Seattle Real Estate questions
 

1. Why are downtown apartment buildings so expensive?
2. What nabe/streets would you recommend ($550k to spend- prefer high rise w walking distance to bars/restaurants/shopping/public transportation.
3. People tell us "Queen Anne is so safe". Does that mean that other parts of the city are not-so safe? (we are moving from NYC for context)

Hi
Have you ever been to Seattle? Have you been looking for a house long?
From moving from the East Coast to Portland, Or, we were surprised to find the housing prices as high as they are, the dreaded "bubble" is still quite intact.
This is a good site for info on the real estate market, if you have not seen it..http://tinyurl.com/mpuok
My son lived in this area for a while a few years back, he did say it was a very beautiful area of town:
<i>
Queen Anne is the highest hill in town with an elevation of more than 450 feet above the waters of Puget Sound. It is worth taking a drive around to see why housing prices are booming and rentals vacancies are low here. You will find a stylish combination of noteworthy architecture, water and city views, and lively shopping all in close proximity to downtown. Queen Anne has long been seen as a desirable place to live. Seattle's earliest pioneers began to subdivide the hill as early as 1884. Head up to the west side of the hill for viewpoints.</i>

Thank you for your advice. I have visited but not in the last few years. I am strangely finding nice single family homes in our $$ range- but not apartments- I thought it would be the opposite.

Have you looked in the downtown or Belltown area? There are highrise condos going up all around here (and yes, it's a safe area, as is almost all of urban Seattle). While the &quot;view&quot; apartments might be above your price range, there should be others that are not.

I will be looking in Belltown/downtown. What do you think of these buildings? Are they full service? Nicely designed? Can you walk to restaurants etc? Is this considered a desireable place to live by Seattle residents?

I know what you mean about the apts :)
Portland is building dozens of new apt bldgs and they are selling for NYC prices!
Good luck ~

Unlike the case with many other cities, Seattle-area brokerages allow access to all MLS listings, so you can shop online easily.

Try http://www.windermere.com/index.cfm?....searchOptions
and http://johnlscott.com/Default.aspx for starters.

There is a large inventory of relatively new condos in central districts of Seattle. A couple of neighborhoods on the periphery of downtown - Queen Anne, Capitol Hill, South Lake Union - also have a lot of inventory.

There's nowhere that I'd call &quot;unsafe.&quot; But that's in a city where people wait for the &quot;walk&quot; sign at one in the morning, so standards are different.

The new condos/apts. in Belltown/Downtown are targeting higher income buyers who want luxury units. It's at least partly a function of high land costs downtown-land in neighborhoods, especially the further from downtown you get, is just cheaper. Plus, developers are capitalizing on the fact that highrise urban living is becoming popular again (people are moving in from the 'burbs to live downtown). My mom and sister are both realtors and they say that many buyers are just not interested in having yards or detached homes anymore. I don't think this trend is limited to Seattle-all over the West, at least, luxury condo/apt. units in urban settings are very popular and expensive.

Seattle is a very safe city in general, and if you're from NYC, you would laugh at what people consider the less safe neighborhoods. I have no idea why Queen Anne gets singled out as being especially safe-I can't imagine it's any different than most other neighborhoods.

If you're priced out of downtown, look at Capitol Hill-a great urban neighborhood with tons of restaurants, shops, buses, etc. Queen Anne and Fremont would also be great. You won't find high rises in these neighborhoods but there are a ton of new condo/apt. developments. South Lake Union, on the edge of downtown, is undergoing massive redevelopment with high and low rise condos/apts, and though there isn't too many shops/restaurants there yet, it's developing fast and is close to downtown (and, they're building a trolley to downtown).

If you want a good connection to &quot;bars/restaurants/shopping/public transportation&quot; your best option is Capitol Hill rather than Queen Anne Hill. (IMO, having lived on both.)

Over the past 10-15 years apartments and condos have been springing up in Belltown--an area that was formerly rather desolate. Belltown is located between the downtown retail core and lower Queen Anne Hill. It now has plenty of restaurants and bars; however, there is no major supermarket in the area.

The housing market is booming--bargains are not to be found in downtown or nearby neighborhood.

Better values may be found on Beacon Hill and in West Seattle.

Thanks for the great advice. In your opinion, are these Belltown/Downtown apartments worth the $$?
Also, is downtown accessible by bicycle from Queen Anne? I would like to minimize our car/gas usage.

I see you think Queen Anne is the best place for you.

To answer your question &quot;3,&quot; as far as I know Queen Anne, which covers a large area, is not significantly safer than other areas close to downtown. One neighbood on Queen Anne has had problems with prostitutes on Aurora Avenue (Highway 99).

If you live on lower Queen Anne, you will be inconvenienced by traffic and noise from Seattle Center (Key Arena, Space Needle, etc.)

If you want to drive to I-5 from Queen Anne, you will have to go through what is known as &quot;the Mercer Mess&quot;--an inadequate east-west corridor. This &quot;mess&quot; is likely to become worse in the near future because it passes through an area known as &quot;South Lake Union,&quot; which is undergoing massive redevelopment.

