Riverstone Condos in Bellevue?

Anybody know anything about the Riverstone Condos in Bellevue? They got people out waving signs every weekend for many (six?) months now. I think it's a condo conversion. It's located near Lake Sammamish High School in a cluster of apartment complexes.

I'm just surpised that they'd need sign wavers to sell condos in the desirable Eastside in such a hot market.
«1

Comments

  • I guess you don't know the market. Not all Bellevue is desirable, and that's junky apartment converting to condos, merely owners trying to ride the wave and make quick bucks.

    It is to no one's surprise that they can't sell the condos.
  • There are much better resales for the same price as that awful Riverstone conversion -- which looks like a ghetto Federal Way apartment complex with some new paint.
  • They have been on The market Since April- 80 UNITS.. Roughly 20 Units have sold.. At least thats what the Real Estate agents are saying that are ,Set up permanently there.. the units are in the 260-280,000 2-3 bedroom units.

    Amagine the Holding Costs..WOOOOW.... I say these units or Lets Call these APARTMENTS.... Call a Spade a Spade-- in this Case these Units are like holding an Offsuit 3-7... hahahaha

    Put it plainly-- there in the corner of what appears to be probably about the Lowest income apartment complex in Bellevue-- there part of the bigger sum of about 300 apartment.

    Actually walking though I put that at Closer to maybe 15.. I live right up the Steet and Walk the area about 5 days a week. In fact I walked though one time this week and some unlucky soul was already in the Process of moving out... imagine they only moved in maybe couple of months. The ladies what appeared to be her father was really angry.. " I asked them you already moving---- *Ladies response "there really going to have a hard time selling these.

    Now theres another real interesting project on 140th right off the freeway exit which goes back over the freeway on the side of Bellevue Community college ... Apartment turned Condos unit 11 Total- 10 Unsold... the One that did Sell has Realitors Lockbox is right back on the Market.. this Apartment/Condo project has also been in Selling Phase for several months... these Units are asking in the Mid 300s... starting price
  • Apparently the TOTAL COUNT: 98 Units..

    The real estate agent.. said 70 maybe 70 is needed to be SOLD~!!

    Also stated there was roughly 20 SOLD~!

    SUBRACT: 20 from 98 UNITS.. = 78 UNITS...

    BEST CASE SENERIO.... IS PROBABLY .... 70 UNITS NEEDED TO BE SOLD..

    Hell of Carrying COST~!!
  • I also live right near the Fabulous Riverstone. I had thought that the entire complex had been converted, but apparently only 1/4th has so you get to feel like you live in an apartment complex, but for 3 times the monthly cost!

    I had a friend that was invited there when they first opened to look into a condo as an investment. He went for the food and told the guy showing him around that it would require a 50% down payment in order to be cashflow positive. The guy's response? The appreciation will make up for that. Apparently the condos will appreciate $60k by the time they're all sold (which I take to mean that it'll take 15 years to sell them all :wink: ). The guy said that most of the buyers are losing money every month but were confident that the appreciation would make up for it.

    I tried looking up the condo on the KC records, but I only saw 2 sold and I guess the records are up to 2 months behind. Their website shows 13 sold, and given their escalation to sign jigglers and pool parties I wouldn't be surprised if "roughly 20" was code for "13 rounded up to the nearest multiple of 10".

    Who wants to take bets on how long until they become repartments?

    I had not known that one of the 11 condos on 148th had sold. All 11 used to be on the MLS, but now I only see 3, but none are listed as recently sold on Redfin.
  • Word is that Used to BE 325,000. SALES PRICE$

    Point is ...how much appreciation you think those UNITS SOLD$ are going to get when the remaining units are reverted back to apartments?..

    How much those Worth on the RENTAL MARKET?... Maybe 1000.-1100. ..

    Been out of Rental market for a long time.. however Vistied friend today that lives right up the street in this Townhome Community THATS MUCH-MUCH Nicer. .. a Property management company holds those.. property rents are 1310. for a 2 Bedroom roughly 1,400 square foot place. They may not have the Granite countertops... then again- I dont see that much value in Granite Countertops.. im just as happy without them.
  • I Filled out the Registry-- they called me 3-4 times.. invited me to there POOL PARTY... I should of went to see how many others Showed..Bet not many.
  • I bet that Roughly 20 UNITS...SOLD-- is fictiouness or bent to the Optimistic Side-- being Realitors thats much how the Business works... always find some light at the end of the Tunnel.

