Strange Magnolia Sightings -- Day 3

This is not trick photography. Martha would be highly offended. Who said a decoration needs to be as big as the house?

Strange Magnolia Sightings -- Day 2

A strange phenomenon is taking shape in Magnolia. Robust shrubs and bushes once growing free and wild are being turned into ... poodle-shapes. These sightings occur in mainly well-to-do neighborhoods throughout Magnolia. Police are at a loss for what's behind it.

White Center is the new Ballard

Seattle Weekly's Knute Berger wrote about Seattle's shifting real estate market. This paragraph captures it all:

My partner and I were out to dinner with two real-estate-agent friends, and one
half-jokingly said that "White Center is the new Ballard." Apparently, Shoreline
used to be the new Ballard, until it got pricey. So first-time single-family
home buyers have to go farther afield. It left me wondering: If the old
square-head Ballard is gone, and the new affordable Ballard has moved south,
what is the current Ballard? The new Laurelhurst?

Nanny Seattle: The city is inching toward the suburbs -- and Singapore [Seattle Weekly]

Strange Magnolia Sightings -- Day 1

We were more than concerned when we saw this grouping of vehicles in Magnolia on Sunday. Cars and trucks unlike any we've ever seen in this staid, conservative neighorhood. Then we realized, it's NFL Sunday.

Slip-Slidin' Away

So, this dilapidated home on 14th Ave W in Queen Anne will be razed soon and some nifty townhouses will go up in its place. And unsuspecting folks who eventually buy one will likely have no idea they bought in a landslide-prone area. Hey, when it comes to Seattle, land is a precious commodity, even if it slides.

Bye-bye, Leilani

Noooooo! Leilani Lanes, the kitstchy little Hawaiian-style bowling alley where many a party has been had (and a few games of bowling played), is going down... to a developer, that is.

Found through: Humu Kon Tiki

Blog-o-sphere Gem

While navigating the great blog-o-sphere, I came upon the site Seattle Gas Prices, which lists the area stations with the lowest prices and those with the highest. The goal of the site is to “… work to promote competition and drive down the retail price of gasoline.”

Gated Homes, Floating Style

Whoa, baby. Here is a sub-community that slipped through the usual real estate radar: a gated community of floating homes. It looks like Roanoke Reef is the place to live among Seattle’s floating homes community. This beauty at 10 East Roanoke #15 was listed for $1,350,000 and sold for $1,300,000.

Starbucks and Oil Stains

No doubt, Starbucks’ real estate acumen is uncanny. So, what comes first? Is the nabe right, or does Starbucks’ presence make the nabe right? The genius behind figuring that out was Arthur Rubenfeld, whose book Built for Growth reveals tricks to succeed, such as “owning Main & Main” and looking for areas with lots of car oil stains – yes, they do! – and locations near dry cleaners and video rental stores.

More Starbucks are planned this year for Auburn, Redmond and Puyallup, adding 33 new stores in the Puget Sound region. So, if you need a Starbucks nearby, follow the oil stains.

Buzzed: Starbucks Sees Many more Stores [Puget Sound Business Journal]
Locationing is Advertising [Brand Autopsy – ex-Starbucks employee]

This Land is Your Land

No, this house isn't located in the Heartland, but in good, 'ol Ballard, on the corner of 27th and 73rd avenues.

Toll Brothers: Land Snatchers

A must-read is yesterday's New York Times magazine article about Toll Brothers, who are the creators of the McMansion. If you care about houses, developments, and the loss of land, "Chasing Ground," is scary stuff.

Southwest Smackdown

When it’s budget cutting time in my house, the New York Times and cable TV are the first to go. What usually happens is we get their products for half the cost, because they don’t want to lose us. We play this game every so often and it usually works.

Southwest Airlines played the same game with Sea-Tac, making overtures to move to Boeing Field. And, although they didn’t get Boeing Field, they did get their fees reduced at Sea-Tac.

Sims rejects Boeing Field plans [Seattle Times]

Artist's Enclave For Sale: $3.4M

Joseph Kinnebrew, sculptor, painter, welder and artist of REALLY BIG THINGS is putting his La Conner property, "The Quarry," up for sale for $3,495,000. We're not sure if the art goes with the property, but this listing and its 120 images are worth checking out. And, of course, it's on Craigslist.

