While I was gone the New York Times had two articles you may find interesting. The first is And Do I Hear 2 Million for That Condo? No? 1 Million? Sold! and the second is Apartment Buyers Abandoning 6-Figure Deposits.

And the Marlborough officially went into foreclosure. Poor Live Historic.

And here’s a few new listings that caught my eye…

Lakeview Lofts

2354 Minor Ave E (Eastlake) looks promising:

Cristalla

Unit 1909 at Cristalla looks nice:

Though pricey at close to $1.9 mil.

Cosmo

Unit 3102 (plan B) has been on the market for over 600 days! In an effort to move it looks like they dropped the price $200k down to $699k. Back in June this thing was listed for over a million. I wonder what it was originally listed at?

744 Harvard

744 Harvard is a 4 unit development on north Capitol Hill (more photos on Vicaso). Here’s unit #101 on Redfin.

After moving into the building and forming their own homeowner association two years ago, 2200 residents were faced with a decision: Raise dues even more or give up on a 24-hour concierge. Another revelation for many owners was that residents pay most of the costs for the elevators, escalators and common areas that serve 2200’s commercial area, which includes a Whole Foods supermarket.

2200 dues have gone from a $.49/square foot projection to $.62.

Escala is expecting to come in at $.79 with an additional $250/month required for their club.

Don’t want to get burned? You’re making a major investment, spend some time and read the offering docs and ask questions about peculiar things. Don’t want to read through 200-300 pages of legalese? Make sure you have an experience agent on your side fighting for you. Don’t trust the site agent to be looking out for you on this one!

5th and Madison

Prices are going up and down at 5th and Madison.

Penthouse #2403 came on the market at $2,199,000 dipped to $1,995,000 on June 26 and is now back up to $2,149,000.

Whoever is flipping #302 just dropped the price to $489,950. It’s now been on the market 92 days.

714 East Bellevue

If you’re looking for a Capitol Hill penthouse that needs a little love in the kitchen check out unit #801. Sweet views:

81 Vine

I’m a sucker for two story open condos. If you are two check out unit 500.

$995,000. 1,548 square feet. 2 terraces. Views. Nice!

Cosmo

Whoever is flipping #1604 is following Escala’s lead and raised the price from $649,500 to $700,000. Meanwhile Ashley is on the news because of price cuts higher up in the building.

Cristalla

Need not one, but two Cristalla units? 100x offers you the whole south west corner. All 2400 square feet of it for $1,769,000.

Houseboat

Not really a condo but.. It’s a new construction custom craftsman houseboat with condominium owned moorage (whatever that is) at 2143 Northlake. $560,000 for an unknown number of square feet.

Impluvium Condominiums

This appears to be a new construction project on Capitol Hill. Studios, #101 and #102, are on the market in the low $200s. The exterior is interesting. Bummer there are no other photos.

Klee Lofts

If you’re into wide open 1000 square foot spaces check out unit 102 which is listed at $435,000. FYI, my friend bought 112 for $415,000 earlier this year.

Watermark

Unit 1502 is a little pricey. 749 square feet for $550,000. That’s $734/square foot for a 1983 building. Gorgeous views FROM THE ROOF TOP DECK.

Poor zebra.

Bonus video: From Ming, here’s a sweet loft by David Ling. Video by DWELL.

Cosmo – Huge price drops

Ashley has the scoop on three penthouses coming back on the market with price drops of $200,000 to $350,000! Wow. No price protection here.

All told there are 21 units on the MLS. Perhaps with even more inventory held back.

Cristalla

Breffni Mcgeough has two listings that just came on the market. A 584 square foot studio with 12′ ceilings for $495,000 and a 1,575 square foot 10th floor unit for $1,095,000.

The Highlander

Penthouse 11G is available for $986,000. 1,800 square feet. Lots of windows and views.

Madison Lofts

#209 is the first to hit the market.

James got invited on a preview and has more photos. I guess they didn’t invite me because I hate lofts.

