Glenn Roberts   |  Ravenna Park  |  My Seattle   | Lake & Co Real Estate

The Businesses of Ravenna

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A walk down Ravenna's commercial strip.

 

The Ravenna Neighborhood has a small but vital and eclectic commercial zone. Located on NE 65^th Street between 20^th Ave NE and 25^th Ave NE are several businesses and very few franchise or chain operations. Bigger stores including two major grocery chains, a large drug store chain, a furniture store and a large commercial area can be found about 15 blocks to the west in the Roosevelt neighborhood, or the University Village Shopping Center 20 blocks to the south.  Choose to live in Ravenna and shopping is near at hand.

A little walk down 65^th Street from 20^th Ave to 25^th Ave will you show you what’s nearest at hand.

On the north side of the street we have Third Place Books, Vios Café and The Pub at Third Place, all located in the same building. The next few buildings look like single family homes but as the zoning changed, so did the usage and these now hold the offices of several varieties of private practitioners. The same type of usage is found on the south side of this block.

In the next block we have The Herbalist, Zeek’s Pizza , and The Bagel Oasis.   Then the Crepe Café, an Edward Jones Investment office and an Osaka Japanese Restaurant. Across the street to the south is a large space for rent, and a small but delightful café/butcher shop, the Café Da Pino. Upstairs is a Thrive, an art school for children.  In the next block east of da Pino’s is Ravenna Interiors . On the north side of the street again we have a barber shop, a stylist, and the Ravenna Ale House. In the ale house parking lot stands an espresso drive through. Across Ravenna Ave are the McCarthy and Schiering Wine Merchants, an excellent place to shop.

 

 

A lage facility on the sout side of the street is home of The Center for Yoga of Seattle

On the last block to the east are two newer apartment buildings with restaurants including the Varsity Café, a Garlic Jim’s Pizza House, Bia Pia Thai Restaurant and another ale house. The commercial strip is capped on the north by Salmons Service Station on the north side of the street and a large Ida Culver Senior Living facility on the south.

When you move to Ravenna all of this is at your finger tips along with some peaceful, but close to the city, living.  I've lived in this area for the last 20 years and would be happy to show you around.

 

 Glenn Roberts   |  Ravenna Park  |  My Seattle   | Lake & Co Real Estate

Tudors, Four Squares, and Bungalows

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The home styles common in Ravenna Park

The Homes of Ravenna Park

Ravenna Park is a very desirable neighborhood in the near north end of Seattle. The homes here are within walking distance to the University of Washington. It’s a quick ten minute drive to downtown Seattle. Green Lake is only a few blocks to the west. Freeway access is easy for those heading into the mountains or elsewhere for relaxation. Ravenna Park is a great place to live.

One feature that sets Ravenna Park apart from other neighborhoods is the Ravenna Ravine which makes up the southern border of the neighborhood. There are no through streets from 15^th Ave NE to 25^th Ave NE, so traffic in the area is minimal. Most of the homes in the area were built between 1900 and 1935 and styles of that era dominate.

One popular style use here is the American Foursquare otherwise known as a Prairie Box. The house is usually two or two and one half stories in height and built on a four room floor plan. On the main floor, the kitchen, the dining room, the living room and the parlor were the usual layout. Upstairs there were four bedrooms, one in each corner with the staircase in the middle.

  

Tudors were both large and small, and in this area are either of red brick, stucco, or are wood framed. Tudors have steep pitched roofs and gables, and tall narrow windows.  Often they have arced doorway or window openings.

Another very popular style is the Craftsman Bungalow. Features of bungalows include low pitched roofs, full front porches with large columns supporting the roof overhang and detailed woodwork throughout, including box beamed ceilings, plate and picture rail, build in cabinetry and full window trim. Bungalow can be very small, around 800 sq ft, to very large, over 5000 sq ft.

If you like old world charm houses Ravenna Park is a good place to start your search. The homes are well kept, landscaping is mature and it’s a great place to live.

