Today's home has East Coast style with the luxury of West Coast weather. This compound is located in a colony of beach homes on Sand Point Road in the coastal community of Carpinteria, California. The five-bedroom estate includes both a main house and a guest house. The design takes the traditional Cape Cod style and lightens and brightens it with an exterior of bleached cedar shingles and an interior of large windows and white beams. The home is practically perfect (maybe the media room is a bit off but other than that, wow). Because it is Carpinteria though you'll pay through the nose for a home like this. It's listed at $32.5 million and doesn't even seem to have a pool.
For more prime properties and lush locations, see Luxury Homes and Mansions. 
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Today's home has East Coast style with the luxury of West Coast weather. This compound is located in a colony of beach homes on Sand Point Road in the coastal community of Carpinteria, California. The five-bedroom estate includes both a main house and a guest house. The design takes the traditional Cape Cod style and lightens and brightens it with an exterior of bleached cedar shingles and an interior of large windows and white beams. The home is practically perfect (maybe the media room is a bit off but other than that, wow). Because it is Carpinteria though you'll pay through the nose for a home like this. It's listed at $32.5 million and doesn't even seem to have a pool.
For more prime properties and lush locations, see Luxury Homes and Mansions.
18 Jul
Rates on a Rocky Ride
It’s been tough on mortgage backed securities this week. Today there are no economic indicators being released and compared to last week’s rates, they’re up across the board. The Tim, from Seattle Bubble, made a special request that I show the weekly difference between posts…which I used to do with RCG Rates…which such a dramatic increase to rates this week, his request is quite timely. Mortgage rates continue to be very volatile and even as I post this, I’m receiving new rate sheets for the worse.
Rates below are based with one point (1% total origination/discount fee). To see this morning’s rates based on zero points (no origination and no discount points), click here.
Conforming Mortgage Rates (loan amounts up to $417,000 for 1-unit properties). The conforming rate quote below is based on owner occupied with a minimum credit score of 720, “full doc” purchase with a sales price of $500,000 and a loan amount of $400,000. This scenario includes reserves (taxes & insurance) not being waived. Rates quoted are priced based on a 45 day lock with no prepayment penalties on any of the rates quoted below.
30 Year Fixed @ 1 Pt: 6.500% (APR 6.664%) up 0.375% to rate.
30 Year Fixed with 10 Year Interest Only @ 1 Pt: 6.625% (APR 6.775%) up 0.375%
15 Year Fixed @ 1 Pt: 6.000% (APR 6.262%) up 0.375%
5/1 ARM - LIBOR @ 1 Pt: 5.500% (APR 7.001%) up 0.125%
Conforming-Jumbo Rates. Pricing is based on the same criteria above except where the loan amount is $417,001 - $567,500 for properties in King, Snohomish or Pierce Counties; specifically priced for a sales price of $650,000 and a $520,000 loan amount.
30 Year Fixed @ 1 Pt: 6.625% (APR 6.781%) up 0.375%
30 Year Fixed with 10 Year Interest Only @ 1 Pt: 6.875% (APR 7.020%) up 0.25%
5/1 ARM @ 1 Pt: 5.875% (APR 7.141%) up 0.50%
JUMBO (Non-Conforming) Rates. Pricing is based on the same criteria above, with the exception that the loan amount is $417,001-$650,000 (20% down). The specific scenario used to price the rates below is a sales price of $850,000 with a loan amount of $680,000.
30 Year Fixed @ 1 Pt: 7.750% (APR 7.917%) up 0.125%
FHA. Pricing based on credit score of 620 or better and loan amounts up to $362,790 for FHA in King, Snohomish and Pierce Counties.
30 Year Fixed @ 1 Pt: 6.624% (APR 7.421%) up 0.50%
FHA-Jumbo. Pricing based on loan amounts from $362,791 - $567,500 for King, Snohomish and Pierce Counties. For other loan limits in Washington State, click here.
30 Year Fixed @ 1 Pt: 6.750% (APR 7.421%) up 0.375
VA. Pricing based on credit scores of 620 or better based on loan amounts up to $417,000. VA loan amounts over $417,000 are also available. Contact your local Mortgage Professional for more information.
