Seattle is a city where mountains, hills, neighborhoods and Puget Sound blend to bring interest and character for both the tourists and locals.  Here are a few of the hot spots that I like.  Especially the restaurants.

• The Pike Place Market – Pike Street screams Seattle, from the top of Capitol Hill where it intersects Madison to the western end in the Pike Place Market.  It connects Seattle to Puget Sound by bringing together the fruits of the region’s entrepreneurs and the oceans that surround it.  There are handcrafted and commercial products of most every kind; groceries and seafood to suit anyone’s tastes; all perched above the Elliott Bay with views of water and the Olympic Mountains beyond. Any of the restaurants are fun because of the atmosphere. I particularly like Campagne; they have a café for either lunch or dinner and a restaurant that serves exquisite French meals. Le Pichet is another of my favorites for something a little less formal.
• A ferry ride to Winslow or Alki beach – The views from the Washington State Ferry decks can make you tingle. The ride to Winslow is an easy one that takes you across the sound to Bainbridge Island and the town of Winslow.  The town is a five minute walk from the ferry landing and has a number of small restaurants and shops to explore.  The foot ferry to Seacrest Dock in Alki can be developed to include a 4-5 mile walk around Alki Point on a level seaside path with views along its entire length.  I usually allow myself a stop at Spud’s Fish and Chips because some of the calories will be burned off on the walk.
• Queen Anne Hill – Views, entertainment and great food make this a very desirable urban neighborhood in which to live.  From the Westlake Center, take the monorail to the Seattle Center.  On the “must do” list is the Space Needle and the Experience Music Project (EMP).  Don’t eat.  From there take a bus or taxi to the top of Queen Anne Ave; the counter balance.  Find your way to Kerry Park and enjoy another view over Seattle to Mount Rainier.  Follow Highland Drive to the west around the corner to see the Olympic Mountains and Puget Sound.  My favorite pizza spot is Via Tribunali on W Galer.  How to Cook a Wolf is another one of Ethan Stowell’s great restaurants there.
• Ballard – Founded on the bounty of the sea and more recently by young and restless, Ballard is a beautiful mix of young and old.  The Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, Shilshole Bay Marina and Golden Gardens give you a true sense of how the people and landscape of Seattle are connected to the sea.  There is lots of night-life on Ballard Ave.  I really enjoy Bastille for a special meal.
• Miscellaneous – To fill in moments of boredom here are a few more things that will warm your cockles.  Fly to Roche Harbor on Kenmore Air for the day and have lunch at the McMillin’s.  Enjoy a concert at the Benaroya Concert Hall; I think that this is what it must be like to be inside a cello while listening to musical concert.  The sound is unparalleled in the world.  Have dinner at Poppy or lunch at Boom Noodle my favorite restaurants on Capitol Hill.

Coldwell Banker, Coldwell Banker Bain and NWHome sellers are tickling Washington and Oregon real estate buyers with an added incentive to buy this summer.  Sellers who opt into the program will be giving qualified buyers a credit on closing costs.  For more details about the program view the attached CBB Buyer Bonus FAQ.

PMI Mortgage Insurance Co has published their second quarter report and the Risk Index indicates that 93% of the nation’s 384 MSA’s (metropolitan statistical areas) are showing “Improved Risk”.  Real estate in Seattle is ranked in the Moderate catagory which is an improvement over the 2009 risk rating.  Assuming that this isn’t the type of calculating that took place in the Mortgage Backed Securities Market, it looks like a very positive sign that we have found the bottom to the housing market.

We might take some comfort in the understanding that PMI has included data from a number of sources, identified in The Report, to calculate a risk factor for each of the markets.  “The Risk Index uses economic, housing, and mortgage market factors (including home price appreciation, employment, affordability, excess housing supply, interest rates, and foreclosure activity) to determine these probabilities”.

According to an article in the Seattle Times this weekend, Puget Sound has experienced an increase in residential vacancy rates in the last twelve months, moving  from 4 to 7.2%.  With an the increase in inventory the market has to adjust to the increased pressure to lower rents.  The article is a good one and suggests that rental rates may decline as much as 8%  in 2010 and that rental incentives are now on the table. 

Will this impact residential sales until it becomes less expensive to buy than to rent?

In the Pacific Northwest we have a long history of trading throughout the Pacific Rim.  In August of 1896 the Miiki Maru steamed into Elliot Bay with a cargo of teas, silk camphor soy oil and paper, among other things, from Japan.  The Miiki Maru left with lumber, flour, cotton and hardware destined for Yokohama, Kobe, Nagasaki and Hong Kong.

In February of 2010 a delegation from the Washington Realtors will be steaming towards Kobe, Japan to join in ceremonies commemorating the 50^thanniversary of the Hyogo Prefecture Real Estate Transaction Association.  The visit is in response to a visit in September of 2009 by five representatives from the Hyogo Prefecture Real Estate Transaction Association (Hyogo Taku-Ren).  In a landmark ceremony members of the Washington Realtors and the Japanese delegation signed a Letter of Intent for a Bilateral Cooperative Agreement.  Press release

Zillow is emerging as a powerhouse of unfettered opinion in the housing sector, based on their love for housing market data.  Regional recovery is still mixed so we are going to need more than optimism to believe that this market is beginning to stabilize.  Zillow Chief Economist Stan Humphries has been in the public eye in the last few days and he outlined the housing market drivers that could stimulate or stall any recovery on CBS Moneywatch.  In the true spirit of journalism, here is a voice that doesn’t have ties to your net worth or your bonus.

Abuse to one person may be fair play to another.  Where do you stand today on the field of credit?  Many of us have watched our net worth plummet and our retirement savings disappear. Some of us have received handsome performance bonuses for generating substantial profits based on formulas that don’t take into consideration looming write-downs that substantially influence our financial system.  Do you think that regulation will help curb the instability?

I’ve attached a list that I was given for your review.  The list was described to me as potential costs that might be included in the APR (Annual Percentage Rate) of a mortgage.

Do you see anything that shoudn’t be there?  Or should be added?

APR_fees

Here’s a note that came out of the HUD newsletter on October 1st:

The National Housing Act requires that elderly homeowners seeking an FHA Home Equity Conversion Mortgage – a “reverse mortgage” – must receive counseling “provided by counselors who meet qualification standards..”    A final rule published in the September 2nd, Federal Register establishes a roster of counselors who have met these standards and from which counselors should be chosen.  For more, visit http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/E9-21076.htm

It is usually a rather expensive means of gaining access to home equity, but in some cases a reverse mortgage  may fill a gap that is ultimately a real help.  The number of professionals working in this field today is growing rapidy.  Look for experience and a good referral.

You deserve to know a little about the  law that governs real estate agency in Washington State.  The Law of Real Estate Agency is required to be given to every potenial client considering entering into an agency relationship with a real estate licensee in our state.

Here’s a little gorilla marketing for a wonderful building lot (never been used) right on the Washington Park Arboretum.  It is just over 10,000 SF and is accessed from a quiet loop of Arboretum Place E. and E. Garfield.  The neighborhood is an enclave of well-built homes with easy access to both the Mountlake district and Capitol Hill. 

This note is being circulated amongst a group of Architects with the thought that there may be someone that they are working with who is looking for an unusual in-city building site.  The link below will give you an initial look at a site map.

If you have any questions I can be reached at 206-729-0243.

See the Arboretum Place Location map

Click on the photo to view its full size:

The corner of Garfield and Arboretum Pl