Hey Zoidberg

"AestheticsInMotion" (aestheticsinmotion)
02/16/2020 at 20:15 • Filed to: None

This one’s for you.

Th e Toyota I mean. I’m not a monster.

DISCUSSION (20)

fintail > AestheticsInMotion
02/16/2020 at 20:24

House looks prefab, recycled from shipping containers or something. Not offensive mind you (at least compared to some of the other new trash built around here), kind of Scandinavian to me, and the car house looks useful. I like the office building aesthetic of the atrium/entryway, they have a hard time moving away from that look.

I swear I’ve seen that Corolla around somewhere. There was a two door version parked on Main St in Bellevue often for a year or so.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > AestheticsInMotion
02/16/2020 at 20:26

I wish I had nice things.

That house (?) is awful even by my standards.

Nom De Plume > AestheticsInMotion
02/16/2020 at 20:37

Expected this to be about the garage nearly the same size as the house. Anyways, this garage has my interest. Really need to look up who here used the term “a charming amount of rust”.

Kinja'd!!!

OPPOsaurus WRX > AestheticsInMotion
02/16/2020 at 20:39

way too commercial looking.

AestheticsInMotion > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
02/16/2020 at 20:46

The two-tone metal roof is the cherry on top.

AestheticsInMotion > OPPOsaurus WRX
02/16/2020 at 20:47

Agreed, but I wouldn’t mind checking out the interior.

AestheticsInMotion > fintail
02/16/2020 at 20:49

I like the genuine shipping container houses. But then again, warehouse- style lofts full of metal and concrete a re my fetish.

I've heard shipping containers are pricey on the used market nowadays solely because of hipsters wanting to make houses out of them...

fintail > AestheticsInMotion
02/16/2020 at 20:52

This might be aiming for the look, but for a posher set who thinks it is edgy and cool.

I can believe it about shipping containers, waiting for conversions to sell for 900K here.

AestheticsInMotion > Nom De Plume
02/16/2020 at 20:52

Eh, it’slless impressive than it looks. Just two regular sized garage doors. The dormers suggest a family room above it, and the lower roof s ection is just a covered patio and small hallway connecting the garage to the main house.

I think I'd have gone a different route with that garage door, but otherwise I really like that place. I'm a sucker for copper. Minus the maintainance required to keep it from turning green...

AestheticsInMotion > fintail
02/16/2020 at 20:57

Coming home from work today I saw a sign near my place in Kirkland advertising new condos “starting in the 400's”. I was shocked how cheap they were, then deeply saddened at my concept of “cheap”.

fintail > AestheticsInMotion
02/16/2020 at 21:01

Probably for a 1 bedroom 3/4 bath with a $450/mo HOA and the cheapest finishes humanly possible.

I’ve seen a townhouse development in Kent with the same “starting at” price, it’s located about 8 feet off 167, probably peaceful.

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > AestheticsInMotion
02/16/2020 at 21:03

That is cheap, and depressing.

It was only two years ago I could still find a humble, neglected 70s rambler in previously-unincorporated Kirkland (east of 132nd, but north of 85th/Redmond Way, by the mosque) for under 500k. I actually floated the idea to my wife briefly back in 2017. Could have been a cash cow, but given that we were busy getting outbid on homes in EVERETT( !) I’d say it would have been unlikely we’d have won the bidding wars.

AestheticsInMotion > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
02/16/2020 at 21:12

Ha. The condo I saw was on 132nd, just a few blocks from the Mosque.

This area isn’t what it used to be. Traffic is as bad as anywhere outside of Seattle proper, and the culture/natural beauty has... Declined. I think your corner lot castle was the good move

AestheticsInMotion > fintail
02/16/2020 at 21:17

I’m surprised the tiny home thing hasn’t really caught on around here. Or is that something you only see on instagram/TV/architecture mags, but not really in real life?

Kent?? Really? Admittedly, it’s been over a decade since I’ve been there, but that still sounds nuts to me. Next you’ll tell me the seedy part of Marysville I spent a few years in as a kid is now a “desirable spot”

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > AestheticsInMotion
02/16/2020 at 22:08

I’ve been looking at these for an office out at the shop. I “think” the nicer, one-trip containers are much more in demand— and have driven up prices— so the days of “basically free” containers are gone for awhile.

OTOH, a reasonable 320' (8x40) finished unit will run $40-50K, so an extra $1000-2000 for the container isn’t really messing the financials up that much.

Nom De Plume > AestheticsInMotion
02/16/2020 at 22:36

My interest was the frame this garage creates. The backstory about being shared by two families yada yada dictated a lot else.

fintail > AestheticsInMotion
02/17/2020 at 02:11

I think it’s one of those things people support, but would never do it themselves. Kind of like lucky prior generations in Seattle who preach diversity etc, but they’d never sell their bought-for-nothing or inherited house in Magnolia and move to anywhere south of Capito l Hill.

I knew of an acre lot for sale in unincorporated Renton I could have picked up cheap (no more than 100K). It was next door to a co-worker, she wanted me to buy it as she knew I wouldn’t put up a mcmansion. I had an idea to buy a park model (well under 1000 sq ft) manufactured home and then put up a stick built ~1500 sq ft garage, but it was a lot of trouble, some weird financing with vacant land. that lacks utilities. It eventually sold about 3 days after it was listed.

Kent is seen as one of the last bastions of “affordable” housing in King County. You can still pick up a smaller 60s era rambler for 400K if you act quick, and some parts of the city aren’t bad. Killer commute to Bellevue though. Marysville is still far enough from most employment centers, but if a few big names set up shop in Everett, watch out.

NKato > fintail
02/17/2020 at 04:43

I have a meeting with a state rep about the housing affordability problem at the end of this week.

This shit is not sustainable, especially with the NIMBYs refusing to allow new development or rezoning. And most especially with the fact that homes are being bought up by people with absolutely no interest in residing in them or even renting them out at a reasonable price.

If any of you have any useful information I can use, let me know, please.

Longtime Lurker > AestheticsInMotion
02/17/2020 at 12:33

Nice yellow on that Corolla.

fintail > NKato
02/17/2020 at 13:22

Good luck with that. Problem is, officials are effectively on the take, as they want that sweet sweet t ax money to fund their perks and bennies. They also no doubt take kickbacks from the FIRE sector, as the economy slowly becomes more housing-dependent. They aren’t going to harm their own meal ticket. Many of them bought in when normal people could do so, and they don’t give a shit about those who entered the market later. This is Vancouver part II, without the first world healthcare system.

You mention the two big issues - shitty zoning, often supported by the luckiest generation who believes they have a gawd-given right to keep things the way they were, preventing the housing stock to expand with the population, and “investors” (often with unvetted sources of money, often buying residency) buying up stock and letting it sit idle.

I don’t have any info you probably aren’t already aware of, but it’ll be amusing to see what they tell you.