Yes, Seattle is bicycle friendly (though I just heard on local NPR, not as friendly as Portland).

Busses (I don't know how many) have racks on the front for bicycles.

There is also a fairly large ride-free zone on busses in downtown.

Please don't set your heart on any particular neighborhood until you've had a chance to explore them in person.

I should have said that IMO condos are not worth the prices they are asking for them.

Semi-desirable, two-bedroom, 1000 Sq. Ft. units are usually $500,000 or more. Homeowner dues and taxese are often each $400+ a month--adding another $10,000 or more a year to your housing costs.

However, a few years ago when similar units were $300,000, I also thought they were not worth the price.

QA to downtown by bike is a real quick ride. Going back is a bit more challenging.

1. Well the market supports it... is I suppose why.

2. Capitol Hill, First Hill, Belltown, or Downtown (in that order of my personal preference having the neighborhood ammenities you seek).

3. Queen Anne is extremely white and not diverse is likely what those people calling it &quot;so safe&quot; mean. There aren't too many &quot;high rise&quot; luxury buildings there, more older homes, established neighborhoods.

* re your second post. Where are these homes you can afford located? On Queen Anne? That would definitely surprise me.

* If you are willing to do a condo pre-sale you could get in someplace brand-new on Capitol Hill or any of the many new high rises slated to go up downtown, belltown, and lake union over the next few years.

As far as saving on gas, my commute by car from the top of Capitol Hill to downtown is 3 miles each way, takes about 15 mins. First Hill or Belltown even closer. Metro bus service or walking another option.

Why I chose a condo on Capitol Hill rather than downtown or Belltown is I prefer a more neighborhood feeling, with tree lined streets, parks, quieter, and even more ammenities (shops, large grocery stores, dry cleaners, etc.) and just as many restaurants as you'd find living downtown.

Suze- thank you for your response. I have been finding listings of SFHs in Queen Anne in our general price range. Maybe you could shed some light on this and give me a more realistic picture of what I am finding.
$585k 2020 Dexter Ave N. (5 Bedroom)
$559k 2423 3rd Ave W (3 Bedroom)
$569 2537 2nd Ave W

There are so many nice neighborhoods. My best friend and her husband live in Upper Queen Anne. It has a real neighborhood feel -- houses with big front porches, gardens, easy walk to the grocery store, etc.

Fremont is one of my favorite neighborhoods -- a few good restuarants and fun atmosphere.

Capitol Hill is nice for all of the reasons Suze mentioned. Plus it's easier to get downtown from Capitol Hill than it is from Queen Anne or Fremont.

I lived in Kirkland for a year. It's a beautiful town with a great waterfront, but it would require a commute across the bridges which isn't much fun during rush hour.

I'd plan a couple trips to Seattle to check out the neighborhoods you're interested in.

Sorry, I guess I can't be of help with single family on Queen Anne with any certainty, though will say there certainly are many smaller bungalow-style middle-class family-type homes there, along with the mansions.

I do feel up-to-date and confident with my condo information. I own on Capitol Hill (have for 15 years) and in the past year have looked around thinking about moving to a new place. I have been watching new construction South Lake Union, Belltown, and Capitol Hill for myself. Visiting model units, etc. I also looked at a number of places for a friend $550,000 price range who ended up buying a condo on First Hill.

On Queen Anne, depending on exact location, you might have one street with some shopping or restaurants, but it is not the concentration that you will find on Capitol Hill in several central areas.

Any reason why you want a high rise? Really, only downtown (Seattle and Bellevue)have high rise condos. Most of the neighborhoods have smaller multi-family buildings and still offer the amenities/proximity to restaurants you are looking for.

As has been mentioned, Fremont and Capitol Hill. Perhaps Greenlake, Madison Park/Valley, Ballard could be considered. I don't know how much bike riding is acceptable, but all the necessary infrastructure is available in any of those areas.

Will you be working downtown? If so, please know it's very hilly and not all that safe for cyclists. Public transportation would be a better route for daily commute to downtown.

Coming from Manhattan, we are stuck in our ways of the apartment. We do not want the maintenance (or cost) of keeping up an entire house. We are having difficulty finding an apartment in our price range. I also thought that since I will be working downtown- it could be a very easy commute for me to live downtown as well. Is it common for families to live downtown or is it more left to the professional/retiree singles and couples?

<i>Is it common for families to live downtown or is it more left to the professional/retiree singles and couples? </i>

The latter, but &quot;downtown&quot; is a far different term in Seattle than it is in NYC (aside from the specific definition of &quot;downtown&quot; in Manhattan.) A number of residential-kids-welcome areas are within a 10-15 min. bus ride of the downtown office core.

g7115, one of my nearest and dearest has lived on Queen Anne for 7 or 8 years now; I'll ask her for her impressions of the places on 3rd and 2nd.

Gardyloo- Good to know since we have young ones. A kid friendly environment is definitely a priority.

