Seattle Condo Blog and Community Information

Received a call today from Bernard Troy of King 5 news.  He is doing a story on Madison lofts and how prices are dropping.  I gave him inputs about other projects where we are seeing price drops also.   One of the projects I mentioned is the Cosmopolitan where I happen to own an investment unit.  

 Buyers might be able to get a better deal on a condo that is 2-3 years old than buying new.  But isn’t this the case with buying a new car!  If you buy a car a couple of years old you can get a significant price savings,  but car buyers do buy new cars.  Why?  because they like the feel of a new car.   This seems to be the case with condos and houses.   

The new laws that took affect June 12th 2008 concerning condo law in Washington State. 

Some key changes to the Washington’s condominium law will require associations to:

Prepare and routinely update a reserve study to calculate the need for, and cost of, major maintenance.

Encourage associations to estabilsh a long-term reserve account to pay for major maintenance and repairs.

Notify buyers when a current reserve study does not  exist and warn this might poses a risk to them.

In the past, unhealthy associations and buildings would pass along the cost of major renovations and repairs to the owners by imposing a special assessment.

Escala, a condominium tower now under construction in the heart of Midtown, recently reached a milestone as more than 50 percent of its Premier Sales Release has been sold. More than $6 million in sales were recorded in the last month alone, resulting in an Encore Sales Release happening now.

     Escala developer John Midby of LEXAS Companies says the new inventory actually represents the last near-term opportunity for new condominiums in downtown Seattle, given the reported 95 percent drop in new construction deliveries anticipated by 2010.