Seattle's Urban Villages

Montlake, in the Mild and Fair Month of May...

My new Montlake  listing-to-be is nearing the end of it's "spa treatment" with a contractor who is freshening it up so I will be be listing it for sale in the Seattle Real Estate market in a week or two.  There are many details to be attended to for my client who lives out of state, and since we are nearing it's completion, I have been spending even more time at the house and working with the contractor in my client's absence, and my job at the Listing Agent has not even begun!

The Montlake neighborhood is absolutely gorgeous right now with our mild and fair May weather producing lush flowers, shrubs and trees.  Wednesday afternoon and evening I spent planting the flowers for the newly redone front yard and noticed all the walker's, some with their beautiful dogs, and joggers out in the afternoon and evening.  Everyone seemed to be particularly enjoying the beautiful days, and many gave me complements on how wonderful "my garden" (to complicated to explain that I was the Real Estate Agent !) was turning out.

Montlake, with it's many Tudor style homes, lovely gardens and parks reminds me of what I imagine England is like, of course since I have never actually been there, my mental images are based on movies and books! 

  The neighborhood is surrounded by parks so is very green and peaceful, and since much of it is level with some gentle slopes, the neighborhood is perfect for enjoying an evening stroll or jog.  There are many great places to walk, jog or ride a bike in Seattle, places like Green Lake , Alki or other parks, but not so many that are the neighborhood itself like Montake.

My seller's home is returning to it's previous lovely state with the attention it has been receiving this spring, and like the Montlake neighborhood itself, springtime refreshed and soon ready to be enjoyed by it's new owners. 

Seattle Times "Home Values 2007" article for the Seattle Real Market in 2006

The Seattle Times yesterday, May 20th 2007, published it's annual  Home Values review for 2007.  Their analysis supports what Seattle Real Estate Agents have been seeing that is very contrary to all the Bubble talk last year of a collapsing Seattle Real Estate market for 2006 which the Seattle Times reports as, for single family homes, rising 15.9% for King County.

  The article is mostly maps showing neighborhoods and the sales data for that map area.  It's well worth clicking through to find information on a neighborhood area (usually several neighborhoods combined) to get the 2006 sales data, an appreciation map, and an affordability map.

For example, if we look at North Capitol Hill / Montlake ( which includes Portage Bay) on the main map  we will find that the median Price  for 2006 was $772,000 and the average price change from 2005 to 2007 was 11.8%.  The income needed in 2006 for Median priced home in North Capitol Hill / Montlake was $185,624  (yikes!)

Prices for buying a home in Seattle continues to increase due to our stable employment, increasing population growth, enjoyable quality of life and the lag in our home appreciation compared to much of the rest of the U.S. because of we took a bigger hit during the Tech bust in 1999/2000 causing more moderate appreciation for the Seattle Real Estate market.  Great news for selling a home in Seattle, although the extra cash will be needed to buy another home unless you are downsizing.

So check it out for yourself, it's very interesting and who doesn't like knowing more about Seattle Real Estate!

Seattle Open House Surprise....

A few weeks ago I got a call from some Buyer Clients that they were back in Seattle and wanted to see the new listing I had emailed them Friday night.  Since it was Sunday, and the house just came on the Seattle Real Estate market late Friday, there was an Open House scheduled that afternoon.  The "Agent Only" remarks had posted that the Sellers were requesting no showings until the Open House so I arranged to meet my Buyer's at the house during the Open House.

The house was showing well and had lots of traffic; neighbors and potential buyers.  While I was examining the garage with my clients I opened up a storage closet door and found...a rifle!  There it was leaning against the wall....   

After quietly telling my Clients, I immediately went to inform the Listing Agent what I had found so that he could either secure the closet or the rifle and get in touch with his Sellers.   

This was an item that should have been locked up before the Open House for the safety of the people looking at the house, and to prevent the theft of the Seller's personal property.  Seller's Agents coach their Clients when listing their home, to lock up cash, prescription drugs, valuable jewelry, important documents/papers and of course weapons.   

When a home is listed for sale, all this type of personal property must be made secure to prevent it's possible theft.  While Buyer's Agents are escorting their clients throughout the residence, they may not be able to keep an eye on everyone at all times, and the Clients may be new to the Agent.

So Tip For Sellers:  When selling your home on the Seattle Real Estate market, lock up your valuable personal property!

Tip for Sellers - Make sure your agent posts great photos of your home on line.

Last Saturday, I was across the hall in another Seattle Real Estate Agent's office chatting about Seattle real estate (what else!) and I noticed on the screen of her laptop an article on MSN.  The article was on the ethics of using PhotoShop to "touch up" online photos used in marketing homes for sale.  This was a very interesting and engaging article, I really enjoyed it.  Ethically challenged people sure make life more interesting and complicated!

