I spotted the ad at right on the Seattle Times homepage yesterday. It’s not as patronizing as Quadrant Homes’ old “down payment latte” ad was, but the claim of buying for just $800 a month immediately jumped out at me as unlikely. Running some quick numbers through my Simple Affordability Calculator indicates that to have…
Category: Features
Friday Flashback: Half-Million-Dollar Condos in Puyallup
Came across this one in the Seattle Bubble archives, from March 2006 in the Tacoma News Tribune: After several years of public investment in downtown Puyallup, private money is now pouring into multilevel condominiums around Pioneer Park. It appears to be money well spent. Some units are expected to sell for around $500,000. “When we…
The Fix-n-Flip: Still Alive & Well
I’ve been noticing a lot more of the cheap homes I had been watching during my active home search coming back on the market lately as rehab flips. Not only that, but they’re selling, sometimes fairly quickly, at double the previous price or more. Check out a couple examples in my neck of the woods:…
Reader Question: Rotting from the Inside on Day One?
A reader emailed me an interesting observation/question in response to yesterday’s discussion of Seattle’s cheap, ugly townhomes. There’s a trio of townhouses very near where I live. They’re interesting because they lay partially framed for (if I’m recalling correctly) more than a year and a half — at least through one Winter/Spring. They actually have…
How Long Will Seattle’s Ugly Townhomes Last?
Once in a while I like to have a look around and see what’s on the market in a totally off-the-wall market segment that I have absolutely no personal interest in ever owning. Today that segment is townhomes in the city of Seattle. As I browse around at what’s for sale in Seattle’s townhome market,…