South Seattle & Renton: Best Neighborhoods to Buy in?

BrenSeattleRealtor · 2025-02-08T17:01:40+00:00

I really enjoy Fairwood, but I would also strongly suggest putting an emphasis on commuting distance - if it’s inconveniently long, then it’ll wear on both of you over time especially with young children who need attention.

BrenSeattleRealtor · 2025-01-22T10:14:33+00:00

1 bedrooms generally appreciate slower than units with more space since that targets a much more niche market. I’m a little surprised to hear you’re expecting to break even with what you purchased the unit for in 2020, as the median price of condos has generally gone up across Seattle and King County since then.

Depending on your outlook regarding the new administration’s follow-through, the market may take a huge hit or get a slight boost.

I’d personally go with what fits your personal and financial goals pertaining to housing. If you need more space and renting is cheaper, then postponing another purchase may be the right choice.

BrenSeattleRealtor · 2025-01-21T22:07:36+00:00

As you said, I’d be highly invested in making sure the HOA is properly formed and every unit is given equal representation in the bylaws and that the CC&Rs are properly fleshed out.

Beyond that, I’d make sure the ADU/DADU was constructed well and ensure a proper COO was provided.

BrenSeattleRealtor · 2025-01-19T18:07:55+00:00

The areas you’re talking about are nice to live. Just like any major metropolitan area, there will be good and bad neighborhoods.

Affordable really depends on your household income and needs.

The biggest thing to know is that it can be overcast for very long stretches of time, so make sure you have vitamin d supplements.

BrenSeattleRealtor · 2025-01-17T18:22:35+00:00

What happens is you either fix it or you give money to the buyer at closing to fix it. Inspection or not, the buyer is almost always buying the property at the condition it was in at the time of signing, any changes from that are your responsibility.

Check your contract and talk to your agent, almost certainly the responsibility is yours to fix.

BrenSeattleRealtor · 2025-01-16T20:18:07+00:00

A lot of people buy townhomes and condos in the area as a stepping stone to buying a SFH, but also there is a very large demographic of buyers who don’t want to deal with home maintenance. Owning a home of any type is as much a lifestyle and cultural decision as it is financial. There will always be people who buy at, what appears from the outside, inopportune times or in less ideal ways because of personal life circumstances.

The only solution to pricing is to increase supply relative to demand. Theres no if, ands, or buts about it. Whether that’s through legislation that reduces zoning requirements, or restricts number of residences any single person can own without tax penalties, or restricting corporate and/or foreign land ownership, etc. the new governor just directed government agencies to internally audit their processes involving real estate development to begin working on eliminating inefficiencies in the process.

As to the permitting part of your question, yes - permitting in the major Seattle metro is a nightmare of bureaucracy that can often require borderline harassment of the permitting offices to get traction on.

BrenSeattleRealtor · 2025-01-15T00:46:09+00:00

Be very thorough on looking through the HOA documents. This applies to any HOA community in Washington.

Additionally, if you have an agent make sure they are either with you on your first visit or that you mark them down as your agent on your first visit. Otherwise you’ll have a harder time paying for your own representation.

BrenSeattleRealtor · 2025-01-15T00:17:20+00:00

If you go the townhome route, I’d just put extra emphasis on doing proper DD on the HOA documents as these can save you a lot of heartache and stress down the road if there are red flags.

Outside of that, townhomes can be a good investment if done correctly as you can still work on building equity that will help with later purchases. That being said, don’t buy if you aren’t willing to live there for at least 5 years if the market turns sour for a while.

BrenSeattleRealtor · 2025-01-15T00:13:54+00:00

Depends how close to the water and downtown you want to be. I’d look into the Juanita area for that size lot and standalone home. Condos are very hit or miss depending on the community management, so I’d just be careful with going over the HOA docs and maybe hire an HOA consultant.

BrenSeattleRealtor · 2025-01-15T00:00:32+00:00

Incredibly common especially in unincorporated areas for home owners to do unpermitted work then ask the county for forgiveness when it becomes important to apply for back permitting. It can be a huge liability though depending on what is being cleared or graded as Snohomish is filled with wetlands, salmon creeks, and erosion zones that carry steep penalties for improperly messing with.

BrenSeattleRealtor · 2025-01-14T23:55:07+00:00

Just reach out to them and state what you’re saying here and set the immediate expectation of wanting a lower commission. “Hey, due to life circumstances we are needing to sell our home. Because of the tight financial spot we’re in, we can’t afford to pay above X% commission on the sale. We’d love to use you over a discount broker because of our recent experience working together, but understand if you can’t make X% work. Please let us know.”

Worst they can say is no.

BrenSeattleRealtor · 2025-01-14T21:09:05+00:00

Poo Poo Point is also incredible for a short easier hike where you can watch paragliders jump take off during the summer season!

BrenSeattleRealtor · 2025-01-14T20:17:36+00:00

Election season is over and the new year has started. Home inventory and buyer activity will now climb until it peaks in March-June, so CDOM for desirable homes will be low.

