The Crawford

I’ve always had a soft spot for The Crawford and a new listing is now available. #401 is $589,000 for 1,150 1 bed place. Here’s the kitchen:

The DeLorges

After their opening party The Delorges, at 325 Harvard, has put some listings on the market. Price per square foot for these listings range between $468 and $553.

The Klee

Penthouse #PH08 is back on the market with a slight price reduction. After being on the market for a couple hundred days it might be time to consider something larger than a $30,000 price drop.

Meritage

#204 is back on the market after getting pulled off. Looks like they switched listing agents and dropped the price a bit to $329,950.

Mosler Lofts

Few more price reductions…

Pomeroy

#206 is a 1,146 square foot place available for $699,995.

Nice views…

But what do you think about the bedroom!?

Since most of the issues discussed are likely issues faced by many new HOAs and home owners I thought I’d post about what I learned. It shouldn’t be surprising but there is a lot of overlap in first year concerns between the two buildings. From an efficiency point of view it seems inefficient that both buildings’ HOAs and boards are going to struggle learning about rental caps, building security and convincing developers into fixing outstanding issues. A quick search doesn’t reveal a forum for Seattle HOA’s which is unfortunate (of course there is always the Urbnlivn Forums.)

So what’d we talk about…

Rental Caps

The board is pushing to institute a rental cap and brought out John Coe to present the first draft of a proposed amendment for the introduction of a rental cap.

Some of the things he talked about are:

• He’s a “people, pets, parking” lawyer. Pets are the most difficult issue to deal with of the three.
• We have a new declaration with all the latest law revisions, this is a good thing.
• We have good rental management language, see section 11.14 (for instance leases need to be in writing, etc.)
• He said developers don’t include rental caps in the initial declaration because they want to sell to a broad audience
• However, owners want to limit the number of rental units for three reasons:
  Financing: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, have a 30% building cap on non-owner occupied caps and these two types of loans represent 80% of the market. The other 20% of loans (VA) have a rental cap of 50%.
  • Association: High number of rentals can affect the associations ability to borrow
  • Insurance: Number of renters affects master policy cost
• With 48 units he suggests a 10 unit rental cap. There are 6-8 renters. Board can wave the cap on a case by case basis for special reasons.
• Amendment lays out waiting list structure, enforcement language, hearing process for renters
• It’s only a first draft and is very restrictive, for instance requiring 12 month leases
• It’s language that has been used before. He feels it’s enforceable language.
• Washington law puts a high voting requirement, 90%, for changing rental restrictions
• Owners need to decide what circumstances do we want to allow? To stop? They’ll put language together.
• For our reference we can go to the King County Recorder website which has declarations to condo or amendment and you can pull up others
• He recommends we setup a working group made up of both landlords and regular owners to decide on terms, give recommendation to board, board takes to owners and recommends, then get owners to vote

In the abstract I support a rental cap but disagree with some of the restrictions in the first draft.

President’s Report

During the president’s report we learned about some of the things the HOA did throughout the year and things we are considering for the future are. We also discussed a number of other issues:

• The HOA held a community party (I was out of town and moving out of the building at the time.)
• Painted parking stall numbers on the wall so they’re visible. Ones of the floor were wearing off.
• Replaced cleaning crew with a more effective one.
• Talking about replacing another service provider
• Discussed changing the elevator floor. It was initially carpet that got very dirty. The developer replaced with linoleum tiles. The glue for the tiles gave off an awful order forever and some feel it is unsightly. Other options are being considered but stone tile not allowed by Kone, the elevator company, because of weight. Right now the HOA is waiting for an interested resident to lead the charge on exploring options.
• One of the garage doors is constantly breaking and we need to get the developer to step up and make it right.
• There hasn’t been a reserve study. Sounds like Trace is ahead here because the Trace management company did this when they setup our budget.
• Discussion of smoking areas and posting of no smoking signs in common areas.
• We don’t have earthquake insurance. It’d double our insurance cost. The good news is that it’s a new building conforming to the latest code. But we should consider this when they do a budget study for next year.
• The garage has an acid leaking problem just like Trace! This sparked a discussion about getting an inspection done and being proactive about having the developer fix issues.

