Seattle's Urban Villages

Mr Johnson's Antiques in Montlake

Strolling along on Seattle's 24th Avenue East in the little retail core of Montlake, you come to Mr Johnson's Antiques.

 

When you step inside you are surrounded by treasures, and your eyes have to keep moving about to take them in.  Seated behind a desk near the entrance you see Mr Johnson, aka Matthew Johnson, who greets you and laughingly puts you at your ease.

Matthew, who I met a year before at Georgetown's Art & Garden Walk where he now makes his home (also filled with many wonderful objects) is very outgoing and loves to show off the treasures that his shop holds.  The Montlake neighbors often drop by and there is a candy bowl just for the kids, one mom and young daughter stopped by while I was there recently and they were delighted by Matthews' charm.  One of the neighbors who came by my open house in Montlake recently told me that he considers Matthew to be the "Mayor of Montlake".  Matthew is a long time resident of the area, he grew up in North Capitol and played baseball at the Montlake Playfields as a child, there is even a photo of him in the shop with his bat the ready for a pitch.   

When you are in the Montlake neighborhood, and if you love to poke around to find treasures, then Mr Johnson's Antiques is a great place to stop by.

An Open House history lesson or I love meeting the former owners!

Two weeks ago at an Open House for my new listing in Montlake...

there were many neighbors (and of course buyers looking for a new home) stopping by to see the house now that it is for sale,  and it's improvements.  It was very enjoyable meeting everyone and giving tours of the home because there are many unusual features like a walled over stained glass window just waiting for new owners to reveal it to the world again and...this house even has a secret room!  There was a surprise for me when the former owner, before my client bought the house about 10 years ago, stopped by. 

Mrs. G. and her family lived there for over 30 years and she wanted to see the home again where she had lived with her husband and their children grew up.  It was wonderful to listen to Mrs G. tell me about the way the house used to be when it was her home and the changes she and her husband made to the homes as its' second owners.  Things like adding the extra bathrooms (the house has 5, very unusual in Montlake!)and I finally got to find out why there was an odd cut out in the balcony off the kitchen (many people had asked me about that) Mr. G. cut out that portion so that their dog could lie on the floor and look out at the street, who knew!

It's not everyday that a listing agent gets to find out the history of a beautiful and unique Montlake Tudor Home from such long term former owners!

When is it time to change to a different Seattle real estate agent?

Yesterday I received an update from the NWMLS for one of my searches that I have out for Buyer clients.  This was a notice for a price reduction, the 6th one for a house that has been on the market for well over 600 days - YES - over 600 days on the market.  The price has dropped almost $350,000 since it was first listed and it is still with the original Seattle listing agent.  BTW, this is not a high end , multi million dollar luxury home that would have very few buyers who could afford the property, and that you would expect to be on the market for awhile. 

The original photos are still showing on the listing, which is doubly bad since they were of poor quality to begin with.  This home has great sound views, because it is waterfront, not that you can tell from the photos.  The house is very dated and certainly could have benefited from some work being done to update and get it market ready so that it has more visual appeal, and would photograph better.  I doubt many buyers have even asked to see the house because of what they have seen online.  Unfortunately, because of the NWMLS rules no agents can approach the seller with better ideas while the house is under contract with an agent.  I can only watch  <sigh>  and hope that the seller makes a change.

I don't know the agent or his relationship (not related per listing remarks) with the seller, but I have to wonder why there has been no changes made other than price to sell the house.  I feel for the seller because there may be other options to look into to improve the house to appeal to buyers and get the best possible price.  Of course another option would be changing to a different real estate agent, which brings us back to the original question.  When is it time to change to a different Seattle real estate agent?  A Tip for Sellers; I think that this seller owes it to themselves to hire another agent who can bring a fresh approach to selling this home; 600 plus days on the market and hundreds of thousands of dollars in price reductions are clearly not getting this house  sold.

**Update October 25, 2007**

The house just had another price reduction, 4th for a total of $75,000 since July 11, 2007.  The house has now been on the market for 731 days and reduced a total of $424,950, still no changes to the marketing remarks or photos.  I really feel for the owner.

Georgetown Art & Garden Walk...a walk on a unique side of Seattle!

Georgetown gets to show off a second time in as many weeks with its'  12th annual Georgetown Art & Garden Walk following June 23rd's first ever Artopia.

Last year, was a day of sun and fun exploring the streets and gardens of Georgetown.  There were nooks and crannies to look into, and art to discover all over.  The event is Sunday, July 8 2007 from 10AM to 5PM and you can get maps at the Georgetown Bank of America at 1112 S. Bailey St.

Here are some photos from last year....

Boots of the famous "Hats and Boots" in Oxbow Park.

Georgetown P-patch is next to the boots...

Cool backyard garden retreat...

Artful Georgetown house!