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Land's End Magnolia Neighborhood in Seattle Offers Great Seattle Waterfront Options
Posted on March 6, 2010
Land's End Magnolia Neighborhood in Seattle: This one is pretty different from the rest of Seattle - Lands End in Magnolia:
In the upper most corner of Seattle's Magnolia neighborhood and nestled above the quiet inlet of water coming to the Ballard Locks is the tiny Sea Captain's hide away mini neighborhood of Land's End. Land's End is a small sub section of Magnolia in Seattle with far less than 100 homes, but big water views and lots of waterfront homes here! It is East of Discovery Park and Lawton Wood and looks across to Ballard's Sunset Hill. Seagulls soar overhead and sea lions come to chase the salmon that migrate through these beautiful waters. Land's End is just up the street from Commodore Park on Magnolia's side of the Locks and a great place to launch a canoe or kayak to paddle around in the waters. Wonderful views and summer exposure and great schools are just one more feature of this vacation hideaway right in Seattle! Currently, there are even a few Land's End homes for sale, so let us know if you want to discover Land's End!
Additional info:
photo courtesy of Google Maps
IRS Allows For Non Signed HUD-1 Statements When Claiming Homebuyer Tax Credit
Posted on February 28, 2010
Seattle Real Estate Tax Credit Guidelines: The IRS does allow for non signed HUD-1 statements to be attached to your tax return when claiming the home buyer tax credit if......
Yes, there is an if. - If it is customary in your locale for them not to be signed. In Seattle, buyers and sellers sign the estimated HUD at escrow with all other loan docs for purchasing the home, but the final HUD statements are mailed out to everyone after closing of the real estate purchase. These statements are stamped with the official escrow signature to indicate that they are indeed the final HUD-1 statement, but no other signatures from buyer or seller are on the final HUD in our jurisdiction.
The question does keep coming up: I got this call all last week from Seattle real estate clients who did take advantage of the tax credit opportunity out there when buying their home. It was very frustrating for them because IRS form 5405 so clearly indicates that a signed final HUD-1 is required. I wanted to put some IRS info up to help clarify the process. Obviously, I am not a tax accountant, and you should seek your tax professional's advice, but here are the exact recommendations from the IRS ( I have highlighted a few choice sections):
"Q. What do I have to attach to my 2009 or 2010 return to prove that I bought a new home in order to claim the credit?
A. If you claim the credit on a 2009 (or later) return, you must attach a copy of your settlement statement. For most homebuyers, this will be a properly executed Form HUD-1, Settlement Statement (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) that includes:
- Names and signatures (if available) of all parties involved,
- Property address,
- Purchase price, and
- Date of purchase."
"Q. What do I do if my settlement sheet does not have any signatures?
A. The IRS encourages buyers seeking the homebuyer credit to sign the settlement statement when they file their tax return -- even in cases where the settlement form does not include a signature line. The IRS recognizes that elements of the settlement document, often a Form HUD-1, may vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and may not reflect the signatures of both the buyer and seller. While the Form 5405 instructions indicate that a properly executed settlement statement should show the signatures of all parties, the IRS has clarified that it will accept a settlement statement if it is complete and valid according to local law. In areas where signatures are not required on the settlement document, the IRS encourages the buyer to sign the settlement statement prior to attaching it to the tax return. In situations where the signature of the seller is not on the settlement document, the IRS advises the buyer to still sign the document."
So according to the IRS in regards to claiming your homebuyer credit, they would like you to go ahead and sign your HUD-1 when you attach it, but they don't require you to do so as their form 5405 so clearly asks you to do. Hope that helps!
Seattle, there is still time to take advantage of the homebuyer credit - let us know if you need help finding a home or want more details on the program or others out there: realestate@cooperjacobs.com
Queen Anne Real Estate Residential Homes Market Update
Posted on February 25, 2010
Queen Anne Real Estate Residential Homes Market Update: What is available in Seattle's Queen Anne neighborhood right now? There are 106 Queen Anne homes for sale right now - these are all the residential listings in the MLS that are listed for sale and in active status as of right now.
Quick stats reveals average list price of $969,269, average square footage of 2746 and average dollar per square foot at $346. Average days on market for these is 132. 
