Archive for the ‘Fremont’ Category
October 3, 2007
A newer listing for an 11-year-old tri-level offers Bang For The Buck in the southern portion of Northwest Seattle (MLS Area 705). It’s got a mother-in-law unit, if you’re jonesing for landlord duties. Location is – well, judge for yourself.
6021 6th Ave. NE
$574,950; 4/3.5; 2890 sq. ft.
North of 85th, another mother-in-law property offers a good average-cost ratio. At $176 per square foot, this Haller Lake home is about $100 per square foot less than the neighborhood average. However, the listing’s been hanging around Redfin for about 200 days, so my radar is on alert.
13002 Meridian Ave. N
$419,000; 6/2; 2380 sq. ft.
Note: All information from sources deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
October 2, 2007
Whoops!
But those are national numbers. Look for NWMLS figures, specific to our corner of America, within a week.
October 2, 2007
One sign that Seattle sellers are keeping an eye on the news of a softening housing market is the surprisingly short time between some properties’ first appearance on Redfin and their first price cut. Used to be – last winter, for example – that sellers held firm, confident that demand far outstripped supply.
These days, however, I’m seeing reductions when a listing’s only weeks old. In some cases, a cut comes before those fresh flowers provided by the staging company have time to wilt.
12015 Burke Ave. N
Old price: $440,000. New price: $425,000.
Days on Redfin: 18
3/1; 1860 sq. ft.
7841 12th Ave. NE
Old price: $480,000. New price: $448,500.
Days on Redfin: 8
4/1.75; 1840 sq. ft.
3626 14th Ave. W #201
Old price: $300,000. New price: $290,000.
Days on Redfin: 14
2/1; 718 sq. ft.
7214 2nd Ave. NW
Old price: $499,950. New price: $489,000.
Days on Redfin: 17
2/1; 1340 sq. ft.
5440 Leary Ave. NW #215
Old price: $395,000. New price: $385,000.
Days on Redfin: 13
1/1; 806 sq. ft.
To receive daily notifications via email about new listings and price reductions in your price range and search criteria click on “save” above the map. Name your search and check “daily” under notifications.
Note: All information from sources deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
October 2, 2007
This spring I could pretty much predict that any stand-alone house in Ballard, Fremont, Green Lake, Phinney Ridge, or Wallingford listed for less than $500,000 was a fixer and/or would sell quickly for more than asking.
Ah, what a difference a housing crisis makes.
I don’t think we’re in a buyer’s market, given the still-rising prices in area 705, but I will say that it’s easier to get a decent house for less than median price these days.
Here are a few places on my check-it-out list.
5507 9th Ave. NW
Asking: $349,9500. Days on Redfin: 26.
1/1; 580 sq. ft.
5406 6th Ave NW
Asking: $399,9500. Days on Redfin: 42.
2/1; 910 sq. ft.
7711 26th Ave NW
Asking: $417,990. Days on Redfin: 7.
2/1; 1060 sq. ft.
6222 5th Ave NW
Asking: $424,950. Days on Redfin: 19.
2/1; 750 sq. ft.
6533 25th Ave NW
Asking: $425,000. Days on Redfin: 27.
2/1; 920 sq. ft.
Note: All information from sources deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
August 7, 2007
Tonight is the annual Seattle Police Department Seattle Night Out.
Seattle Night Out is billed as a crime prevention event, but it is more of an opportunity to meet new neighbors and catch up on the neighborhood gossip. For you real estate buffs out there, this is the place to get the inside scoop on what is about to come on the market, why stuff is sitting on the market and why stuff sold for what it did.
What is really interesting is how this event brings about a sense of micro community. In my hood, Phinney Ridge, there is a block party just about every other street. For this one evening a year there is this sense of block rivalry–we have the best food, the best people, the best houses, the best location… It would be fun to have follow up event to settle the score of which block is really the best. Perhaps a hot dog eating contest or bocce tournament?
If your block is having a party you should find a way to peel yourself away from your computer and catch up with your neighbors and plot ways to take a bite out of crime. If your block isn’t having one, wander a few blocks and I am sure you will find one.
August 1, 2007
Now that all the Fremont Bridge repairs are complete, it’s back to easy ingress to the center of the universe. Despite the construction traffic delays, buyers managed to find – and purchase – these homes.
227 NW 41st St. sold for 100%.
Original List Price: $460,000. Sales Price: $460,000
4/2; 1270 sq. ft.
3617B Phinney Ave. N sold for 97.0%.
Last Asking Price: $500,000. Sales Price: $485,000
3/2.5; 1370 sq. ft.
