37 Replies to "Onetime $4.8 million Sunset listing now $3 million foreclosure"

• M July 2, 2009 (6:47 am)

  Low blow, WSB

• Rhonda Porter July 2, 2009 (7:24 am)

  There’s not a lot of financing available in the jumbo markets these days… I’m just starting to see some non-conforming programs return.

• Robert July 2, 2009 (7:39 am)

  Would make an outstanding “West Seattle Blog World Headquarters” :-)

• Mike July 2, 2009 (8:26 am)

  Zillow gives an estimate of … a lot less than foreclosure estimated value.

  http://www.zillow.com/homes/map/1114-Sunset-Ave-SW,-seattle,-wa_rb/

  less than $2M Zillow value, ouch!

• WSB July 2, 2009 (9:03 am)

  M, it’s not a “low blow,” it’s news. We have reported on multimillion-dollar real estate in the good times and now the not-so-good. OTOH, some property is selling. That same story from 2008 mentioned the Colman Estate on this end of West Seattle, and we recently reported the sale of that at less than the purchase price. Unlike this one, it also happened to be a historic home, so there was more to the story:
  https://westseattleblog.com/blog/?p=17490
  – TR

• christopherboffoli July 2, 2009 (9:07 am)

  I’d just as soon choose a price by throwing a dart at a board than trusting Zillow to be accurate. I’m not sure what metrics they use. But it has been my experience that their price algorithm is particularly weak when it comes to pricing new properties where a previous structure stood on the site. They seem too heavily weighted towards the value of the old property when it was often a decrepit old structure being replaced by something much better.

• I had heard July 2, 2009 (9:15 am)

  Wow…it’s ONLY $3.5 million now.

  The housing market is still totally fictional. Can someone explain to me how MOST of the houses in West Seattle can cost well over $500k if the median income is $45K a year? This doesn’t compute. Despite all the ‘experts’ trying to explain this, housing can NOT go up significantly more than salaries…at some point it just fails. Normal people can no longer buy houses, but houses are bought and sold as investment/flips not to live in.

  These $800k and $2 million homes are great, but how MANY vice presidents of Boeing or Amazon are there? You have to have about a $400,000 a year salary to afford a mortgage on a $800K house. Are there THAT many people (10s of thousands) in the city making that much money? Really?

• Donna July 2, 2009 (9:19 am)

  I agree with M. Individual foreclosures on someone’s home is not news. Sales of multimillion-dollar real estate in the good times is a much different “story” than one family losing their home because they can’t pay the bills, especially with a link (albeit, dead) to the notice. This is not news. Isn’t there enough stress in losing a home without having your failure splashed online for all your neighbors to read? Yuck.

• WSB July 2, 2009 (9:23 am)

  I respectfully disagree, but I appreciate very much that people take the time to share their opinions. Property records show that this is still owned by the builders who bought the site for $1.6 million in 2007.
  http://www5.kingcounty.gov/kcgisreports/property_report.aspx?PIN=9272200555

• cathy July 2, 2009 (9:28 am)

  If I’m not mistaken, the previous house on this site (which was a fairly nice house with a great view) burned down. I was always curious about the circumstances but never heard anything. The current house has never been occupied as far as I know. It looks like a gorgeous house and whoever ends up living in will probably really enjoy it. The view is one of the best in the City – top of the hill, overlooking Elliott Bay. Unfortunately the price isn’t in our ballpark either.

• krit July 2, 2009 (9:37 am)

  Yes, this is a spec house, a bit of a gamble in this market. It has been empty since it was built. The family losing out here is perhaps the developers family, but that is the price of doing business. Maybe someone reading WSB will have the successful bid; it is news.

• Robert July 2, 2009 (9:53 am)

  The Median Income in Zip 98116 was 69K in 2007 according to the site below with the Median around 450K. This house in an obvious outlier.

  http://www.city-data.com/zips/98116.html

• the_urbanite July 2, 2009 (10:05 am)

  I am sick of people saying “this is not news” on the WSB comments. If you want to read conventional “news” go to the Seattle Times website. I for one appreciate stories like this. As someone who aspires to live in a house like this, which is noteworthy for its view and architecture, I enjoy WSB’s coverage.

• alki_2008 July 2, 2009 (10:21 am)

  I had heard – where are you getting your numbers? There are plenty of households with salaries far less than $400k/yr that afford $800k houses…and your median income of West Seattle seems flawed as well. This house is not a hard-luck foreclosure case where someone is getting tossed out of their homes. It’s a custom home built to sell with a multi-million-dollar price tag. Such alarmists that think pity needs to be thrown at everyone just at the mere hint of the word “foreclosure”. In some cases, foreclosure is not pitiable.

• Donna July 2, 2009 (10:42 am)

  So the distinction of whether it’s news or not depends on whether anyone lives in it? Or whether it was a big bad developer who lost millions rather than a family? Maybe you’re right, urbanite, I think I’ll take a rest from the blog for awhile. Usually I’m grateful that WSB seems to be everywhere, capturing all sorts of interesting stories. But this is just opening up one person’s misfortune for show and discussion. I think I’ll log off and go take a shower now.

