The Seattle Condo Blog | Seattle Condos and Lofts

A stunning two-level full-loft unit just came on the market at Veer Lofts in South Lake Union, providing a rare opportunity to own a top-floor home at Veer.

The loft’s soaring 18′ ceiling provides a dramatic wall of windows with Space Needle and mountain views. The unit features concrete floors, timber beamed interiors, a balcony and private upper deck, KitchenAid appliances, quartz counters, parking and extra storage. Building amenities include a roof terrace with a bocce ball court & BBQ and is pet-friendly. This home is offered at $419,950.

Veer Lofts is located one-block to the streetcar and is close to local businesses including Amazon, the Gates Foundation, renowned restaurants and shops in the desirable South Lake Union neighborhood.

View more details and photos or inquire about touring the property.

Click to view larger photos:

View more info and photos about this home or SCL’s spotlight condo listings.

Listing and photos are courtesy of Joseph Hill, Keller Williams Greater Seattle

This weeks condo wire digest – Canal Station, Veer Lofts close out, Sylvan Ridge, Belltown land use update and happenings in South Lake Union.

Canal Station

Canal Station North Condominium in Ballard is down to its final home for sale…a 530 square foot one-bedroom priced at $179,950. This home includes slab granite counters, designer fixtures and parking.

Veer Lofts

Veer Lofts in South Lake Union is also in its final close out with just 4 homes available (unit #111 has sold), all available between $273,000 and $354,000. It sound like they’re offering additional buyer incentives, too. Gotta ask for them, though. Veer Lofts is FHA approved.

www.VeerLofts.com

Sylvan Ridge

This large townhome community in West Seattle recently reduced its prices. Home are now available from $274,950 for a 2-bedroom, 2.5 bath unit with over 1,400 square feet of living space. Sylvan Ridge has sold over 90 townhomes so far and are FHA & VA approved.

www.sylvan-ridge.com

Belltown Apartment Land Use

If you live/own in Seattle Heights or Mosler Lofts, the Seattle DPD is holding an Design Review Board meeting for the proposed 19-story apartment building at 3rd & Cedar (currently occupied by the American Lung Association).

September 28th at 5:30 PM
Seattle City Hall
Boards and Commission Room L280

South Lake Union news

A couple of noteworthy events are happening in South Lake Union.

For the pooches
A citizens’ committee for the creation of a new SLU dog play area is forming right now. Want in? Just come to Enso’s community room (820 Blanchard St.) on Thursday, September 23 from 6:30-8:00 p.m. (Via www.DiscoverSLU.com).

Lake Union Park finally opens
The Seattle Parks Foundation is celebrating the grand opening of Seattle’s newest park, the Lake Union Park, on Saturday, September 25th. The day long event (7 am to 7 pm) is filled with festivities – live music, model boat races, foods, canoe displays and more!

Posted updated.

Veer Lofts is aiming to close out their last five remaining homes and have extended the $8,000 buyer credit to entice potential buyers. To be eligible for the $8,000 credit, contracts need to written by August 31st, with closing no later than October 15, 2010 .Veer is FHA approved. www.veerlofts.com

View current MLS listings at Veer Lofts

The Veer Lofts development in South Lake Union is down to its last nine homes! As an incentive to closing out the building, Veer Lofts is offering an $8,000 buyer bonus credit for purchases made by July 30th, 2010 and closed by September 15th, 2010. Veer is also FHA approved.

Of the nine available, six are two-story full-lofts, two are flexi-lofts and one is a single-level flat.

The 99-unit building was developed by Vulcan Real Estate whose other residential properties in the South Lake Union area include Enso, the 2200 and Rollin Street.

Veer Lofts, located in Seattle’s South Lake Union district, has reduced prices and is offering a limited time $8,000 seller credit on any purchases before December 1, 2009. It is timed with the November 30th expiration of the First Time Home Buyers Tax Credit. For purchases that close by November 30th, buyers will effectively receive $16,000 in savings ($8,000 seller credit and $8,000 tax credit).

Veer Lofts offer three styles of home layouts: flats, full 16′ two-level lofts and a hybrid flexi-loft layout. Flats start from $259,500, Flexi’s from $282,500 and the full-lofts from $379,500.

