Condos

Premier Edmonds View Condo

This listing is in Point Edwards, a waterfront destination development located just south and west of downtown Edmonds. Point Edwards offers luxury waterfront living in an upscale small town, with a very easy commute to downtown Seattle on the Sounder commuter rail.

This 1522 sf unit is in building 55 with a commanding view of the sound and city. Although Point Edwards is a few minutes’ walk to downtown Edmonds, it has many resort-type amenities you can’t get anywhere else.

Buyer representation available. DownsizeNW article on downtown Edmonds.

Lock and Leave?

Do you have a mobile lifestyle? Travel frequently, or live in two or more locations? Many downsizers do, and are faced with the challenge of making their home secure when they are gone.

An obvious solution is a condo, especially one with inside hallways. The main entry door and its security system provides a big first layer of protection from the outside world.

You’re not a condo person you say? How about a townhouse? Townhouses usaully do not provide that double layer of security, but there are neighbors close by who can still keep an eye out for your place.

Even with a single-family home there are lock-and-leave options. One solution is to have an accessory apartment in your home. That way some one is there when you are not. Another answer is to hire a house sitter for when you are gone, or even do a house swap. House swaps are easy to do now with websites that specialize on matching people up.

Whatever lock-and-leave option works for you, I would be glad to help you find it!

Great Deal on Quality Edmonds Townhouse

This is a great deal on a foreclosed Montclair townhouse at $199,000. 2 br, 2 baths,  1335 sf, private balcony, garage, and gas fireplace on one level. The Montclair is a desirable  premium gated complex located just minutes from downtown Edmonds.  Contact for showing.

Buyer Representation available on this listing.

SOLD FOR $200,000

Ultimate Condo Nightmare

Condos have had big challenges lately with unit and builder foreclosures, distressed homeowners who can’t pay dues,  shoddy construction.  The Riverwalk  Condos in Redmond seem to have had the perfect storm. This Times article tells the story, and also has an EXCELLENT list of resources on condos and the law in the sidebar.

Click on Photos to browse listings:

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Forest Villa Condominium in Shoreline WA

Forest Villa Condominium in Shoreline WA is a large community with a mix of flats and townhouses, conveniently located near shopping at Central Market, and close to Shoreline Community College and the Interurban Trail.

Forest Hills Condo Shoreline WA

Point Edwards

The last few days I have been working in Edmonds with some long-time clients. They are thinking that now may be the time to sell the big house and downsize. They will get less for their house than it was before, but they also realize there are some great deals on condos, and at great interest rates it makes sense to think about downsizing. Because they already live in Edmonds, moving downtown seems the most attractive option.

After surveying the recent condo market activity in the Edmonds Bowl, it is obvious that the Point Edwards community is setting the pace in pricing, and the water views and resort-style amenities are unequaled anywhere else in the downtown Edmonds area, or for miles beyond that. The one downside to Point Edwards that I hear from buyers is that it is not a real convenient walk to the downtown shops and restaurants due to distance, hills, and lack of sidewalks.

To be downtown and see all of the older condos there that are steps from everything, makes one wish that Point Edwards and its views were right there. There are some other offerings downtown in new construction and renovated conversions that are priced somewhat competitively, but they just don’t seem to be getting buyers as excited. The rest of the market there is the more traditional downtown Edmonds market of older condos for sale by estates, with some very nostalgic pricing!

CLICK HERE to see downtown Edmonds condo listings.

CLICK HERE to see Edmonds rambler listings

Downtown Edmonds

Downtown Edmonds is one of those places that has attracted downsizers for years. Many only visit downtown Edmonds to use the ferry dock on their way to the Kitsap or Olympic Peninsulas. Those who stick around soon discover the waterfront with its marina, park and fine restaurants where you can enjoy a leisurely meal and soak in the view. The Edmonds Waterfront Festival and the Edmonds Arts Festival attract thousands of visitors every May and June. The rest of the downtown area is highly walkable, and there are small businesses with just about every kind of good or service imaginable, including the historic Edmonds Theatre. In recent years, downtown Edmonds has upgraded its image from a somewhat stuffy “retirement town” to a more hip destination with wine bars, coffee houses and art galleries. The newly renovated Edmonds Center for the Arts in downtown is a jewel that attracts top talent. The Edmonds Third Thursday art walks are one of our favorites.

