Debra Sinick

Archive for May 2008

Interested in Architecture and Design from the Past, The Present and in the Future?

In Uncategorized on May 29, 2008 at 12:08 pm

From my inbox: Two messages about events celebrating architecture and design, one local and one in California. 

Here in Seattle, The Seattle Architectural Foundation Tours are on again for the season: From the Seattle Architectural Foundation newsletter:

“Weekday Tours Program Launched


Greatest Hits: Seattle Architecture Highlights is an encore presentation of some of downtown’s most talked-about buildings. The two-hour tour showcases everything from “golden oldies” like the Norton Building to “chart-toppers” like the world-famous Seattle Central Library. The two-hour walking tour begins at 10:00am every Thursday at Seattle Architecture Foundation.

COMING SOON: SAF’s popular Art Deco tour will be offered at 10:00am every Friday at Seattle Architecture Foundation.

In addition to these regular weekday tours, there’s still room on these upcoming saturday guided walking tours.  Register for tours online.


MAY
24     Art Deco: The Roarting 20s, Northwest Style
31     Design Details:  Lions, Griffins and Walruses, Oh My!  
JUNE
7      Ballard: Small Town/Big City
        Historic Skyscrapers: Concrete, Glass, Steel and Egos       

14    Art + Architecture: Where Form & Function Meet 
       Design Details:  Lions, Griffins, & Walruses, Oh My!
       Harvard Belmont District:  Mansions on Capitol Hill
       South Lake Union:  Extreme Makeover

21    International District:  Seattle’s Fortune Cookie
       Modern Skyscrapers:  A Skyline Defined
       That’s Entertainment:  Movie Palaces and More!

28    Art Deco:  The Roaring 20s, Northwest Style
       Columbia City: Valley on the Rise
       Family Tour
       Pioneer Square: Seattle’s First Neighborhood”

Heading to California:

Dwell On Design has contacted me about a special invitation to their Los Angeles conference:

“ Great news: Dwell has reached their ticket sales goal for the Dwell on Design Exhibition, and has now extended their coupon code offer for a free Exhibition ticket to anyone that has not already purchased a ticket to this fantastic event. If you’d like to offer this to your readers, the code that they’ll need is BDODEC, and they can register for the Exhibition through this link on the Dwell Magazine site.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Reflections on High School Reunions, Life, and Seattle/Eastside Real Estate

In real estate on May 27, 2008 at 10:17 am

Megamillions lottery billboard near downtown Seattle

When I drove  by this billboard near the Mercer St. off ramp in downtown Seattle, I just cracked up.  Whomever writes the ad copy for MegaMillions has a sense of humor.  I’ll be attending my high school reunion a little later this year. This billboard echoes the sentiment many feel when revisiting their “youth”. Do you look forward to a reunion?  Do you feel successful?  It gives one pause and provokes one to reassess.

A step back gives me time to think about these things.  How did I end up here ***ty years after high school? “Here” is a figurative and literal expression, of course. 

Life can take interesting and surprising turns.  As a born and bred east coaster, Connecticut to be exact, never did I think I would live on the west coast.  I now have lived here longer than I’ve lived anywhere else.  College in Massachusetts led me to Boston for a number of years and work as a teacher in a suburban middle school.  It was fun, an interesting challenge. 

From there I earned a master’s degree in counseling and moved into a guidance counselor position in the same middle school where I had taught.  Looking back, teaching was far more fun and creative than counseling in a public school.  The stories you hear about kids with peer problems are usually a result of family problems.  If the family was not willing to get help, my job would be akin to putting a band-aid on a surgical wound, not very effective.

The Seattle/Eastside was a 2-3 year move, 22 years ago!  We came to the eastside for the same reasons people have been coming for the last two decades and will continue to come, there’s a plethora of high-tech jobs on the eastside.  The economy, relative to the rest of the country, is strong, the surroundings are just beautiful, the temperatures are mild year round. There’s great culture and beauty surrounding us. 

