Seattle Bubble

• Poll: What’s your favorite pet?
• Poll: What’s your favorite video game system?
• Poll: What’s your favorite site for real estate searches?
• Poll: I’m most thankful for…
• Poll: Which would be worse?

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17 responses so far ↓

• 1 uwp // May 11, 2008 at 2:26 am

  Voted NYC.
  But I was voting based on favorite city to go to, not live.

  Living, I would take Denver or San Diego.

• 2 alex // May 11, 2008 at 8:28 am

  The list is missing Dallas and/or Houston - major business hubs with dirt-cheap real estate… I’be curious to see what others think of those towns.

• 3 matthew // May 11, 2008 at 10:06 am

  Lived in Houston for a few years growing up… Wouldn’t move back there if you paid me.

• 4 Tejas // May 11, 2008 at 11:07 am

  Born and raised in Houston. Moved to Seattle in my mid 20’s and lived there for over a decade. Back in Houston now, due to family needs.

  Never thought I would go back to Texas, Dallas or Houston, although many job opportunities. If it were not for family, I would never have even thought about Houston again! The only reason a person would come to Houston is for the jobs, or in my case family. No one comes here for ‘quality of life’, (unless you started south of the border with all the attendant corruption and poverty.)

• 5 b // May 11, 2008 at 12:03 pm

  SF in the lead? Probably from people who have never actually lived here…

• 6 Gill // May 11, 2008 at 2:15 pm

  I’ve lived in SF and it is by far my favorite city in the US. Been to all the others on the list, too and even lived in some.

  It’s the best city in the US if you love great food!

• 7 Everett_Tom // May 11, 2008 at 4:46 pm

  What’s about “None of the above”? I’d rather be in a smaller city..

• 8 Ray Pepper // May 11, 2008 at 7:04 pm

  El Paso Texas! Also its nearby city Juarez Mexico. A little slice of heaven!

  Ray Pepper
  http://www.500Realty.net

• 9 TJ_98370 // May 11, 2008 at 8:16 pm

  Tim - I think you are being discriminatory with your limited selection :). I want to vote for a write-in candidate; Gorst, Washington

  Gorst

• 10 Jason Y // May 12, 2008 at 6:15 am

  I lived in SF for years and it is a great city. That was when I was in my 20’s though and now that I am older and married and family I wouldn’t move back.

• 11 Bits_of_Real_Panther // May 12, 2008 at 9:52 am

  I had to move to SF for work temporarily, been here for 8 months, and I can’t wait to get back to the northwest, crappy winter weather and all. The Bay Area might have been fun for me 10 years ago at 30 but now I find it too crowded, too violent, and too dirty to make up for all of the good things. I voted for Boston, which isn’t much better but it’s the closest thing to Seattle on that list IMO. I’m actually more into the surrounding areas than the city itself (Skagit, Whidbey, peninsula, San Juans, etc…)

• 12 AndySeattle // May 12, 2008 at 11:17 am

  I used to live in SD and wouldn’t mind another go at it. Great weather, good people and lots of things to do make for a fun city.

  I just wish there was a bit more IT work down there!

• 13 alex // May 12, 2008 at 12:02 pm

  Subject: Please Help Me Burst the Bubble
  =================================
  You’ve seen me repeat over and over here that we must turn from “watchers” of the bubble to forces that make it burst, therefore making it pop sooner and have the market return to safe levels.

  With that in mind, I’m going to share with you all that I want to buy a new Harbor Homes in my Woodinville neighborhood, and I’ll consult with you guys on a strategy for negotiating the lowest price (like the buffalo asking his posse for help in that video from yesterday).

  Background: nothing much is selling in the Wedge neighborhood of Woodinville over the last two months. There’s a few *key* comps - two practically new homes that just sold:
  1) a 2750sqft, for 523,000
  2) a 3000sqft, for 535,000
  3) a 3000sqft, for 490,000 (but that was a foreclusure)

  Objective: I want to strong-arm Harbor Homes into accepting those as valid “comps” for the new homes they’re building. Right now, they have the entry-level 2140sqft houses with “starting” price at 470k. If I could make them take the $190/sqft ratio that is more or less shown above, that would become some $410k. Maybe that’s impossible - but with your help, I want to get as close to that as I can.

  My question to you: what’s the best strategy to strong-arm them?

  Also, I wonder if some of you would find that price attractive, so we could have a “block” of grouped consumers (hey, imagine 10 of us making a joint bid on 10 houses??)

• 14 Bits_of_Real_Panther // May 12, 2008 at 12:06 pm

  Your arm will be strong enough six months from now to get your price IMO

• 15 SoCalXplant // May 12, 2008 at 1:15 pm

  Well, my actual fave is Seattle. That’s why we moved here, but it’s not on your list, so… based primarily on weather, I vote San Diego. Being right on the coast, its climate is absolutely beautiful most of the year. Truthfully, if we could afford it, I’d live just north of the city right on the coast somewhere between La Jolla and Carlsbad.

• 16 Alan // May 12, 2008 at 2:15 pm

  Alex,

  Figure out how much you want to pay. Get something that proves your 20% downpayment. Get something from a lender that shows they are willing to loan you the money for the rest. Take this to them and make an offer. They will refuse. Leave the numbers with them and leave. Come back the next week and make a lower offer (by maybe $1000 dollars). Rinse and repeat.

  You might make them mad enough to try to scam you. Make sure that you have an inspection contingency if they accept your offer.

• 17 RickB // May 12, 2008 at 3:02 pm

  Alex,

  Also, for your “strong arm” to have any muscle, you have to be absolutely ready to walk away. And they need to be convinced of that as well. Just don’t have already talked yourself into it before you enter negotiations.

  -Rick

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