Dream Home

[synthetik]

Let's assume there isn't going to be a housing crash and your uncool niece recently died and left you $1,000,000. She stipulated in her will that you had to use the money to buy a place in King County.

Where would you live specifically and what would the home look like? Why? What type of view would you have? Would you have a garden? What about a dungeon?

[Puget Sounder]

I'd buy the nicest house I could find in the Mount Baker neighborhood. You know, the nice part of Mount Baker.

I'd want 2 stories, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths. About 1500 square feet with a hot tub in the back, and a 2-car garage for my Subaru Outback, my girlfriend's Toyota RAV4 (impending near future purchase), and bikes, skis, and other toys.

It would be an okay commute for me (I work in Redmond in the financial area of a tech company) and a great one for her (she works downtown in the same area).

The house would be a 2-story Craftsman style home. I know that's a cliche, but I do like the Craftsman style. Hardwood floors except in the bathrooms & bedrooms, nice cabinets, maybe a stainless steel fridge, but NO GRANITE COUNTERS. such a cliche.

[Lake Hills Renter]

I'd buy a nice little two bedroom house in the woods on as many acres of land as the rest of the money would buy, the more heavily wooded the better. I want it to look like someone dropped my house in the middle of the National Forest. And I don't want to see or hear my neighbors unless I care to venture to the edge of my property or end of my driveway.

I couldn't care less about McMansions, stainless steel appliances or granite countertops.

[Erik]

Easy (and boring) - I'd buy the house that I lived in when I was a young lad. A little '30s house in east/northeast Magnolia, basically Interbay. The view of the railyard that I loved as a boy is gone (condos) but I'd still love it for nostalgic reasons.

I don't really have a traditional "dream house", I just dream of owning a house in a reasonably functional neighborhood of my hometown. Kind of sad, really.

[Matthew]

I'd either buy in Magnolia or Queen Anne... Something nice with a yard.

[Eleua]

Northern Vashon Island.

Moat. Dungeon. Razor wire. Mine field. Burning oil. Well, maybe not the burning oil...

[synthetik]

[biliruben]

613 W. Lee



Knock the monstrosity down, Build a 2500 sq/ft house and a 1200 sq ft guest house ((i.e. poker room and kid's play area), and I'd be in heaven. Fantastic views, 3 acres of land, plenty of room for dogs, cats and kids. Walking distance to downtown.

Pretty selfish use of space, but you said, DREAM house.

[biliruben]

Oh, frack. A million? The market has to go back to 1998 prices to get it for that.

Can you believe you could get that house for million less than 10 years ago?!? Now a million gets you a shoddy flip in Ballard.

That says everything you need to know about house messed up this market is.

[biliruben]

What a million would buy you in 1998:



Now. if you sweeten the pot by 50K:



...or 150K:



The center cannot hold.

[Puget Sounder]

That *ugly* brick house is $1,050k?

I must know...where? Please don't say Ballard!

[biliruben]

He he.

Nah.

Right on Sandpoint, over near u. villiage:


For completeness:

The first house is the historic H.C. Black house (I suppose they wouldn't let me knock it down), linked above. 10,000+ sq ft., 3 acres, beautiful views, nicest part of QA hill.

The last house was just built on the Interbay side of QA, just up the street from a friend of mine. Given what he has told me, I have a bit of a guess as to what they were smoking when they priced the house.

[biliruben]

the comparable Ballard (or maybe Greenwood) new build for 1.099 million:





I'm sure impressed with quality and attention to detail, aren't you?

Definitely worth a million +.

Definitely.

[sourmash]

I'd buy a tear down on the west face of Phinney, tear it down, and have a prefab modern house built.

Something like



or



would do the trick. Might be a stretch to get that done for a million though.

[biliruben]

You know, that's a tempting idea too. I've always coveted that area of Western Fremont - say 2nd or 3rd Ave, that has a southerly and Westerly view. Maybe buy a double lot and build there.

This million dollar limit makes it hard to dream, however!

Maybe a million will actually buy a dream in a few years.