If I exclude Queen Anne short sales from the list which tend to skew the numbers, I am left with 101 active Queen Anne homes for sale right now - this is a small percentage of short sales compared to other neighborhoods and a real testament to the neighborhood. Quick stats with these changes reveal averages at $996,985 for listing price, 2801 for square footage, $349 for dollar per square foot, and a longer days on market at 134.
If I exclude Queen Anne short sales from the list which tend to skew the numbers, I am left with 101 active Queen Anne homes for sale right now - this is a small percentage of short sales compared to other neighborhoods and a real testament to the neighborhood. Quick stats with these changes reveal averages at $996,985 for listing price, 2801 for square footage, $349 for dollar per square foot, and a longer days on market at 134. There are 27 pending Queen Anne properties in the MLS excluding short sales. The days on market is pretty remarkable - the range is from 1 to 138 days, but the average is 30 days and the median is 14 days. If you have a well priced and presented Queen Anne home, it sells and quickly. List price on these pending sales ranges from $138,000 to $1,965,000, but the real meat of the homes with offers on them in this great neighborhood is an average price range of $626,465 and median of $567,000. Three bedrooms.2 baths is the median for what is selling the most of these. Pulling up Queen Anne short sales only, there are six that are pending in the MLS as of today on top of the 27 pending Queen Anne homes. The days on market for these range from 5 to 158 days with an average of 53 and a median of 40 days. The median price range for these is $506,250 and I would expect the days on market to increase significantly before they close - if they close at all.
Queen Anne is already off to a great start for homes sold this year. So far in 2010, 21 homes have sold (no short sales have closed this year in Queen Anne). These closed sales range in price from $350,000 to $1,700,000 with an average of $726,874 and a median of $665,000. The average days on market for these was 105, but that was seriously skewed by one house that was on the market for 328 days. The median days on market for these sold homes was 82. The shortest time on market for these sold Queen Anne homes? 12 days. The average sales price to listing price ranged from 90.57% to 94.92% depending on days on the Queen Anne real estate market. Last year, 2009, for the same period, there were 19 sales on Queen Anne with average sales price of $757,562 and in 2008 for the same period there were also 19 sales with an average sales price of $806,079. Going back to 2007 for this period paints the bigger picture. There were 26 Queen Anne homes that sold during this time - the average sales price was $689,967. This tells me that Queen Anne homes sales are definitely improving, although the last two years have not been highly depressed regardless of overall Seattle real estate market slow down.
Queen Anne Real Estate Conclusions? If you want to sell your Queen Anne home, then go forward without fear. There are buyers out there wanting to move here! If you want to buy a Queen Anne home then go ahead - take advantage of the low interest rates that will be heading up inevitably as they always do. Take advantage of the tax credit if you qualify (that window is closing soon unless they extend).
Seattle Floating Homes Market Opening Up A Little For 2010
Posted on February 22, 2010
Seattle Floating Homes Market Opening Up A Little For 2010: Seattle houseboats for sale are increasing. The floating home inventory has been extremely low and continues to be so with only a few home son the market right now, but that is better than a little over a week ago when there was only one floating home for sale in Lake Union!Right now you have a few choices in all price ranges and I know of at least two more Seattle floating homes coming on the real estate market in the next week or so. You can get into a Seattle floating home at $365,500 for a great Lake Union Floating home with a sleeping loft and room to go up a level. This one has been on the market for just 20 days and has a lot to offer - it is located in North Westlake in Westlake Cove. Westlake Cove is a well maintained co-op dock with great views of the city and Gas Works Park.
More Seattle floating homes for sale: Another floating home in Westlake Cove is also available for sale right now at a price point of $575,000 - you can find more details on our Seattle houseboats for sale page of this site. Just a few minutes ago an Eastlake Floating Home came on the market - a wonderful 2 bedroom on Fairview and a great example of Eastlake houseboats - it came on at $769,000 and has a dedicated parking spot. We have seen Mallard Cove floating homes sell in the last year as well as Roanoke Reef - there is a Roanoke Reef floating home pending right now - I will update you if anything changes on that one because it was a very cool place as far as Seattle houseboats go!