    Given that the Realitors were NOT THAT POSTIVE~!! They showed light of that when they found out THAT I DEFINATLY WAS NOT BULLISH ON REAL ESTATE.. & Had definitly no plans of being there customer in near future.
  • it's sad. truth is, they "sold" 3. rest is probably under contract, which are just pending instead of sold.

    if only those under contract see this link, they would bail immediately. I also feel horrible for the three that did buy them. As for KC record, those updates the second it's recorded, but not always show up with names until about a day or so.

    http://www5.metrokc.gov/reports/condo_r ... 7345500000
  • Amazing.. those numbers Only get worse..

    Hows those Apples.... .. Well 3 Bad apples sold~!!

    Also theres only couple cars- and of those theres the likelyhood that like you said there on Contract or worked something out to continue leasing, Temporarily..

    I Say Temporarily they are Going to Be SELLING..... someone in the end is going the end up renting them as apartments... maybe 6 months, they will get the Chance of making rental values start to sway the other direction.

    I wonder how many more of these failed attempts will be coming down the pike in the next 12 or so months..
  • I live just about 3 blocks away from this train-wreck of a conversion so I can't help but check out how they are doing from time to time. A month and a half ago, they released their "Second Phase". I guess they didn't put all 98 units on the market at once, but I'm pretty sure they only "sold" half of Phase I before they started to sell Phase II. They put a new bright green and yellow sign up and continued with the balloons and sign jigglers.

    Today I decided to check out their site to see if they were going to have another open house that I could get free food at, but their host had suspended their account, or their hosting had expired. They must be doing really poorly if they can't affored to pay their $15/month hosting bill.

    Does anyone know of other impending condo-conversion train wrecks in Bellevue that I can watch?
  • I was speaking to a realtor over the weekend who does business on the EastSide. We had an interesting discussion on how the seattle times is NEGATIVELY biased. I laughed citing Elizabeth R. is such a cheerleader she should apply for the seahawks cheerleading squad. Anyways, he says when the seattle times starts pumping out more positive articles, things will pick up. Funny how he thinks the real estate market solely depends on the media and not fudmentals.

    The relator did predict the high end condos in bellevue to take a hit when they all come online. He says most of them are flippers and HOAs for those units are in the 500-800 range. Have fun renting those out.

    There was another conversion up the street from where I live. I think it was called OASIS on 8th. That place was such a rip off.
  • Read my link from KC Metro above, they sold less than 20%...
  • It looks like Riverstone is still sitting at less than 18% of units purchased. Yes, they still pay someone to wave a sign and listen to his walkman on the weekends on NE 8th. How long can they go on?

    Hoping to take a piece of that juicy pie, may i present:

    Champagne

    and the newest in condo conversions:

    The Martine

    I just can't believe that there are people still lining up to lose money.
  • Dang I've been meaning to do an update on the lovely Riverstone and Chapagne conversions, but have been too busy at work. I love the looks-like-exposed-plywood faux finish at Champagne. A condo in Redmond has the same finish and after glancing at it several times I still wasn't sure if it was a faux finish or plywood.

    I think the Champagne sign said they were doing some tours last weekend. They're coming soon at the "low 300's".

    Both the Riverstone and Champagne are overpriced compared to the comps. A friend of mine sold a comparable (better in some ways actually) condo nearby for around 285k (I think, it hasn't shown up on the county records yet) so these new conversions are 20-50k overpriced. No wonder they aren't selling.

    I haven't seen Martine, where is it located?

    Anybody want to take bets on when the Riverstone goes repartment? I'm going to say September.
  • top01cat01 wrote:
    They may not have the Granite countertops... then again- I dont see that much value in Granite Countertops.. im just as happy without them.


    Man, you haven't lived until you've had granite counters. Heh, mild exaggeration.