• JW July 2, 2009 (11:28 am)

  Wellll…a lot of news results in one person’s misfortune being opened up for show and discussion. Like people getting shot or getting in car accidents. We’ve had healthy discussions here about the ethics of publishing car accident photos. But no one disputed whether those misfortunes were news.

  I do support WSB on this question. I want to know where accidents happen, where gunshots occur and, honestly, I need to know about foreclosures too. It helps understand the neighborhood and the times I live in.

• kg July 2, 2009 (12:06 pm)

  I stand by the WSB in the reporting of this story. I see no posting of the faces of the owners nor did I see any gloating in the text. I see reports such as this in “mainstream” media all the time.

  BTW: I will pay the sum of one dollar to rent this house for a year.

• Dan\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'a July 2, 2009 (12:17 pm)

  I am very interested in what what is going on with this house, and other foreclosures. Foreclosures, whether they be happening to a family or business, affect the surrounding neighbourhood and house prices.
  My husband and I went to look at this house, and while definitely not our cup of tea, it was very very nice. I am hopeful a very lucky family, who loves it, will purchase it.

• Patrick July 2, 2009 (12:26 pm)

  I would agree that the situation with such a prominent house as this is certainly “news”. What constitutes “news” is completely subjective. Once could well argue that much of what appears on CNN.com is not really “news”.

  The situation with his particular house is too bad for the deleveloper. But someone who can afford it (and there are still something like 50,000 millionaires in Seattle) is going to get a great house with an amazing view for a whole lot less than it will be worth in 5 years. So someone will benefit. An econominc downturn is a great time to have money and buy big ticket items!

• cathy July 2, 2009 (1:05 pm)

  Now that I think about it, the previous house on that site burned down because of an arson. There was a sign posted in front of the ruins that the Seattle Fire Dept had determined that the cause of the fire was an arson and they were asking for any information to solve the crime. There was also a big sign written on the charred side of the house that said “arson.” I don’t know if they ever found out who did it. Sort of off topic, but an interesting side note.

• TeresaP July 2, 2009 (1:17 pm)

  This scenerio is in line with what I have termed as “The Land Rover Years” where as people actually thought they could buy massive homes, $75,000 SUV’s and be able to live the lifestyle they thought they deserved. All on an income of about $100K less that what they actually needed.
  Now some of them are crying and pointing fingers at the people who sold them the massive homes and SUV’s and blaming them. INCREDIBLE!!
  It is sad that people loose their homes when it is not their fault, like illness or medical bankruptcy. It is not sad when they were just plain stupid. Not implying that this was the case in this particular circumstance, just in general.

• Vanessa July 2, 2009 (1:22 pm)

  News, Smews, it’s all about the views,
  Mine, yours, who’s ?
  Right now, any news other than Michael Jackson is rather refreshing……This self confessed rubber-necker can’t help but look. So let’s knock the dust off that novel, and go “sit underneath the apple tree with anyone else but me…….” Happy 4th

• junctionhobo July 2, 2009 (2:01 pm)

  I was planning on squatting there, now everybody knows about it.

• seaman July 2, 2009 (2:06 pm)

  I support WSB on this coverage. This information is public record (not conjecture) and they can make it news if they like just like we can if we look it up and tell all of our neighbors. It probably hurts for the builder to have their ‘ouch’ listed in this way but its not meant to shame them publicly. The Seattle Times could do a montage of high-end foreclosures in the area and, via public record, this house could end up on the front page of the Times. I agree with the previous post that it could help bring a buyer too via extra exposure. Good job WSB – best news around.

• Robert July 2, 2009 (2:14 pm)

  I just did a search an in the Admiral distict “alone” there are 17 homes for sale with a listing price of 1 Million or more. Most of them on or near Sunset and Palm avenues. Good luck!

• Smitty July 2, 2009 (3:09 pm)

  Median HHI is ~$70,000 in West Seattle(98116).

  Homes at “Land Rover” prices were being purchased by households of $150,000+during the market hayday. A lot of those with equity put down from their “first home” – so the actual financed amount was not as much as you think.

  Don’t hate rich people because they are rich. That’s very democrat of you. This housing collapse started because banks were forced to lend to people with bad credit – not because banks lent to people that already had a lot of money.

• diane July 2, 2009 (3:25 pm)

  re there are still something like 50,000 millionaires in Seattle
  ~
  really?!? one in ten in Seattle are millionaires?

• PSPS July 2, 2009 (3:41 pm)

  This is far afield from the news item, but it wasn’t “rich” people buying these overpriced houses. As little as two years ago, you could still get a no-doc option-ARM (liar’s loan.) That’s where the foreclosure action will be through the end of 2012 as all of these recast. People earning $50K/year shouldn’t have bought a $750K McMansion. But they did anyway, thinking they could get away with it by “flipping” before recast.