Meridian

#1402 is already subject-to-inspection after only 7 days. It listed at $365,000 for 621 square
feet.

Olive 8

While Cosmo lowers prices, Olive 8 is raising them! 8 units saw price increased ranging from $5k to $15k.

Pomeroy

There’s another view condo at the Pomeroy. #507 for $889,000. Looks a small living room though.

Site 17

Unit 213 is a two story loft that caught my eye. I think the owner had emailed me or posted here about it previously. It’s now available for $449,000.

While poking around at that one I noticed there were two other two story lofts at Site 17 available, #209 and #205 both for $439,000.

A developer who proposed a 32-story condo tower two years ago on the site of Watermark Credit Union’s downtown Seattle headquarters now wants to build an office building less than half that tall instead.

This is of particular interest to Cosmo residents as it affects their block. Check out Cosmo blog for a nice map.

The article mentions two folks who have actually left the building because of this. One sold, the other is renting their place out. The article also has a sound bite from chairman of the Urban Development and Planning Committee:

Developers strongly opposed tower spacing and the final rules were a compromise, said City Councilman Peter Steinbrueck, chairman of the council’s Urban Development and Planning Committee. He called the Cosmopolitan situation “shocking.”

Of particular value in the article is this info graphic:

Yes, it’s buyer beware but downtown condo consumers need more rights here.

• 18 foot tower separation may be acceptable for two office towers but it is not for residential towers
• Developers should bear responsibility for notifying their pre-construction buyers of zoning changes
• Consumers should have protection in the purchase and sale against zoning changes

Time to form our own lobby group.

And of course the Seattle PI trolls think that we get what we deserve when we buy downtown.

Dear Mayor Nickels-

We the community of Cosmopolitan Condominium owners and residents are writing to inform you of a problem with our community. All of us are supportive of Seattle urban growth, otherwise we would not have chosen to invest and live in the Denny Triangle neighborhood. However, we take issue with the lack of communication about an adjacent development project (1918 8th Ave) that affects us directly, and with the lack of formal environmental impact analysis on behalf of residents.

It’s a good letter with lots of photos and diagrams:

And really highlights one of the downsides of buying pre-sale.

Incredible views of Elliott Bay, lake Union & the Space Needle from this lovely 31st floor home with floor to ceiling windows. Lustrous hardwood floors and granite kitchen with enormous island, gas fireplace, air conditioning, 2 balcony’s one off kitchen & 2nd bedroom. Rooftop garden & patio to enjoy the outdoors. This home comes with 2 parking spaces along with a 2006 CLS 550 AMG Silver on Black Mercedes. LIVE in luxury DRIVE in luxury. An opportunity like this does not come along very often.

Photo of your view:

Photo of your car:

I think they should have staged and took professional photos of the place before offering the car but you all know how bad I am at trying to sell condos.

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Bellagio

Added 3 more units to the MLS for a total of 4. Their HOAs feel really low at $0.26/square foot.

Cosmo

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Decatur

Decatur recently dropped prices on a number of units between $3k and $10k. Though oddly raised the price of #1306 $3k to $302,950 and #1007 $5k to $465,960

Equinox

Added 12 more units to the MLS for a total of 22 (though they likely have much more inventory.)

Lumen

There was one re-sale at Lumen and then the builder put 4 units on the MLS. Fortunately for the person with the re-sale the builder has only included two lame photos on their listing. Oddly Craigslist has 2 units not on the MLS.

Press

After bumping prices they dropped prices on three units by $5k. The Press is the king of MLS churn.

Trace

As re-sales have their prices chopped every week Trace is raising the prices on #208 $5k to $325k and #308 $5k to $335k. And now that the building is done they should really replace the generic photos with photos of the actual unit.

First the link: Forbes, Best Places To Flip A Home:

However, those looking to make a quick buck may do so in a number of markets ripe for a well-spotted flip.

Best among them is Seattle. It landed atop our list based on a number of measures.

Second: 2200 vs. Cosmo

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