Mr. Mak,
I am a buyer of high end, luxury lifesyle condominiums in some of our most favored vacation destinations. I own one on Maui, one on Kauai and just bought a couple in Washington Square-Bellevue, WA. Each one is unique, Hawaii for vacations and Bellevue for it's new night life. As I am married with two young children, my wife and I will look forward to movies, dinners and shopping together as we miss our date nights.
Your story the other night has not surprised me. What I am surprised with is that no one has done an indepth review of all this real estate being developed. Wow, what a windfall for Seattle. And with Boeing and Microsoft hiring thousands of new employees, you better get one while you can, they are sure to go fast. As for Bellingham, it is close to Whistler, Vancouver, Victoria and The San Juan Islands, so watch out, I believe this is just the first phase. Love your show, Keith Singleton

Mr. Mak,

Interesting comment on the last line of your blog article "...Fast forward 10 years from now, when he's married with two kids, is he going to head into the suburbs looking for a good school and a lawn?" I have a downtown condo in bellevue and the answer for me will be yes I will be looking for a house in the suburbs in that case. Unless city leaders step up to make downtown areas more pedestrian and family friendly, all of us younger people who have condos now, may move out when families arrive.

Jim

I looked at the website for Bay View Tower, the Bellingham high-rise condo featured in your article (www.bellinghamcondo.com).

The prices they are asking are in my view 40%-50% lower than what you would expect to pay in Seattle or Vancouver for condos of similar size and finish.

The fact of the matter is that there are alot of people these days like me, who can live and work wherever they want, a function of internet-driven connectivity.

Bellingham has all the things I like about Seattle, and none of things I dislike about Seattle.

Bob

I'm that 26 year old... And 10 years from now when it comes time to raise a family, I won't move out to the 'burbs. I'll buy a house on Capitol Hill just blocks away from my condo, or Queen Anne, or First Hill, or Interlake, etc. Presumably there will be many options ten years from now for someone like myself who can afford a $350,000 condo now but yet a single family dwelling is just out of reach.

For instance, today you can find great four bedroom homes on Capitol Hill for around $500,000. Slightly more than a condo, but more space and a sliver of a yard for the kids. Schools? There's no doubt that the City of Seattle needs to invest more in their downtown pubilc school system. But as the kids of the baby boomers ago I can only hope that we'll put more pressure on the government to reform the existing schools and expand further for those who wish to live in the city.

Matt
http://urbnlivn.com

I live in Vancouver BC where a lot of condo's have been built downtown and people can walk to work and shop etc without driving. That is the way to go as it keeps the downtown lively and a great place to live.
We actually live in N Van in a new highrise near the Seabus terminal again where you can walk to public transit and the shops. All age groups live in our highrise.

Robert,

The interviewees on your programme make a salient point: downtown Seattle lacks much of the infrastructure (grocery stores, parks) necessary to make it a viable neighborhood. I would suspect this is because Seattle is at its heart a commercial centre attempting to reinvent itself.

Downtown Bellingham, on the other hand, has the infrastructure in place to make it a great urban centre neighborhood (such as Vancouver). (This is communicated well on the Bay View Tower website under the link entitled "Location" => "Local Map".) Bellingham has maintained a commitment to greenspace that is unusual for a US city.

In short, what makes a great condominium lifestyle is as much what is located around the condominium project as it is the condominium itself.

Condo already is in my present. Regarding the future is hard to say. I'd like to upgrade but wowwie - look at the monthly dues on some of these condo properties! They can be a mortgage by themselves, and they can change drastically if they were set too low at the initial sale. They can make the worst variable rate mortgage loan look cheap. There nees to be some realistic oversight of these developers to make sure they are giving extremely accurate and relaible data in their public offering statements regarding upkeep costs.

Robert,

I'm Matt Goyer, the young 26 year old from your show. And no, 10 years from now I won't be moving out to the suburbs. I'd happily raise a family in any of the neighborhoods adjacent to downtown. Neighborhoods like Capitol Hill, Queen Anne, Wallingford, Fremont, Eastlake, etc. Neighborhoods where houses generally cost around $500,000. Yes, I can't afford this now, which is why I'm buying a condo, but I'm sure that in a few years time, my ability to afford a house will increase. My only concern is that my ability to afford needs to grow faster than housing appreciation.