Security

Like at Trace, the elevator is not locked in the garages. This means if the garage is compromised the building is compromised. The board looked into getting the elevator connected to the same system that we use for our door fob’s and the cost was $8,000. Some residents balked at this amount until a few residents shared a few stories. Let’s just say that shut everyone up.

This same security issue has already come up at Trace several times (fortunately our HOA is forming at the end of April). In general I think its appalling that developers on mid-range buildings are cutting corners on costs around security and opting for the cheapest option forcing the residents to live in an unsecure building until a board forms, the board gets recommendations and then implements a solution. It would be nice if the developer thought about what they would want if they lived in the building.

Bonus link: Elizabeth Rhodes in her Home Forums Extra answered an HOA question recently, Condo board considers hiring members to manage association

2200

More new listings. Now up to 33 to choose from.

Cosmo

Cosmo is trying to catch up to 2200 and now has 19 listings. I haven’t made the time to tour either of these buildings. Perhaps you have? If you have, could you let us know the pros and cons of each? Is one built better than the other? Etc. Or if you’re looking to rent Urban Ashley has a 2 bedroom unit for only $3,800/month.

Meritage

Little sleepy Meritage apparently doesn’t want to be out done by the big boys (disclaimer: I own a unit at the Meritage) and now has 5 (of 48) units on the market. The latest addition is #207 a 455 square foot studio for $298,000. That’s $655/square foot. I know I should be rooting for it since I live in the building but seriously, the Meritage does not comp out against 2200 and Cosmo.

Portofino

417 E Pine St #208 is 902 square feet and is listed at $439,950. Looks like from the photos like it has two bedrooms though one is likely non-conforming. I also think that wood / glass divider for the main floor bedroom looks a little weird.

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• Part 1: What did I buy and why?
• Part 2: Photos
• Part 3: Defects/annoyances with the unit
• Part 4: Renovations I want to perform
• Part 5: Why I tried to fire and then sue my real estate agent

Why I bought it

When I moved to Seattle three years ago it was my intent to buy a place but I was shocked to find out how much real estate cost here compared to Canada (where I grew up and went to school.) So you understand my frame of reference, while in university I owned an 1800 square foot, six bedroom lodging house in Waterloo, Ontario that I purchased for $205,000. It produced about $2,400/month of revenue. I couldn’t believe that I couldn’t buy a place here that I could rent and have the rent cover the mortgage. And so I thought the market, three years ago, was horrendously over priced. In hindsight it was a mistake not to buy something then since real estate appreciated much more quickly here then it did in Waterloo, Ontario. Oh well.

A year ago I realized that the market did not seem to care that the purchase to rent ratio was out of whack and I started to shop around. Wanting to purchase something close to where I lived was a priority and over the last two years I had watched the houses at 124 Bellevue Ave E get torn down and then the site prepped. When the sign went up advertising the Meritage I called up Javila. Unfortunately she quickly dashed my hopes of being able to buy an unfinished unit which is what I really wanted. Apparently the developer might entertain the idea if I was paying cash. I was not. I later learned that while I couldn’t build out the unit I could pick from one of three color schemes! (Most cars come in at least five colors*.)

Closer to the first day of sales I started thinking about unit types and pricing. I originally thought I wanted a studio because they were much cheaper (my budget based on what I was paying in monthly rent was originally $200,000) but my dad, an architect, convinced me a studio was a bad idea. Since my apartment had a killer view I also wanted a killer view and I bought as high up the building as seemed reasonable. They didn’t have sample view shots when I signed the PSA so I really got lucky that I have a good view while my neighbor in #503 does not.

On February 22nd I showed up just as the sales center opened and was the second or third person to grab a unit. I then spent that weekend going and looking at all the sales centers in Seattle to see what else was out there (funny that I didn’t do that first :) ). Seeing that the price at Meritage was reasonable and so not having any regrets I did not cancel my purchase and sale. In hindsight, I should have spent a bit more, got a scooter, and bought a unit at Mosler lofts. It’s more my style but I didn’t like the location.

In hindsight I spent very little time looking at comps and inventory levels. When reserving a unit at Trace I agonized over the numbers and when talking to the people at Trace it is likely I spent more time crunching the numbers then they did (!).

