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Monday, February 20, 2006

Everett Condo Buyers Anxious To Spend

Readers of this blog know that up-and-coming condos in Bellevue will cost $400k for 700ft², but what about up in Snohomish County? Well, your $400,000 won't go much further, netting you a mere extra 100ft², and hopeful residents of Everett's fancy new waterfront condos aren't batting an eye.

But last week, Olsen said the condominiums would begin at about $400,000 for the smallest floor plan of 800 square feet. Larger floor plans of about 2,000 square feet, which Olsen said would be the most sought after, will run between $600,000 and $800,000.

For some on the waiting list, the cost of a waterfront home is virtually never too high.

"I intend to spend about $1 million," Everett resident Ron Spelhaug said. "I'm ready; I'll do it tomorrow."
There's a saying that comes to mind... something about more money than sense... More power to you, I guess.

(Krista J. Kapralos, Everett Herald, 02.19.2006)

14 comments:

Van Housing Blogger said...

What would one of the $400K 700sf units rent for?

In Vancouver, the latest presale project had 600sf 1BR's going for C$350K (and remember that we don't get mortgage interest deduction). They would rent for around $1300 maybe when new.

Anonymous said...

You can get a $400K 3/1 IO ARM and pay as little as $1500/month for one of these condos.

A minimum wage worker makes about $1360/month.

2 minimum wage workers in a household can easily swing this, albeit with a 70% debt service to income ratio.

People are already doing this, heck I know someone with a mortgage payment 90% of her income - parents help out now and then.

Anonymous said...

Dukes:

You are out of line baiting realtors to make statements that you take out of context. Scott, the realtor you cite, did not guarantee any price increases. He simply indicated that prices have been going up about 2% per month. He did not state that this trend would continue. Your threat to report him to the Board of Realtors is outlandish and is a complete waste of their time and yours.

Anonymous said...

Also a waste of our time for reading that hateful drivel.

Who cares if someone thinks they can get $200K more then they paid? Maybe they can, maybe they can't that’s the free market.
I'll laugh when it's time for dukes to buy or sell and all the local realtors ignore or hang-up on him.

Anonymous said...

Scott the realtor said, "The longer you wait the more you will pay." Although he may be right, it is still a form of manipulation to get Dukes to buy now, hurry hurry hurry!! The game is over. The only people telling you that it is not are home owners, realtors and mortgage brokers. The rest of us arn't buying it anymore. Which is sad for you and this broken economy that has been feeding off the housing bubble and can't survive on it's own. Service jobs don't pay the bills.

Anonymous said...

Go DUKES!!

Yes, if what the RE Agent said was exactly the way you stated it here, then it was clearly a scare tactic designed to perpetuate the buying frenzy of the past several years.

And anyone who is watching the RE market (which any professional RE Agent SHOULD be doing) has got to know that it is at this point HIGHLY QUESTIONABLE whether RE will keep appreciating.

This agent is either a liar or he's ignorant- too ignorant to be working in the field.

Anonymous said...

I stand behind my earlier statements in defense of the realtor. Dukes, you say that "Scott the realtor is suggesting 2%/month increases in perpetuity (24%/year)" and "housing doesn't depreciate, so says Scott." Neither of these are fair interpretations of what he said. I recognize he did say "the longer you wait the more you will pay." He should have qualified this statement and said something like you "might" pay more or if "current trends continue, you could pay more." Even without these qualifications, his statements cannot fairly be read as a guarantee of any sort. In the end, house prices are set by market forces, not any one or any hundred realtors. Your continued ranting and raving at realtors will not solve the problem of escalating home prices. It is the prices that homes are purchased for, not the prices they are listed at, that is the root of the problem. You should be ranting and rabving at the buyers of these homes, not the realtors.

Anonymous said...

Very true that buyers themselves have pushed prices up.

When will they realize that it is within their power to bring prices down?

BOYCOTT!!! It has worked for Americans in the past.

Let's get the monthly cost of shelter back reasonable levels and put our money to better uses.

Anonymous said...

"Also, since Scott has now been reported I think it is safe to say that there will be one less SHILL out there trying to scare the foolish home buyer into the market at the wrong time."

Bwahah, easily the funniest thing posted on any housing blog this week.
I don't know what is funnier though, one person trying to change the whole industry (getting realtors to stop lying? Are you going to make em stop eating too?) or thinking that anyone at the “reporting” agency gives a crap about your complaint.

Anonymous said...

Dukes:

can you tell us what the exchange/response was when you reported our lying realtor of the day (or should I say hour?)?

Anonymous said...

"You on the other hand bend over and grease yourself waiting for the inevitable poke.
Sorry, not for me, I will stand up to a liar in a lying industry and now bow down like a schoolgirl. Maybe you should grow a backbone. "

I'm fine letting the other guy take a poke, and the more pokes they get the further out of real-estate they will stay. Then it's my turn to start picking things up. The longer the market takes to stabilize/drop the longer I am out of it, and I don’t like that.
Basically we are both expecting the same thing. You are trying to single handedly fix things though, and I know that the worse things get, the better off I’ll be. It’s really a zero sum game, so the more money other people lose, the more I can make. (btw sold nearly all real-estate holdings in the summer, including my home.)

Anonymous said...

Just a different take on the situation i guess. I prefer to let liars lie and the chips will fall where they do.
Say for instance I'm re-listening to the TOL 4th qtr conf call, and man what a crock. But I'm not going to try and report them, or chew out Bruce Toll. I'm just going to collect cheaper puts :D

I guess my attacking response was triggered by your attacking the agent. Just seems like a waste. Like telling a ditch digger his boots are dirty.

Anonymous said...

Here's a question for anyone who might have an answer:

If a home is on the MLS list for a while under one MLS # then goes off the list for a few days and goes back on under another #, does the RE agent have to tell you that info IF YOU ASK?

I realize they may not want to offer that info up w/o your asking. But if you DO ask, do they have to tell you?

About a month ago I printed out the Caldwell Banker listings for a certain neighborhood.

Since then I've been following what's happening w/ the properties, price reductions, etc.

This week I noticed 3 properties that had gone off last week were re-listed under different MLS #'s.

Anonymous said...

Thankyou for your answer Dukes.

I have worked with both honest and dishonest RE Agents in the past.

I've got a feeling that as this thing begins to unravel, there could be a lot more disreputable stuff going on out there than there has been in the past.

Anything that will help ferret out the silly/stupid liars from intelligent helpers is info worth having.

Yep, if MLS history is available to every agent then there's my amswer.

Thanks!