Inman's Top 10 Slowdown Signs

Real estate news giant Inman News has created a list of 10 Signs of a Changing House Market, which lists not-so-obvious signs. I saw a sign the other day -- literally -- on a real estate sandwich board (above):

"Drop in for a complimentary bag of tulips."

We give you tulips and you take this $500,000 house off our hands....? Hmmm.

(Non-sequitur: Where did they get all the tulips this time of year?)

Real Estate Begging for Some Love

Magnolia has its requisite coffee shops (Starbucks, Tully’s, Caffè Appassionato), the ubiquitous Bartell’s Drug Store (I love Bartells, BTW), and a smattering of other, useful businesses. Next to Ace Hardware on 32nd Ave W. is a set of three storefronts that have been abandoned for some time. One was the site of the old Village Pub, one is filled with crap (I spied a snare drum, shoes, and textbooks scattered among random piles of junk), and one is inhabited by a securities firm. The securities firm looks like it was burglarized and then abandoned – chairs overturned, papers on the floor, old coffee cups and a calendar from 1999. – but the folks in the nabe say it’s always like that. Maybe it’s a securities firm run by frat guys.

Anyway, the point is: What a waste! This precious real estate goes unused and is said to be owned by someone who refuses to rent to anyone, so it remains a chasm begging to be filled with … something. The guys in Ace Hardware answer questions everyday from customers and other biz owners as to who/what/why this is what it is.

Rumors abound about future development, but for now, it just needs some love, man!

Mortgages Going Over 6%

Get ready for a big thud. CNN headlines set the stage for what will likely be a real estate slowdown: the 30-year mortgage rate is going over 6%.

Things Will be Great When You’re Downtown

This bear, created by a chainsaw sculptor in Montana, will have a new home in downtown Seattle someday soon. The owners of the bear and this house feel “the time is right” to make their money and go rent a condo in Seattle. List it or sell it on their own? After a big gulp, they felt listing it was best since they heard realtors in Magnolia blackball FSBO’ers by not driving clients past FSBO homes. Ooh, nasty.

I guess the house would fetch $600-ish, since it has a gorgeous view of downtown Seattle and is on the "Gold Coast of Magnolia" -- their words, not mine. So, they stand to lose -- what? $36,000 in fees and commissions?

My, What Nice Panels You Have

While minding my own business the other day, I walked by a house in Magnolia with a sign out front: “Solar Tour 2005.” Looking up, I see these giant solar panels on the home’s roof. Whoa. It’s cool to see people trying to conserve energy, even if it’s only one out of a million. And I’m not trying to be flip about it, but why don’t we do more of this stuff? Conserve for future generations?

Worth reading is an excellent Mother Jones article on solar power (excerpt here):

"In a perfect world, people would buy clean power even without subsidies, simply because they wanted to help clean the atmosphere. But, as Randy Udall, head of the solar program in Aspen, Colo., points out, much as Thomas Jefferson mystifyingly managed to overlook the fact that he owned slaves, we now collectively overlook our production of 45,000 pounds of greenhouse gases per family per year -- enough to fill two Goodyear blimps. Surely our descendants will wonder why we didn't notice, why we did nothing."

That reminds me of a great bumper sticker I saw yesterday:

“GET INVOLVED: the world is run by those who show up.”

Tacoma Wants Downtown Downsizers

I missed this past weekend's Tour of Urban Living in Tacoma, but it looks like Tacoma is pushing hard to get people to abandon their McMansions for fun, city livin' in Tacoma. The Local Development Council's Web site has an interesting third bullet point to drive enthusiasm for an upcoming city center luncheon:

• Find out why the official appraisal of downtown properties is about to jump by
  50% (on average)--and what it means for business.

I think, that alone, should pack the house.

[Thanks for the tip, thendisc]

Staging is Now a Mini Empire

There was a funny post on Curbed today about staging a house. As I read on, I see this woman, Barb Schwarz (photo right, with tree), has a Web site and she claims to be the founder of the staging concept:

Barb Schwarz has personally Staged and Sold over
3,000 homes in the greater Seattle area. Barb is the creator of the Staging Home Concept and she holds the Federally Registered Trade mark from the US Government on Stage®.

