Posted by LeannPublished April 22, 2008
The Grand Opening is happening April 30th! This will be the first public opening and we will finally be able to cross the (1/2 million dollar) Safeco pedestrian bridge, according to the Seattle Parks Foundation website. The festivities begin at 11 a.m., with live music, a salmon bake, boat rides, cycling demonstrations, Jones soda and Starbucks coffee, among other things (and prizes!).
I think that this park, when completed in 2010, will be an intregal part of the neighborhood that is undergoing so much change right now. I am happy to see the Parks Foundation retain the maritime history as well. If the artist renderings are true to what it will look like, this is going to be a fun place to spend some time at. And now the masses of people that are slated to be living in all of the Discover SLU projects will have a place to enjoy some greenery.
Posted by Jim ReppondPublished April 21, 2008
Probably the most well-known home in Seattle is a houseboat from a movie called “Sleepless in Seattle” - and it’s now FOR SALE! Priced at 2.5 million this is a trophy home with one of the best locations in the city - at the end of a private dock overlooking Lake Union and the City of Seattle.
Rick Miner from our office is the listing agent and he knows floating homes better than anyone in the market. He is a good friend and a great agent. He has branded himself as the floating home and waterfront king and everyone in the business knows his Duckin.com moniker.
For a detailed photos, click here to go to Rick’s slide show, or click here for my video from the office tour.
Posted by Jim ReppondPublished April 20, 2008
These days with the rising cost of fuel and the Seattle traffic snarls, people are concerned about commute times to and from work and schools when considering where to buy a home. If you are lucky enough to live close enough to work or school that you can walk, then this is not an issue. You 
might just concern yourself with the walk-ability and use WalkScore to help you get a feel for quality of life in your neighborhood. And if you can live with and use the public transportation system, bus routes and schedules will be your concern. But the reality for most of us is that we will need to get into a car to get to work or school on a regular basis.
We all know that traffic patterns can vary dramatically based on time of day and day of week. But the old rush hour vs. regular time analogy doesn’t take into account changing lifestyles, like flex-time commuters or sports event congestion.
Google Maps has just come out with a cool new feature that allows you to see major highway congestion at any specific time or day of week. This can be extremely handy for people who are relocating from far away and don’t know the area to get an idea of when and where things get congested.
That being said, whenever the commute time to work or schools is a concern I always advise my clients to try to find the time to actually drive a “trial run” during the times they will actually be driving, if at all possible. Get over to the subject home early in the morning (if that’s when they normally drive) and see how the commute feels. Do on-ramps and off-ramps make backups inevitable? Do all the sidewalks get jammed making turns difficult? Do draw bridges create problems? You won’t be able to predict all of these nuances and how it will feel to you until you do it yourself. Virtual reality can only go so far… at least for now.
Posted by Jim ReppondPublished April 18, 2008
There has been a flurry of activity lately about fixing the interchange where I-5 and Mercer connect downtown (infamously known as the Mercer Mess). The long thought-out and discussed plan that has been fairly controversial, has gotten new wind as Mayor Nichols tries to push through funding with another more popular proposal for the Spokane Street interchange further south. The new South Lake Union blogsite has a new blogpost on it. And the Stranger has weighed in as well.
The City of Seattle has been working on the Mercer Corridor Project for years. It’s always been a traffic nightmare with no perfect option available. Critics are skeptic that the current plan, which calls for re-routing and reducing the number of lanes. They say it will potentially worsen the problem. While supporters say the cleaner traffic flow will offset the lane reduction and change Valley Street into valuable pedestrian-friendly connection for the neighborhood to South Lake Union Park.
I’d like to say that I am a big fan of “JUST DO IT - Seattle!”. I’m so tired of Seattle screwing up every mass transit and traffic solution that comes along. From the 520 bridge, the Monorail, the Viaduct, etc.. We have become pathetic on transportation issues. By bickering and over-analyzing we have boxed ourselves into a corner of non-working transportation systems that we will be regretting for generations to come.
