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

Low Interest Rates Make
Buying in Seattle a Smart Move 

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Interest rate comparison and opportunities.

According to an Associated Press article in today’s Seattle Times interest rates are at a yearly low and only slightly above last year’s low of 4.84%. This was not how the predictions were running two months ago when the federal government stopped buying mortgage backed securities.  It seems the private sector has taken over.

The article attributes the low rates to a concern over the global economy, with special emphasis in the poor financial condition of Greece, Spain and some other European countries. I don’t pretend to know a thing about global finance, but I do recognize a good deal when I see one.

If you have been thinking about buying a home, or an investment property in the greater Seattle area, I’m interested in help you accomplish that goal. If you are under 30 and wondering what the big deal is about interest rates, you should know that home mortgage rates in the 1980’s went as high as 18%.  

For comparison sake, a $300,000 loan at 5% interest amortized over 30 years would have a monthly principle and interest payment of $1,610. If the interest were 10% the payment would be $2,633, and should rates ever go to 18% again that same $300,000 loan might cost you $4,521 each and every month for 30 years.

The tax credit may be gone but buying a house with rates like these will pay you dividends for years to come. You'll be holding on to more of your hard earned money by not waiting too long. Don't get caught by rising rates.

For more information on properties for sale in the Seattle area, I’m just a phone call or email away.

If you are a seller in the Seattle area, spring and summer are the best selling seasons. Your property is worth more when buyers have more buying power. When rates rise, home values often decline. Take advantage of the great rates now available by getting into the market.

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

Mount St. Helens

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A picture

Thirty years ago today Mt St Helens blew its top. The mountain lost 1300 feet of its upper reaches and one large chunk of sidewall. Fifty seven people also died in the blast. Now the mountain is 8,365 feet high at the rim. Here's a couple of pictures I took from there in September of 2006.

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

The Newest Listings in Green Lake - Seattle

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Green Lake Listings in the past few days.

AS OF 5/16/2010 

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

Important Meeting for Roosevelt Land Use - Seattle

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On going concerns will be discussed in a public committee meeting as Roosevelt talks about zoning issues and change.

There will be an important Roosevelt Land Use Committee meeting this Monday, May 17^th at 7:00 PM at Calvary Christian Assembly. This will be a joint meeting with the Roosevelt Sustainability Group. Both committees are constantly exploring how to permit growth in the area, but also how to sustain the vitality of the neighborhood, how to improve the quality of the atmosphere, and how to preserve the quality of life as our neighborhood grows. The coming of the new light rail station has turned the eyes of the city and the state in our direction. Demonstrating community action and our positive growth position may set the bar for how other Urban Villages will grow as Seattle redefines itself for the coming century.

Joshua Curtis, Director of the urban advocacy group Great City, will be the main guest speaker. Great City is an organization founded in part my Mayor Mike McGinn, which focuses on public transportation, urban open space and neighborhood empowerment. 

A team of Great City people was at a meeting recently hosted by the Roosevelt Development Group (RDG) and were given a tour of the Hugh Sisley properties and a general idea how they, RDG, might develop the site given the go ahead on zoning changes and the approval of Sisley.

This meeting is an opportunity to let the Great City organization know how the residents and business owners of Roosevelt and Ravenna feel about how growth in the area should proceed.

Great City is a strategic urban advocacy group that believes smart and responsible urbanism is the solution to many of our social, economic, and environmental challenges. We are effective by engaging and empowering neighborhood groups (Neighborhood Assistance Program), developing and advocating for key urban strategies (Streets for People, Leadership for Great Neighborhoods, and Green Infrastructure), and bringing together public and private professionals to discuss and critique current projects and processes.

The Roosevelt Sustainability Group will be looking for new members and increased interest to help as we shape the way our community grows, rather than allow it to be shaped by the demands of outside interests.

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

2010 University Street Fair Seattle

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A glimpse of this years fair.

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

Seattle's Stadium District

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Development in the Stadium District

 The Stadium District in Seattle has seen a lot of development in the past few years. There were rumors once about some big time investors taking over the container shipping area and building condos, but there’s no way the Port of Seattle is giving up that property.

Smaller based investors are having a heyday. For example, a 1923 building known as the K. R. Trigger Building on First Ave So. Was purchased by Andre van der Most in 2006. He’s done a considerable amount of work on the building and is working now to improve on the basement storage areas. The building has three floors above grade and is almost full. There are three spaces still looking for tenants. They are about 400-600 square feet in size, but adjustments can be made.

