rent from the bank for ~$2500 ($360k asking + tax + HOA?) or from the landlord for $1800

http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/rfs/438427043.html

Repartmenting will no doubt lead to some easing of this trend, no?

While some people may be convinced to stay put, as housing costs and SOL rise beyond wage increases, and the housing bust elsewhere in the country begins to settle, people won’t be so determined to stay here, will they? Especially with sales tax rapidly approaching 10%.

If you don’t have roots down, aren’t tied to a regional industry, have little else holding you here, and want a house, this is clearly not the place to do it.

Sure, former homeowners might move into apartments — temporarily. But will they really want to stay near their former homes for long? Will they want to try this market again?

As a few of the Sound offs in response to that mentioned, read between the lines. Like many of Nickel and dimes’ proposals, this is really posturing. There seems little of real substance. Especially when you consider that the requirements are out of reach in proportion to the prices current and near future condo market. In fact it seems like an incentive to keep the prices from going BELOW a certain level.

Pay attention to the man behind the curtain.

God forbid they’re picked based on which church you belong to or who you voted for.

Is it a random lottery to see who gets the Power Ball ticket?

I imagine not. Its probably rigged politically.

Its also all phony progressive smoke and mirrors to make it look like we’re doing something for the real Seattle Middle Class [average 1.2 worker incomes per household, about $45K/yr], when in reality the top 20% of household incomes [more like 2 incomes per household] in Seattle are basically the only ones that qualify to buy homes/condos in the Seattle area.

Our local home buyers aren’t the Seattle Middle Class either, no, not at all.

They are just spelling out the rules for who has to register as a general contractor. They are saying that someone who is in the business of fixing up houses to sell them within a year is a contractor.

Some sweat-equity people may not like that, but with the current inventory levels it doesn’t seem like it will have any affect on the market.

but not to a person otherwise covered by the Act
should have been underlined by me.

read the Exemption part -
any person working on his or her own property, whether occupied by him or her or not, and any person working on his or her personal residence, whether owned by him or her or not, but not to a person otherwise covered by the Act who constructs an improvement on his or her own property with the intention and the purpose of selling the improved property;

The purpose of the Bill is to regulate contractors, and this seems to make sure that contractors don’t have a loophole too avoid the regulations.

http://www.leg.wa.gov/pub/billinfo/2007-08/Pdf/Bills/Session%20Law%202007/1843-S.SL.pdf

http://www.leg.wa.gov/pub/billinfo/2007-08/Pdf/Bill%20Reports/House%20Final/1843-S.FBR.pdf

it’ll be easy to prove that work has been done poorly, by the homeowners, and without a certified contractor, but it is only an infraction if it is legally provable that the work was done with intent to sell.

good luck with that.

Because that would require them to use the words “housing markets” and “soften” in the same sentence. On the other hand they’ve predicted 27 of my last 2 rent increases so at least they’ve got that part covered.

Not sure where you got from my post where people were leaving…

Because your post never said net increase.

You are right that more than 20-25% make less than the numbers, as they are the median or avg (which is higher than the median) salary. 50% make more than 49,000 or $62,300 and 50% less, doh!

Before you start flinging stones through the window of your fancy glass house, you should probably learn the definition of mean and median. It’s just a "golly" tragedy that someone in an MBA program (who claims himself a finance “guru”, no less) would define the mean as “higher than” the median.

Oh…by the way? Those numbers aren’t the mean or the median household income — not according to the press release, anyway. They’re just the politically-expedient cutoff values for Captain Condo’s new “affordable” housing initiative.

How many people are leaving the state annually?

rose-colored-coolaid – You are right that more than 20-25% make less than the numbers, as they are the median or avg (which is higher than the median) salary. 50% make more than 49,000 or $62,300 and 50% less, doh!

My guesstimate is that rents will continue to rise until there is a recession or the economy in this region significantly slows. Thus, my estimation is of approx 10% increase in rent for 2008 and 7.5% for 2009. The supply of new condos/apts will reduce the rate of increase, however there are still 60,000 people moving to the state annually…

The tax subsidy will raise the property taxes on everyone else in order to reduce the rent for the 25% of those buildings. That extra cost will be passed on to all the other renters across the city, but it will be blamed on evil landlords.

If the benefits were restricted to city employees I would be fine with it, since they have to be paid competitively somehow, but if they open it up to anyone who can claim a low income just long enough to qualify, then it’s just another tax scam.

So those lower income groups will do very well on this deal (though they will do poorly overall). It might create more total apartments, and 75% of those units will be earmarked for everyone.

Of course, I haven’t looked into this at all, so let me know if I’m off the deep end.

Here is my current heroine, lovely Edith of Ballard!
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/333917_macefield02.html

I only pray that Edith is not preyed on by a local Kelo vs City of New London abuse of eminent domain.

That is only creating housing for people who make less than the median. The effect will be to drive prices up for people above the median. If you are slightly above the median you get screwed. What it also does is create an incentive for people to work less.

At this rate when the market drops, the Seattle Times will have to start quoting Glengarry Glen Ross: ‘The leads are weak.’

http://www.seattle.gov/news/detail.asp?ID=7555&Dept=40

Nope, it’s an apartment building
Urban Partners, in joint venture with Real Estate Capital Partners and O’Conner Capital Partners, acquired a prime high-rise residential development site in the Denny Triangle district of downtown Seattle.
The program calls for an elegantly detailed, yet reasonably priced, rental apartment program, targeting prospective tenants who work in the financial district and fast-growing South Lake Union sections of Seattle.
The building features a full amenity package and luxury apartment services in one of the strongest rental markets in the United States.
The Keller CMS Seattle office has managed entitlements, and will continue to manage design and construction