 

 

 Glenn Roberts   |  Ravenna Park  |  My Seattle   | Lake & Co Real Estate

Ravenna

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Ravenna, a diverse neighborhood.

 

The Ravenna neighborhood in Seattle is located on the north side of town, just north of the University of Washington and just to the east of Green Lake and the Green Lake neighborhood. Okay, the Roosevelt neighborhood lies in between Green Lake and Ravenna, but let’s not split hairs.

Ravenna Park is a deep ravine park that stretches for 10 blocks east and west between 15^th Ave NE and 25^th Ave NE. The park defines the southern boundary of Ravenna and those avenues describe the western and eastern boundaries. State Rte 522, or Lake City Way cuts a diagonal across the map and that is the northern reach of Ravenna.

Ravenna is actually made up of three smaller neighborhoods. The area between the park and NE 65^th Street is more commonly known as Ravenna Park. The Homes of Ravenna Park date from the turn of the last century up to 1940. You can read more detailed information about that area in my Ravenna Park – North blog.  North of NE 75^th Street is an area often called Hayes Park. The housing stock there is mostly post WW II. The mid section of Ravenna was known for a long time as working class Ravenna. The avenues on the western half are on a ridge, were built between the 20’s and the 40’s and often offer some nice views. Homes on the eastern half, where the terrain is flat are more often from the 40’s and 50’s and are more affordable.  

Ravenna has a small but interesting commercial strip on NE 65^th Street between 20^th Ave NE and 25^th Ave NE. Not too many franchise operations here. It’s a nice mix of mom and pop operations. Many professionals are located in what appear to be older single family homes, but as the zoning changed, so did their usage.

The Current Market in Ravenna

As of March 26^th the year to date summary looks like this. In the single family category, including attached townhomes, there are 29 active listings ranging in price from $275,000-$899,000. There are 17 homes under contract and also 17 homes have closed in this first quarter with sales prices ranging from $250,000-$669,000. The condo market is sluggish at best. There are 7 units on the market ranging from $156,500-$224,900, but none are under contract and none have sold since January 1, 2010.

Market times in this popular area are short. 67.4% of homes have a  market time of less than 30 days.

Homes that are on the market for less than 60 days sell for almost 100% of the list price.

If you'd like to see homes in Ravenna and Ravenna Park, I'm just a phone call away. 206-524-3665.

All maps and data taken from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

 

 Glenn Roberts   |  Ravenna Park  |  My Seattle   | Lake & Co Real Estate

The Green Lake Neighborhood

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A description of the Green Lake neighborhood and a study of current market conditions.

 

The Green Lake Neighborhood is a diverse area that surrounds Green Lake and Green Lake Park. I consider there to be four distinct areas in the neighborhood.

 

To the southeast of the lake we find a mostly residential area with a small commercial area known as Tangletown. Wikipedia claims it is part of the Wallingford neighborhood, but the residents there cling to Green Lake.  The area has a few condominium and apartment buildings as well as a brewery and many fine restaurants. But mainly, this area is single family residences and some of them are pretty grand.    

The northeast area of Green Lake is the commercial district. Most of the condos, townhouses, and apartments are located in this area in an urban mix with the restaurants, stores, clubs, boutique schools and retail stores. On the fringes one will find many single family homes, but for the most part they do not have the cachet of the southeast quarter.

At the north end of the lake there is a small commercial area which includes a chocolate store, a bakery, a professional building with some fast food and other dining facilities and Lake and Company Real Estate.  Beyond these near the lake establishments is an area that is for the most past zoned for multifamily use and hundreds of zero lot line town homes have sprung up over the past ten years.

West of the lake is a narrow strip of single family housing. In the past it was shunned because one had to cross State Highway 99 to get to the lake, but for the past 15 years affordability has made it popular and residents for the most part are pleased to call this area home.  As one proceeds west and up hill the neighborhood becomes Phinney Ridge and the views both east and west become quite spectacular.