30 Year Fixed @ 1 Pt: 6.625% (APR 6.958%) up 0.25%
Prime Rate (what HELOCs are based on): 5.000%
This is just a small sample available of rates and products. Rates are as of Friday, July 18, 2008 at 8:00 a.m. and may change at any time. Available programs may change at anytime as well. This is not a guarantee nor is it a commitment of interest rate. To see live rate quotes for various scenarios, check out my Twitter page.
Post from: Seattle Real Estate ~ Rain City Guide
Rates on a Rocky Ride
The last time I checked out a home in Honolulu, Hawaii the top home was listed at $10.8 million. Since back in April, that house has been reduced to $9.25 million and there is a new home in the top spot. Today's home is located in the Diamond Head area and has incredible water views. The two-story residence has three master suites with ocean views and private balconies, maids room and a three-car garage. It also has a particularly alluring feature, an infinity edge pool that faces the ocean. This home is listed at $10.75 million.
For more prime properties and lush locations, see Luxury Homes and Mansions.
Today's home in Phoenix, Arizona was once the home of John and Cindy McCain. The home, on over two acres, was Cindy McCain's childhood home, where she was raised as a privileged beer distributor's daughter. When the McCains lived there they spent $250,000 remodeling the home back in the 1980s. In 2006, the couple downsized into a condo and put the home on the market. When I first heard about it in 2006, they had a bit of trouble selling the house, listing it for around $3.75 million.
The current owner is going for a bit more. They have listed the home, which has seven bedrooms in the main house and two bedrooms in the guest house, for a hefty $12 million. The home includes a master suite with a Mexican-tiled private patio with a spa and built-in fireplace and seating. The gourmet kitchen has slate floors, granite counters and heavy commercial stainless steel appliances. The guest house also has an attached his/her dressing cabana. More pics at the virtual tour. It seems to have had quite the renovation since the McCains lived there. Check out the pics from 2005 when Architectural Digest visited the McCains. It's virtually unrecognizable except for certain telling details like the fireplace in the master bedroom. I have to say, I prefer Cindy McCain's version of this house.
For more prime properties and lush locations, see Luxury Homes and Mansions.
I don’t normally cross-post between 4realz.net and Rain City Guide, but tomorrow I’m having a conversation with the Chief Economist of the National Association of REALTORS that I think will interest many people in the Rain City Guide community. We’re going to be talking about .
I fully expect this radio show to be interesting, lively and informative and welcome you to join. As with Rain City Radio, there’ll be an associated chat, and I’ll be picking out questions from the chat room. Please consider joining us!
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16 Jul
Mr Monk Buys a House
with a premiere episode this Friday, July 18th. This one will be near a dear to our hearts. He’s going to buy a house! That’s right. Here is your most client in a life-imitates-art drama.
When his new neighbor plays his music too loud, Monk decides it’s time to move. He makes the big leap and buys a house that turns into a , reminiscent of the 1986 movie that we agents like to give to first-time buyers who think they are ready for a fixer-upper. Things continue to challenge Adrian when he hires the handyman from hell who is determined to rip up the entire house. form Everybody Loves Raymond guest stars.
Most of us agents have had clients like this to some degree and I’m sure there will be a number of been-there-experienced-that moments. I just wanted to make sure those who didn’t know have a chance to TiVo or whatever to see it.
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I first heard about this estate after the Wall Street Journal reported that media billionaire was putting his Acapulco, Mexico vacation home on the market. A year later and the home is still on the market for the same price. The three-acre gated compound in the Las Brisas community is the estate that Warner Communications (which became Time Warner) used to entertain clients and celebrities. In the late 1990s, Time Warner needed to cut costs and sold the home known as Villa Eden to Saban for around $7 million in 2001. The home has 12 bedrooms (plus five bedrooms in the servant quarters), 17 bathrooms, indoor and outdoor tennis courts, two pools, five massage rooms and a wine cellar. The expansive home has jetliner views of the Acapulco bay.