Well...of course then I wanted to air (okay...vent!) my opinion on BAD real estate photos.  Most Seattle real estate agents do a credible to fabulous job with the marketing photos as Listing Agents...then there are the ones who's cameras should be taken away!  It riles me up so much when I see a listing with poor photos, all I can think is poor, poor sellers. 

You have probably seen them online:  crooked photos (yikes an inebriated photographer!) dark photos (scary, who would want to live there?) photos of unlovely rooms (no photos of the "cooks kitchen" but one of the semi-finished basement?) poor choices of angle (nice ceiling, but what does the room look like?) and the real money loser, amazing Sound (Lake, City etc.) view and no photos or good ones to draw a buyers interest!

The home a friend of mine was leasing recently has been listed for sale.  On Lake Washington, it has wonderful views of the lake from almost all the rooms, so you can imagine the list price.  Well, at that price I would have thought the Seattle Listing Agent, (Marketing Agent) would have engaged the services of a professional photographer to capture the value of this house, but instead, the photos online barely show the views.  I wish I could share some examples with you, but unfortunately I would have to have the permission of the Seattle Listing Agent, and it's not likely they'd give it for a post like this. 

So next time you are on line looking at houses and condos, look at the photos, do they show an appealing home?  Does the written marketing celebrate a home's virtues but the photos tell a different story?   

So a Tip for Sellers, make sure you ask to see examples of your Seattle Listing Agent's Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS) Listing or Marketing Photos, and ask to see the listings for similar types of homes and compare them.  Make sure your Seattle Realtor will truly market your home properly so that it appeals to as many potential buyers as possible.  You don't want to miss the opportunity to capture the eye of the buyer who is willing to pay the highest price for your home by having less than great photos posted on line.

Montlake's proposed Interchange and 520 Bridge: Which design will prevail?

Montlake's proposed Interchange & 520 Bridge: Which design will prevail?

The Seattle Weekly this week published an article by Sue Peters: "Poetic Engineering; Will the new 520 bridge be one 'where you turn off and want to go over it again'?".  There are a group of  Montlake neighbors who are concerned with the Washington State Department of Transportation's (WSDOT ) current proposal for what they and others see as an potential eyesore in the making.  The Group, lead by Rob Wilkinson, is going against the traffic and have a design proposal of their own for WSDOT to consider, and helping to get the word out is their website at:  BetterBridge.org. 

Whichever design is ultimately chosen it will certainly affect Montlake, and surrounding neighborhoods of Portage Bay, University District, and the Arboretum with some unknown mix of positive and negative changes.  I do not believe it will adversely affect Montlake Real Estate (and the surrounding neighborhoods) value, since whatever design is actually built will for the most part, be on top of the existing structures.  There will be additional noise since the amount of traffic will increase as Seattle's population continues to grow and the Seattle real estate market with it.  However, the alternative design is much better thought out and community friendly, so if you are interested in buying a house in Montlake and living there, then you can make a difference the future of Montlake's neighborhood by getting involved.

   

Personally I love driving through the Montlake Interchange, and often want to "go over it again"!  When I first arrived in Seattle I was captivated by the the swooping bridges over the water and islands that make up the Montlake Interchange...it reminded me of my childhood visits to Disneyland and the rides Autopia and the lagoons of Submarine Voyage with the Monorail swooping above! 

Montlake...

Montlake, one of Seattle's Urban Villages...

  ... is where I have been spending a lot of time these past few weeks.  I am working with some out of state sellers as their Seattle Real Estate Agent to prepare their house to enter the Seattle Real Estate market when we list their Montlake home for sale later this spring.  It has been an interesting project for me and it will be exciting to see it to it's conclusion.   

  The Montlake neighborhood lies just south of the University of Washington across from the Montlake cut, north and down the hill from Capitol Hill, east of Portage Bay and Eastlake, and west of the Arboretum and Lake Washington.  It has great accessibility to Downtown Seattle, as well as Bellevue and The Eastside via the 520 freeway which runs through Montlake...in an interesting way. The freeway is mostly bridges over water and provides motorists with some great views of wildlife on their commute!

The homes, built mostly in the 1920's, are made up of brick Tudor and Craftsman styles of single family homes.  The market history for the month of March has just sixteen total homes comprising it.  The eight that are active as of April 1st range between $549,000 to $879,000.  Three are STI (Subject To Inspection) ranging between $847,000 and $1,250,000, Four are Pending ranging between $609,900 and $959,000.  Only one closed for the month sellling for $734,000.  This puts Montlake well above the median price for homes sold in King County, $429,925, in February.

Now that spring had arrived Montlake is especially beautiful right now, good timing for the springtime Seattle Real Estate rush!