A good piece of evidence of the cooling housing market in my neck of the woods.

"Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo" (thetomselleck)
09/09/2018 at 14:08 • Filed to: House shopping

Beautiful little house on 15th and Grand sold for a mere $380,000. If they had listed this back in April or May, it would have easily commanded over $43 5,000. Even now, the estimate is still for $413,000 but still sold well below that.

We actually went to this open house last month. I chatted with the agent for quite some time. When I told her I was stunned by the asking price (a mere $350,000), she commented that she knew the market was cooling off and her clients had no interest in the house sitting for weeks on end (the house across the street has now been for sale for 88 days!). She said she needs to get people in the door, and knew it would sell regardless because you can’t find a decent home in a good neighborhood for under $400k — until now, of course.

Anyway, she was super nice and transparent. The crawlspaces and attic accesses were all open for snooping. There were no quick repaints. The floors were not all wonky. She had already had five pre-inspections. While I snuck around, it was apparent that it was a damn solid house.

Random details: the house was 1,100 square feet, 3 beds and 1 bath. It had a carport that could easily fit three cars under and an additional space on the left. The lot is super small but we’ll maintained. Backyard is basically a party area. Roof had lots of life. And yes, you actually did have a pretty good view of the water between the chasm of the two homes across the street.

As you can see, you’re pretty much two inches away from your neighbor. Not a concern when if neighbor doesn’t suck, but I admit that I love that I can’t hear any of my neighbors at all.

https://www.redfin.com/WA/Everett/1525-Grand-Ave-98201/home/2737369

DISCUSSION (27)

fintail > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
09/09/2018 at 14:24

Still a sign of an insane market when an admittedly pleasant looking but little prewar bungalow that qualifies as a “soul crushing” commute from many employment centers still trades for nearly 400K.

Per zillow it is now worth about 3% less than that sale price, lol.

I have a friend who lives in a disco era condo on Grand - nice view, but he was awfully smug about how much it supposedly appreciated since he bought it a couple years ago, good luck with that!

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > fintail
09/09/2018 at 14:26

You're not wrong, but it still would have commanded much more back in spring.

My office is in Everett, so Everett to Everett for me is pretty easy

fintail > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
09/09/2018 at 14:32

Or it would be more than twice as much in even a marginally decent part of Seattle, that’s something else to think about.

I have the good luck of working in Bellevue, a daily Everett-Bellevue commute ranks up there with s eppuku for me. Funny thing, I have co-workers who commute from Mill Creek and Puyallup every day. I’m not cut out for it. My Grand condo friend works in downtown Seattle, I tease him when the trains don’t run.

Jayhawk Jake > fintail
09/09/2018 at 14:36

The regional nature of the housing market never fails to amaze me.

I’m closing on a house for less than half as much as this one with 750 more Sq ft, another bedroom, 2 more bathrooms, an actual garage, and a sizeable lot. Just because I'm in Kansas and not the NW

fintail > Jayhawk Jake
09/09/2018 at 14:40

And regions within regions. This nice little house would be considered by most to be way too far from Seattle - it’s about 30 miles north, which means a commute probably averaging 90 minutes at normal times, barring bad weather or road incidents.

There are places in the NW with KS housing prices, but they are usually quite distant from amenities.

Ash78, voting early and often > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
09/09/2018 at 14:49

We have a few pockets around Birmingham that can approach those levels, but most of them are priced for the land (a deep half-acre backyard). Almost nobody tolerates a 3/1 these days, so a minimum addition of one bathroom or commensurate discount is almost expected.

The hot markets (except Miami) are all showing signs of slowdown, which is healthy after this unprecedented mini-bubble. I’m not concerned. Any time home appreciation outstrips wage growth in the short run, there’s a problem.

DipodomysDeserti > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
09/09/2018 at 14:57

A cooling off price of $380k for a house with one bath an no good Mexican food anywhere in site. Insane. I blame the lack of sunshine.

