New Post - Testing

Site Testing....

Sam DeBord and Brian Wiegand

Seattle Real Estate Brokers

Seattle Waterfront Homes

SeattleHome.com
(206) 552-8820

 

[tags seattle homes, seattle real estate, seattle waterfront homes, seattle waterfront real estate]

Seattle - Fifth Safest City To Live - Forbes

Forbes Magazine listed the 10 safest cities in America to live, with Seattle checking in at number 5 on the list. The list was based on a number of stats, including crime, workplace accidents, weather, and traffic accidents.
It's not a surprise to see Seattle on this list. Our crimes rates are unusually low for a large city. We don't see a lot of the natural disasters that affect some other cities. Our rare earthquakes have caused little damage, there's been only minor flooding in the city, no tornadoes, hurricanes, and snowstorms are scarce.
America's Safest Cities
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, Minn.-Wisc.
Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, Wisc.
Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, Ore.-Wash.
Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash.
Providence-New Bedford-Fall River, R.I.
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.
New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Pa.
Cincinnati-Middletown, Ohio (tie)
Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, Ohio/Denver-Aurora, Colo. (tie)

Sam DeBord and Brian Wiegand
Seattle Real Estate Brokers
Seattle Waterfront Homes
SeattleHome.com (206) 552-8820

Home Sales Up 9%, Inventory down 7%

Home sales in the U.S. showed their fourth gain in five months by posting a 9% gain in existing home purchases as compared to 2008. At the same time, inventory of total homes was down 7.5%, signalling more good news for home sellers. There's no sure sign of recovery in the national real estate market, but this is another month of positive figures.
Realtor Article
Sam DeBord and Brian WiegandSeattle Real Estate BrokersSeattle Waterfront HomesSeattleHome.com (206) 552-8820

Bank-Owned Seattle Homes Increase, Still Low

Seattle foreclosures have been rising steadily for the past couple of years, but a new article from CNN Money puts the total numbers in perspective. While Seattle got hit with the real estate downturn much later than most cities, our foreclosures have been increasing while other cities have been slowing.

That being said, our total foreclosure numbers are less than half the national average. Most big cities have real issues with foreclosed homes and distressed properties. Seattle bank-owned homes constitute less than one quarter of one percent of the homes for sale on the market. This is miniscule, and doesn't affect the real estate market much at all at this point. From the article:
The housing market could rebound quickly... "It's down because of economic distress," .... Once job losses end, the city's very diverse and modern companies should drive a quick recovery.

Article from CNNMoney

Sam DeBord and Brian Wiegand

Seattle Real Estate Brokers

Seattle Waterfront Homes

SeattleHome.com (206) 552-8820

Seattle Floating Homes and Houseboats Guide - Part 5 - Locations

Seattle Floating Homes and Seattle Houseboats - Part 5 - Locations
Seattle Houseboats and Floating Homes Map
Seattle Floating Homes Listings - Seattle Houseboats For Sale
The floating homes and houseboats in the Seattle area are all centered around Lake Union. The Puget Sound waterfront is usually too rough for year-round moorage, and even Lake Washington with its great size can pick up a lot of wind and boat traffic, causing some rocky waters. Lake Union, on the other hand, has caps on boat speed and a smaller surface area to pick up bad weather. It's fairly calm year-round.
Eastlake - This is the home of the most magnificent floating homes. While you can find some smaller homes for around $400k, there are also high-end communities with $2 million+, two story modern floating homes. These are well-established communities and some newly-constructed communities. Eastlake is the most well-known neighborhood and houses a large number of homes.
Portage Bay - This area also has a large number of floating homes, and is well protected in its small cove. Many floating homes reside here, from small huts to full-sized traditional homes. Located off the Montlake neighborhood, just across from the Seattle yacht club, there's plenty of boat traffic to view from the decks.
Northlake - This shoreline on the South end of the Wallingford neighborhood has quite a few houseboat/liveaboard communities. You'll find everything from small sailboats to paddlewheel boats that are used as residences. Gasworks Park is on this shore along with some marine industrial properties.
Westlake - Welcome to Sleepless In Seattle. Tom Hanks' houseboat is here, along with a small outcropping of other floating homes. This area is not as well-known for houseboats, save the movie star residence. There are a lot of commercial/entertainment businesses in Westlake, which is separated by a steep slope from the East end of Queen Anne.
Canal/Queen Anne - Some of the least expensive houseboats/floating homes can be found here. The views aren't as good as on Lake Union, but it still has great access to the lake and to the Puget Sound. Most of the homes are located on the North shore of the Queen Anne neighborhood.
Searching for houseboats on the MLS can be difficult. Real Estate agents vary in how they identify the neighborhood of the homes. One houseboat could be listed 3 different ways--Lake Union, Northlake, or Wallingford. Here are some of the most common:
Eastlake Floating Homes
Lake Union Floating Homes
Portage Bay Floating Homes
Queen Anne Floating Homes
Wallingford Floating Homes
Westlake Floating Homes
Although there have been other houseboats moved around to different parts of Seattle, the permanently established communities are all based within these neighborhoods and offshoots of the Lake Union waterfront.
Sam DeBord and Brian WiegandSeattle Real Estate BrokersSeattle Waterfront HomesSeattleHome.com (206) 552-8820

