Queen Anne: “It’s the gift that keeps on givin’ the whole year long”

Walking to school … for a mile, uphill, in the snow, both ways … ah, the memories. Your child won’t be able to tell this horror story to his children if you live here. This Queen Anne condo is across the street from Seattle Country Day School. After forking over about $18,000 a year, you’ll save a lot of gas money. Your child can walk to school, you can jump on a Metro bus to get to work, or if you work in the Center of the Universe, you can coast right down the hill … I think there are some twists and turns on the way down, but below is the view north from the condo entrance. Also, think of the time you’ll save waiting and waiting to cross the under-construction Fremont bridge. You’ll also be buying into a great neighborhood for a small price.

There’s not much on the market in this area for a mile west of Aurora … a couple million-dollar-plus homes, but if you have a small family and need an affordable pad, this could be your future home.

I chatted with the nice, wanna-be Griswold family member real estate agent (sporting a festive Christmas sweater, but no moose cups … maybe she would throw in a nice closing gift to the jelly of the month club) for a bit and she pointed out how well built these units are compared to the newer ones on the market. I must agree with her as I have first-hand experience with “getting” to listen to my neighbor’s screams of delight and disgust.

You know how you walk in some places and wonder, “what died in here?” That’s a huge pet peeve of mine and even though the owner has a cute fluffy black cat, there was no cat smell. Nice potty-trained kitty! (you can see her hiding in the bedroom pic, same spot as when I visited).

The unit could do with some updating, but at 25 years young it is in really good shape.

Personal pluses:

The living/dining room combo with open kitchen … it gave it a bigger feel.

Your own deck - something you rarely get with new condos.

Big windows let in lots of light.

There’s a nice greenbelt in back and you can see a bit of the bridges - Fremont and Aurora, but I couldn’t hear any noise inside the unit … but it’s not like you’re thisclose.Cynthia’s suggestions:

White tiles and grout in the kitchen! Cooking red sauce would make me nervous.

Add hardwood floors in the main living area.

Minimize the dark wood doors … I think it would make it seem bigger and update it.

General bathroom updating … fixtures, lighting, etc.All in all, a solid condo, but it could use some updating. At least there aren’t sparkly popcorn ceilings to deal with (sorry, a childhood flashback that I don’t want to relive).

Price: $365,000
Address: 2628 4th Ave. N, #303, Seattle, Wash. 98109
Square footage: 1,096 sqare feet
Bedrooms: 2; Baths: 1.75
MLS#: 26160670
Days on market: 80 as of 12/11

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