Community

When we talk about if a certain area is a buyer’s or seller’s market, we are talking about inventory.  In short, how many homes are for sale and how fast they are selling.  The more homes and the slower they are selling, the more it favors buyers.  Fewer homes selling faster favors sellers.   For quite some time we have had a buyers market in Seattle.  Seattle home buyers have had a fun time pitching low ball offers and asking sellers to pay a lot of extras they didn’t have the freedom to ask for in years gone by.  But the tide is turning as the map suggests.

The map on the left represents March of 2009 and the one on the right represents March 2010. 

Areas in green are a buyers market, those in yellow are balanced and those in red are a seller’s market. 

As you can see, a year ago most of the Seattle area was a buyers market.  Today not a single area in Seattle is a buyers market.  Most are not even balanced.  Many are actually back to being sellers market.

I am seeing this with my clients as well.  Bad or over priced properties are sitting around.  Good properties that are priced well are getting bought up quick.  Some are even selling with multiple offers. 

Buyers need to adjust their expectations quick.  Gone for now are the days of sitting back and deciding how much of your closing costs you want covered by sellers.  You need to be preapproved and ready to move when you find that dream property or risk loosing it. 

Give me a call if you need an agent.  I’d love to help.

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Rob Graham, Seattle Home Buying Specialist

Windermere Real Estate

206-321-6349

robgraham@windermere.com

www.robgrahamrealestate.com

Popularity: 3% [?]

Here are all of the approved condo complexes in zip code 98122 in Seattle’s Capital Hill Neighborhood.

1111E Pike Condos

1515 E Union Condos

16th Ave Townhomes

1800 Boylston Condos

1819 17th Ave Condos

18th Ave Condos

19 Alder Condos

21 Cherry Condos

Ambassador 1 Condos

Belcourt Place Condos

Bungalow Court Condos

Central Park E Condos

Cherry Hill Court Condos

Cherrywood Condos

Columbia Condos

Fir St. Townhouse Condos

Fleur De Lis Condos

Franklin Condos

Garden Court Condos

Hill House Condos

Ivory Coast Condos

Madison View Condos

Maison Jiselle Condos

Maison Ville Condos

Manhattan Plaza Condos

Parc on Summit Condos

Pine St. Cottages

Seventeen 07 Condos

Spring Park Condos

Squire Park Place Condos

Trace N Condos

Villa on Terrace Condos

Waterworks Condos

If there is a specific zip code you want to know about, don’t hesitate to ask.

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Rob Graham, Accredited Buyer’s Agent

Windermere Real Estate

206-321-6349

robgraham@windermere.com

Popularity: 6% [?]

I received an e-mail from a reader wondering which complexes area approved for FHA home loans.  I thought I would spend some time posting each neighborhood by zip code starting with 98112.  Here are all the condo complexes approved for FHA loans in 98122.  Keep in mind that until October 15th you can still get a spot approval for non FHA approved complexes.

1905 42nd Ave. E Condos

1915 42nd Ave. E Condos

East Madison Condos

E Thomas Street Condos

East View Condos

Madison Lofts

Madison Parkview Condos

North Park Condos

Park Grandview Condos

Pendleton Miller Condos

Plum Court Condos

If you want me to check into other zip codes just drop me a line.

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Rob Graham, Buying Specialist

Windermere Real Estate

206-321-6349

robgraham@windermere.com

Popularity: 11% [?]

Yes, I know “walkable” isn’t a word, but for those of you who are clients or frequent readers of my blog, you know that I love the web site www.WalkScore.com.

From the web sites main page you can enter any address in America and it will populate a map of the area immediately surrounding that address with all of the amenities the neighborhood has to offer.  Schools, parks, libraries, gyms, grocery stores coffee shops, etc.  It will also tabulate a “walk score”, for that neighborhood.  The Walk Score is a number from 1 to 100 rating of how “walkable”  the neighborhood is.

On the site they have a list of the top 40 most walkable metropolitan cities in America.  Our beloved Seattle ranked 6th.  Here is their top ten:

1.  San Francisco

2.  New York

3. Boston

4. Chicago

5. Philadelphia

6.  Seattle

7.  Washington DC

8.  Long Beach, CA

9.  Los Angeles

10.  Portland

Nice job Seattle.  Not a huge surprise for those of us that live, walk and ride here.

The site goes on to rank the top neighborhoods within Seattle.  I thought this info might be of greater use to those of you who have already decided to shop here in the Seattle area.

According to WalkScore.com here are the top walking neighborhoods in Seattle and their “walk score”:

1. Pioneer Square  99
2. Downtown  97
3. First Hill  96
4. Belltown  95
5. Roosevelt  95
6. International District  94
7. South Lake Union  94
8. University District  94
9. Lower Queen Anne  93
10. Wallingford  90
11. Central District  89
12. Capital Hill  87
13. Ballard  87
14. Freemont  85
15. Green Lake  84

Here are the “least walkable” neighborhoods according to WalkScore.com:

• Blue Ridge  32
• Windermere  33
• North Beach  34
• Arbor Heights  35
• Mathews Beach  40
• View Ridge  40
• Fauntleroy  42
• Rainier Beach  44
• South Park  48
• Broadview  48
• Riverview  49
• Seward Park  50
• Highland Park 52
• Hawthorne Hills  52
• Alki  52

Don’t shoot the messenger.  I know many of you love the neighborhoods on the not so walkable list.  feel free to browse the walkscore.com site though.  I think you’ll find it really helpful and a lot of fun.

As always,  if you are looking for an agent, give me a call.  I’ll be happy to help.

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Rob Graham, Acredited Buyer’s Representative

Windermere Real Estate

206-321-6349

robgraham@windermere.com

Popularity: 7% [?]

In honor of my upcoming condominium listing in West Seattle, I thought I would take a second and share with you some numbers that show what is going on in that neck of the woods.

I took a look at  current active condominium listings and also what condominiums have sold in the past six months and found some interesting trends. 

First the numbers:

Studios

1 Bedrooms

2 Bedrooms

3 Bedrooms

In every price category there are far more listings then there are sales.  Also in every category, the condos that are selling are priced lower and on average smaller then the homes that are not selling.  In fact over the past six months there have been 14 condominiums priced over $700,000 in West Seattle and not one of them has sold. 

This is pretty typical of the overall market but is particularly true in areas such as West Seattle and Beacon Hill that tend to see a decent amount of lower priced inventory.  Buyer’s are coming off the sidelines, especially first time home buyer’s, but they aren’t willing to buy just anything.  They are pretty picky right now and are only willing to write offers on things that appear to already be discounted or are priced to move.  Expensive properties and inventory priced high or even fairly priced, is sitting for a long time if it is selling at all. 

As people bargain hunt over the next few months, the inventory at those price points will start to dwindle.  After that the fairly priced inventory will start to move.   For now, bargain hunting is the name of the game.  If you are selling, hang on for a few more months.  If you are a buyer, have fun.

Give me a call if you are looking for help from an agent.  I’d love to work with you.

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Rob Graham, Accredited Buyer’s Representative

Windermere Real Estate

206-321-6349

robgraham@windermere.com

Popularity: 4% [?]