View real estate is a popular commodity in Edmonds downtown and bowl areas, and there is a good variety of homes from modest ramblers to large new luxury homes in the million dollar plus range. Many of the bowl’s older homes are ramblers with daylight basements, and many of the newer 2 story homes are built with a bedroom and bath on the main level, to enable one-level living as the owners’ needs change.

There are countless condo units from every price range in downtown Edmonds, from vintage buildings from the 1960′s and before, to the gleaming new buildings at Point Edwards, high on the hill above the marina. Due to height restrictions in the zoning, it’s not difficult to find a unit with a view of Puget Sound, the Olympic Mountains, and the ever-present Edmonds-Kingston Ferry.

Edmonds also has many fine non-view neighborhoods, with lots of ramblers on pleasant streets, as well as a good number of qauality condo and townhouse developments that are reasonably priced.

As for other amenities, just up the Hill on 76th Ave West is the Stevens Hospital Medical Center. Also nearby is Edmonds Community College, as well as three golf courses within a few minutes’ drive. Commuters can easily connect with I-5 and I-405, and Community Transit has express bus service to Downtown Seattle and the University of Washington. The most exciting addition to transportation there is the Sounder commuter train that runs from the downtown waterfront to downtown Seattle, making living in Edmonds even more attractive.

Click here to view Condo listings in Downtown Edmond

Click here to view Rambler listings in Edmonds

Downtown Bellevue….The Vue

Classy Waterfront Living at a Bargain Price!

Recently I previewed The Vue, a conversion condo in the Meydenbauer Bay are of Downtown Bellevue. I really don’t know what’s not to like about this project. It’s located ON the bay, with many units having unobstructed views, AND its a block away from the shops on Main Street, and a couple more blocks from the downtown park and Bellevue Square.

Most of the units are 2br, 2bath units with spacious, open living, dining, kitchen areas, all facing the wonderful bay views. Even the non-view units have nice wooded outdoor areas with fairly good privacy. The updates to this 1967 marblecrete building are decidedly modern, as they should be. Exterior updates has brought the look and feel of the building into the 2000′s very nicely. Condominium amenities include a fitness room, meeting room, and a fantastic view deck. Living here would be truly like going home to a resort!

Prices on the view units start in the $500.00s, non-view units around $400,000.  Buyer Representation available from DownsizeNW on this listing. Contact Greg here or call 206-713-2921.

Click to see Downtown Bellevue condo listings Under $1Milliion Over $1million.

The Future: Big Picture

Glen Hiemstra is a futurist based out of Kirkland. Here is a video of an interview in which he talks about the future of Atlanta from a wide perspective. He could be talking about Seattle, or any other major American city. The formative factors are the environment, energy, technology and an aging population. Watch the video to see how he puts them all together. Applying what he said, Seattle seems to be progressing along in its own unique way in term of transportation and land use planning. The one piece that will be the most difficult to address is the need for affordable housing for aging boomers.

According to Hiemstra, most of the aging boomers will want to be near family. And family is……everywhere. Dwellings will need to be about half the size of what we are accustomed to, or 1200 to 2000 square feet, if they are condos they need to be accessable with as few steps as possible, in a walkable neighborhood, and close to accessable public transportation.

Being a north end resident all of my life, I can think of a few developments that hit all of the requirements that hit on all cylinders, and many more that hit on some. The ones that have it all are in neighborhoods that are walkable and have transportation right now, such as Ballard, Wallingford, Greenlake, Queen Anne. Outside of the older neighborhoods, other neighborhood have their local higher density areas of condos, some in areas that are walkable and others that are not. Then there are the recent planned larger developments with their own center of gravity like Point Edwards in Edmonds, and the mother of all transit oriented developments, Thornton Place at Northgate. There are also other areas that were built in the 1970′s for the leisure retired population like in the Sand Point area, that worked well for a car oriented culture, but come up short for safe, walkable, interesting neighborhoods.
Not surprisingly, the large newer developments are priced at high levels, and the older or smaller developments are are at more affordable levels. It will be interesting to see what buyers in our “reset” economy will be willing to pay.

Escala Topped Out in Downtown Seattle, Marks End of Condo Boom

Today the final bucket of concrete was hoisted to the roof of the 31 floor Escala condo at 4th and Virginia. The Escala is the largest and most expensive condo tower in Seattle. Its topping out marks the end of the construction boom that has changed the Seattle skyline forever.

