Location, Location, Location

[akirlu]

In Seattle, $300,000 will now buy you:

(a) A 450 sq. ft. 1bd condo courtyard bungalow on First Hill
(b) A 840 sq. ft. 2bd Craftsman in the Rainier Valley
(c) A 900(?) sq. ft. 3bd townhouse in Lake City
(d) None of the above


Yah-huh, that would be (d).

No, in Seattle $300,000 appears to buy (maybe) either a fixer next to the freeway or a fixer directly under the flight path of Sea-Tac international. Or possibly a fixer with a view of Boeing field, but that one seemed a lot like the contractors were falling all over each other to see who could put a total of 3 new townhouses on the "oversize" lot.

In Everett, the same $300,000 will buy you 1500 sq. ft. of turn of the century Builder's Cottage in a cool, mostly well-maintained old neighborhood, with a view of the Sound.

So I'm now pondering whether I could endure a 30 mile commute and the death of social life as I know it. It's probably that or going condo, which I would mind less if the condo options looked better.

In other news, we saw a pair of bald eagles on Saturday, the mature bird trailed by a full-grown juvenile. Same day also spotted a nesting flicker, and a nesting osprey. Also a pair of nesting Canada geese harrassing a pedestrian. And the turtles have started coming out on Lake Washington.

Also, I am developing a deep and abiding hatred of vinyl siding.

Comments

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

I haven't every done the drive from Everett to Seattle at rush hour, but since the old part of Everett is almost 30 miles away, and Redmond is more like 15, and the traffic is at least comparable if not worse on the Everett commute, I would certainly guess the drive time would be longer. I'm really not even thinking about driving all the way. Most likely I would either drive to a South Everett Park-&-Ride, or else take a mixture of busses, or possibly investigate vanpool options.

That particular house is already 'subject-to-inspection' -- meaning that it's got an offer on it and is probably already in escrow, but it does give an idea of what sort of thing one can find in North Everett. The whole neighborhood is full of similar, older houses.

I'm not sure there really is a significant bubble in Seattle. My boss's husband is a realtor, and he doesn't seem to think there's any sign of a slow down. Maybe all that condo stock will help, but right now Seattle is a significant seller's market, so it's going to take a large influx of housing to get in parity with demand, unless the local job market just tanks.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

It's hard to understand what's driving the housing prices, since the economy isn't that hot -- is it? Maybe it's just that people in the outlying areas want to move into the city, I dunno. I guess Boeing is doing good business again, so maybe that's driving it now.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

I dunno if the economy is that hot or not, but Seattle has so much natural curb appeal (as it were) that I think people want to try and live here if they possibly can. But as far as I know, all the local major employers are going gangbusters, and MSoft is expanding. Gotta put all them MSofties somewhere. Downtown Belleview has something like 8-10 cranes up right now.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Well, and then it occurred to me that housing prices kept going up even during the last recession, when unemployment in Seattle was worse than the national average. But I guess that was one reason people thought it might be an investment-driven bubble.