Comments on: Seattle Condo Expo - updated info

By: Ben_Kakimoto

Ben_Kakimoto — Tue, 22 May 2007 19:49:21 +0000

Justin - I do have a different take on downtown condos. If a buyer is purchasing a home, where they will reside for several years, then I recommend new construction pre-sale. While prices may be volatile in the high price ranges as new units are completed, over the longer-term those values will stabilize as will 2200 and Cosmo.

I don’t recall the speakers addressing the question whether buyers should purchase pre-sale vs. resale. It had more to do with differentiating between the two - new construction sales will out pace resales, and according to Gardner, there’s no correlation between new construction pricing vs. resale pricing.

Currently, 2200 resales are averaging about a 12% return which is on par with resales in Belltown. Other then the person who has a suit against Vulcan, I’ve not heard other issues and I do know several people who live at 2200. There were minor items that arose but those were mostly punch list items which is quite common with new construction, be it condo, townhouse or single family homes.

By: Justin Bowers

Justin Bowers — Mon, 21 May 2007 18:55:02 +0000

Personally, I don’t think it’s a good idea to purchase downtown new construction until after the dust has settled, regardless of investor caps. Not only is it unfortunate for those who purchased units at 2200 or Cosmo to live there, but I’ve also heard some bad press regarding the overall quality in construction at 2200. I’m familiar w/ the steps the industry is taking to prevent similar situations happen again, but I’m wondering what was recommended at the expo when a buyer asks themselves, presale or resale?

By: Ben_Kakimoto

Ben_Kakimoto — Mon, 21 May 2007 16:45:38 +0000

Justin - If I’m thinking about the same thing, the gist was that developers are taking steps to limit flipper-investors so that we don’t see a repeat of Cosmo & 2200 when the 2008 and 2009 projects complete. 2200 had a 30% investor-cap; now most new projects have a 10-15% investor cap.

By: Justin Bowers

Justin Bowers — Mon, 21 May 2007 14:57:07 +0000

Hey Ben. I was able to make it to the expo long enough to grab a bag of literature and catch some comments by Matthew Gardner, but I missed a presentation I was very interested in hearing. The Seattle condo expo website has some flash designed on it’s homepage posing the question of whether or not it’s a good idea to purchase presale vs. resale. With the interesting sales record of 2200 Westlake and the Cosmopolitan I’m wondering what the “experts” had to say. Did you hear anything on that topic?

By: Ben_Kakimoto

Ben_Kakimoto — Sun, 20 May 2007 16:45:29 +0000

From my experience at the Realtor Symposium last night, marketing/sales literature were lacking. While a few did have full brochures, many projects only gave out a one-page sheet with their Seattle Times ad on it. The vast majority of condo projects belong to the primary sponsors - the condo trinity of Realogics, Urban Condominiums and Windermere OnSite. I do have some other comments but I will reserve those for a later post.

By: chip

chip — Sat, 19 May 2007 22:12:01 +0000

This Expo is a joke. Not worth the $10 entrance fee. You would think that the condos exhibiting would bring serious brochures with layouts to this kind of event. If people are paying to go, they are expressing serious interest in buying, BUT the exhibits were limited. Tiny booths, no models like in the condo show centers. AND no floor plans for any of the condos under construction.

They want you to register and then go to their sales centers. Isn’t this supposed to be a one-stop event to be able to determine which places are of real interest and which are not??? You can’t do that, in my estimation, without seeing floorplans.

A JOKE. Don’t waste your money. Just go to the websites. And many of the buildings under construction were not even there.