July 2, 2008

Please, Please Won’t You Buy Me?

Some homes are not priced to sell in this market. Slowly, people are figuring it out. Will lowering the sale price by $500 entice buyers? I think it really depends on the market, price range and location. Steve Tytler of the The Herald in Everett has his own opinions on this subject.  

You tell us. Do these price reductions entice you to break out the checkbook? Some of these are funny, others are spot on and the rest may require more professional opinions.  

8410 SE 47th Pl, Mercer Island
UP $999 to $999,999 (We know, $1 million is a scary number)
Perhaps it was a typo, but the sale price went from 1,075,000 to 999,000 then back up to just one dollar short of a million. Not sure where this is headed, but I’m pretty confident someone shopping on Mercer Island with an upper six-figure budget is not likely to care about one dollar. Just a thought.  

6024 123rd Ave SE, (Newport) Bellevue
Down $20,000 to $459,000
Folks, this home is back on the market. After a quick stint of off market status, this beautifully remodeled four bedroom and 2.5 bathroom home located in the Newport Hills is serious about finding a buyer and dropped the price well below comparable homes in the neighborhood. Spot on 6024!
Ed note: This is a bank-listed foreclosure. Emphasize the “serious about finding a buyer” comment.   

833 SW Sunset Blvd #55, Renton
Down $950 to $239,000
At first glance, the price reduction seemed like a pittance, but the three bedroom and 2.5 bathroom home is priced in the sweet spot for many first time homebuyers looking for spacious digs without the steep price tag.  The medium price estimate for this home according to Zillow.com is $228,500. So, maybe this townhouse has a few more price reductions to go.

 10824 SE 170th St #B-105, Renton
$195,000
No price reduction here, but I had to share this deal with you. The two bedroom and two bathroom condo just came back on the market, and with this low price, it’s sure to capture the intention of a savvy investor. The condo has been on the market for more than 117 days, (might be getting a little desperate) and features fully upgraded appliances and furnishings.  

July 1, 2008

Seattle, Meet Beijing as She Primps for the Summer Olympics

 Having just returned from a three week trek through China (and with the Beijing Summer Olympics on the horizon), I thought it might be timely to deviate from Seattle real estate for a moment and share some reflections (and vacation pictures!) from my trip with you.

First off, I can wholeheartedly say that you won’t hear me complaining about the weather, traffic, or housing in Seattle anymore (or at least as much). In fact, after getting a first hand view of how the Chinese people live, I would be hard pressed to complain about much of anything again.

Case in point, in this distant land where the culture is so glaringly different than our own, the sprawling metropolis of Beijing struggles each day to handle its population of 15 million inhabitants, which is roughly four times the size of the Seattle metropolitan area. The cityscape is different than what we know, for it is far more dense, far more crowded, and far less personal than our beloved city. The work commute starts very early in the morning, though this is mostly due to the struggle to get through traffic. Businesses open late in the morning, but they also stay open much later, as the coolness of the evening seems to draw more people out for shopping and eating late into the night.

Another noticeable difference–no real suburbs as far as I could tell. Beijing appears to be densely filled with row after row of identical high-rise housing units, each equipped with individual air conditioner and laundry dangling out from each window. As you travel further and further away from the city center, these high rise residences continue on, until suddenly it stops and you find yourself on rural farmland. In fact, the shiny, new Olympic stadium (aka the “Bird’s Nest”), appears to outsiders as a wholey integrated portion of Beijing, but in fact, it actually lies on what was pre-construction farmland. My guide personally knew at least one farmer who received $1 million in exchange for his land.

In Beijing, the hustle and bustle of the Olympics is everywhere you look. The city is crazed with getting in shape for the ultimate world event. Construction is every direction you turn, with bamboo scaffolding covering everything from massive skyscrapers to historical treasures like the Forbidden City. With the Olympics within spitting distance, it looks precarious if it will all be finished in time, but knowing the unparalleled discipline of the Chinese, I’m certain it will.

In addition, traffic takes on a whole new meaning in cities like Beijing and Shanghai. In a place where the auto industry has been growing in recent years due to the lower of price to encourage car sales, paradoxically, at the same time citizens are discouraged from driving these cars by placing tolls on roads which far exceed the low cost of public transportation. For example, on one route alone, I calculated the toll road costs of driving a private car to be six times more than the required bus fare, and this didn’t even take fuel costs into consideration.

