Comments on: Brix and Gallery Condo Auction Results

By: Gallery Condo Auction, Part Deux | The Seattle Condo Blog

Gallery Condo Auction, Part Deux | The Seattle Condo Blog — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 17:17:40 +0000

[...] Condominium building in Belltown in March 2011 per a letter sent to current homeowners. Schnitzer previously auctioned 43 units at Gallery back in September [...]

By: Chris

Chris — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 04:48:52 +0000

I was not at all impressed with Gallery. I’ve been looking at the building for over a year.

I finally got to take a good look during the pre-auction walk throughs. Observations:

- Many of the units had very narrow living rooms
- A lot of the layouts in general were very awkward. Who wants a nearly 800 sq ft studio (ex unit 618)?
- Baseboard heating, really? In a $700k condo? (The really small units had the heaters sticking out of the walls 4-6 inches!)
- The A/C units were *very* loud
- Poor placement of networking/cable outlets. This is just inexcusable.
- Painted concrete slabs everywhere. I like concrete in lofty units (see Rollin and Mosler), but only if it’s unpainted. Painted concrete just looks gross
- Not great quality cabinets

Overall, it just seemed like the developer put very little thought into the units beyond “how much money can we make?”.

By: bill

bill — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 01:14:51 +0000

it sounds like an overoptimistic conclusion – at best – to conclude that there’s “strong” interest and that this auction means something for the market. i’m adopting a wait and see attitude for a few reasons.

1. it sounds like the fast auction pace + possible shills – may have gotten people all emotionally charged up and perhaps overbidding more than they had intended.

2. there is an $8000 housing allowance that will vanish in the next 60 days – that’s an artificial stimulus that will go away

3. i do not think the gallery units will be selling at these “new” prices. we’ll see about that. absent the thrill of the auction, i just can’t see that happening…but time will tell.

there is no shortage of other buildings with excessive inventory, and plenty of other deals. i just don’t htink people will be lining up for these.

we’ll see…

By: Ben Kakimoto

Ben Kakimoto — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 23:05:06 +0000

Anita – according to a representative at Schnitzer West, Brix has about 30 homes remaining while Gallery has around 90. When the homes return to the market, they will be available in phased releases. We should be getting pricing by next week.

Good news – Schnitzer is anticipating FHA approval in early November. FHA has become more prevalent and offer buyers a great low-down payment option with a low interest rate.

By: David

David — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 18:10:52 +0000

Too much drama. It’s just plain stupid to buy a condo in the first place.

By: Justin Bowers

Justin Bowers — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 17:25:37 +0000

Anita: Gallery and Brix should have new pricing on the remaining units next week. They’re working on catching up from the auction for the next few days. But, should see reduced pricing very shortly.

By: john

john — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 08:52:49 +0000

great comments everyone, especially those that were there.

i HARDLY think this is a *sign* that things have “bottomed” – seattle was still positive 2 years ago when the rest of the company was negative. so we’re one of the last ones to fall and people are still in denial. it was only a few years ago that the average PPSF in belltown was 300 or less. the gallery had some nice features, but it also had some very poor design choices and the location is a bit sucky.

i expect prices to continue to fall for many years….

By: Brix and Gallery Condo Auction Results | Redfin Seattle Sweet Digs

Brix and Gallery Condo Auction Results | Redfin Seattle Sweet Digs — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 05:27:11 +0000

[...] Seattle Condos and Lofts [...]

By: Anita

Anita — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 01:01:00 +0000

Can anyone speak to the number of units still available at both properties?

By: Kevin

Kevin — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 22:58:26 +0000

We are having a very constructive discussion on another blog and someone pointed out that shill bidding is legal in many states.

I also saw another great post from a real estate agent on CHS blog. Basically what he was saying is

- Everyone got a “fair” deal, not eeven a good deal. (I concur this because the price for a couple of Gallery units sold at the auction is only 6 – 9% lower than the price they offered me a month ago, and that’s before all the bargains I can do.)

- The winning bidders do enjoy greater security & stability for those buildings, and that can’t be priced accurately. (I also concur this. I will be too scared to buy at Gallery a month ago, but now with 40 others buying at the same time, the building’s occupancy has reached 50%).