My high school friends will ask me how I’m doing and what it’s like to live in Seattle. Here’s what I’ll tell them:

My personal life is strong, but I’ve weathered some difficult times in the past and am lucky to be in the place I’m at now. The late 80’s with moving to a new city, new part of the country, new marriage, new career, and building new friendships was a challenge. The year 1989 was particularly difficult because of a very serious car accident.  Another tough one was 1994, with believe it or not,  a personal loss in real estate because of a sewer line (but that’s another very long “messy” story).  However, the tougher times, both personally and economically, help me to appreciate what’s here in Seattle, the Eastside, and where I am in my personal life.

Life has its ups and downs for a country, city,  and for an individual.  Seattle is going great guns, relatively speaking, whereas there’s much more of a struggle back in New England these days.  When I left Boston in the late 80’s, I left a booming place and came out here to a city that was just waking up.  When I bought my first home here in 1986, real estate was just coming out of the doldrums in Seattle and not expected to do much.  Home prices were much more affordable then when compared to the Boston area. Boston, on the other hand, is having a tougher time in today’s market than we are here in Seattle.  We have a strong economy in the Seattle area and there are jobs.   Seattle is weathering the downturn in real estate and the economy far better than most of the country.

No one gets out of this life without going through a series of ups and downs.  Some of us have more than our share of the good or the bad, some have a lot less.  That’s life.  I understand how hard it is to see the light at the end of the tunnel when things are down.  But when things are bad, we tend to forget they can change vastly in a few years.  Some of the change can be due to luck, some can be due to hard work, and some is out of our control.

 I will also say:

I love that I own a winter coat which I may wear 3 times a winter. 

I love the snow on the mountains that is rarely in my backyard.

I love the mountains and the lakes. 

I love the sensibility of the Seattle/Eastside, where environmental concerns are becoming more and more important.  

But most of all, I love that it’s less humid here than in New England, so my hair doesn’t frizz as much.

And yes, I will tell them I didn’t win the Megamillions, but I’m still glad I’ll be at the reunion.

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Architecture and/or Art? A Palm Springs Mid-Century Modern Masterpiece is Sold at Auction

In Real Estate News, Remodeling and style trends, architecture on May 20, 2008 at 6:34 am

Homes are shelter, homes are places we eat, sleep, work, celebrate, and ???  Some homes are more. They are  architecturally inspiring.  Marlow Harris often writes of unique homes on her blog, 360digest. Few homes achieve icon status, but those that do, are they art or architecture or art and architecture?  Are these homes works of art?

There’s Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater, Richard Neutra’s Kaufmann House, Greene and Greene’s The Gamble House, and Philip Johnson’s Glass House, which opened to the public last year, just to name a few.  These homes are all incredible, unique, and wonderful examples of superb design.

Two of these homes were owned by the same family, The Kaufmanns.  Not only did they own their namesake home, The Kaufmann House in Palm Springs, but they owned Fallingwater in Pennsylvania.  A Pittsburgh department store family, they chose two titans of architecture to design and build two phenomenal homes.  The Kaufmann house,  built in 1946, was one of the first mid-century modern homes to dot the Palm Springs landscape. 

Mid-century modern architecture has become to Palm Springs what art deco style has been to Miami Beach.   Mid-century modern means clean, simple lines, big windows, and light, open and airy spaces. Glass, steel, wood, and stone are the materials of choice. Preservationists have been working hard to save these mid-century masterpieces which contribute to the  uniqueness and very soul of Palm Springs.    Over the last couple of decades, some famous properties and homes have been demolished in the area.  Lloyd Wright, Frank’s son, had designed a hotel in the 1920’s which has since been torn down. (Interestingly, Lloyd Wright was the inventor of the all-important Lincoln Logs)

The current owners of the Kaufmann house purchased it as a run down fixer upper in the early 90’s.  They hired the Los Angeles architectural firm of Marmol Radziner to help bring the home back to its original splendor.  To help save the house from some future owner tearing it down, as has happened too often with iconic architecture, the owners hired Christie’s to auction their home off as an art piece.  Their goal, as stated in  Edward Wyatt’s The New York Times article was “promoting architecture as a collectible art worthy of the same consideration as painting and sculpture.”  The New York Times article has some great photos of this masterpiece of modern design.