This plan is not perfect - nothing is! Yes, it will be expensive - get over it and suck it up! Maybe it won’t work and we’ll have to do it over - So what? That’s life!
Thank goodness Mayor Nichols has big enough kahunas to play hardball with the City Counsel on this. I think it is a great political tactic to tack it on another more popular proposal. I’m sure the critics will whine - what’s new?
Posted by Jim ReppondPublished April 17, 2008
Looks like the folks at Live Historic are ready to kick off their marketing of The Marlborough House to the public soon. Real Estate Agents will be attending a special event next week to introduce them. I’ve been holding back info of this at the request of the developer to give everyone a fair shake at getting the information out evenly.
But the wraps are off now and those who are interested in this unique project should start seeing information here and other places as the marketing heats up. Client-guests of agents are welcome to this event too.
Posted by CarriannPublished April 16, 2008
My kids and I are on a kick lately of reading books set in Seattle. Families new to Seattle or moving to a new neighborhood might want to pick up one or two of these titles to help introduce their children to the area. Local kids enjoy recognizing events and landmarks in these books and looking for mistakes in some of the descriptions (I guess it’s called “creative license”). Newcomers might not recognize any errors but they can enjoy learning about the city through first-person accounts, even if the person is fictional.
Our favorite series for Seattle-themed books is Hanna West by Linda Johns. Twelve year-old Hanna lives in a different Seattle neighborhood in each book and the neighborhood descriptions are an integral part of each story. There are four titles so far: Hanna West on Millionaires Row (Capitol Hill); HW in the Center of the Universe (Fremont); HW in Deep Water (Portage Bay/Eastlake); HW in Belltown Towers (Belltown/Downtown). Hanna knows this city so well that I expect she’ll be trading in her pet walking business for a job in real estate very soon!
Ruby Lu books by Lenore Look are also fun. Ruby lives on Beacon Hill and spends a lot of time in Seattle’s International District/Chinatown with her grandmother. Two titles so far: Ruby Lu Brave and True and Ruby Lu Empress of Everything.
Two local books are set exactly in my little “SoZoo” neighborhood, just outside of Woodland Park Zoo’s main gate in north Fremont. The Nature of Jade is written for young teen audience by Deb Caletti, author of many hit “chick books”. Peg Kehret’s Terror at the Zoo is set in the same neighborhood but is written for a younger audience. Don’t worry; her dozens of adventure books are not nearly as scary as the titles indicate (think Hardy Boys in Seattle).
For the youngest set, there are tons of picture books about orcas and otters, tugboats and ferries, and every other Northwest landmark you can think of. Pick up a book like Salt and Pepper at the Pike’s Place Market by my friend Carol Losi or Stephen Cosgrove’s classic Wheedle on the Needle to get your little ones excited about a little Seattle area site-seeing.
I have yet to find a truely comprehensive list of all the set-in-Seattle books. My best resource has been our grade-school librarian. The Seattle Times published a local reading list a few years ago and a search on the Seattle Public Library website or on Amazon will also give quite a few suggestions. Although Amazon is technically a local bookseller here in Seattle, I’d feel bad if I didn’t also recommend some of my favorite local “brick and mortar” booksellers. The employees at the following indy bookstores are always happy to recommend great local books: The Secret Garden Bookstore; Elliott Bay Book Company; University Book Store; Third Place Books; and Alphabet Soup.
Newcomers, old-timers, and tourists alike can enjoy touring Seattle through literature. You might not buy your next home based on Hanna West’s neighborhood recommendations, but sometimes when you’re researching a new town it is nice to put away the guide books and census information and just observe a bit of day-to-day life. Perhaps one of these stories will even inspire you to write a local book of your own!
