The other night, I actually watched something on the local news that did my heart some good!  A local man noticed that a beautiful old Seattle home was destined to be torn down.  He contacted the owners, bought it and moved it to a vacant lot until the foundation can be poured.   What a great alternative to demolishing a wonderful Seattle home.   In my neighborhood of West Seattle, over 25% of the homes were built before 1930 and it seems as though every day I notice a nice Tudor being tagged to be torn down only to have a townhouse, multifamily or single family monstrosity replace it.   Our property values have outgrown our historic values.

According to the article in the Seattle Times, this was inexpensive (as compared to buying a similar house without plans of moving). 

• The demolishing of his existing home (okay…so one house was demolished…haven’t seen any photos to see what that property once looked like) and the pouring of the new foundation cost approx. $150,000.
• The typical cost of moving the home is est. at $35,000 – $50,000.
• The developer/seller agreed to sell the home for $1.

Nickel Bros. is who was hired to move the home from this story.   I visited their website and they have "listings" of homes that need to be "adopted" or they will be demolished.   

HGTV filmed the move of the Phinney home in Seattle…it must have been amazing to see the old beauty rolling down the street!

The Seattle PI reported yesterday that Seattle home prices are still strong (for now).   

"The latest figures, from Standard & Poor’s S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, show that Seattle-area house prices were up 10.6 percent in February from the same month in 2006 and 0.5 percent from January. Both were the largest increases among the indices’ 20 cities — most of which posted declines year-to-year and month-to-month."

I attribute Seattle bucking the national housing trend to our strong economy and employment.  In my opinion, Seattle has been behind in appreciation when you compare our city to other "big cities" in the United States.   Another factor is our reduced exposure to foreclosures:

"Statistics from the national Mortgage Bankers Association and RealtyTrac, an Irvine, Calif., company, show that the percentage of subprime loans in Washington — those for borrowers with weak credit — delinquent mortgages and foreclosures are lower in than those for the country as a whole."

What does this mean for home buyers?

• Be fully equipped with a strong preapproval letter from your Mortgage Professional.     You may need to make several offers before landing a signed purchase and sale agreement.  Be ready to pounce when a home you’re interested in is available.
• Try to be flexible with your goals of your next home.   Purchasing further out from Seattle or condo may provide you more bang for your buck.   
• If  you are considering purchasing a home within the next year, meet with a Mortgage Professional now to review your credit and to develop a plan to be in the best position when you are ready to buy down the road.