And of course, there’s the weather…never again will I complain about Seattle rain. I was warned beforehand to bring an umbrella, but being the overconfident Seattlite that I am, I thought I was rainproof–after all, who carries an umbrella around here??  However, rainproof I may be, but monsoonproof, I am not! Within seconds, I was crushed by tumultuous sheets of rain. In Beijing, it’s duck and cover, or drown.

On the other hand, rents in Beijing are on the rise, mainly because of the Olympics. Homeowners who were even considering selling earlier on decided to hang onto their properties and rent them out during the Olympics, though the actual sales prices of properties has been on the decline. This decline is expected to continue after the Olympics have come and gone, making Beijing no different than any other major city right now. However, long after the camera’s fade into the distance, one thing is for sure, the 2008 Olympics will have changed Beijing for the better. 

More food for thought:

$466,00 can get you this 2 bedroom, 1,500 square foot apartment in Beijing  or this 3 bedroom, 1,500 square foot house in Bellevue or this  What’s the difference (besides 6,000+ miles)? Per capita income in Beijing is roughly $3,600/year, compared to $29,000/year in Bellevue.

June 30, 2008

Factoria Redevelopment Begins…FINALLY!

It’s happening. The Eastside is changing. Factoria is coming to life. On a recent trip to the running track at Newport High School, I stumbled upon proposed land action signs posted around the current (and rather dumpy) Factoria Mall. Rumors have circulated for more than a year that the mall would get an extreme makeover, which would include U-Village-like outdoor shopping, upscale restaurants and modern condominiums. 

Now with official City of Bellevue signs posted, architects assigned to Factoria mall, Kimco Redevelopment Group, are moving forward with the redesign to create Marketplace at Factoria. Target is re-situating. Grazie Ristorante Italiano closed its doors on June 29 to make way for Target. Torero’s is upgrading locations and moving into the old Billy McHale’s building.  

This is a hallelujah for homeowners in the area. It’s also a sign of relief for the company remodeling the apartments just across the street. One week ago, they were advertising the sale price of the “luxury apartment homes” in the mid $200’s. Now with the mall’s projected completion sometime in 2009, the developers have decided to lease the apartments. SMART MOVE! They will be able to capitalize on the inflated rental market and then sell the apartments for probably much more than originally projected.   

Nearly 30 homes within one mile of Factoria mall are currently listed for sale on Redfin. Half of those homes have been on the market for more than 45 days. If possible, it might be a good idea for them to hold on the property for at least another eight months to allow the public more time to understand the value of Factoria homes. If the graph below is an accurate representation of the area, Kimco isn’t going to let this cash cow fail.

Here’s a look at the Marketplace at Factoria project demographics.

Project Demographics

Graph provided by Kimco Redevelopment Group 

June 26, 2008

What’s Selling South of I-90?

We are officially past spring and into summer, so how did the Bellevue real estate market fare during the last month of spring home shopping? From the nearly 200 homes currently still for sale South of I-90 from Factoria to Lakemont Park, five homes sold in June. More than 50 homes sold in the same area from March to May this year. Any commonalities with the June hotties? Besides, a roof, pleasant neighborhoods and Bellevue zip codes, not really. Sale prices ranged from high $400’s to $1.2 million. 

One four bedroom, three bathroom home had the same owner for 25 years! It was built in 1985 and sold the same year for $173, 537. That was a lot in 1985. On June 5, 2008, the home sold for $742,000—a 6.6 percent year to year appreciation rate.   

Own real estate in south Bellevue and interested in how your neighbors’ homes are selling? Check below for the most recent sales.   

13801 SE Allen Rd #13815
Sold for $480,000 

16119 SE 42nd St
Sold for $560,000 

15611 SE 45th Pl
Sold for $742,000
Note: The home’s direct facing to a protected park had to have helped the sale. Comparable homes nearby don’t have the luxury of a view and have significantly lower sale prices.  

14810 SE 50th St
Sold for $825,000 

4735 134th Pl SE
Sold for $1,228,800
Note: Better have a fat pre-approved loan before strolling into this pricey Somerset neighborhood – homes nearby don’t dip below $700,000.