• WSB July 2, 2009 (3:46 pm)

  From 2007 and certainly things have changed BUT … at that time there were 68,000+ households in King County with $1 million or more net worth, per this story
  http://www.seattlepi.com/business/313895_millionaires02.html

• Shibaguyz July 2, 2009 (3:58 pm)

  Folks… please read all the comments before you post. There might be relevant information that would make you look silly ranting on about.

  This home was never purchased by a family. There is no sad little face associated with this home. This was a developer making a gamble on the market and loosing. It’s how that sort of business is done.

  If WSB were posting foreclosures where families were out on the street, I would agree wholeheartedly with the criticisms. However, gladly, that is not the case here. Thankfully, no family was displaced. Thank goodness… there’s enough of that going on all around us.

• Mike July 2, 2009 (3:58 pm)

  King Co. has one of the largest number of millionaires per capita in the USA.

• sage July 2, 2009 (4:01 pm)

  I suspect a lot of those 68,000 with $1 million net worth came from paper housing wealth. All those $1 million + homes now worth a whole lot less, so I’d wager the millionaire count has plunged as well.
  .
  RE: PSPS… actually, about half of foreclosures now are on “prime” borrowers. Still disproportionate share from subprime, option ARMs, etc., but prime borrower foreclosures are going to the moon. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aE_j_CA8fCao
  .
  For the record, I also think this is a very worthy news story. If property cheerleading is considered news by most, foreclosures certainly are as well.

• dolly July 2, 2009 (5:58 pm)

  One little point–prior to the fire, the house was vacant and for sale for quite a long period of time. It was a location seeking to maximize redevelopment potential the only hitch was that it moved too slowly.
  Personally, the design of the interior was goofy. Great view, but weird inside. Too many styles, tried to incorporate too many “luxury touches” and small rooms.

• HomeOnBeachDrive July 2, 2009 (6:10 pm)

  I’m not hating rich people. I’m ONE of those making over 6 figures and have no debt. It’s not a bitch at rich OR poor people, but making fun of the STUPID housing market. Some of you simple refuse to recognize reality. You SWEAR that housing CAN go up 4 times faster than salaries. So eventually houses will cost $2 million when folks are making $90k a year. It’s a paper market. Ok, the median income in 98116 is $75k or so. GO look at ANY mortgage calculator and figure how much that buys you….even given $100k or so down. Now write that number down. Now open the paper and look at the housing prices. You’ll see my point. It’s unsustainable. Housing was treated like ‘gold’, like an generic abstract investment tool. But housing is NOT an abstract investment. Housing MUST be tied to salaries to some extent or NO new people can enter the market, you end up with 20% of the population re-flipping the same properties over and over. Doesn’t anyone take REAL economics course anymore, or just fantasy economics? LOL

• diane July 2, 2009 (8:06 pm)

  re: From 2007 and certainly things have changed BUT … at that time there were 68,000+ households in King County with $1 million or more net worth, per this story
  http://www.seattlepi.com/business/313895_millionaires02.html Comment by WSB
  ~
  thanks TR; figured you could find it fast
  ~
  that makes a lot more sense, including Eastside super wealthy demographic, and KC has pop 1.9 million; so what’s that, 3%?
  ~
  the original comment, 50,000 millionaires in Seattle, with pop now of 600,000; did not compute
  ~
  btw, I stopped by that mega modern house with uber view about a month ago, found the agent at another open house and asked about house on the hill; he told me it was in foreclosure and I could get a great deal on it

• SarahScoot July 2, 2009 (9:04 pm)

  It’s really not rare for someone who’s been fiscally responsible to be a millionaire by middle age, providing you’re talking net worth. I hope to be there by about age 45; I’m 25 now and have contributed approx. 20% of my after-tax income to a Roth 401(k) since I was eligible (two years now.) Of course, it’s taken quite a hit in the past year, but when the market comes back up I expect it to increase quickly, as I’ve got it allocated in very aggressive funds. My husband contributes about the same, although his is a traditional 401(k). As our salaries increase we’ll contribute more to IRAs as well, and build liquid savings and stocks, and buy a house at some point. Reaching the million dollar net worth mark does not make one “rich” in today’s standards. More fortunate than many others, yes, and able to give back to the community that afforded that success.

  Back on topic: I’ll echo the other reasonable people in this thread and say yes, this is news. This property is very prominent and has been mentioned on WSB at least once before, and this auction may draw some citywide mainstream media attention. It’s not a “low blow” either: I’m sure developers don’t take these things extremely personally. It’s a risk you have to take when building high-end homes.

• Ignatz July 3, 2009 (7:17 am)

  I think the comments critical of the WSB coverage of this story are silly. This foreclosure IS news..impacting our community. It relates to the changes in our local economy. Re the economics…many on regular salaries can afford expensive homes if they have equity and have been careful financially.

Sorry, comment time is over.