3970 Dayton Ave. N sold for 96.3%.
Original List Price: $674,950. Sales Price: $650,000
2/2; 1510 sq. ft.
Note: All information from sources deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
July 26, 2007
Downtown isn’t the only neighborhood with historic buildings. Fremont – indeed, the whole city – has them, too.
But it’s Fremont, under the aegis of the Fremont Neighborhood Council and the Fremont Historical Society, that’s going to have its historical buildings surveyed this winter. Historic, in this context, means buildings that are at least 50 years old.
Shouldn’t be too hard to include some homes in that group. About half the housing stock in the northwest neighborhoods was built before 1950. If you want to live in an old place in Fremont, here are some you can buy right now.
Built in 1906: 209 NW 46th St.
$565,000; 3/1.75; 2000 sq. ft.
Built in 1907: 4107 Fremont Ave. N
$599,950; 3/2; 1994 sq. ft.
Built in 1908: 4428 Greenwood Ave. N
$579,950; 2/1; 2050 sq. ft.
Built in 1909: 326 N 45th St.
$439,950; 2/1; 820 sq. ft.
Built in 1910: 4007 Dayton Ave. N
$680,000; 3/2.75; 2254 sq. ft.
Built in 1926: 4019 Francis Ave. N
$659,950; 3/2; 1640 sq. ft.
Note: All information from sources deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
July 10, 2007
Two properties I reviewed before The Ban had obvious rental potential. But the rental units also had obvious flaws in both size and layout. Now that the homes have sold, we can gauge what kind of value buyers see in a place with a tricky rental option.
The first was the pair of shipshape cottages in Fremont. You could easily live in the larger and rent the second out to someone with naval experience, since the kitchen was small enough to qualify as a yacht galley and the “stairs” down were suitable for a frigate.
4320 Palantine Ave. N. has 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, and 1130 square feet.
Asking Price at Review: $449,900
Sales Price: $437,000
Percentage: 97.1%
The second one was an unloved rental property in Phinney Ridge (or Ballard, depending on how strongly you feel about the eastern boundary). You could rent out the whole thing again, or you could just pray to find a tenant for the constricted mother-in-law in the basement.
823 NW 65th St. has 3 bedrooms, 1.75 baths, and 1570 square feet.
Asking Price at Review: $499,950
Sales Price: $455,400
Percentage: 91.1%
The average of these two sales is $446,200, which is lower than the overall average for the area. However, it’s in line with what I expected, given how difficult it would be to fix their negatives. Furthermore, the average days on market was more than 90. They’re not top-tier properties and the numbers show it.
Note: All information from sources deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
June 24, 2007
An article in the real-estate section of today’s Seattle Times notes the rise of contingent offers.
“Contingencies have become a way of life for buyers and sellers in today’s challenging housing market. Buyers don’t want to take a chance getting stuck with two mortgages, and eager sellers are more willing to accept any offer, even if it includes a contingency.”
But the author was mostly talking about the Minnesota housing market. Around here, according to a quote from a Bellevue broker, they’re not the norm.
Far from the norm, but contingent offers are back and they’re on the rise. So far in June I saw two properties in northwest Seattle go contingent, which is twice as many as I saw in the first five months of this year. And they were for homes in a wide range of prices, from $1.6 million to less than $300,000.
What’s it all mean? I think it means that the Seattle-area market is still vital, but showing signs of softening. I’m interested to see how the contingent trend plays out during the rest of 2007. Are contingencies a canary in a coal mine?
June 23, 2007
Weather.com is predicting an 80 percent chance of showers Sunday. So it’ll most likely be shoes off or booties at these open houses.
7015 1st Ave. NW
$1,300,000
5 bedrooms
3.75 baths
3572 sq. ft.
6753 5th Ave. NW
$659,950
3 bedrooms
1.75 baths
2391 sq. ft.
4121 Sunnyside Ave. N
$649,900
2 bedrooms
1 bath
680 sq. ft.
7328 12th Ave. NW
$610,000
4 bedrooms
2 baths
2680 sq. ft.
6555 5th Ave. NW
$549,000
2 bedrooms
1 bath
2100 sq. ft.
7531 Jones Ave. NW
$525,000
4 bedrooms
1.75 baths
1970 sq. ft.
9205 Wallingford Ave. N
$499,950
2 bedrooms
1.75 baths
2450 sq. ft.
2601 NW Brygger Place
$435,000
3 bedrooms
2.5 baths
1330 sq. ft.
10744 Greenwood Ave. N #303
$254,900
2 bedrooms
1 bath
881 sq. ft.
Note: All information from sources deemed reliable but not guaranteed.