DipodomysDeserti > fintail
09/09/2018 at 14:59

I’m in the Southwest and I would consider Everette quite distant from amentities.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > DipodomysDeserti
09/09/2018 at 14:59

I would argue you get enough sunshine just about everybody else

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Jayhawk Jake
09/09/2018 at 15:01

Other factors apply. Costs of living are higher here, as are wages, yadda yadda.

fintail > DipodomysDeserti
09/09/2018 at 15:07

It has over 100K people now, and is much improved over the past. If I worked there I’d be fine living there, it has most things I need. But to live there and work elsewhere wouldn’t be tolerable for long, not on the roads here.

My mom lives in one of the parts of the PNW where 250K will still buy a nice house, and you can get perfectly livable places for under 150K - but she has to drive 2 hours to see medical specialists, the nearest Costco is over an hour away, etc.

Frenchlicker > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
09/09/2018 at 15:16

It would make you sick thinking about what you could get for that where I live. Then again the pay rates in the area would probably make you sick as well.

AestheticsInMotion > fintail
09/09/2018 at 15:21

Longview seems to be one of the better places I’ve f ound for the cost of living/nearness to civilization/soul-crushing traffic ratio.

AestheticsInMotion > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
09/09/2018 at 15:26

At some point in the next year or two my current company will buy space for satellite locations. I’m pushing for something around here so I could head that office and move north. Everett seems to be a lot nicer than when I lived there.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > AestheticsInMotion
09/09/2018 at 15:43

Parts are certainly better, but still plenty of garbage. Stay away from 128th/Mariner.

Jayhawk Jake > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
09/09/2018 at 15:44

It’s all so made up. Cost of living doesn’t need to be higher, but it is. Wages are higher because the cost of living is higher, yadda yadda.

It’s economics, which I understand, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t stupid.

fintail > AestheticsInMotion
09/09/2018 at 15:45

Prices definitely become more realistic as you move south compared to north. Longview might be a viable commute if you work north of downtown Portland (not sure if Longview has a real job market) . Centralia/Chehalis can probably be workable going to and from Olympia, too, and there can be affordable land in the country around there.

Eric @ opposite-lock.com > AestheticsInMotion
09/09/2018 at 16:08

The problem is that it’s a really rough town for various reasons, or at least it was the last time I looked at crime stats.

Quadradeuce > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
09/09/2018 at 16:26

This would go for about $125k in my neighborhood, which is a very nice area of town. This over by the paper mills would run about $80k.

DipodomysDeserti > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
09/09/2018 at 16:49

Which causes other problems.

Kinja'd!!!

Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
09/09/2018 at 17:06

I wish the market around here was cooling off. It’s still doing the opposite.

List a house at market, sell in 5 days unless it’s a complete and total basketcase or teardown. Or in a zip code where just saying the numbers causes your insurance to septuple.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks
09/09/2018 at 17:09

Where you at?

Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
09/09/2018 at 17:31

West side suburbs of Cleveland.

Neighbor about 6 doors down put up their freshly remodeled 2300sqft at 185. Fair price. Scheduled open house for Sunday on a Tuesday. Cancelled on Thursday, contingent on Friday.

Tristan > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
09/09/2018 at 18:24

It does this every year. Huge spike in the spring, steady climb over the summer, slight decline at the beginning of the school year, and a plateau until the next spring spike. Fall/winter is the best time to buy- too bad no one sells then.

E92M3 > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
09/09/2018 at 18:47

In my zip code for the past 2 months there were over 500 new listings per month, but each month less than 150 homes were sold. To me that means supply is increasing. Those were summer months too, which tend to be busier as parents want to move before school starts back.

A couple neighbors have had their houses listed for about 5 months now. They started out at the same price as the last sale back in March. They’ve both dropped their price $25k in the last 90 days.

Funktheduck > Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks
09/09/2018 at 19:16

The neighborhood I just moved out of is like that. Except for the house I moved out of. It was a rental for who knows how long and not maintained. Price is high even if it was in good condition but would sell because of the area. It’s been on the market for over 2 months with no price adjustment.

Spamfeller Loves Nazi Clicks > Funktheduck
09/09/2018 at 19:33

There’s a total wreck of a place in the HOA “upscale” development down the street (literally) from me. Roof is literally collapsed, the concrete driveway is just hunks of rock, and it spent 2 years rotting in foreclosure.

They want $225k.

And they may get it, because apparently the lot has exactly 11 more square feet than the minimum to subdivide it into two.