I just noticed this bank owned condo that came on the market yesterday.  It is on the 7th floor at Washington Square. In January of 2008 it was purchased for $420,000.  It’s now listed at $274,900.  That is a 35% reduction since the last market sale.  The unit is 640sf.  For more info, check out the listing below.

If you are wondering why there are so many bank owned properties in this building, there is a simple explanation.  It is a combination of market pricing when they originally sold and that the developer placed very little exclusions or limitations on investor financing.  You see this in the Seattle condo market as well (Cosmopolitan, 2200 Westlake etc….)

Here is a look at the listing:

There is a healthy debate right now on the impact of bank owned properties in the Seattle and Bellevue condo market. I personally believe they are presenting a pretty compelling buying opportunity.  Some of them are priced well below market.  In this week alone, 3 bank owned 1 bedroom condos hit the market at Washington Square. Keep in mind that not all bank owned properties are a good deal.  It is critical that you do your homework both on the building and the unit itself before making a purchase.

Here is a look at the listings if you’re interested:

Unit #621 (we posted about this unit just a few days ago. It is now under contract.  Sold in less then 5 days)

Unit #1623 (This just hit the market yesterday)

Unit #1503 (Hit the market on Friday)

BUILDING INFORMATION & UCS PROJECT GRADE

This condo at Washington Square sold for $649,000 in May of 2008.  Now banked owned (Fannie Mae), it just hit the market for $280,500. By my calculations, that is a 56% reduction since its last market price.  Not bad.  If you want to check it out, click here

The foreclosures at Washington Square Condos in Bellevue continue pour in.  Check this one out.  Unit #1407, once sold for $1,034,000 in 2008. Bank of America just put a minimum bid on this property for Friday’s auction at $469,031!

Here is a look at the floor plan:

Project: Washington Square
Neighborhood: Downtown Bellevue

A few weeks back I wrote about a Washington Square condo that was going to the King County Foreclosure Auction.  Well, it just hit the market this morning as a Fannie Mae/Bank Owned listing.  It is a 1 bedroom, 1.5 bath 808sf unit. Purchased in July of 2008 for $609,000, it is now on the market for $289,900.  This is a reduction of over 50% since the last recorded sales price. On a cost per square foot basis the unit is listed at $358pf.  It is obvious to me that this condo was purchased well above market in 2008, but at the current price, one could argue that the unit is a pretty good deal.  Especially considering it is on the 17th floor.  I’ve included the floor plan below.

It looks like Fannie Mae is offering another 3.5% discount to owner occupied buyers who qualify as well.

Spa

◄ Back

Next ►

Picture 1 of 4

For those of you that read the foreclosure post yesterday and remain interested in how much unit #1507 sold for, the final numbers are in.

There were roughly 8 bidders and the price quickly jumped from $172,000 to $300K, $400K and then incrementally increased, until it reached the final bidding amount. The winning bidder purchased the unit for $563,100!

The numbers look like this:

#1507 was originally purchased for $1,037,000 in January of 2008.  Today it was purchased at the auction for close to a 45% discount at $563,100.

Here is the floor plan:

There are four interesting condos headed to tomorrow’s auction:

None more interesting then a 2 bedroom at Washington Square.  It was purchased at $1,037,000 in January of  2008.  Bank of America put a minimum bid price of $172,800 for tomorrows auction.  To me it is a clear ploy to drive an incredible amount of traffic to the auction.  I expect Bank of America to be at the auction bidding the price up.  Either way, it will be interesting to see what the final amount may be.

The other condos include:

• Washington Square (1 bedroom, 808sf) Last purchase price of $609,000 (Minimum bid of $264,300)
• Plaza Del Sol (2 bedroom, 2bath) Last purchase price of $407,450 (Minimum bid of $202,273)
• Portal (Studio) Last purchase price of $362,000 (Minimum bid of $169,969)

Sorry for the brief post, but I’m off to spend time with family tonight!

Clearly the impact of condos purchased between 2005-2009 is starting to rear its ugly head in Seattle.  As values plummeted, owners started giving their keys back to the bank.  Condo foreclosures are on the rise and in the upcoming weeks you could see foreclosures in some of the best buildings in Seattle and Bellevue.  I’ve included a “short” list of buildings that will have units auctioned in the next 60 days:

If you want to learn about investing at the Foreclosure Auction, contact us.