Seattle floating home real estate choices are opening up a bit - let us know if you want to see anything - the sun is out and it is a great time to go tour the docks right now! We can show you all of our favorite waterfront spots along Lake Union and Portage Bay, too!
Seattle Real Estate: Seller Tip #1
Posted on February 19, 2010
Selling your home in the Seattle real estate market right now can be challenging. Here's a Few Seller Tips: You want to make sure to try and price your home right and obviously present it well, but right now the biggest problem we are having with selling homes to our buyers is the sellers themselves.
Make your home easy to show. Unless there is a tenant in it, 24 hours showing notice to show a home in the current Seattle market is unreasonable. I completely understand how hard it is to have your home on the market - I had mine on a few years ago and it drove me crazy. It is especially difficult to try and keep you home clean with kids in the picture. My kids never picked up anything and it was always me running around like a crazy woman to clean up before a showing. It is unfortunately just part of the deal when you go to list your home for sale.
Seattle Buyers Out There: There is another side of it, you know. We get calls from buyers with almost no notice and they are hot to see a great Seattle house. We try everything we can to make accommodations and give sellers as much notice as possible, but sometimes it just isn't doable. Yesterday I tried to put together just a preview tour and was hit with five houses out of the seven I needed to see that I could not get into on the same day. None had tenants. Do you want to sell your home?
Seattle real estate is challenging in 2010, but if we all work together and try to be as courteous as possible, both for showings and notices, then we should be able to see these homes in a timely fashion.
Oh! One last tip - When you have a buyer coming to see your home, do the dishes and vacate the premises so their agent can show them around. The biggest misconception is that you know your house the best and can therefore show it to them in the best light. They really do not want to be shown the hosue by the seller. It makes every single buyer I have ever had this happen to extremely uncomfortable. Instead of enjoying your home and trying to picture themselves in it, they instead are trying to get out ASAP.
Seattle Real Estate: Laurelhurst Buyers Beware: You Can't Walk All Over Seattle Sellers Anymore!
Posted on February 17, 2010
Seattle real estate is changing....again. For the last couple of years, buyers have been having their way with sellers in all kinds of sweetheart deals when it comes to "negotiating". Times are changing and those list prices are not so squishy anymore - no matter how good your agent is at negotiating. The fact of the matter is that Seattle suburbs are still declining or struggling to stabilize, but Seattle in city is picking up steam and certain Seattle neighborhoods are going STRONG.
Seattle Neighborhoods like Queen Anne and Laurelhurst in particular are MOVING and prices are not being tampered with in large part. Let's look at Seattle's Laurelhurst Neighborhood:Laurelhurst has 33 closed residential sales of homes in the last six months - they ranged from a list price of $399,000 to $12,800,000 (with neither of those properties representing the majority of Laurelhurst homes for sale by the way). The average listing price of these 33 Laurelhurst homes for sale was $1,200,676 with an average selling price of $1,134,926. The average price per square foot for listings on these was $339/square foot and the dollar per square foot average for the selling prices was $326/ square foot. For properties that stayed on the market for only 30 days or less of which there were 15, the sales price to listing price average was over 97.5%. These were well-priced homes that took an average of less than 2.5% in negotiated sales price to list price. The number varied depending on days on market, but Laurelhurst held strong for the most part.
One could argue that you should take out those two non typical Laurelhurst sales. I agree as they do skew the number significantly. Taking out the high and the low sold homes, The dollar per square foot changes to $306/ square foot for listing prices and $296/ square foot for selling prices. This is significant in my opinion. The average listing price then drops to $852,365 and the average sales price drops to $824,598.
Laurelhurst Real Estate right now: If you want look at Laurelhurst homes for sale right now, you will see some beautiful inventory, but not a lot of it. Currently there are 13 homes available in Laurelhurst - they range from $499,950 for a 2 bedroom 1 bath home to $4,500,000 for a 3 bedroom 1952 home on the Laurelhurst Waterfront. The average list price of these is $1,466,915 and the average dollar per square foot is up to $421/square foot. There is also one contingent property in the Beach Club boundaries for $350/square foot with a list price of $969,900. Laurelhurst is clearly holding its own in value this year!
Want to see all the available Seattle homes for sale in Laurelhurst right now?
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