Dsquared- I would appreciate any local insights as I am having to do so much of this legwork online from NY.

Kids makes a big difference. For a combination of kids-friendly plus condo-style accommodations, I probably would be looking at N. Capitol Hill, Queen Anne, Wallingford, Fremont, or Madison Park. There are multifamily properties of various sorts in most areas ofthe city, but some, like First Hill or Belltown/Regrade IMO really don't have facilities or amenities that are supportive of young families.

Seattle is overwhelmingly a city of single-family-detached neighborhoods; while there are plenty of apartments and condos, they're much more geared to singles and couples than families.

You really ought to spend a weekend driving around with a realtor to get a first-person sense of what's what.

Have you tried craigslist.org? Take a look there, you can enter in your price range. I wasn't suggesting not looking for an apartment, rather, not looking for one in a high-rise.

With kids, I don't think I'd want to be in Belltown. It's a hipper crowd, more singles/young couples. The restaurants are also bars, and later in the evening turn exclusively into bars. You won't get as much space for your money and there aren't as many kid friendly amentities (parks).

I wouldn't hesitate to look into some of eastside neighborhoods of Bellevue, Mercer Island or Kirkland. It may be too suburban for you, and the pricing won't necessarily be any better, but the schools are some of the best in the state/country. And, mass transit can get you across the pond *fairly* efficiently.

I would not want to live downtown or Belltown with a family. I don't think many people do. It is most definitely geared toward and being marketed for professionals, singles or couples w/out children.

You really do need to come spend some time here!! After hearing your situation, I'd consider those homes on Queen Anne (and hire a gardener -lol!).

Seattle is a city of neighborhoods, each with a very distinct personality. People are very loyal and identify with the different areas. I might move condo but would never leave &quot;the Hill&quot; for example.

I disagree about biking with someone above. Several people at my office commute that way. Certainly you need a city-level of skill to be safe, but it can easily be done.

Thanks for letting us know you have kids. There are no schools downtown or in Belltown. You are not going to find a desirable condo for a family in the city because most of them aren't big enough for a family. There are loads of studios and one-bedrooms, but two-bedroom condos are much harder to find, and I've never seen a three-bedroom condo (but there must be one somewhere).

The mayor and city council have expressed that they WANT to make downtown a better place for families, but right now there's just not the parks, playgrounds, schools, etc, that families like. Neighborhoods like Queen Anne or Capitol Hill (esp. near Volunteer Park, with it's wading pool, big playground and grassy areas) would be better for kids, IMO.

I work downtown and tons of my collegues bike. You might decide the bus is better for going up steep hills, but lots of people do it.

This is the most confusing mess I've read on Fodor's in a long time. I think g7115 should get a real estate agent and leave us alone.

Good advice.

A bit disjointed but I think confusing mess is a bit harsh there magiccarpet.

Part of the &quot;problem&quot; was I assumed this was for a working couple no kids when they asked about downtown high rises, walking distance to bars, etc. Didn't realize children were involved until on down the thread. Obviously that changed some of our replies.

Interestingly enough there aren't any conflicting opinions (like usually happens) just loads of information on options.

Magiccarpet, if you want to be &quot;left alone&quot; just disable the left button on your mouse.

Mercer Island is very family-friendly, and they are building apartments and condos there like crazy. Not exactly high-rise, but 4 stories or so. These are right in the &quot;downtown&quot; area of Mercer island, with shops and a few restaurants, but nothing fancy (although the Bistro coming to the Mercer should be very nice). There are very good bus connections to downtown during commute hours; it takes about 15 minutes. I sometimes ride my bike (there is a bike lane) but that takes about 45 minutes.

The schools there are considered the best in the state (along with Bellevue). And there are nice parks with playfields, swimming beaches, etc.

If you're looking online by zipcode, it is 98040.

Gardyloo,old boy,

Gee whizz, I don't want to be left alone. What gave you that idea? I just find it annoying when a poster keeps moving the goal posts and isn't realistic. You know--like those who want to visit the Seattle, Vancouver, Victoria, the Olympic National Park, and the San Juan Islands during a 7-day (6-night) vacation.

Having looked up those houses g7115 described as &quot;nice,&quot; I think that he/she really needs to come to Seattle and tour properties with a good real estate agent to gain a stronger grip on reality.

If you find this post fun, keep writing--I always enjoying readying what you have to so.

I have a fare; I must be off.

Magiccarpet

Magic Carpet- Naturally, we will be visiting the city before we buy. You mentioned that you looked up the properties that I posted earlier and that a good real estate agent would help us get a stronger grip on reality. In YOUR opinion, are these places not “nice”? Bear in mind- I am going by 1 carefully cropped photograph on the internet. These are shots in the dark and, as I mentioned before, I appreciate any and all information.

Excellent.

Use this website (most user friendly one I have found) and you'll get more than one photo for most properties. You're right, it does appear there are loads of smaller single-family houses in that price range.
www.seattle-realestate.com