Other tenants in the building include a craft brewery, a stylist, designers of different sorts, a mortgage company, and others, including Andre’s real estate brokerage, RealNovations, which specializes in investing in real estate with IRA accounts. You can find out more at his website, or give me a call and I’ll put you in touch with him.

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

Walk Away on Sixty Minutes

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Whose money is in your pocket.

Walk Away on Sixty Minutes

On May 9^th Sixty Minutes aired eighteen minutes of news/editorial on four homeowners who owe more on their homes than their homes are worth. About the man who bought a home for $1.4 MM which he says is now worth about $800K, but he loves the home and plans to stay there and keep paying the mortgage; him I applaud.  Sixty minutes didn’t say what his mortgage was and that might have been important to know in comparing him with the others.

Concerning the three others who have decided to not pay their mortgages any longer, I’m disgusted. All of them still had the ability to pay. They had their jobs or retirement income. But for purely financial reasons, they’ve decided to renege on their contractual obligations and, in essence, steal from the bank and help in the downward spiral of prices in their neighborhood, i.e. steal value from their community. One couple even added in closing that they would save a lot of money by not paying their mortgage for six months, but they would still live in the house until the sheriff threw them out.

The laws in our states that protect homeowners from foreclosure were made with this in mind: The people wanted to keep their homes, but because of ill health, job loss, or other temporary set backs they were unable to make a few payments. Hence the six months to a year of “chance to recapture” for the mortgagee with problems.

The people in the Sixty Minutes piece don’t have these issues. They are just unhappy because the chance they took to make money buying a home didn’t pay off. Does that make it okay to steal that payment from the lender by remaining in the house? Did the lender promise them a profit when they bought the home?

Sixty Minutes mentioned a large land owner who defaulted on an apartment complex in New York. They didn’t say if that landholder kept rents that should have gone toward loan payments. Sixty minutes also mentioned a company which consoles people who want to walk away. For a fee they ease the scofflaws’  consciences.

Sorry, my heart wasn’t broken by any of their tales of woe. How about you?  

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

The Ten Essentials for Selling Your Home

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Be sure and be safe. Don't be sorry.

The Ten Essentials for Selling Your Home

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

The Great American Dream Isn’t for Dreamers Anymore

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Buyers, don't be bribed any longer.

Bob Haywood’s post this morning  Coldwell Banker Extends Tax Credit  touched a nerve. The time has come to stop giving to buyers to make them act. If they don’t understand the value of buying a home, now, then they will have to learn just like the last bunch. When prices are going up rapidly and all of their friends are buying, then they will jump on. Why does this inane cycle continue? Do Realtors push people to buy because everyone else is buying?

The time to buy, dear Buyer, is when you feel the time is right in your personal life and your economic life to take on a huge responsibility. You are, for one thing, going to find a way to make at least the minimum payment that is establish in your loan documents every month for the next thirty years. You are taking on the challenge of a maintenance project that other people have started but you are going to continue, or you will see your down payment investment wasted.

You may just have to give up every weekend skiing or sailing or trekking adventures to stay home and paint, or mow, or clean. This house is not going to take care of it self and you now are the designated driver…for the next thirty years.

Mr. Rogers may have told you, you were special, just because you are you. But that place you now live in does not have a land lord you can call. The responsibility of that falls on your shoulders.

Don’t let anyone bribe you into buying a home. Homeownership makes for a special class of people. You’ll feel so real pride in yourself once you get there. Just don’t ride in on someone else’s coat tail. Earn it, and respect it. You will be glad you did.

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

April 2010 Market Data Report for Seattle's North End

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Seattle's north end. A great place to live.

The North End of in-City Seattle is located between Puget Sound on the west and Lake Washington on the east, between the ship canal on the south and 145^th Street on the north. The ridges running north and south provide many homes with views of the Olympics or the Cascade Mountains. Central to the area is Green Lake, a gem of a park.

Because it is easy to commute to downtown Seattle from this area and just as easy to get out of the city and off to unlimited entertainment, it is a very popular area. Currently there are 805 listings in the area and 221 closed during the month of April. That’s an absorption rate of 3.64 in the single family homes category. Most bloggers consider an absorption rate of 4-6 as a normal market. So while most of the area is still in a normal or buyer’s market, this area is trending toward a seller’s market.

The properties for sale range from a low of $145,000 to a high of $6,800,000. The highest closed sale in April went for $2,483,000. Here’s a picture of that Windermere property.

I’ve been working in this north-end area since 1987 and would like to help you sell your home here, or find the perfect spot to live. All you have to do is contact me.