Seattle Floating Homes and Houseboats Guide - Part 4 - Financing

Seattle Floating Homes and Seattle Houseboats - Part 4 - Financing

Let's reiterate again - Houseboats and Floating Homes are different. Financing is one of the biggest differences. Floating homes can be financed with regular 30 yr mortgages, traditional interest rates, and pay regular property taxes. Insurance is a bit more expensive than a traditional home.
Financing a houseboat (vessel), on the other hand, is nothing like financing a regular home. There are quite a few differences, the most important being:
Down Payment - Forget your No-Money-Down purchases. Most lenders will require 25%-30% as a down payment. These numbers change over time and with different lenders, but you must have a sizable down payment. The least expensive Seattle houseboat right now is about $60,000. That would still probably require $15,000 down. Add to that...
Sales Tax - In most cases, houseboats are sold as personal property. These "recreational vehicles" will pay almost 10% in sales tax at closing. The buyer pays this tax. You'll also pay yearly licensing fees. This $60,000 houseboat now requires $15k down, $6k sales tax, plus closing costs. Most buyers should figure on needing about 40% of the houseboat's price available in cash to make the purchase.
Interest Rates - Rates will typically be at least 1 percentage point higher than comparable home mortgage rates, and sometimes 2-3% higher. A water-based house clearly has more potential for damage than a land-based house, and the lenders factor that risk into the rate. Only a few banks will finance these loans, so you must find a specialized lender.
Insurance - Insurance costs are higher for boats than they are for homes. A monthly policy for a house might be $80, while a monthly policy on a houseboat could be $200.
Still on board? It's better to know these issues up-front, and if you still feel like houseboat living is for you, let's move on.

Sam DeBord and Brian Wiegand
Seattle Real Estate Brokers
Seattle Waterfront Homes
SeattleHome.com (206) 552-8820

Seattle Floating Homes and Houseboats Guide - Part 3 - Utilities

Seattle Floating Homes and Seattle Houseboats - Part 3 - Utilities
Utilities on your houseboat or floating home can be rather ordinary or rather imaginative. It all depends on your home and your moorage.
Electricity - This is usually fairly standard. There are electric utility outlets available at your moorage for hookups to your home's electric supply. Some houseboats will have large batteries or generators that charge while in dock, and can be used while out at sea. Most large floating homes are hooked up semi-permanently to the electrical service and the owners need not pay much attention.
Water - Most floating homes are simply hooked up to an external hose from their moorage that brings in city water. Compact water heaters are on board for hot water supply. Houseboats that cruise will many times have a holding tank for potable drinking water that stores plenty of water onboard.
Sewer - This is where it gets interesting. Your high-end floating home communities have very sophisticated sewer systems that work with the city sewage lines. The homes run regular, gravity-flow sewer lines from sinks, toilets, and showers, out to a submerged large holding tank maintained by the community. When the tank fills, it automatically pumps the sewage up and out to the main city sewer lines. Houseboats, on the other hand, can have on-board gray water tanks (shower/sink) and black water tanks (toilet). Since they leave their moorage at times, they can't be permanently affixed to a sewer line. These tanks must be pumped out by a mobile sewage service regularly.
Garbage - Get ready to haul. While many communities have city garbage services, you're most likely going to be hauling your bags of garbage to the end of your docks to a main dumpster/pickup site. This is much like living in a condominium complex, but it is one of the unique factors of living on the water. From groceries to laundry to trash, there's a lot of hauling back and forth.

Sam DeBord and Brian Wiegand
Seattle Real Estate Brokers
Seattle Waterfront Homes
SeattleHome.com (206) 552-8820