Current Market Report on Green Lake

There are 48 active listings, both single family and condominium, in Green Lake at the present time. They range in price from $182,500-$899,000. Currently there are 37 listings under contract with a value range of $245,000-$1,300,000. The year to date solds number 34, with a low of $278,500 and a high of $1,232,500.

 

Most listing sell here in the first 30 days on market.

On average, homes tht sell in the first 30 days on market get 98.2% of the asking price. Homes on longer get less, the least being homes on for 90-120 days which receive only 93.3% of what they were asking.

At any rate, the market is active and it is good n Green Lake.

All graphs, maps and data retrieved from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service

 Glenn Roberts   |  Ravenna Park  |  My Seattle   | Lake & Co Real Estate

Washington's most used park

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A brief history and description of Green Lake Park.

Green Lake is the heart and soul of the Green Lake neighborhood.  Once a  remote and relaxing destination for early settlers of  Seattle,  homesteading began in 1888 and has been growing ever since.

The lake is about 260 acres in size and has a maximum depth of 30 feet.  Green Lake Park surrounds the lake and has been described as the most used park in the State of Washington. A 2.8 mile paved and graveled walking, running, skating and biking path encircles the lake and beyond the path are numerous facilities for a wide range of athletic endeavors.

   

At the south end of the lake is the Green Lake Aqua Theater built in the 1950’s with a grandstand large enough to accommodate 5000 people. Most of it has been torn down now and remodeled to house the Massart Shell House and public rest rooms.  For history’s sake it might be noted that the bands The Grateful Dead and Led Zeppelin both played there in 1969.

   

Moving around the lake to the north we can find a small nature preserve on what is known as Duck Island. People are not allowed to set foot on the island. Today, when walking by we noticed a Bald Eagle in the top branches, probably scoping out a duck for lunch.  At the very north end of the lake is a building known as the Bath House Theater.  It was once just a bath house serving the swimming area still located here but now the building is home to The Seattle Public Theater at the Bathhouse.

Along the east side of the lake there is a children’s wading pool and nearing the commercial core of the Green Lake neighborhood we find the Green Lake Community Center with Evans Pool , basket ball courts inside and out, conference rooms and craft rooms. Adjacent to the center are baseball and soft ball fields that often double as soccer camp areas or just a good place to sail a Frisbee.  There are two sets of tennis courts, one here at the center and one on the north end. At the south end is a 9 hole chip and put golf course.

  

Green Lake Park provides hours and hours of outdoor recreation for all ages in many different ways. There is no reason to wonder why it is the state’s most used park. For information on the wide varity of trees in the park look for a book The Trees of Green Lake by Arthur Lee Jacobson.

 

 Glenn Roberts   |  Ravenna Park  |  My Seattle   | Lake & Co Real Estate

How do Sellers choose a Realtor

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It's not price, and it's not marketing strategy.

Blogs by Sally Cheeseman and Al and Peggy Cunningham have recently posted  articles on the listing presentation, on discussing when to talk about price and  about which is more important, price or marketing.  Many good comments followed about different strategies used.

But the overriding question was how and why do sellers choose a particular agent over others.  I’ve got a theory that it involves two other factors, confidence and enthusiasm.

Sellers are aware of and immediately taken to the agent with confidence. This agent knows the neighborhood, knows the sellers home style and the comps around it that have sold and are on the market. The confident agent is necessarily shocked when the seller throws out a priced that is purely pie in the sky.

And enthusiasm is also a big factor.  Sellers want an energetic agent who will be out there working for them. An agent who has a plan but also loves his plan and his work and can’t wait to get started. An agent who has at his finger tips, people who can help the sellers get the home into the condition it needs to be in to sell at the maximum possible price.

The price is pretty much a no brainer. If they have heard from three agents they know the value. And if one is trying to buy the listing, that will be obvious. They can be talked out of it…or, the listing is not worth taking.  Confidence and enthusiasm won’t sell an overpriced home.