The expected selling price was to be between 15-25 million dollars.  Last week the home sold at auction for $15,000,000 and some change.

So, is architecture art?  Should it be up for auction?

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Commercial Real Estate Project Update on Seattle’s Eastside

In Bellevue, WA, Issaquah, WA, King County, WA, Local news and information, Real Estate News, Seattle real estate on May 19, 2008 at 8:05 am

Since the late 1980’s the Eastside of Seattle has exploded with development. Within the last few years, we’ve entered a completely new phase of development impacting many of the Eastside cities. Bellevue, Redmond, Issaquah, and Bothell are all undergoing big changes.

Here’s a list of some of the changes you will see on the Eastside.  Much of this information was provided courtesy of Al Hodge, a commercial real estate broker with The Broderick Group, Inc.  He has his ear to the ground and is very familiar with the latest happenings on the Eastside.  Al Hodge made a presentation a couple of weeks ago at my Windermere office. 

Downtown Bellevue is undergoing massive changes.  I met a friend for dinner downtown the other day and we commented on how different things will be in downtown Bellevue over the next couple of years.  There will be less of a need to go across the pond for great food and entertainment. (Not that there aren’t already some wonderful restaurants and entertainment venues on Seattle’s Eastside.)

Bellevue:

Microsoft has 3 million square feet of space.
Kemper Freeman is planning a $42 million upgrade of Bellevue Square.
El Gaucho restaurant is (rumored) to be opening in the new 26-story City Center Plaza off of NE 6th.
Other possibilities already reported in earlier posts:
John Howie of Seastar fame will open another restaurant.
Wild Ginger will also be on the Eastside.

Issaquah:

Opus Northwest will continue to have the largest retail center.
Group Health Hospital will keep its 26 acres of land/space.

Kirkland:

Parkplace is going through the review process for redevelopment.
Google is building 195,000 sq ft of space to accommodate about1000  employees.

 

 

Lake Street restaurants, including Hector’s, will closed and
The McLeod project is still under discussion.  Approved by the city’s Design Review Board, the plan was voted down by the City Council.

Redmond:

 4,000 space parking garage will be built to accommodate Microsoft employees. This billion dollar project will consist of a park and baseball field.
Nintendo, located nearby, recently sold Microsoft 40 acres of additional land for developing.
HP & EMC have moved in to the area
Angelo’s Nursery sold for $12 million for a future Elder Care facility.

 

Downtown Redmond:

 Whole Foods has started the chain of new developments.


Costco will soon develop on 28 acres alongside the Business Park. 
Xbox will stay for now possible move after Microsoft parking garage is built.

 What do you think about all this growth, all these changes?  Is it a good thing for the Eastside, or not?

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The News Has Been Abuzz With The Rail/Trail King County WA Deal-

In Bellevue, WA, King County, WA, Kirkland, Local news and information, Redmond, Woodinville, WA on May 15, 2008 at 9:01 am

 

BNSF Rail lineOn Monday Metropolitan King County officials and Port of Seattle Commissioners met to sign the paperwork for the complicated deal between the Port of Seattle, King County, and the BNSF railroad. The Port will buy the BNSF tracks from the railway and allow King County to keep the right of way in the public domain.

But what’s the future of the rail line? What’s the future of a trail?   I’ve added links to the some of the news articles about the deal and will highlight some of the key issues raised in each article.  It’s interesting to compare what’s reported in each article. The different newspapers do not see the issues in exactly the same light.  This is not surprising since the issues surrounding the trail and/or rail line are still unclear and very much up in the air. 

Several constants in this saga are:

The BNSF is selling the rail line to the Port for $107 million dollars.

The Port has granted King County an easement to develop a trail on 32 miles of the corridor.

Federal law requires the train line be “rail banked”, kept for possible future use as a train line. The tracks will remain in place. This will keep the line available for public use and ownership.

The port will receive $1.9 million dollars from King County for the use of an easement for a hiking/biking trail along the Renton to Woodinville stretch of the rail line and the 7 mile spur from Woodinville to Redmond.