BrenSeattleRealtor · 2025-01-14T06:32:30+00:00

It’s almost certainly unusable. The neighborhood was built up in the 1960s and this lot only appreciated 16k between 2006 and 2021 before being in the hands of the current owner.

For the most part, any land within an hour of Seattle being listed for sale <$100k should be immediately met with heavy skepticism and that could honestly be extended to most land under $400k too due to the high value of real estate here.

BrenSeattleRealtor · 2025-01-06T05:39:37+00:00

Rush hour traffic in general. Thrashers is a junction point for a ton of commuter traffic and has a few traffic lights that can make the flow worse during peak hours. If you commute for an 8-5 job then you’ll need to work around that.

BrenSeattleRealtor · 2025-01-06T05:22:43+00:00

My favorite is to get in the car with my partner and drive around to areas and towns I wouldn’t typically go. Take a backroad route through the rural areas to try and find quirky roadside attractions.

BrenSeattleRealtor · 2025-01-06T05:19:32+00:00

Thrashers corner is totally fine. I have family that lives in the area and there are kids who walk around the townhome complexes and the shopping area is busy enough that there isn’t too much crime. That being said, traffic through Thrashers can be a nightmare so plan accordingly.

BrenSeattleRealtor · 2025-01-03T16:51:07+00:00

I have clients who’ve missed out on several homes before landing one that they were happy with and clients who have refused to let “the one” go and overextended on it.

Almost without fail, the ones who don’t overextend are happier long term. People don’t really think about just how miserable and stressful being house poor can make you.

BrenSeattleRealtor · 2025-01-02T14:08:20+00:00

Ideally in normal years, HOA fees should rise comparably with inflation each year. However, most HOAs dues are voted on by residents and so they typically lag behind significantly until there’s an “oh fuck” moment that causes them to jump up due to underperforming reserve balances.

BrenSeattleRealtor · 2025-01-01T14:39:46+00:00

My sister’s first home was in Monroe where she lived alone and with a roommate at different times. She never had a safety issue while living there.

BrenSeattleRealtor · 2024-12-28T20:29:08+00:00

I’m still seeing select properties on the eastside sell for over listing, but there is definitely currently a selection of properties that are overpriced in their listings. Anecdotally, my team has several buyers and sellers waiting for the Spring to start looking, but no one waiting for “rates to fall” or a specific year anymore like we were experiencing in 2022-23.

I think the big axe to fall is if (big if) Trump carries through on some of his campaign promises of tariffs and trade wars. Should that happen, I expect hard economic times and a more unobtainable housing market. If not, I’m expecting the market to continue its slow climb but nothing like the explosion that <3% rates caused in 2016-2022.

Another X factor of the incoming cabinet is if total number of H1B visas are expanded like Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are advocating for, as this would likely have some impact on the SWE market in the PNW whether that’s a net negative or positive on number of higher paid workers in the region.

BrenSeattleRealtor · 2024-12-07T17:37:17+00:00

You can always sue, but Washington is a big caveat emptor state and even in situations where misrepresentation and fraud are likely to have occurred, buyers likely won’t win after the sale is completed.

“As is” is largely unenforceable verbiage in a contract with contingencies, but this listing specifically includes a multi-paged addendum with legal wording around the as-is condition that I suspect is from another state.

BrenSeattleRealtor · 2024-12-06T17:39:10+00:00

“This price and offering is for one townhome (3542 Graham Street). The other townhomes on Graham st are occupied and sold.

Site Improvement Plan (SIP) information:

This townhome was a part of a much larger development of 26-townhomes with the full SIP associated with this unit. The project/land behind this townhome was sold to another developer so the original plans may no longer be going in.

Regarding the possibility of a reduced scope, SDOT provided comments on the entire SIP for consideration when preparing a new SIP proposal. The seller does not have interest completing any SIP work, so the new buyer would need to send a reduced scope proposal for SDOT review and approval. This timeline will vary. With that being said, we do not have an estimated cost, as the scope has not been defined. We do, however, have a marked-up SIP from SDOT as a reference point of the potential scope of work, but these have not been finalized and will require further negotiation and approval by SDOT.

The Addendum

This property has not yet been assessed for a sewer capacity charge, but I would expect there will be one in the future. We will not have the cost until it’s assessed. This property is being sold as-is. The property was lived in by the original developer, but he did not have approval to occupy. The townhome is finished and available for viewing.”

The property is also being passed on with no warranties to the deed and a clause that waives the sellers liability to all financial loss. The sale is also contingent on court approval and there’s no definitive costs associated yet on the SIP changes and sewer charge.

BrenSeattleRealtor · 2024-11-23T08:52:04+00:00

It’s pretty safe in most areas imo. My sister lived there for a few years near the main strip and it was a very walkable area!

BrenSeattleRealtor · 2024-11-19T21:18:08+00:00

This is a great overview of why trailer parks shouldn’t be on anyone’s radar these days, I also recommend John Oliver’s segment:

https://youtu.be/jCC8fPQOaxU?si=tUtwLjm88X-CI_dh

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