Website: www.veerlofts.com

The condo marketers version of musical chairs continues to go around as Williams Marketing takes over sales of Enso, and as of today, Veer Lofts.   It had been rumored that Vulcan was considering handling sales in-house after the contract with John L. Scott expires this month.   The Williams Marketing website also indicates they’ve taken over sales at The Pittsburgh.

Williams Marketing recently relinquished marketing and sales operations at Brix, Olive 8 and The Danielle.

Veer Lofts just announced special pricing on five homes for a limited time. Three of the units are top floor full-loft units while the other two are a flat and a flexi-loft unit.

The current pricing is available for homes that are purchased by July 1, 2009. In addition, Veer Lofts is providing a $500 California Closets credit and are waiving HOA dues till November 2010.

#317 – $270,000 flat, approximately 615 sq ft, previously offered at $275,000
#403 – $280,000 flexi-loft, approximately 635 sq ft, previously offered at $295,000
#606 – $465,000 full-loft, approximately 1,130 sq ft, previously offered at $485,000
#607 – $440,000 full-loft, approximately 957 sq ft, previously offered at $475,000
#617 – $395,000 full-loft, approximately 906 sq ft, previously offered at $399,000

View available Veer Loft homes for sale.

A few local condo projects are now claiming a place on the social networking site, Facebook. With more than 175 million users, Facebook provides another venue to tout new condo projects as well as to bring new owners and future neighbors together.

Marketer/Developer created Facebook pages/groups:
- Brix
- Veer Lofts
- Enso
- Rollin Street
- Trace
- Maison Jiselle

Buyer/Owner created Facebook pages/groups:
- Veer Lofts owners group
- Rollin Street buyers (profile page, “friends” accepted once purchase is verified)

Besides Facebook, a few condo community blogsites have also been popular for owners, residents and condo aficionados alike – Cosmo Seattle, Fast Times at 2200, The Grandview and Mosler Lofts (restricted).

DISCLAIMER: This information is presented to provide an overview of Fannie Mae’s condo guideline changes. For specific information and questions, please consult with your mortgage loan officer.

Recently, TSCB noted two new mortgage fees implemented by Fannie Mae affecting condo buyers — a .75% condo add on fee and a 1.75% additional fee for investors — both applicable to loans with a loan-to-value rate greater than 75%.

Well, there’s more. Effective March 1, 2009, Fannie Mae is implementing condo guideline changes “in light of the current condo market and the need to mitigate risk on condo loans”. Some of these changes may affect a buyer’s ability to obtain conventional condo loans for new and established condos.

A condo project is “established” if 90% of the units have been sold, is complete and the HOA has been turned over to the owners. A condo project is “new” if less than 90% have been sold, is not completed, is subject to phasing or if the HOA has not been turned over to unit owners.

Overview of Fannie Mae condo guideline changes:

• For new construction and newly converted condo developments, 70% of the units must be pre-sold (closed or under contract). This is being increased from 51%.
• No more than 15% of a condo project units can be more than 30 days delinquent on HOA dues. This is an existing guideline that is now being applied to new condo projects. The calculation was also changed from being 15% of HOA fee payments to 15% of total units.
• Fidelity insurance will be required for condos with 20 or more units, ensuring that homeowner association funds are protected. Presently, this requirement applies to new projects and is now being extended to include established condos.
• A requirement that borrowers must now obtain a condo-owners insurance policy unless the master policy provides interior unit coverage; coverage may not be less than 20% of the assessed value. A condo-owners policy, known as an HO-6 policy, covers personal property, personal liability, and the physical unit from the studs and in. Many policies also include special assessment coverage or the option to include a special assessment coverage rider.
• No more than 10% of a project can be owned by a single entity.
• No more than 20% of a project can consist of non-residential space.
• The homeowners association must have at least 10% of its budgeted income designated for replacement reserves and adequate funds budgeted for the insurance deductible.

According to a Fannie Mae, the guidelines can be modified for condo projects on a case-by-case basis. Therefore, these guidelines may not apply to all condo projects.

What effect will the changes have?

