I believe at least one of the two buildings is going up for auction soon.

@innovate

I can respect your decision. However, if you haven’t had the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act explained to you and how it may or may not apply to Olive 8, then I think you would be well served by getting that legal counsel before walking away. I would be happy to discuss it with you offline if you’d like.

By the way Kary…funny comment on the “sorry honey…we can’t have a kid”. To the original poster I doubt those in the market for those units are concerned about where to put children, particularly given there isn’t a school within miles. Most prospective and current owners in those neighborhoods (Belltown, Market, Uptown…) are more likely seeking to avoid the little urchins.

Are there really that many people who want to take on a 30 year debt obligation on a property it’s basically impossible to raise even one child in? r.

Sounds like excellent planning to me. “Sorry honey, we can’t have a kid . . ..” ;-)

“An isthmus, Seattle is hugged by the Puget Sound on the west and Lake Washington on the east. ” That writer must be a recent transplant here. It’s “Puget Sound,” not “THE Puget Sound.” We don’t say “the Lake Washington,” or “the Seattle.”

The author probably went to Ohio State.

You’d be closing in on 30 fast by the time you could save a down payment, transaction costs would make it hard to break even if you only stayed 5-7 years (barring crazy bubble appreciation) and you’d have to hold it for nearly 15 years at 6%+ yearly rent inflation before it would cash flow as a rental. The numbers just don’t work.

I would *maybe* consider a 2 bedroom condo at the prices they’ve been trying to sell studios for.

Did anyone hear Matthew Gardner interviewed on KUOW Friday? It’s a great time to buy a condo according to him.

Man, I was listening to the beginning of that on my commute in on Friday… (interesting listen for those that missed it: http://www.kuow.org/program.php?id=17792)
Had me yelling at the radio. Wish someone would have called in with a reality check…

You just beat me to the punch on the Stranger article :-)

According to the condo declaration of the Gallery Condos there are 236 units. According to a search for warranty deeds from Gallery Condominiums, LLC on the King County public records website, Gallery has apparently conveyed over 60 but under 70 units. Some people check the King County Parcel Viewer to track sales of condos but that seriously undercuts the number of sales becuase there’s a very significant delay before closed sales show up on that site. In my experience, the county public records site is much more useful because, when a deed is recorded at closing, it shows up very quickly, sometimes same day or the next business day.

You can also check out this article from the Stranger that discusses Schnitzer’s projects: http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/schnitzer-hits-the-fan/Content?oid=1220669.

The name aside it really is a good collection of carpy product.

Can we include some of these in the hole in the ground post you’re working on?

I mean just because some one dumped a bunch of crap into the hole does that mean it’s any more of just a hole in the ground?

Hi Marc,
would you be able to provide info on the sales/closings at Gallery going slow? The word in the neighbourhood is that they are doing ok (probably spin), but if you had some info, it would be great. Belltown is interesting – the redfin alerts show some places reducing price at $10 or $5, while others wait a while and go down $40K.

http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/stories/2009/06/21/realtytrac_foreclosures.html

Maybe that’s why they won’t build a 520 bridge replacement. If they can get rid of those pesky bridges that argument might actually make sense.

Sold or Closed?

Here we go- I get the sense from these and other homes for sale on the street that critical levels have been breeched, and sellers are in a race to get out. There are two other similar homes that have been on and off the market. How soon before one of them drops their price? Rents won’t cover half of what a standard mortgage would be.

Summer selling season? It’s almost July- sell now or own it forever.

With the rental market in such a bind now, I’m paying about half what the previous tenant was – I can’t imagine how the owner can even pay down principal on the unit given current downtown rental amounts.

So it looks as if even the 2- 3- year old “luxury” condo projects are having trouble with folks who made ‘investment’ purchases. Thankfully for the developer, they were all sold in that particular building during the bubble.

Getting rid of a Seattle Condo is like trying to get rid of Herpes.

My partner and I recently won a case against Washington Square for violating the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act and Washington’s subdivision statute. We’ve got a ton of clients and know of several other attorneys who also have a ton of clients dealing with Olive 8 on very similar facts (and arguably much more egregious facts). They’re closings have been extremely slow and I don’t envy the position they’re in. However, they’re probably a little better off than a project like Bellevue Towers or the Bravern which are friggin huge but haven’t sold squat. The guys behind the Bravern (Schnitzer) have multiple projects that have brutally slow sales (e.g., Gallery in Belltown). My guess is that the main thing keeping them going is very deep projects and construction lenders who desperately don’t want to foreclose and have to deal with the towers.

The best part of the interview is he was asked about the trend of developers turning more vacant condos into apartments in an attempt to recover their costs. His reply? It will never happen since renting them would not come close to covering their construction costs. I don’t think he realized, but that small, innocuous statement summarizes exactly why these things are not selling. It’s the P/E, stupid.

Wtih so little movement on SFHs over $600-700K and a glut of high end condos, this fall should be interesting for the upper end of the market….I am seeing a lot of houses sit for a long, long time in the North Seattle neighboorhoods I am watching…