Vacationing Late Summer? Review Home Security Tips to Keep Your Rental Safe While Away

Summer is prime time for vacationers to pack up and get in the car, and it’s smart to make sure your home is secured before leaving the humble abode for an extended weekend or longer. Zillow has compiled a precautionary checklist to review before leaving your home alone, and the first item on the list is to consider having a house sitter or consulting with your friends and neighbors to see if they’re able to check on the house while you’re gone, which could be simple if you’re having someone check on your pets, or water your plants.
It might be wise for a neighbor to park in front of your home while you’re away, creating the illusion that someone is home at all times. Shutting off a main valve might be a cautious step to take before you leave to avoid any pipes leaking, which can cause extensive damage, and become very costly. You could consider putting up motion sensor lights (check with your landlord to see if this is feasible) or electrical timers for inside lighting, again you could also have your neighbors stop by and do the same thing. For other tips on securing your home, visit Zillow.

Twin Tower Apartments Breaking Ground Soon

According to the Seattle Times, a Seattle developer plans to start construction on a twin tower apartment complex in Denny Triangle. This apartment complex, Sixth & Lenora Apartments, will have 654 units available for rent and will also have approximately 18,000 sqft of ground floor retail available. This article is further truth to our last blog "Seattle Rental Market Is Hot". To get more details on the project, please click the link above.

Seattle Rental Market Is Hot

It's great new if you are landlord and not if you are in the market for a Seattle rental. The article, Hot Apartment Market Settles in For a While, in the Seattle Times gives details about what is going on with the Seattle apartment market. Basically with less people owning their homes, whether they are scared to buy (debate per the article), they lost their home, or if they are just moving here and do not want to commit until they experience Seattle, the demand is going up for Seattle apartments. And that applies to the luxury rental market as well. For example, The Bravern, the Bellevue 440+ unit building that was converted from condos to apartments, is already half full even though not all the units were on the market until past October. In addition, the supply for rentals is increasing slowly since there are not as many apartments being built as there were in the past. According to the graphs on the article vacancy in King county apartments is down to 4.3% from 6.8% two years ago. In the same time period, average rent has gone from $1,015 to $1,045.

To get more details, read the article by clicking the link above. It is an interesting article if you are looking for a Seattle apartment or if you are a landlord.

Colman Tower Design Approved

The Weber Thomson design proposal for the new Goodman Real Estate project, The Colman Tower Apartments, was unanimously approved this week by the Seattle Downtown Review Board. The proposal for a 6-story, 208-unit mixed-use apartment complex came earlier this year and is geared towards young, urban professionals. The building will feature rooftop amenities such as a terrace, dog run and common barbecues. The building’s interior will include a gym, lounge center, theatre room and game room. Goodman Real Estate has owned the property the tower will sit on for 10 years, and plans on developing 2,000 apartments in the Seattle area. These first 208 will be loft-style and an average of 700 sf in size. This is a good time for development as renters are on the rise. We hope this will help boost the real estate rental market in Seattle. The new construction and beautiful (proposed) building and almost-waterfront location at 888 Western Ave. next to Colman Dock should only make the project more successful.

New Apartments in Belltown

Just as the McGuire Apartments are headed to demolishment, a new apartment project is proposed for Belltown. The 17-2tory apartment building, to be called “Alto”, will be located on 3rd and Cedar. The expected 184-unit building ‘s construction will be the first of multiple proposals in Central Seattle in the last three years to start. The building will also have 2,700 sf of retail space. The developer, Harbor Properties (who is well known for Downtown’s Harbor Steps project) bought the land in March of last year, but decided not to build until the financial market had improved. The high demand for rentals in Seattle, especially among the younger populations in Belltown, has increased substantially in the past few years. As many of the projects in Belltown are condos, it is a nice change of pace to see some new apartment buildings. This will be the newest among a number of other buildings including 2300 Elliot, The Avalon, and Archstone Apartments, to name a few. The apartments will be aimed at middle-income renters as well, which is a plus for the younger population. Looks like Belltown living is back on the rise, as we expect the residential project from Goodman Real Estate (located on Western) to start in the near future as well.

Pyramid Living

Most of us have seen the Smith Tower located on 2nd Avenue in Pioneer Square. In the midst of many of the low rise buildings and condos in Pioneer Square lies the Smith Tower, a 1914 Seattle Landmark standing at 42 stories tall. It’s named after its builder, Burns Lyman Smith and it has a phenomenal observation desk on the 35th floor. What most of us in Seattle didn’t know until The New York Times brought recent attention to it was that a family currently lives in the pyramid-shape penthouse apartment near the top of the tower. The Lahaie family, Petra Franklin, David and their two daughters, have a long-term lease in the 1,750 sf, two bedroom, two bathroom downtown Seattle apartment. After the building was renovated in 1998, Ms. Franklin decided she wanted to live there-and that’s exactly what happened. Belltown and downtown Seattle living can be found where you least expect it. It just takes a little effort to find to find a rental or for sale property.

