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.

Plans for new building in Seattle

Goodman Real Estate submitted plans to build a 16-story apartment building in Seattle’s downtown core. The Building will be called Colman Tower and consist of 208 residential units and 6 stories of parking and commercial spaces. The building’s concept will be geared toward the “Seattle Yuppie”, a term used to describe the young urban professional. The building will stand where an empty 86 stall parking lot currently sits. This ½ an acre parcel is worth well over $4 Million. The value will only continue to grow once a new building is placed on it. It’s a great investment for Goodman Real Estate, having owned this property for the past 10 years and placing a building where the proposed Alaska Way tunnel may start. Once the Viaduct comes down it is only going to raise property values for those near it. These are some of the first plans seen in the Seattle core since the market crash of 2008. The Seattle apartment market is stable, which is why we are slowly seeing more of these plans around the city. One example is Queen Anne’s newest project, the Avalon Apartments, which is currently under construction. Another company submitted plans to build a mixed-use building for a hotel/condominiums, but has now converted to apartments to obtain financing. It’s a wonderful sign to see business building in our city once more.

The New Pioneer Square

Pioneer Square’s face lift has begun. From the Thursday art walks to the newest Saturday market, Pioneer Square continues to promote itself to bring more people to its district. Pioneer Square just launched a new market this weekend called “City Square”. The market included a couple dozen different vendors all selling crafty type items; some selling house ware, clothing, and even furniture. Local DJs spun a mixture of music that added to the markets uniqueness. City Square, which will continue every Saturday until September 25th, is just one part of the effort in revitalizing the area. It seems that after Pioneer Square’s long term tenant Elliott Bay Book Store recently moved (taking a lot of its customers with) there is a lingering impression that Pioneer Square isn’t a great place to do business. Yet, according to the local business owner s and residents of Pioneer Square, it’s a great place. I was showing a commercial space there this afternoon near Occidental Park, and the park was flourishing with people and artists. Decorations hung from the trees and spectators watched some sort of interpretive art and performances. One woman was dressed like a character from the 1900’s. She read from a book and paced back and forth along a red carpet. I was told she would be there pacing back and forth until she finished the entire book. People were free to join her and she would read pages aloud. Others were enjoying food and the local entertainment. Seems like a busy day in the park to me. Pioneer Square is doing a number of things to help bring life back into the area. Art work is being placed in the store front of vacant commercial spaces to help add to the areas creative mix of business. The city has applied for the main street program which will take effect this winter. Over all the businesses and residents would sure like to see it flourish like it did not so long ago. For more information on activity in Pioneer Square check out the new website. www.thenewpioneersquare.com

The beginning stages to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct begins!

After attending yesterday's Pioneer Square Neighborhood meeting about the Viaduct’s replacement, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Pioneer Square wouldn’t be immediately affected by construction. Starting July 7th, construction workers will begin to break ground in the efforts to start preparation for replacing the southern portion of the Alaskan Way Viaduct. This section stretches a mile long and is located in the SODO district. The south end viaduct replacement should continue into 2014 and connect with any future replacement of the Viaduct’s Central Waterfront Section, including the proposed Bored Tunnel, which is still in the planning stages. The south end portion on the viaduct will be replaced by a side-by-side road way stretching from S. Holgate St. to S. King St. offering 3 lanes in each direction with wider lanes and shoulders. An overcrossing will be built at the railway located on S. Atlantic to avoid strenuous back-ups on Alaskan Way S. A new street will be added between S. Atlantic and S. Royal Brougham, west of 1st Ave. This will be a detour route when portions of Alaskan Way S are closed later in the project. Seems over the next few years a number of construction projects will be underway, as the state, county, city and Port of Seattle start making way for a new revised waterfront. We are only at the very beginning of a very large project. I spoke with a few local building and business owners after the meeting. One seemed very concerned that the construction could have a negative effect on his building located in Pioneer Square. It’s a little preliminary to start worrying about the effects of this summer’s construction. The South end replacement is far enough south it shouldn’t have an immediate effect on historic Pioneer Square. However, the next portion of the viaduct’s replacement, The Central portion, could inadvertently take a small toll on the neighborhood. Its plans are still tentative. For more information on the Viaduct replacement please visit www. Alaskanwayviaduct.org. or if you have comments or concerns you can speak your mind at the next neighborhood meeting, which is on the 3rd Thursday of every month, times and locations can be found on the website.

Seattle attracts many out of state residents

Seattle is known for its major corporations, eco-friendly culture, great food and glorious setting. These are only some of the reason that Seattle is a magnet for out of state residents. According to the article linked in my last blog, Seattle was ranked #2 in Kiplinger.com’s list “The 10 best cities for the next decade”. Over the span of the last few months I’ve noticed a majority of my clients have been from out of state. Many moving here from the mid-west, and some from as far as New York, have all found employment here and all agree that Seattle is an attractive city to live in. After some further investigation, I found that a number of our major corporations are continuing to create jobs and support this beautiful city. I found that Amazon.com had offered well over 500 positions in the last month, (Wow!) and Starbucks, Nordstrom’s and the University of Washington were all among the top leaders for job openings. There were close to 5000 positions available in Seattle alone on the state’s website www.go2worksource.com. It’s the workforce like this that keeps people moving to this unparalleled city. If you need assistance with rentals in the Seattle area please contact me.