IKEA Seattle Now Sells Appliances

I received an email yesterday letting me know that IKEA Seattle now sells appliances. I’ll try to get more on this when/if I visit the store this weekend and hopefully with pics. I’m a pretty big fan of some of IKEA’s kitchens so the thought of IKEA making appliances makes me drool.

Update 5/1/07: Well I didn’t get a chance to make it to IKEA this Sunday as I had planned. I had to be out of my apartment by last night and spent all weekend and last night trying to undo years of neglect and maintenance so that I wouldn’t be charged for it. Read: I hate apartments. My last one was my first one and my first one was my last one. Never again. Anyway, IKEA this weekend and more posts later today.

Longfellow Creek Clean Up

As if there aren’t enough events going on this weekend, Seattle Parks and Recreation is inviting eager volunteers to come out and help in the revitalization of the Delridge waterway. I’ve posted the event details from the City of Seattle’s website below:

DATE: 4/28/2007 TIME: 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Join EarthCorps and the City of Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation in efforts to restore beautiful and vital Longfellow Creek. We will be removing invasive plants that are detrimental to the native habitat and planting native trees.
LOCATION: P-Patch at Thistle Street SW
CONTACT: Elizabeth White (206) 255-4160
SPONSORED BY: EarthCorps
WEBSITE: http://www.earthcorps.com
EMAIL: elizabeth@earthcorps.org

Seattle Housing Prices Continue to Rise

What’s new? The latest data show Seattle housing prices up, even as sales are down year over year. Read the full article in the Seattle Times for yourself here.

West Seattle Farmer’s Market Opening Day

In case you haven’t already heard, this Sunday April 29, is the opening day for the annual West Seattle Farmer’s Market. Market hours are from 10a.m. to 2p.m. every Sunday through December 30. For any other High Point and West Seattle noobs like myself, the market is located on the corner of Alaska and 44th Ave SW behind the Key Bank. Opening day events include free horse rides through the Junction and free plant give-aways. I don’t know about you guys, but the plants alone would make the trip worth it for me. For more info. check out www.wsjunction.com.

WS Restaurant Review: Puerto Vallarta Mexican Restaurant

Puerto Vallarta Restaurant

4727 California Ave. SW

Seattle, WA 98116

(206) 937-7335

After a hard day’s worth of moving, naturally one is presumably too tired to cook. So, what do you do? Sample the local (or not so local) cuisine of course. For my very first restaurant review, I chose Puerto Vallarta, a Mexican restaurant just past the West Seattle Junction on California. As of this post, I have yet to find a respectable (and by respectable I mean decent) Mexican restaurant in Seattle. Being originally from Texas, where we personally feel that we have better Mexican food than Mexicans themselves, I can say pretty confidently that I know good Mexican food. This evening, I was definitely not impressed.

Home of the Week: Is on Hiatus This Week

Sorry for the lack of recent updates. This weekend I had planned to move into my new home and thus spend the weekend gathering all sorts of (mis?)information on High Point from the various sales reps in the neighborhood. It was also a beautiful weekend to take pictures and I had planned on featuring another house from the community for the Home of the Week, but alas all of this was not meant to be. I’ll be moving in during the week I guess (it blows), but what can you do? Anyways, thanks for your patience and keep checking back early this upcoming week for a slew of updates.

High Point Family Fridays: Magic Magic Show

Courtesy of Seattle Parks and Recreation, here’s the skinny on the next upcoming event at the High Point Community Center:

DATE: 4/20/2007 TIME: 6:30 p.m.
In the blink of an eye, our always amusing and sometimes confusing magician will delight and excite you with entertaining magic for kids of all ages. Bring the family out for an exciting evening of trickery and fun.
LOCATION: 6920 34th Ave SW
COST: $4 per family
CONTACT: Brian Judd 206.684.0644

Even though I don’t have kids; I thought I’d post this because I’ve noticed many of my fellow ‘High Pointers’ do and because it’s good to know what’s going on in your community.

 

Subprime to Blame for WaMu’s Q1 Poor Performance

Since I do have a vested interest in keeping up with the financial services industry (and I’m not talking about my mortgage), and also because this story concerns a company headquartered in Seattle; I thought it worth mentioning that the PSBJ has an article out on Washington Mutual’s terrible first quarter. While WaMu can play the blame game and fault its loss of $200MM in net income on losses in it’s mortgage business, you have to consider a completely different story from one of its peers.