-Image courtesy of planetware.com

McGuire Apartment Tear Down

In a previous blog, agent Michelle McMahan wrote about the McGuire Apartments in Belltown. Yes, that building on 2nd and Wall surrounded by scaffolding, you’ve seen it. In April of this year, the first demolishment announcement was made after reports of structural problems and cable corrosion. Debate (details here) over who was at fault ensued and in the meantime, tenants were asked to vacate with monetary incentives for prompt vacation. Well according to the Daily Journal of Commerce, issues have been resolved and the property owner Carpenter’s Tower LLC and contractor McCarthy Building Companies Inc. have come to a decision-McGuire is good to go. To the ground, that is. Settlement terms and a tear-down date were not disclosed, but Belltowners can be sure that the building will undoubtedly be demolished. We can only hope that construction closures and the like won’t be affecting the surrounding roads and businesses too much.

Rental scams on Craigslist. Be aware.

Craigslist is a great resource to find deals and acquire items from locals, but be wary, it’s not the safest or most unfailing place to do business. Here’s a reason why; last week the Seattle Times reported a man was scamming locals out of rent money. His name was Paul Bakovich, a Sammamish dweller, who was posing as an eastside apartment owner to collect deposit money from innocent renters. Bakovich’s scam left him with nearly $5,500 dollars. Thankfully, he was eventually caught by local authorities. Craigslist users should be aware of this kind of thing because it isn’t the only rental scam on craigslist. There are countless reports of similar stories all over the country. One scam ran almost an entire year before victims realized they had been ripped off. An ad was posted on craigslist for a “Summer rental in the Hamptons” which was posted in the fall. Interested parties would tour the summer house, pay a deposit, sign a lease and then go on their way assuming that come summer, they would have a rental in the Hamptons. This went on during Fall, Winter and Spring and affected numerous people until Summer when all of the victims showed up at the same house. Surprised, the victims discovered that the man who posted the ad was working under a false name and of course, was nowhere to be found! This was a very clever scam and, unfortunately, it can happen anywhere and everywhere. If you choose to use craigslist to find a rental, pay close attention-you don’t want to fall victim to a scammer. Below are some some tips to help you avoid rental scams on Craigslist.

• Stay away from off season renters.
• Check tax records to make sure the person renting you the home is the actual owner of record.
• If the price seems to good to be true, it probably is.
• Check with a local real estate broker, they will help find you a rental at no cost.
• If it ask you to wire funds, it’s a scam.
• Never send money via mail.
• Be wary of sub-letting; make sure the person has the authority to do so.
• If the person wrote a heart wrenching story about how their mother is dying in Saudi Arabia and is out of the country, it’s a scam!
• Any listings that mentions Nigeria.
• Use common sense.
New ways to scam people are developed every day. Go with your instincts and if you unsure refer to craigslist’s “Avoiding Scams & Fraud” forum.

Waterfront Living

Time and time again we get clients looking to find a condo rental in Seattle that has a view. After all, the top two reasons for downtown/belltown living are location and views. Most realize the higher the condo rental, the better the view, and consequently the more expensive the condo. Renters are finding that they simply can’t afford that style of living. Sometimes renters come across impossible deals that are almost too good to be true, like two of the condo rentals Ewing & Clark have currently listed. What’s the cost of living ON the waterfront with some of the best views Seattle has to offer? No more than $2400-and that’s for two bedroom condos!! These rentals are located at the beautiful Seattle condominium building Waterfront Landings, and the name says it all! Located on Alaskan Way, Waterfront Landings’ residents enjoy breathtaking sunsets with views of the Olympic Mountains and Elliot Bay. The building is mere steps away from historic Pike Place Market and a variety of Seattle restaurants and entertainment. Real estate agent Merrily Jacobs has listed a 2 bedroom, 1,378 sf condo and agent Ridge Marshall has a listed a 2 bedroom, 1,121 sf fully furnished condo. Both rentals are ready for move-in! Please contact one of these real estate agents today and be able to call this wonderful building “home”.

New Rental in Windermere

Located in the beautiful Windermere neighborhood, Ewing and Clark’s newest rental, listed by Our Distinctive Home Shop agents Jane Powers and Betsy Terry, is not one to forget! With views of Lake Washington and Mt. Rainier, the home is available for rent from October 1st until June 1st, 2011. The fully furnished home (including electronics and linens!) has 3 bedrooms, an office, recently remodeled bathrooms, a new kitchen and a fenced backyard. The home is close to the University of Washington and located on a quiet, 12,000 sf lot. Don’t miss this one of a kind opportunity and contact an agent today.