The revised guidelines may affect a buyer’s ability to obtain a conventional loan for either a new or established condo if the project does not conform. Most notably, it’ll affect new developments and it’s already having an impact on at least two new projects. Vulcan recently sent a letter to buyers at its Rollin Street Flats project in South Lake Union notifying buyers of the new 70% pre-sold guideline and extending closing until April 15th at the earliest.

As it stands, Vulcan may be unable to close any of the units at Rollin Street unless (1) they continue to extend closing until 70% of the units are under contract, (2) seek modification under a Fannie Mae expedited review process, (3) find a lender willing to hold the loans in their portfolio, or (4) convert the use of the building.

Ruby Condominiums in Eastlake is holding off closings until there are enough sales to qualify under the guidelines…that could be awhile. Ruby is FHA approved so that offers qualified buyers an alternative, though Ruby must have 25 sales under contract before it can begin closing FHA buyers. Its developer, Barrientos, is a major apartment developer as well, so reuse may be an option. In both cases, buyers are left in limbo.

The new guidelines may also apply to other recently completed and/or soon to be completed projects including Enso, Veer Lofts, Equinox, Alex, Duncan Place, Leona, Lakeview Residences, Brix, Eleven Eleven, The Danielle, The Dakota and Marselle — that is unless they’ve been approved for a lower rate under a case-by-case expedited review process. Quite frankly, though, I expect a few of these won’t end up as condos.

If there is a silver lining, it’s for sellers at established condo developments who’ll have reduced competition from new construction developments.

Statement from Vulcan:
Vulcan has informed our buyers of the new Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac regulations because Rollin Street is at a level of pre-sales that is under what is mandated by the new guidelines. As these guidelines affect the ability of our buyers to obtain financing and close on their purchases, we felt it was important to communicate these challenges as soon as possible. We are working to understand the new guidelines and how they will ultimately affect the property and our buyers. We will be communicating what we know about these changes and their impact in the next 2 to 3 weeks.

Veer and Enso are at a higher level of sales and pre-sales respectively and our goal is to continue to close units in those buildings as buyers come to the closing table.

Response from Williams Marketing (per comment below)
As of today [2/20/09], Ruby has partnered with a local lender (Seattle Mortgage) looking to actually lend money! They have committed to close homes now, ie, we are move-in ready with no pre-sale requirement. We are also working with other regional lenders for additional commitments to close homes with no presale requirements. Ruby on Eastlake is both FHA and VA approved, so buyers can take advantage of every financial opportunity to get into new home ownership.

Posting has been revised.

Veer Lofts – South Lake Union:
Offering special, limited time pricing on six units that closes by February 22, 2009. The units, two flats and four flexi-lofts, are being offered between $285,000 to $299,000. The flexi’s were priced in the high-$300,000′s, so good deals. The two flats are approximately 750 sq ft, one a corner unit with lake view and the other with city views. Two of the flexi’s have city views and two are on the back side with Space Needle views. www.veerlofts.com

Veer is offering other incentives as well:

• No HOA dues until September 2010
• Paid closing costs up to $7,450
• A $1,000 Ikea gift certificate
• Two $500 Alaska Air gift certificates
• A 1-year membership to Rain Fitness

Ruby – Eastlake:
A VIP grand opening is planned for the weekend of January 24th/25th from 11 am to 5 pm. Ruby is a new construction development by Barrientos whose other recent projects include The Pearl, Leona, The Bernard and The Packard. Homes at Ruby start from $269,990. www.rubycondos.com

Brix – Capitol Hill/Broadway:
Broadway-side building is complete with a grand opening scheduled for January 31st. They are offering a grand opening special — no HOA dues till 2011. See Matt’s post about mechanic’s lien and possible legal action involving the general contractor. www.brixcondos.com

Fini – Phinney Ridge:
Announced they are offering “close out” pricing on their final four units, all one-bedroom + dens that are priced from $399, 990 to $449,990. www.finicondos.com

Rollin Street Flats – Gateway / South Lake Union:
Vulcan announced that Rollin Street received a few awards from The Nationals sales and marketing competition, presented by a group that’s part of the National Association of Home Builders. Rollin’s received a Gold Award for Best Website for an urban community and two Silver Awards for best attached community and best brochure. www.rollinstreet.com