Project: Washington Square
Neighborhood: Bellevue

I noticed this morning that a Washington Square Studio on the 14th floor is also headed to the foreclosure auction today.  This one won’t be very popular at the courthouse steps as the minimum bid or “asking price” of the bank is much higher than the condo is worth.  My guess is that it will go back to the bank. On that note, I thought I would share the information with you anyway so you could learn more about the process.  Units like these act as a reminder that buying foreclosures is not as simple as it looks.  You have to invest time and energy into analyzing quickly and then find options to pay for the home the day of.  In this situation, the time and effort is making sure that you don’t purchase a unit in a great building at the wrong price.

UNIT DETAILS:

• Last sale $456,000 (January 2008)
• Minimun Bid at Auction $380,559
• 666sf
• Studio layout
• 1 bath
• West facing unit

COMMUNITY AMENITIES:

• 24 Concierge
• Grand lobby
• Spa
• Owners lounge
• Theatre room
• Game room
• Fitness center
• Massage room access
• Dog Park
• Secure parking
• Retail

Check this out!  I’ve added all the active Downtown Bellevue condo inventory into a chart.  You’ll notice that the pie chart cooresponds with the table to the left. As you will notice Bellevue Towers has 16% of the total inventory!  The horizontal chart below really puts it into perspective.

The “other condos” category is all the condos that didn’t have multiple units in a particular building.  Overall there are 193 units on the market.

If you want to download this analysis , just click the link below and print.

Bellevue Condo Analysis

Washington Square is up to 226 units sold.  In addition they have just re-vamped their website www.washingtonsquareliving.com.  They made it easier to view floor plans, facility tours and have included a video highlighting the development of this Bellevue super block.

Washington Square located at 10610 NE 9th Pl, Bellevue is comprised of Two Towers. Open one-bedroom, one-bedroom, one + den, two-bedroom, two+den and three-level townhomes.  Priced from the $400,000s into the millions.  26 three-level townhomes ( includes private 2-car garages, a private elevator and entertainment sized patio and decks)

Driving through Bellevue on Wednesday made me think of fun, brief survey for our UCS readers.

Ascetically, which is your favorite condo project in Bellevue?  It can be the architecture, the design, the coloring, the glass etc….  Here are the big six to get your visual juices flowing.  Just submit your vote or comment below and enjoy what others have to say!

BELLEVUE TOWERS

WASHINGTON SQUARE

THE BRAVERN

ONE LINCOLN SQUARE

ONE MAIN STREET

BELLEVUE PACIFIC TOWER

This is a fun post for me to write.  I have been so excited to share with you some recent updates to the blog.  As you will see in the picture below, we have added a category of links titled “UCS Exclusive Sites”.  I think this is an incredible addition to the site.

For the last 2 months, I have been working tirelessly on building individual sites for the major condominiums projects in Bellevue and Seattle.  The objective was to bring each project to you!  This hyper-local approach, delivers “building” specific information.  Each website is loaded with great info.  You can search units for sale, units that have sold and within a few weeks you’ll be able to search for rentals as well!  In addition, you will find the following:

• Neighborhood information
• Amenities
• Walkscore and much much more.

Each site is fairly interactive as well.  For example, if you want UCS to send you listings in your favorite building, just fill out the email notifications form and you will receive new listings immediately when they hit the market.  As an owner you will also be able to keep tabs on the units that are for sale in your building.  We will be adding new features to the site as time goes on. For now, my hope is that you enjoy what has been created.  Please spread the word!  I’m very excited to get your feedback.  See below for a list of all the websites offered at this time:

Here is an example of the website for the Vine!

These are where the website links are located in UrbanCondoSpaces (see the picture below):

Eastside/Bellevue Condos:

Bravern Condos
Bellevue Towers
One Lincoln Square
One Main Street Condos
Astoria Condos
Washington Square
Kirkland Central

Seattle Condos:

Trace Condos and Lofts
Brix Condos
Eastlake Condos and Lofts
Enso Condominiums
Veer Lofts
2200 Westlake
The Cosmopolitan
5th and Madison
Escala Condos
1521 Condominiums
Cristalla Condos
Bellora Condos
Concord  Condos
The Vine
The Parc
Mosler Lofts
Madison Lofts
Gallery