98118 Zip Code

Eight percent of all Seattle home sales in the past 30 days were located in the 98118 zip code of the Rainier Valley.

Of the 46 homes that sold in the last 30 days in the 98118 zip code of Seattle, twelve sold for between $400,000 - $500,000. All but one of these houses indicated that they had views, mostly territorial views, but some with mountain and lake views.

Of these, four were in Columbia City, four were in Seward Park, and two were in the Brighton neighborhood north of Othello.

Two of these properties had four bedrooms, but the average among these sales was for a three-bedroom, two-bath home with approximately 1700sf. Half of these sold for less than $433,000.

One-third of these twelve sales were for newer construction built after 2001. These four sold for a median price of $465,000.

Only one of these twelve had a lot size greater than 7300sf, which is potentially able to be sub-divided. It sold for $455,000 for a 2400sf newly-constructed four-bedroom house in Beacon Hill.

Of the 46 sales in the 98118 zip code in the past 30 days, 23 of these sales were for less than $433,000. Half of all sales sold in less than seven days, although average days on market for all of these sales was 33 days. If priced correctly, it will sell quickly.

For a complete list of properties for sale in the 98118 (Rainier Valley) area of Seattle, contact Wendy Ceccherelli at 888-621-4999 or HomeLandInvestment@gmail.com

Happy Investing!

Haves and Have Nots in Seattle

98118 is one of the hottest zip codes in Seattle right now. In the last six months, there were 253 residential sales, with an average sales price of $349,950. A year ago, the median home price was $345,000.

Compare this to the trendy Ballard neighborhood, where 314 homes sold in the 98117 zip in the past six months at a median price of $549,450. A year ago, the median home price was $477,500.

There is more than twice the active listing inventory in 98118 (59) than in 98117 (25).

Nothing demonstrates the rising inequality gap between the haves and have nots in the City of Seattle than these two comparisons. While Seattle is becoming increasingly more white, increasingly more affluent, those who can no longer afford the pricey north end neighborhoods are moving to the south. Increasingly, 98118 is seeing that influx of investors and new homebuyers looking for affordability, with proximity to jobs in Seattle city center.

Yet the bulk of the wealth and appreciation are taking place in the north end of the City, where home prices are back to or even above their pre-bubble prices.

For investors, and others looking for working-class neighborhoods in which to invest at more affordable prices, the south end offers some growth opportunities. In the north end, expect the bidding wars to continue, as inventory remains very tight.

Happy Investing!

Distraction

If you missed this blog the past few days, it was because I have been negotiating the fine details on my commercial land purchase at the Rainier Beach light rail station before closing this coming Monday, July 21.

Because the Seller did not want to have to come up with cash out of his pocket at closing, I was able to extend the Seller-financed promissory note one year, defer payments for one year, and make the payments interest-only, rather than amortized. We also got a $5000 discount on the price, to deal with an encroachment by the neighboring property.

Good deal! Moving forward!

Happy Investing!

Seattle Artist Live/Work Development

Van Gogh Development Corporation is purchasing a 10,000 sf parcel near the Rainier Beach Light Rail Station to develop as Artist Housing in a mixed-use, transit-oriented commercial development on South Henderson Street in South Seattle. This transit station is the first stop located in the City of Seattle, on the light rail line coming from SeaTac International Airport. It is also strategically located close to the airports at Boeing Access Field and the Renton Municipal Airport.

The subject site is proposed for development with a four-story 33-unit midrise, mixed use transit oriented apartment complex. The project is planned to have a mix of studio and one-bedroom units on the upper three floors with about 1800 sq ft of ground floor commercial. The subject units are intended to house artists in market rate live/work rental units, with 20% of the 33 units (7 units) targeted as "affordable" units.

Building amenities planned include a community room, common laundry with bike storage and a rooftop deck with seating and landscaped areas.

Rental increases in South Seattle were the second highest (after Everett) in 2013 in the metro Seattle area, and the rental housing market is strong.

The subject parcel is located one-half block from the Rainier Beach Light Rail station, on South Henderson Street. It is near the Chief Sealth power line trail, and close to Rainier Beach High School, Rainier Beach library, and Rainier Beach Community Center. It is located on bus lines for the #8, #106 and is also close to the bus stop with bike lockers at S. Henderson and Martin Luther King Way S.

The near-by business district on Rainier Avenue includes Safeway grocery store, Payless shoe store, Bank of America, and other nearby businesses. Kubota Gardens and Lake Washington are  each located less than one mile from this development site.

Van Gogh Development Corporation has hired SMR Architects to design this project. They were the lead architects for all of the ArtSpace Projects in Washington, including the Tashiro-Kaplan Building, Hiawatha Lofts, Mt. Baker Lofts, as well as the artist live/work renovations at Youngstown Cultural Center in Seattle. Douglas Ito is the lead architect for this project.

Geotech Consultants have been hired to do the geotechnical work on the surface and subsurface soils.

Principals in Van Gogh Development Corporation include O. Thomas Harper and myself. The Corporation was founded in 1994 by O. Thomas Harper. Mr. Harper has spent the past thirty years as a developer, primarily in South Seattle.

I spent over thirty years as a government arts funder, coming to Seattle in 1992 as the Executive Director of the Seattle Arts Commission under Mayor Norm Rice. During my tenure, I organized an artists housing forum which led to the development of ArtSpace projects in Seattle including Hiawatha Lofts and the Tashiro-Kaplan building.

For more information on our development, please contact me at wendy@vangoghdev.com.

Happy Investing!