Addressing what he called “turmoil in the subprime sector,” Rotella told shareholders that WaMu’s subprime segment lost $164 million in the first quarter, while WaMu’s overall home loans group lost $113 million during the period.

San Francisco-based Wells Fargo & Co. who also posted quarterly earnings today, reported record earnings and revenue for the same period ending March 31, 2007. Wells Fargo certainly has more at stake to lose in the mortgage business, having the #1 or #2 marketshare, yet still managed to outperform the industry. What we have with WaMu is a case of bad portfolio management from the ground up–that is to say from the loan officers who originate the bad loans, to the executives who made poor decisions regarding risk management.

Retail/Mixed Use in High Point not coming so soon after all???

If you pay a visit to any one of the sales centers in High Point, each of the sales agents you meet will be quick to point out that one of High Point’s many attractive features is the forthcoming retail/mixed use development, featuring an anchoring grocery store. I bring this up because as I drove around West Seattle with my real estate agent today, one of the things she was graciously showing me was where all the grocery stores are located–and where all the new grocery stores will might be located. Thinking back on my trip around my new neighborhood tonight, I decided to investigate and see what exactly the new grocery store in High Point is going to be.

I first looked at the official High Point website under the “Commercial Opportunities” sub-header for more information, but only found a link to the management company, Cushman & Wakefield. Judging from some searching I did on their website, it looks as though C&W hasn’t found anyone to lease the 40,000+ sq. ft. anchor space yet, or any of the other smaller retail spaces for that matter.

Even the rendering (as seen above) for, “High Point Center,” as Cushman & Wakefield’s listing calls it, looks highly speculative and when searching for further information from the architectural firms listed on the rendering; I came out empty-handed. I’ll see what I can find out next week, but for now this strikes a disappointing blow to my hopes of being able to walk to and from the grocery store by this summer or fall. Trader Joe’s, when will you save us?

A final thought: the longer this lot sits undeveloped; the bigger a blight it becomes on our community. As I walked by it today, I already noticed minor pieces of debris and trash collecting amidst the rolling dunes of dirt. This could become problematic if they don’t start building soon. Either way, you can bet I’ll keep an eye on the situation.

Home of the Week: Cozy Cottage

You won’t find this one on the MLS or Redfin, but this week’s inaugural Home of the Week is a steal. Saltaire Homes, one of the builders in High Point, is offering several (read: 2 or 3) 1 bedroom homes in the $250-265,000 price range with move-in as early as now. These brand new construction homes come with an attached one-car garage and feature tall…I’m guessing at least 16?? foot vaulted ceilings and 100% green construction. I had a chance to tour both the completed unit and some unfinished units and found them to be an excellent alternative to the 500 sq. ft. condo-box that constitutes the bulk of housing inventory under $300,000 in Seattle. I’ve posted a picture below of what the completed unit looks like:

The Good:

- New, green construction

- Top notch finishes, hardwoods, tiles, vaulted ceilings, and stainless steel appliances

- Detached single family home with one car garage

- Low price point and ample space for one or two people at approx. 750 sq. ft.

- Curb appeal

The Bad:

- Essentially a one bedroom flat + dining area situated above two other people’s garages. (The sales agent claims the noise of the garages won’t be an issue, as they are powered by special super quiet garage door openers.)

- Unlike most single family homes, this one features HOA dues of almost $100/mo.

- Bathroom is not publicly accessible so anyone who needs to use the bathroom will be going through your bedroom first.

- Little closet space.

- The living area is on the second floor (above the garages). If you don’t like stairs; then it might not be right for you.

The Bottom Line:

Had I not purchased the townhome I did, I would have very likely purchased one of these. The space is open, albeit not as large as one might like, but features great workmanship and the refrigerator only uses as much electricity as one standard incandescent light bulb does for the whole year (or so the tag on the sales office fridge claims). I’m not crazy about having people walk through my bedroom to get to the bathroom and I could see that annoying me every time I’d have someone over. There is also something just a little annoying about my bedroom being above somebody else’s garage. The point of this little house is that it’s supposed to be just that a little house–if you have to share part of it with someone else (even if its only two garages), then that sort of makes the unit little more than a glorified one bedroom apartment in a quasi-condominium development. The neighborhood views, which recall Wysteria Lane, are nice and the price is unbeatable. Huge two-story Craftsman style home this is not. However, if you are tired of looking in the so-called “core” neighborhoods and finding you can only afford this, then Saltaire’s cottage home just might be perfect for you.