She holds the trademark for the word "staged"! Does the New York Times have to abide by this? And now, every time I write the word stage, do I need to put a registered mark on this? This is all very confusing. I need a lawyer to get through this blog.

The "Hand That Rocks" House

Magnolia neighborhood lore -- well, at least two neighbors say so -- claim the house used in 1992 thriller The Hand That Rocks the Cradle , starring Rebecca DeMornay, is the one under scaffolding and plastic wrap right now. Seems there was a mold problem, so they had to remove the exterior substance (stucco?). Dunno what’s replacing it. But, I am definitely going to rent the movie to see what it looked like in the movie and verify whether this is the place (37th and W. Smith).

Seattle Market Still Hot

Despite a market slowdown, Seattle real estate continues to hum along with the median sales price of a single-family home in King County now $381,250.

There still might be a bidding war for homes in Seattle, but only for good ones. We've seen many real estate signs with "New Price," "Price Reduced" on them and that's for a reason: There's a problem with the house. One, in Magnolia, has a price drop of $94,000 and that's because the bedrooms were in the basement.

Slowing Is Seen in Housing Prices in Hot Markets [NY Times]
Seattle Home Prices and Competition Strong [Seattle P-I]

NIMBY Situation in Magnolia

This morning on the bus, I sat next to a retired gentleman who was on his way to City Hall to fight the good 'ol NIMBY fight. As detailed here in The Neighbors of Briarcliff School's site, a Bellevue developer is taking the old 4.5-acre Briarcliff Elementary School site (39th Avenue West and Dravus Street) in Magnolia, and developing cluster housing, which is right around the corner from his house, and I might add, Jamie Moyer's.

As I've stated in previous posts, I am for New Urbanism. I think surburban sprawl is hideous, selfish, and environmentally wrong. And, after all, Magnolia IS in Seattle -- it is a neighborhood in a CITY.

My Magnolia acquaintance, armed with newspaper clippings and copious notes on a yellow legal pad, is mad as hell and says 100 other angry Magnolians will be there, along with their $250-per-hour lawyer. We'll keep you posted.

Turn-key Yurt For Sale: $24,800

Craigslist is a mishmash of Seattle real estate listings: FSBO'ers, realtors, and other, strange posers. And then there's this posting from Gig Harbor: $24,800 - Turn-Key YURT Home. The posting says, "Our family of 4 lived in this yurt for 1.5 years over the last 2 winters and loved it. We are selling in order to help finance construction of our house." It looks like their love of the yurt has ended and they're getting a real roof over their heads. Or, maybe they're tired of living a circular existence.

Toppers -- the Good, the Bad, the Ugly

We’re seeing more and more second-story additions in Seattle and that usually means one thing: to create or expand a view. This home is on the backside of Queen Anne looks a little scary – like the top is way bigger than the bottom. Please send me your favorite topper and I'll have a photo spread for the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Shhh, Don't Mention Slowdown...

At an open house in Magnolia this weekend, I met up with a realtor who was in denial. Denial about how the market is going a little soft. [CNN] He then showed me his book, which listed the number of homes on sale by month in Magnolia, from March through April. The numbers varied from 50 (March) to 70 (September). Now, I'm no math wiz, but it seems that 70 is higher than 50. Hellooooo!

It's official: The gray, old lady of New York is declaring a real estate slowdown, especially in NYC. [NY Times]

Condos springing up in the West

Cities in the West, such as Seattle, Phoenix, and Sacramento are investing heavily in high-rise condos in the downtown core. [CNN]

Developers Drooling Over Turtleback

A coveted piece of Orcas Island, Turtleback Mountain, could fall to developers. The Medina Foundation, a charity that gives money to Puget Sound-area organizations to help poor and disabled people, owns the 1,578 acres and could make an estimated $25 million if it is developed. There goes the nabe. [Seattle Times].

Coveted Queen Anne

I used to live on Queen Anne and get blown away by the price gouging. Here’s a house re-done on 7th West with killer views of Puget Sound. Once a humble, medium-sized brick ranch, it has a new top and is now listing at $1.25 million which works out to be $357 per square foot. Yowza.