For more prime properties and lush locations, see
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Let’s deal with this sentence first and get it out of the way “A property around Seattle, correct me if I’m wrong, has about half of its value in the land, and half in the structure.” No, not true. One can not even begin to generalize, but a good rule of thumb for builders is that the new house will sell for 3X the lot value. But that is ONLY if the lot was worth buying in the first place.
If your land has value separately from the structure, then your structure often doesn’t have any value. When your structure has value with the land on a combined basis, then the (extra) land can usually only add 10% more to that value unless the lot can be split into two or more lots.
If a builder might want the land, then yes, the value of the land is part of the valuation process. If a builder wouldn’t want the land, then no, the land does not “value out” except as “an extra”.
Let’s take a regular neighborhood where the only buyers are those who are buying homes, and not builders who want the lot. How can you tell? Every house on the street is the same age, is a good clue. No builder has ever bought a house torn it down and put a new home on that street, usually means no builder wants to do that. If a house burned down, well then of course the lot would have a value. But if no one is interested in tearing the house down and putting a different house on it, then you don’t value the property by valuing the land first and then the structure. Most homes on the Eastside (housing developments) fall into that category, and any street in Seattle or Kirkland or Bellevue, considered to be a bad investment for new construction, falls into that category as well.
When no one would build a new house on the lot, you value a property based on comps alone, and the value of the land becomes irrelevant. Most times the homes are on lots of about the same size. A bigger lot vs. a smaller lot becomes “an extra”. Sometimes extras add value and sometimes they don’t. Too large of a lot often is viewed by potential buyers as “too much maintenance” and can actually detract from the value. Often corner lots fall into the “more maintenance” category. In these neighborhoods the large lot only values out IF it is SUBDIVIDABLE. If the person buying it can turn the lot into two lots and put another house on that second lot and sell it, then yes, the extra land would be a factor in determining the asking price or offer price.
Before we leave this category of “no” you don’t separate the land when determining an asking or offer price, let’s talk about land as “an extra”. The best rule of thumb for “extras” is they can’t in total equal more than 10% of the value of the property without the extras. Say you have a house that comps out at $650,000. You can’t get more than $65,000 more for that house because of extras, or $715,000. Beyond that it just has too many extras. Extras include, tennis courts, pools, extra land beyond the norm for the neighborhood, and to some extent new kitchens, new baths and any “added value” unless many in the neighborhood homes have also added these things and the comps have grown as a result. If no one in the neighborhood has done ANY improvements since 1968, you can’t get double the price of everyone else’s house because you remodeled your house and have a pool and a bigger lot, etc. That ONLY applies in areas where land is not separated from the structure in order to do a valuation.
So for all of the above, simple methods of price per square foot and adding and subtracting for some things here and there is the only method that works.
Let’s move on to where Larry is correct.
Larry, when the land does matter…then often it is ALL that matters, and the structure does not.
When it’s not all about square footage or value of structure, it often shifts to all about the land.
Example: I had a buyer client who bought a 4-plex at 7th and Market in Ballard. When he sold it two and a half years later (a year ago) the value of the 4-plex was roughly $720,000. I listed the property at $850,000 because IF the buyer wanted to tear down the 4-plex and build townhomes, the value of the land was worth more than the value of the 4-Plex with the land under it. It sold for $855,000 and five townhomes are being built on it as we speak. People called who wanted to buy a 4-plex and it didn’t “pencil out” and a lot of agents thought I was nuts 
When the value of the land exceeds the value of the home plus land, then the structure is “free”. This is true where builders are building and only WHEN builders are building. If builders stop building for five years because the market is soft, then the value will go down to whatever an owner occupant will pay for it, and whomever buys it can live in it and sell it when the builders come back out looking for lots to build on. We are entering a market like that and to some extent have been in that market for 10 months or so in some areas and in some locations.
So to answer your question, the reason it is or is not done the way you suggest is not because the “calculation is too complex”, it’s because it’s unnecessary. A buyer isn’t going to pay you 3X the value of the neighbor’s lot plus the value of your structure, because the lot is 2/3rds bigger, unless it is subdividable into THREE lots. If it can only be subdivided into two lots, then they may pay you the value of your house based on comps and price per square foot, plus a portion of the value of the extra lot, not triple, even though it is 3X bigger. And if it can only be one lot, they may not want it at all, because it is too much maintenance and that can reduce the value overall.