    I really like them. I thought granite might be a pain at first because it can absorb anything you spill on it, but in practice they're better than the beige formica in my old apartment. Cleaning them is far easier since it's all one piece. Nothing sticks, so no scrubbing at all. (I don't have a maid so this does matter)

    One of the hidden benefits has been that the cat absolutely will not sit on them. This is a cat that used to LIVE on the kitchen counter. I can only guess it is because they're always cold.

    While I certainly didn't pay to put them in, I did see the bill and it wasn't that all that spendy since the kitchen isn't huge.
  • It looks like The Martine condos are being repartmented, since they now advertise leasing. They also advertise "lease to own", but who would want to lease to own an apartment?
  • It looks like The Martine condos are being repartmented, since they now advertise leasing. They also advertise "lease to own", but who would want to lease to own an apartment?
    :lol: Yeah, my wife just pointed that out to me a couple of days ago. I wonder how long until Riverstone goes that way too? Has anyone else seen the wall near their sign? There's a big gap like a truck hit it or something. Very classy looking, like a 3rd world war zone.
  • Apparently this is what "affordable luxury" looks like:


    I'm sorry, it had to be done:
  • I'm sorry, it had to be done:

    Wait a minute, that chap looks familiar!
  • It looks like Champagne has gone rental too; they're now advertising "remodeled apartments".

    I haven't been by Riverstone to see if they're still holding out on that sinking ship.
  • I drive by Riverstone every day and haven't yet seen any sign of changes. Their website is the same too, still lacks a photo gallery and virtual tour. They've only sold 28 units including at least 5 to flippers (the Taing clan). I'm impressed they've lasted this long, but how much longer can they possibly go, especially when the flippers begin to try to unload?
  • The images above look like garbage to me. Is that what others are seeing?
  • Alan wrote:
    The images above look like garbage to me. Is that what others are seeing?
    It looks like there may be some sort of issue with the forum that is borking up image attachments. Looking into it...

    Update: somehow the files seem to have gotten damaged in the transition from the old server to the new server. When I get home I'll check the copies on my PC to see if they're okay, and if so, upload those.
  • Alan wrote:
    The images above look like garbage to me.
    They are pictures of a condo conversion. What do you expect?
  • The Martine has gone repartment too. You can check out the asking price here. They want $995 for a condo they were previously asking $276,900 for. I used the mortgage calculator on the Martine condo site (it's still up) and calculated with a 5.5% rate, 2 points and 10% down you would've been paying double the rent and the calculator doesn't even factor in condo association dues. Plus it would require, according to the calculator, over $42,000 upfront. Renting the same place requires a $500 deposit.
  • The Martine has gone repartment too. You can check out the asking price here. They want $995 for a condo they were previously asking $276,900 for. I used the mortgage calculator on the Martine condo site (it's still up) and calculated with a 5.5% rate, 2 points and 10% down you would've been paying double the rent and the calculator doesn't even factor in condo association dues. Plus it would require, according to the calculator, over $42,000 upfront. Renting the same place requires a $500 deposit.
    But if you rent, you're throwing your money away!
    </sarcasm>
  • The champagne website is a hoot:

    "Celebrate life in the heart of Bellevue, just steps from the boutique shops, fine dining and entertainment of the Crossroads Mall"

    I don't know what Crossroads mall they are talking about. The one that I know is has parking lots full of sketchy people, a cheap food court and a Circuit City that is closing down. My personal estimation is that the DOL office is responsible for most of the traffic there.

    As for the Martine, that is a neat trick on their map to only draw major roads so that you look close to Bellevue mall (it confused me at first). $277k for a one bedroom apartment? You can still rent around that area for less than a grand a month!
  • Crossroads mall is actually very popular though with lots of draws -- movie theatre and Blockbuster, Barnes & Noble and a Half Price Books, Petco, two grocery stores (QFC and TOP), etc. The food court is actually pretty good,with lots of international flavor and variety. I highly recommend the Russian sandwich shop and the German deli.

    The nearby residential areas are a little sketchy though, at least relative to other neighborhoods nearby. A friend lived in one of the apartment complexes off 164th (behind Crossroads) and after two car breakins, decided to break his lease and move.
  • LHR,
    The russian sandwich shop is a death trap though. At least two very serious food poisonings and investigations by the health district.
Sign In or Register to comment.