Since the Meritage was not my ‘style’, I’m much more a modernist who enjoys large open spaces, then someone happy with 3 strip hardwood and 9′ ceilings, I continued to shop around for both new construction and old construction. For a long time I looked for an older unit in need of renovating but nothing has been a good candidate over the year I’ve waited for Meritage. On the other hand the projects at South Lake Union and 12th and Madison have caught my eye and it is likely I will sell Meritage very soon to move into either Trace Lofts or Rollin Street. Time will tell.

Alrighty, enough chit chat, what did I buy?

Description of purchase

• Unit 504, west facing, 747 square feet, no upgrades (upgrades offered), 1 parking spot, no storage
• Purchase and sale signed February 22nd, 2006 with a 5% deposit
• Reason for purchase: Fall back in case I couldn’t find something better. If nothing else I knew it’s view and location would be good.
• Price paid: $345,000 ($475/SqFt)
• Appraised at: $380,000. Appraisal notes:
  • Under housing trends: Condo shortage
  • Estimated that 4 units rented
  • Comp’d against two units at The Press ($535/SqFt and $567/SqFt), one at The Braeburn ($440/SqFt) and the one above mine ($551/SqFt)
• Loan: 5% down then a Conf ARM LIBR 5/1 525 F&E10yIO (translation: interest only) at 6% on $276,000 and then $51,120.30 borrowed at 7.9% for the remainder.
• Home owner association dues: $265/month
• First move in date scheduled for February 18th
• Actually moved in March 6th
• Elevator break downs requiring a reset of the elevator while moving: 1

Developer supplied floor plan

(click to enlarge)

Renderings done by KH

(click to enlarge)

If you have Sketchup installed you can download unit 504 and walk through it. I’m sure if you ask nicely (and pay) KH will render units for you if you’re interested.

Why did you buy?

Why did you buy your unit? Let us know in the forums.

*I have no idea what the average number of colors cars are available in but my point that I’ll beat dead until I have my way is that a $12,000 car is more customizable than even a $800,000 condo.

Seaboard

Another neat unit hit the market this week, 1500 4th Ave #805. For $365,000 you get 710 square feet on the 8th floor in a converted 1910 landmark building. Taxes are only $180/year! Read more about it from Andy in the forums.

Market Place North
For the big spender there is 2021 1st Ave #A4. Only $1,250,000 for 1,341 square feet. I like the view but the interior is a little over the top.

One Pacific Tower

If Market Place North stretches your budget too much check out the views at 2000 1st Ave #1001. At $899,000 it’s $100,000 less than the owner paid in 1999 which strikes me as a little bit odd. It also needs to be staged…

2200

900 Lenora St #W-309: $30k reduction to $489,000. This listing needs some photos. Have I mentioned that before?

220 Westlake Ave #S503: $10k reduction to $549,990.

There were also some more new listings, check out all 28.

Cheap condo alert

7 Harrison St #10 for $165,000 in Queen Anne.

1136 13th Ave #204 for $199,000 on Capitol Hill.

Cosmo closings

Cosmo closing are definitely in full swing since the flippers are beginning to hit the market. Search all 4 units. There was even a price reduction on $20k on #1905 to $539,000 even though it’s only been on the market 3 days.

Denny Way Conversion

1818 E Denny Way is a conversion project built in 1989 with 9 listings that just hit the market all around $400k. Buyers bonus available.

Meritage

Let the re-selling begin. #401 is the first to hit the market at $374,950. Originally sold for $315,000.

Pike Lofts

Another reduction on #504, this time $10k to $400,000.

Portage Bay

Living on the water just got more expensive, 2524 Boyer Ave E #436: $30k increase to $449,950

I have to admit that even cynical old me felt just a tinge of happiness and excitement walking around my new condo. I’ll be moving in tomorrow from 7-10 p.m. and taking Wednesday off to un-pack (or else I never will.) If you want to help with the move drop me a line or stop by :).

They still hadn’t received the temporary TCO when I left at 9:30 a.m. but it sounds like it’s getting closer.

I’m continuing to talk to lawyers (thanks for the references!) about taking my agent at William Marketing (not the on-site agent) to task for being a slacker in addition to an undisclosed conflict of interest. The more I learn about this business the more I find out just how fucked up it is.

Unfortunately my mortgage broker has been sick this week so I think it’s unlikely I’ll close and move in this weekend.

I’m sure I am supposed to be excited about taking possession but I couldn’t care less right now.