The highest value of a lot is usually where the value of the structure is about nil AND a new house built on that lot will sell. If you live on a street with no newer houses, if no one has ever wanted to build a new house on your street, the houses could end up at no value if no one wants to buy it as is and no builder wants to build on the lot. Then it becomes your home for life…or a perpetual rental property
A woman approached me this Sunday. She asked me what her property was worth. The house was tiny and worth about $300,000 with a huge yard. The lot was worth $300,000 without the house. When I told her the lot was worth $300,000 she started talking about the house. No! You can’t add the value of the house to the value of the land. No one is paying $300,000 for a big yard. They will only pay $300,000 if they are going to tear the house down. Someone may buy it and live in it, but they will get the house for free if they do. Maybe you can get $350,000 for it. A $50,000 house is dirt cheap and someone may pay an extra $50,000 over lot value and live in the house. But you can’t value the house at price per square foot and add it to the value of the lot.
You can sell it to a builder for lot value, or you can try to find an owner occupant who is willing to pay a little more than the builder will pay for the lot. Those are your options.
Larry, my guess is your land is treated as “an extra” and adds 10% to the value IF a buyer views it as an extra vs. a shortcoming. Today most people don’t want to spend all of their free time mowing the yard. And you can only get 10% more for ALL extras on a combined basis. So if your house is already worth 10% more than your neighbor’s homes because you added a new kitchen…then the extra land is not of value as your exceeded you cap for “extras”.
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Similar Posts:I’m really excited that today’s episode of Rain City Radio will feature Cory and Kate of . I have an obvious Ballard-bias because I think it is one of the best areas in all of Seattle, so it should be a lot of fun to explore this neighborhood with some of the best local bloggers!
You can listen to the conversation starting at 4pm by simply clicking on the play button on the radio widget on the right panel, or call-in to the program by
Arrive with questions, concerns, and comments as I expect another great conversation like our previous calls with local bloggers like and.
UPDATE:
I thought it was a wondeful conversation with Cory and Kate of ! You can listen to the entire conversation by using the “TalkShoe” widget to on the sidepanel of Rain City Guide!
We covered a mix of topics around both local blogging and their take on Ballard. I found it particularly interesting that they both have only lived in Ballard for less than a year, and yet have quickly developed a strong connection to the neighborhood. Also interesting, is that like Tracy from the , they both of journalism degrees and see this local blog as a future in terms of how news will spread through communities.
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Last time I checked out a house in the Tiburon area for a look at the , the top house in the area was listed at $38.5 million. Since then that same house has and the top of the market has seen a few more lavish homes such as today's estate listed.
The Tiburon peninsula lends itself to beautiful properties that make the best of the views in the San Francisco Bay area. This one, called Paradise by the Bay turns its approximately 6.8 acres into a charming family compound. This luxury estate has been in the same family since 1926. The estate includes a five-bedroom main house, three outbuildings, a championship tennis court, pool, children's playground, and scenic waterfront area in a secluded cover.
The main house has water views from the dining room, kitchen, master suite and living room. The lower level media/family room opens to the lawn area. There is a patio room that has been historically enjoyed as an area to entertain and host noted musicians. Other features include an office which is situated adjacent to the main house, overlooking the gardens and distant Ring Mountain. The lower deck "cottage" is an ideal guest retreat overlooks the water and opens to a deck.
The small pool is surrounded by grass and also has a cabana and bar designed for entertaining and relaxing by the pool. This area is accessible by a private road for the catering staff. The massage sanctuary is a private massage deck that allows one to hear the lapping of the water and enjoy complete serenity while getting a massage. You can also enjoy veggies from your own organic gardens or send the kids off to play in the children's play area with sand box. In fact the property is so rambling that the pathways are marked with cute signs pointing the way to different areas.
For more prime properties and lush locations, see
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