June 20, 2008

Where Microsofties Live and How They Get to Work

If you’re up in our greater Seattle area, to join the notorious Microsoft family, and you’re looking for a place to settle down, you’ll be interested in a few facts that I’ve run across. Data from late 2007 shows that Microsoft employees live in the following areas:

• Redmond (21%)
• Seattle (17%)
• Bellevue (8%)
• Sammamish (8%)
• Kirkland (7%)
• Bothell/Kenmore/Woodinville (7%)
• Issaquah (4%)
• Other (22%)

(Source: Microsoft from the Seattle P-I)

It’s interesting that about one-fifth of Seattle area employees live and work in the Redmond area, which is probably about a 15 minute commute in from most parts of Redmond. Almost as many make the great commute over the 520 bridge, which is about a 30 minute commute in no traffic (like on a Sunday morning), or closer to an hour or significantly longer, if you’re very unlucky.  Slightly more than one third (36%) live in surrounding Eastside areas, including Bellevue, Sammamish, Kirkland, Woodinville, and Issaquah, which are all about 30 minutes out. 

In the fall of 2007, Microsoft gave birth to the Connector bus, its own bus service to provide employees with transportation from these various population hubs into the Redmond campus. Surely you must have seen one of these cushy, Wi-Fi enabled buses whiz past you on the road! Though the program started with 14 shuttle buses running, the program has been so successsful that Microsoft just extended its service, now providing transportation to even more areas. According to Microsoft:

• Of the 1,900 unique riders in November 2007, 61 percent said their previous commuting method was single-occupancy vehicle (SOV). That’s 1,159 SOVs off the road!
• Each employee riding the Connector will reduce about 30 pounds of carbon emissions each day and nearly 5.5 tons annually.
• Greenhouse-gas emissions are reduced as a result of employees taking 800 fewer car trips and driving 32,200 fewer miles each day, or 200,000 fewer car trips and more than eight million vehicle miles annually.

It’s a brilliant idea, I think! Aside from the green benefits of the Connector bus, Microsoft has figured out a way to get an extra 2 hours of work time out of its employees!

June 12, 2008

Bellevue Fixers

Fixer-upper, handyman’s special…whatever you call it, these homes are in need of some serious work, and these sellers know it! The really cool part about these listings is that the Zillow, eppraisal and CyberHome value ranges are all listed right on the page, along with current comps and recent solds. Check ‘em out and see if there’s a deal in here for you!

3309 166 Pl SE
3 br/2 ba, 2,300 sq.ft.
Price: $469,900
MLS 28098183

3419 166th Ave SE
3 br/1.75 ba, 1,900 sq.ft.
Price: $464,950
MLS 27172755

6507 126th Ave SE
3 br.2.5 ba, 1,810 sq.ft.
Price: $445,000
MLS 28061935

15543 SE 24 St
3 br/1.5 ba, 1,280 sq.ft.
Price: $425,000
MLS 28042676

321 Bellevue Way SE #104
2 br/2 ba, 973 sq.ft.
Price: $279,000
MLS 28088181

June 9, 2008

May NWMLS Statistics Still Down

The May statistics were just released a couple of days ago from the NWMLS, and there weren’t too many surprises here. Seattle Bubble gives an in-depth analysis on King County stats, along with the following King County SFH market summary:

May 2008
Active Listings: up 42% YOY
Pending Sales: down 39% YOY (new record)
Median Closed Price*: $440,000 - down 6.2% YOY (new record)

On the Eastside, active listings of SFHs are up 54% from last year, with pending sales down 40%. Median price also closed down by 6%. The strongest Eastside SFH area reporting in during May was area 550 (Redmond/Carnation), where number of closed sales and median price were neck in neck with the same time, last year. Also consistently a strong performer, area 520 (Bellevue, west of 405 ) reported a 19% increase in median sales price, though the % change in number of closed sales was significantly down as well.  The largest decline in median price of SFH occured in area 500 (Issaquah/South Bellevue), where median price slipped by over 23%, and the number of closed sales was down by half.

Eastside condos weren’t exempt from the downfall either, with the May median price 10% below last May’s median price. The total number of condo sales closing during May were down 37%, and inventory remains nearly twice as high (+93%) over last year. However, only three Eastside regions submitted price declines compared to last year, including area 20 (Bellevue, west of 405), area 540 (Sammamish), and area 550 (Redmond/Carnation).

