Is this guy’s name Carlton Sheets? I kid.

Exception proves the rule.

These guys were clearly testing the market.

Yup. It is a nice house, the location wasn’t great though.

There is/was another full remodel up on 92nd that last sold in 2002 for $220K and went on the market this summer for $850K!!! (despite being less than 500 feet from I5) Now THAT is testing the market.

These guys were clearly testing the market. Priced right back in May, it would have gone in less than a week.

They did a beautiful job on the remodel, just were greedy. Probably still made money, though.

Original asking price: $749,900
Sale price: $660,000

Sold back in December 2005 for $330K.

It was a fairly extensive “down to the studs” remodel.

They were very nice houses, with all the bells & whistles (ac, recirc hot water, crown molding, granite, heated tile, prof. appliances, etc), but a so-so location–Des Moines, about a half a mile west of Pac Hwy. Yes, over the flight path of Seatac, hard not to be in Des Moines.

One had a great view of the sound on the 3rd level, but you had to look over your neighbor’s house about 30 yds away. The other house, had no view and was located just below the view house in a draw.

Prices: $1.19 mil, 4600 sqft, & $829, 3900 sqft. Needless to say, these are stupid price even in this market. I look for them to come down–but probably not a whole lot before the greater fool picks them up. I’ve noticed this builder’s other projects are priced very high too. Too spendy for us.

As I was leaving, I saw in the foyer, the reatlor had photcopied an article: The KCJ, Oct. 7 edition, “Housing Bubble not bursting yet.” We chatted a bit about the subject, and he went on about some stat of how many people we’ll be moving here by 2030. LOL.

Meanwhile, my landlord/developer said, he was in no hurry to develop the land we were on and was fully aware of where the market was heading. So, we’re good renting from him for at least 6-9 months. I noticed he dropped the price of a couple of his houses for the 2nd time that day.

NOTICE: Deeds of trust filed in King County are no longer available online due to an ordinance passed by the King County council aimed at safeguarding personal information contained in online documents.
Deeds are still available in person at the King County Recorders Office in downtown Seattle.

Good for him. For every one of those, there’s 5 more who have bitten off more than they can chew.

Simply put, they will be become screwed.

Sounds like a good deal for the land, what’s the address?

What a FB huh?

My drive to work is about 3 miles through residential eastern Bellevue/Redmond. Over the last few months, there have been at least a handful of signs up at any given time, peaking at around eight or nine a few weeks ago. This is many more than I ever noticed before. A few have sold, usually in the block with condos, but most have sat on the market for weeks if not months.

I’ve noticed in the last few weeks that several of the signs came down without a “sold” placcard, which I assume means they were pulled off the market without selling. Some of these houses are already empty, which makes me wonder if they are now paying two mortgages. This has reduced the number for sale by about a quarter, but there are still a handful up. I’m also starting to notice “for rent” signs on some of these houses.

Unfortuantely, I don’t have prices on many of these houses because I’m not planning to buy in the area. I do know that one that sold in Redmond was up for $535k, which floored me — it was not a half million dollar house. I have no idea what the actual sale price was.

The house two doors down from where I live was up for $460k for several months, which is at least $40k higher than anything on the street has listed before, including last year, and well above Zillow for comparable houses on the street. According to the neighbors, they never got even a nibble. A few weeks ago the “for sale” sign was replaced with “for rent”, and they want around $1800/mo for it, which is rediculous. It’s still sitting vacant.

So the trend for this microcosm of the eastside is that inventory spiked with a small number selling, but now some are getting pulled for good or changed to looking for renters. So I wouldn’t be surprised if the inventory numbers actually drop for the month, but I’m still seeing a lot for sale and more for rent.

Check out Woodinville for example… use the mapping part of ziprealty (start near 19203 148th Ave NE, $719K on market 151 days). Also, check out Sammamish (23729 SE 4th PL $659K 75days), Bothell (20227 83RD PL NE $789K 192days), etc.

Some Ballard cherry picks:

9056 3RD AVE NW $450K 177days
7720 15 NW $799K 153days
2844 NW 90PL $799K 124days
2112 NW 98TH $890K 75days
9242 Palantine Ave N $599 80days
1549 NW 58TH ST $564K 64days
130 NW 56TH ST $700K 77days
7048 19TH AVE NW $799 83days
631 50TH ST NW $679K 95days
507 N 39TH ST $559K 143days

how about Queen Anne?

706 W Halladay St $798K 83 days
2028 14th AVE W $599K 140days
1415 6TH AVE W $899K 140days
716B NOB HILL AVE N $559K 59days
810 TAYLOR AVE N $699k 80days
500 ALOHA ST #404 $719k 108days
1525 1ST AVE N $599K 66days
2308 NOB HILL AVE N $699K 122days

So, price your house right and it still sells (for now)

Asking price first…sold price second.

6738 26th Ave NW 549,950 580,000
8349 19th Ave NW 450,000 475,000
7350 Jones Ave NW 579,500 585,000
7309 21st Ave NW 559,000 535,000
6716 Jones Ave NW 499,000 485,000
8330 27th Ave NW 399,950 410,000
6733 Jones Ave NW 399,000 420,000
8042 17th Ave NW 399,950 380,000

Details:
Beds: 2
Baths: 1
Size: 828 sq. ft
$/Sq Ft: $440
Year Built: 1991
Style: Condo (1 Level)
Views: City, Lake, Mountain, Territorial, See Remarks
Status: Active on market
On Market: 62 days

What the details don’t reveal is that part of the building is in a slow state of collapse, that all the penetrations on 3 elevations of the building are improperly papered/flashed , and all the windows on those same elevations need to be replaced.

Of course, if you haven’t even gotten a single offer, and she hasn’t, these factors haven’t even come into play yet. The seller blames the lagging sales on the fact that the lobby needs a second coat of paint.

One last detail: The last unit sold of similar square footage was priced at $320K and sold for $315K — and it had one more bathroom and a second parking stall.