 

 Glenn Roberts   |  Ravenna Park  |  My Seattle   | Lake & Co Real Estate

Rain Gardens Make Sense

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How to build a rain garden.

You can make an important contribution to reduce the amount of storm water and pollutants coming from your property by incorporating rain gardens into your yard. They don't take much space and will add beauty, variety and value to your landscaping and home.

 

A rain garden acts like a native forest by collecting, absorbing, and filtering storm water runoff from roof tops, driveways, patios, and other areas that don't allow water to soak in. Rain gardens are simply shallow depressions that:

• Can be shaped and sized to fit your yard.
• Are constructed with soil mixes that allow water to soak in rapidly and support healthy plant growth.
• Can be landscaped with a variety of plants to fit the surroundings.

Here's a detailed handbook prepared by Washington State University on how to beautify your yard, conserve water, and help protect our streams and estuaries from pollution.

 Glenn Roberts   |  Ravenna Park  |  My Seattle   | Lake & Co Real Estate

The Referral Mindset

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Joe Stumpf explains how to get your head right.

 Glenn Roberts   |  Ravenna Park  |  My Seattle   | Lake & Co Real Estate

Where do think they will go next?

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Historical graph of interest raates over the past 30 years.

The graph on this page was provided by North Point Escrow of Bellevue, WA for agents to share with their clients. What with all of the news being about interest rates rising, why aren't more people taking advantage of the relatively low housing prices and the current rates?

I've heard one report that claims interest will stay low because there is little demand for money these days. Now that a new jobs bill has passed, will the demand go up? There are many reasons for the rates to rise. How many reasons do you have for not stepping up to buy that investment property now, or to move to a home in the neighborhood you've been dreaming about. Don't look back at 2010 and say, I wish I had...

Call your Realtor today.

 Glenn Roberts   |  Ravenna Park  |  My Seattle   | Lake & Co Real Estate

LANDSCAPING AND TREES

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Some examples of how trees can improve the look of your home.

First off, let me disclaim any knowledge of trees or plants and how they grow the way they do. I'm strictly in to enjoyment of the land around my home and deeply into curb appeal when putting a home on the market to sell. I could take hundreds of pictures of homes with no trees or other landscaping in the yard in an effort to demonstrate how plain and monotonous they look. There is no need for that.

Today was a beautiful spring day and Marjie and I took a walk around our Ravenna Park neighborhood. One of the things that drew us here years ago was the variety of housing styles and the beauty of living in a well treed neighborhood.

Take a look at your home from across the street. Envision how a properly placed tree might enhance the look, provide some shade or otherwise give your pride and joy a lift. You would be surprised how other landscaping is soon developed around the tree and the house and at how much better you like it this way.

Just down the street from us is this weeping spruce. It has been pruned over the years so that a low branch hanging over the sidewalk has created a natural arbor. It is very unique and attractive. Behind the spruce are some flowering plums which are just beautiful this time of year. I don't know what the red leaves in the foreground are.

Around the corner we came across a Camellia. This type will probably only ever grow to 14 feet tall. In spring it adds a splash of color. The leaves stay green all year.

Over a few streets we spotted this magnificent flowering cherry (we think). Big white blooms. Tall and stately, yet well within keeping for a two story home.

Across the street were these red branched maples. What a nice bit of brightness the branches make all winter on those too short, too gray days.

Back at home the sun was playing off our dwarf Japanese maple. This tree will only reach 8 feet tall. With proper pruning it will be a beauty. The leaves are a maroon color as are the leaves on the flowering plums behind me. The grass has completely disappeared from our front yard as the stone patio, a small pond, stone path, and various shrubs and clusters of grasses and flowering plants took its place.

Have fun with your yard. Make it more beautiful and enhance the value. Your nearby garden supply center has answers for all of your questions. Don't live any longer in a home with no trees in the yard. Plant one today.