Matt

Matt--
I'm curious, would you consider raising a family in a condo (maybe a 2, 3 bedroom) or do you see yourself in a house?

By the way, congratulations--in advance--on the new condo!
Robert

Robert, thanks!

Though I'd likely raise them in a house. The cost of 2-3 bedroom condos in downtown is outrageous compared to the cost of a 2-3 bedroom house in any of the neighboring neighborhoods.

Matt

Robert,

Great post and I love the discussion that it sparked! I work in Real Estate in Bellingham (in marketing, not as an agent) and it is always interesting to hear other's perspectives on Bellingham.

Currently, there are numerous condo projects being built in Bellingham. Virtually all of them are high end with the granite counters, stainless steel appliances etc. Is there a glut of condos coming in Bellingham? Possibly. One project that is completely built and has been on the market for nearly a year has not even sold half of the units yet. Granted, this project is not as deluxe as some of the others so the point here is LUXURY condos are selling quick.

~Nickie

Its a natural for Bellingham to move into the big time with luxury condos. Its all about location, location, location and the Waterfront Development project. It is also the quality of life and the great outdoors and the proximity of so many places to be alone and enjoy nature. The economy in Bellingham is not feed from the local job market but from retirees and the wealthy moving here to experience our way of life.

Dear mr. Mak: Thank you for your Condo report I just watched on King5. Your report didn't cover the expenses of monthly condo dues, unexpected condo remodeling costs which make condo ownership more expensive on an on-going basis than living in a single family house. I know couple of people who are giving up condo life in favor of single housing living. I wonder if someone has made a research comparing the annual costs of a condo with those of single family house.
Thank you.
Maryam

I'm a teacher who lives in a condo in Everett. I'd like to more to a condo in Seattle, but there isn't anything being developed that is remotely close to what I can qualify for on a home mortgage. I wish some developer would find a way to build a condo project with homes available to middle class people like me. I can't afford $375,000, and I don't anticipate that happening unless an unknown rich relative dies and leaves me a lot of money. I miss being close to things to do and other single people. I'm seriously considering moving to another area of the country where I can afford to leave in an urban area.

Hi Robert:

I had similar concerns last year as well. The good news is the condo market in my area (downtown Seattle) is still quite firm. It's not white hot like last year but in a way, I kind of think that bodes well for everyone in the long term :-)

Wendy

Mr. Mak
I believe the Chief of Police should be required to state his reasons for not disciplining officers in writing. Privacy should not be an issue. An officer having personal problems shouuld get counseling but NOT be allowed to take his anger and/or frustrations out on citizens.

Most police officers are good people, doing a hard, dangerous job and deserve our full support but those who abuse their power for personal reasons should be weeded out, not protected. They are a disgrace to the force and to the city.

Judith R. Parker

Mr. Robert Mak, Sir;

Mr. Funk is a natural politicion. He smiles and tries to give the impression that everything will go smoothly in La La land and us stupid voters will once again be fooled into voting for higher license tabs! The Governor made promises that allowing the nine cent increase in gasoline taxes would be the finial tax to improve and replace transportantion needs for years to come in this state. It would be un thinkable to raise taxes on license tabs as well as increasing the states sales tax. Tim Eymans call for audits on our expenditures and more accountability of the money that is being spent now by our state and local governments is what needs to be done before one more tax increase is implemented. Also senior citizens should be exempt any new tax incrreases across the board. SS income doesn't allow seniors enough income now, let alone charging them more taxes. Respectfully;
Horace Warren. Seattle, WA

Mr. Robert Mak, Sir;

Mr. Funk is a natural politicion. He smiles and tries to give the impression that everything will go smoothly in La La land and us stupid voters will once again be fooled into voting for higher license tabs! The Governor made promises that allowing the nine cent increase in gasoline taxes would be the finial tax to improve and replace transportantion needs for years to come in this state. It would be un thinkable to raise taxes on license tabs as well as increasing the states sales tax. Tim Eymans call for audits on our expenditures and more accountability of the money that is being spent now by our state and local governments is what needs to be done before one more tax increase is implemented. Also senior citizens should be exempt any new tax incrreases across the board. SS income doesn't allow seniors enough income now, let alone charging them more taxes. Respectfully;
Horace Warren. Seattle, WA