Four Seasons Selling Quickly

I visited the Seattle Private Residences – Four Seasons Sales Office yesterday afternoon and they are about half sold out. More significantly, all of the most expensive units have sold out. This shows that there is substantial demand for the ultra-luxury condo market here in Seattle. The units still available range form 1.6 to10 million at around $2200 per square foot. The “lower cost” units do not give you water views, but still have some downtown views. Finishes in these units is all top-shelf and there is not much that one could wish for that is not already included. The showroom has a kitchen and bathroom model built out to see. The courtyard with the pool will have impressive views of the sound and be available for both hotel guests and residences to use. To view these homes the showroom is open on an “appointment only” basis. Call if you are interested.

Dustin Luther gives Blogging Presentation As m…

Dustin Luther gives Blogging Presentation

As many of you know, Dustin has taken a job with move.com, the parent company of Top Producer and Realtor.com and moved to sunny southern California. Yesterday he came to Seattle downtown Hilton and gave a great seminar on the “Basics of Blogging” to a bunch of real estate agents. This was sponsored by his company, but there was very little hype and lots of information packed into a few short hours. This was my first time to meet Dustin face to face and I was impressed with his presentation skills. He has a natural passion and enthusiasm for the subject that is infectious and his own personal success with Rain City Guide makes a great example for those wanting to get started in blogging. He was brutally honest with people in letting them know it was no cakewalk, and that just creating a blog was not going to automatically change their real estate businesses. I am a good example of that. I have a bit of a tech background and started a blog when I first heard about them back in 2004. I did NOTHING with it because I was so busy, blah, blah, blah (fill in the excuse). Now I am busy playing catch-up to some very good bloggers out there who have quickly dominated the Seattle real estate blogosphere.

Dustin also spent a fair amount of time talking about online community networks and the interactive nature of newer web 2.0 websites and the value and synergy that they bring to blogging. MySpace, Linkedin and biznik and others were discussed and links, links, links, were emphasized. In the end, it was a Dustin gave a very thorough lecture of the basics of blogging, what it takes to get started, and why it is important in the world of real estate web marketing.

1st Hotel and Residences two-thirds sold out

According to published reports, as of the week ending February 11, 2007 over two thirds of the units in the 1st Hotel and Residences (formally 2nd and Pine) have been sold. While the vast majority of these have been the “City-Suites”, a number of the luxury condos have sold as well. The most expensive penthouse units are still looking for takers, however.

Why Workforce Housing Matters The City of Seattl…

Why Workforce Housing Matters

The City of Seattle began a new 4-part speaker series, Housing our Future this Thursday, February 15, 2007. This series focuses on the increasing challenge of providing housing for working individuals and families. It was held at Seattle City Hall and there were several hundred who attended.

The speaker series was kicked off with a presentation by Henry Cisneros, chairman of CityView and former HUD Secretary. Cisneros discussed the need to view housing as an essential component of a strong, healthy community. He was able to point to several trends and statistics that show it is increasingly difficult for working families to afford to stay in the city. He gave examples around the country of other areas where this is a problem, and other areas that have come up with some innovative solutions that have made a difference. This was an insightful evening that gave a macro-view of housing concerns and what a vibrant, healthy city needs to insure that the housing component is appropriate and not problematic.