About 1/3 of the 275 units are sold. The developer has never lowered the asking prices, and at one time raised them in an attempt to get reluctant buyers off the fence. Many feel that when the Escala is completed and occupied, downtown Seattle will have arrived as a 24 hour city. PI Article.

A purchace includes membership in Club Cielo, the top floor exclusive social and fitness club.

With no new condo projects funded since 2007, it is anyones guess when new construction will start, and interrupted projects will resume. Eager sales reps in the showrooms point out how this will create a scarcity of units once the recovery begins and people start buying again. They are inferrting of course, that whoever buys now will reap tremendous profits once things get going again. Ok….Seems that could be a harder sell these days.

Thornton Place…..The New Northgate

Recently I visited Thornton Place, the huge new mixed-use development rising just south of Northgate Mall, in Seattle. It has huge promise as a major destination, combining Condos and Townhouses for sale, rental apartments, a huge IMAX theatre, shops, a retirement village, and the daylighted Thornton Creek weaving through it. See article.

The condo units available now are selling very slowly, the $450/sf pricing probably has something to do with it (Canal Station, a new development in the heart of Ballard has been selling at $400/sf). Although there are no elevators in the condos, combining adjacent parking it is possible for downsizers to have level entry to units on 2 of the levels. The units I saw were efficient and well-designed with lots of environmental-friendly materials, some had views of the creek and its natural landscaping.

Best of all is the synergy for a new neighborhood that comes from quality development on a well-located large piece of land. These neighborhoods are able to define themselves due to the quantity of housing being developed. Add quality retail and the transit station next door, and it becomes a destination itself. In fact. I think we can expect to see a ripple effect in the housing surrounding Thornton Place.

Buyer representation available form DownsizeNW. Contact us and we can set up a tour of Thornton place, or its neighborhood.

Small Homes, Cottages Score Big With Buyers

Also check out this Seattle Times Article here

More and more buyers are interested in smaller homes that consume less energy. If you are looking for the ultimate in compact, ecologically sound housing, and prefer to know your neighbors, you may want to consider a cottage. Cottages are popular with first-time buyers as well as empty-nesters. Developers in Seattle, Boston, Milwaukee and California have been building cottage homes to satisfy this need for several years. The best-known local builder is the Cottage Company, which builds designs by architect Ross Chapin. In the area, you can find cottages in Seattle, Shoreline, Kirkland, Mukeltio, Everett, Lynnwood, Whidbey Island, and more are being built all the time.

Cottages range in size from 1000 sf to close to 2000 sf. They are usually at least 4 in a development, and are arranged around a central landscaped area. Parking is usually in a separate structure near the street that houses all of the garages, and sometimes a separate shed or small work area. Because of all the common areas and structures, they are owned as condominiums.

Well-designed and build cottages are not inexpensive when priced by the square foot. All of the things that were packed in to a house are packed into a cottage, and some of the inexpensive things, like extra room are left out. Many cottages feature extensive built-ins to allow multiple uses of the same space. Those get expensive too.

In the Puget Sound area, cottage developments have been build in many cities and towns that have added cottage ordinances to their zoning codes. There is a variety among the different city’s codes that result in a vairety of sizes. Some are limited to 1000 sf, others are larger. When I talk to city planners, they are very enthusiastic about cottages and how they meet the needs for smaller houses in resideantial neighborhoods. Some neigbors of cottage communities, however, aren’t always excited to see them. They feel the increased density (usually 2 cottages can be built in the space one house could be) leads to a lowering of home values. Cottages usually sell form $100,000 to $200,000 less than the prices of similar-aged nearby homes that are much larger.

If you  are curious about what cottages may be avialable, contact me for a list of current listings. Also check the Featured Properties section of this website, there may be some there.

Beaux Arts Village Celebrates 100 years, without CCRs

This is a good story. Any of us who own condos or townhomes know that when we live in close proximity to our neighbors, and own some common areas together, it’s good to have some rules written down to limit what our neighbors can or can’t do with their land or homes, and how we will work together to keep it all up. These rules, known as CCRs, are usually written by the developer before any units are sold, and go a long way to keeping the peace for years to come, and to preserving property values too.

Here is a Seattle Times story about a 100 year old community on Lake Washington near Bellevue that has never had CCRs, and is determined to keep it that way. It’s not that disagreements do not arise, they do, but the long-time residents always find a way to work it out.

View active listings in Beax Arts.

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