Posted by LeannPublished April 15, 2008
Is what was yelled at myself and my clients while trying to lock up and leave a home on the Eastside on Saturday morning. To make the situation even more exciting, this was being said by a cop with a fully automatic weapon pointed at us. AWESOME. (Said dripping with sarcasm).
Although I am still a little unsure of the entire situation, it seemed that someone was going a little bit crazy inside of a near home in the area and law enforcement was called. Thus, we were locked up in the house for nearly an hour, waiting for said lunatic to chill out. Well, they did, and we went on our merry way to finish our tour. My clients weren’t too fazed, but I, being from sleepy and reeee-laxed little Eugene, was a little unnerved, but at least it kept our tour exciting;)
This served as a glaring reminder that our jobs as agents are a tad dangerous. Life insurance companies agree, placing Realtors in the same risk category as forklift operators. We are in the car, with strangers, all the time. Driving at all hours in all weather conditions, all the time. Placing ourselves in vacant homes, sometimes not in the best of neighborhoods, all the time. Agents, take caution! Be on the defense all the time! And listen when yelled at to get back in the house:)
Disclaimer: this was not a bad neighborhood by any means, and judging by the reaction of the neighbors upon our long awaited exit, this was the most exciting thing to happen in a looooooong time.
Posted by LeannPublished April 9, 2008
Is this weekend! April 12 and 13th, at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center (800 Convention Place, Seattle). The Green Festival is charging $15 for admission for one or both days, unlimited access, unless you donate 3 books, and then it’s $5 off admission. I think you also get a discount if you ride your bike there, but see their website for details.
I think this is great and the range of topics will be huge, ranging from green building and eco-shopping to socially responsible investing. They are anticipating an audience of 30,000, so expect crowds! 150 visionary speakers (including Greg Nickels), 300 local and national green businesses, and community groups all coming together for the first time to celebrate green development.
Let’s go support this event so that it will become an annual event! Props to Seattle for catching up to D.C, San Francisco, and Chicago:)
Posted by LeannPublished April 4, 2008
I have nothing negative to say! For once! I stopped by the McKean conversion in Queen Anne last night at 1404 Olympic Way West. Built in 1929, there are eight condos for 4 stories (read- ceilings and floors are the only shared walls). They have done a beautiful job of maintaining the integrity of the vintage building and all except for the first floor units have great Sound views.
Original refinished hardwoods, wood wrapped windows, crown molding, arched doorways, granite, stainless, new cabinetry, under cabinet lighting, original hex-tile bathroom floors, brick exterior, new electrical, plumbing and insulation, no detail was forgotten.
Pricing starts at $334,950 for the first floor units (smaller one being 583 sq ft) and ranges up to $464,950 for top floor at 762 sq ft. I am not entirely convinced they will get what they are looking for in price as that seems a little steep for a one plus den, but we’ll see.
Countrywide is the preferred lender and they aren’t offering any buyer bonuses as of yet. They are opening this weekend to the public.
Posted by LeannPublished April 2, 2008
A recent post at Rain City Guide prompted me to write my own feelings on this subject. While the bulk of the blog written doesn’t have a lot to do with the title, some of it did (mostly the last three paragraphs). And I couldn’t disagree more.
One of the more important roles of a Buyer’s agent is to negotiate. Among other things, sure. Yes, your agent should be able to tell you which homes are overpriced, and how overpriced they are. That’s a given. But we do negotiate - and some of us do it very well. And we do it on more things that people know about. Price, inspection, contractual timelines, etc. Everything that is filled out in a typical purchase and sale are points of negotiation that determine how the transaction will play out. Every conversation that the agents have with each other matters to the transaction. It’s all negotiation, and if you have an agent that doesn’t know how to do this effectively, it will matter!
I don’t want to get into all of the other things that we do as Buyer’s agents, the list is too long and not pertinent to what I am trying to point out. Point is, negotiations are a huge role of a Buyer’s agent. Interview your agents, you have a lot of options. Make sure they can do it and do it well.
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