The Everett Herald had an interesting story summarizing Monday’s inking of the deal.  The Herald reflected the Snohomish County Council point of view.

“ Snohomish County wants leverage sooner and is working to keep the rails in place for commuter trains all the way to tech job centers on the east side of Lake Washington.

“We think we can have the rails and the trails,” Somers (Snohomish County Council Chairman) said.

Somers is pushing for a deal with a private company called GNP Railway to provide daily commuter trains on the route from Snohomish to Bellevue as soon as next year. The county is negotiating with the company chairman Tom Payne.

“If we can team up with Tom Payne and get status with the federal government, the port and King County have to deal with us.”

Snohomish County wants rail. 

“The port isn’t interested in long-term ownership of the corridor, so questions to be worked out include who would ultimately own the corridor and run commuter rail over it, said Port Commissioner John Creighton. “We’re holding the corridor now, but if Sound Transit determines it can make use of the corridor, we would like to sell it to Sound Transit, get our money out, and invest it in our core business.”

Both The Seattle P-I and The Seattle Times weighed in with their take on the future for the rail/trail.  The Seattle P-I’s article was the most comprehensive summary of the story.  Here are some additional issues raised in the P-I article:

Previously, a study was done to the tune of $800,000 by The Puget Sound Regional Council.  This study stated:

“In May 2007 the Puget Sound Regional Council published a study that found Sound Transit and the state Department of Transportation’s strategy of using a series of rapid buses to serve commuters was more feasible than developing high capacity rail transit along the Eastside rail corridor.”

A new survey is being conducted and will be completed by February, 2009.  The cost for this study is $340,000, after $800,000 has already been spent to say the commuter line is not viable in King County!  Part of the money for the study is being paid by the Discovery Institute, which has a vested interest in seeing the commuter line developed, since this very group is hoping to develop the commuter line.  This second  study is being conducted with funds from a source that hopes to gain from the outcome of the study.  Hmm…. 

It’s important to have thorough and impartial studies completed, studies which demonstrate the actual cost per rider and the full cost of developing the trail and rail line.  It’s important to have the proper public process for the trail and/rail line.  Whatever is decided  must be the result of careful, thorough analysis and not just a band-aid solution resulting from the failure of Proposition 1.

 

 

 

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What Were The Chances of Selling a Condo on Seattle’s Eastside in April of 2008?

In Bellevue Real Estate, Bellevue, WA, For Buyers, For Sellers, Issaquah Real Estate, Issaquah, WA, Kirkland, Local news and information, Real Estate News, Redmond, Sammamish, WA, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, Seattle real estate, Woodinville, WA, Woodinville, WA Real Estate, market statistics, real estate on May 14, 2008 at 6:04 pm

Sellers had a 15.9% chance of selling a condo on Seattle’s Eastside in April of 2008. ( click on 2008 year to date statistics in the link above for a chart showing the condo report)

April, 2008            1392 condos for sale, 222 condos sold, 15.9% chance of selling.

March, 2008          1277 condos for sale, 208 condos sold, 16% chance of selling.

April, 2007              621 condos for sale, 377 condos sold, 60% chance of selling.

Condo values on the Eastside continue to go up. Last month prices increased over 7% from last year and this month prices are up 12.6%.  This is not to say it’s easy to sell a condo. Clearly, the actual number of sales is down considerably, by 41%.

Pricing a condo for sale should be based on the amount of competition and the most recent sales.  Sales from even a few months ago are out of date.  Understanding the competition when you go on the market is the key to a successful sale.  Pricing must be competitive so a condo stands out from the pack.

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Attention Home Shoppers! A Few Mortgage/Financing Updates

In For Buyers, For Sellers, Mortgages, Real Estate News, financing, real estate on May 14, 2008 at 7:51 am

Attention all home buyers!  Here’s a brief update on some changes in financing I heard about from Steve Tedrow of Windermere Mortgage:

Conforming Jumbo loan rate is now at 5.25% for a 5/1 ARM, only 1/8% higher than conventional, non-jumbo loan. Fixed jumbo rates are at 5.875%

Limited or no documentation loans are dead and gone.