No suprise, we’re gonna have to hang on longer for any sign of a recovery.

June 7, 2008

New on Market, Near Microsoft and Open on Sunday

June’s arrived alright, though it just doesn’t feel like it! However, in case you’re wanting to get out this weekend, but still stay dry, these homes are all new on the market in the last week, and will be open on Sunday, June 8th. As an added bonus, these homes are all located close in to Microsoft, so click away and if something catches your eye, it’s worth a look!  

All homes scheduled to be open Sunday, June 8th, 1-4 pm.  

Bellevue

13427 NE 12 Pl.
3 br/2.5 ba, 2,520 sq.ft.
Price: $899,000
MLS 28097267

1912 164th Ave NE
4 br/2.25 ba
Price: $535,000
MLS 28090452

Redmond

16628 NE 118th Way
5 br/2.5 ba, 3,270 sq.ft.
Price: $749,500
MLS 28097201

18551 NE 57th St (Condo)
3 br/2.25 ba, 1,669 sq.ft.
Price:$430,000
MLS 28093942

Woodinville

21219 NE 132nd Ct.
4 br/2.5 ba, 3,100 sq.ft.
Price: $875,000
MLS 28093056

May 23, 2008

Recent Eastside Price Reductions

Price drops are certainly a sign of a motivated seller, but can we tell exactly how motivated a seller is from a price drop? I figure that there are probably two ways to find sellers who may be more willing to deal. The first is to find properties that have been on the market for a longer time and are now dropping in price. In this case, the longer a house has been on the market, the more likely it is that the list price is approaching the seller’s bottom line. The second is to find properties that have been on the market for a very short time and are now the subject of price drops. This may signal that the seller is in a hurry to get out, and consequently, there may be some significant bargaining room here.

For now, here are some Eastside properties that fall under the first category. They’ve all dropped in price in the last several days and they’ve all been listed on Redfin approaching 90 days or more (which isn’t terribly long for today’s market, but they were the longest market time for price reductions over the last several days).

BELLEVUE

15714 SE 26th St
4 br/2.5 ba, 2,460 sq.ft.
Reduced $20,000 to $479,950
MLS 28017860
On Redfin 113 days

ISSAQUAH

2042 16th Ct. NE
4 br/2.5 ba, 2,810 sq.ft.
Reduced $22,000 to $627,700
MLS 28037359
On Redfin 81 days

2495 NE Daphne St
4 br/2.5 ba, 3,423 sq.ft.
Reduced  $25,000 to $774,990
MLS 27155780
On Redfin 273 days

KIRKLAND

11631 NE 106th Ln
3 br/2.5 ba, 2,290 sq.ft.
Reduced $10,000 to $599,950
MLS 28034096
On Redfin 86 days

9039 NE Juanita Dr. #403
3 br/2 ba, 1,340 sq.ft.
Reduced $10,000 to $489,000
MLS 28030667
On Redfin 92 days

8106 NE 125th St
3 br/2.5 ba, 1,900 sq.ft.
Reduced $20,000 to $410,000
MLS 28009525
On Redfin 128 days

WOODINVILLE

14715 149 Ave NE
3 br/3 ba, 3,370 sq.ft.
Reduced $20,000 to $699,950
MLS 28027003
On Redfin 99 days

May 20, 2008

Bellevue High Schools Rank at the Top

 Newsweek released their official 2008 list of the top public high schools in America. Let’s hear it for Washington, which took 22 of the top 1300 spots, which represent the top 5% of all public schools.  In particular, this list is another reason why Bellevue continues to be a hot place to live. Top Bellevue schools, Newport (31), Interlake (45), Bellevue (62), and Sammamish (163) all ranked in the top 200, but Washington’s overall high marks went to International School, where over 98% of the students who took an AP or IB test in 2007 passed at least one of these tests.  

What makes a top high school? According to this research, rankings were based on a ratio, the total number of AP tests and International Baccalaureate tests taken in 2007, divided by the number of graduating seniors. Even more interesting is the E & E index number which shows the percentage of seniors who passed at least one of these tests. After all, taking the test is one thing, but passing the test is surely another.