Credit scores need to be above 700 for almost all of today’s loans.

Financing regs and requirements are changing from moment to moment, so check with a lender you trust for the very latest information.

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What Were The Chances of Selling Your Seattle/Eastside Home in April, 2008?

In Bellevue Real Estate, Bellevue, WA, For Buyers, For Sellers, Issaquah Real Estate, Issaquah, WA, King County Real Estate, King County, WA, Kirkland, Local news and information, Real Estate News, Redmond, Sammamish, WA, Sammamish, WA Real Estate, Seattle real estate, WA, WA real estate, Woodinville, WA, Woodinville, WA Real Estate, market statistics, real estate on May 12, 2008 at 7:50 am
The chances of selling a home on the Eastside in April 2008 ranged from a low of 8.46% to a high of 19%, with an average 12.8% absorption rate. (The absorption rate is the number of homes for sale in any given month divided by the actual number of homes sold that month.)
 Here are the real estate statistics for single family home sales activity on Seattle’s Eastside:
 April, 2008            3985 homes available, 512 sold, 12.8% chance of selling.
 March, 2008          3637 homes available, 493 sold, 13.5% chance of selling.
 April, 2007            2444homes available,  734 sold, 30.0% chance of selling.
 

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(click on the each area name for a chart showing the latest stats in the area)

The plateau:  Sammamish, Issaquah, North Bend, and Fall City

Sellers had a 15.4% chance of getting a home sold, UP from 14.5% last month and DOWN from 29.4% last year.  Median home prices were down by 6.2%, from $637,000 to $597,639.  Inventory was up by 48.8% and sales declined by 22% from last year.

West Redmond/East Bellevue

Sellers had a 19% chance of getting a home sold, DOWN from 21.7% last month, and DOWN from 46.0% last year.  Median sales price increased from $569,000 to $608,998.  Inventory was up 110% and sales were down from 63 sales to 55 homes, a 12.7% decline.

South Bellevue

Sellers had a 10.6% chance of selling a home, DOWN from 12.3% last month and DOWN from 25.9% last year.  Median price decreased by 19% to $600,000 from $741,150. Inventory was up 54.5% and sales were down almost 36.7%.

Woodinville/Bothell/Kenmore/Duvall

Sellers had a 12.5% chance of selling a home,  a minimal change from 12.3% last month and DOWN from 37% last year.  Median price was down to $484,450 from $514,950, a 5.9% decrease.  Inventory was up by 60.1% from last year and sales declined by 45.9%.

Kirkland

Sellers had a 8.46% chance of selling a home, DOWN from 10.7% last month and DOWN from 30.5% last year.  Median price declined by .03%, from $710,000 to $707,950. Inventory was up by 62.6% and sales were down by 54.8%.

West Bellevue

Sellers had a 9.03% chance of selling a home, UP from 7.26%, and DOWN from 28.3% last year.  Median pricing increased by 42% to $1,399,000 from $985,000.  Inventory climbed by 106.2% and sales declined by 34.1%.

Redmond/Education Hill/ Carnation

Sellers had a 14.0% chance of selling a home, DOWN slightly from 14.8% last month, and DOWN from 20.9% last year.  Median pricing increased by 13.1% from $577,015 to $652,450.  Inventory increased by 71% and sales dropped by 14.5%.

County wide, inventory is up from January’s numbers.   On the eastside 2963 homes were on the market in January and now there are 3985 homes for sale, a 26% increase.  The chances of selling in the different eastside areas varied very little from March’s numbers. However, if sales were down in an area, there was no absolute correlation with median price. Even if sales were down, the median price could still go up.  The median price was up from last April in four of the eastside areas and down in three of the areas.

If you are trying to get a feel of the market in a particular area, look at several months worth of data. This will give the most realistic view of the market.  Pay particular attention to the increase in inventory in your area.  Sellers. regardless of what’s happened in a previous month, make sure you understand how much actual competition there is in your area before establishing a sales price and going on the market.

Remember sellers, it is price and condition in this market.  Homes are selling, but as we all know, competition for the buyer is fierce.