Seattle has buses. Use them! In which case you might as well find a place to live along a line. One line at a time. Here's the next one, selected at random for the fun of it.
What are you most interested in, schooling or shopping? Route 345 will take you to North Seattle College and Northgate. It will also take you to Northwest Hospital, but hopefully that's only a frequent trip if you work there.
↑ Live on Haller Lake, or at least beside it. Freshwater waterfront is a lot cheaper than saltwater waterfront. Of course, you can't sail out to the sea, but you can at least have fun or fish or both on the lake. Spend $940,000 and get 0.67 acres with a dock. Okay, so there's also a 1942 house with 4 bedrooms, 2.25 baths, and 3,550 square feet; but a property like this is defined by the land, the water, the views, the serenity, and fact that at least one side of the property won't have a neighbor, as long as you don't mind ducks, geese, and a few heron.
↑ A 1930 brick tudor can be something to preserve, and it looks like someone has; or, at least hasn't taken out what was put in. The hardwood floors, the leaded glass windows, and the coved ceilings remain. There are a few new items, like air conditioning and a hot tub; but some things like a mudroom made sense then and now. The 5 bedroom, 3.25 bath, 3,080 square foot house has an asking price of $750,000 and a proper sense of style. Outside are 0.27 acres of matured gardens and a 3 car garage with swing, rather than lift, doors. Every day could be a reminder of a slower time.
↑ Ninety-eight years old and still standing. They managed to fit 5 bedrooms and 2 baths into a 2,180 square foot house on an 8,000 square foot lot without a garage. It must work because it apparently had the same owner since 1986. Then, it sold for $61,000. Now, they're asking $499,950. Evidently, it just had a head-to-toe remodel, so go check out its head and its toe. The attic has a beveled and finished room. The basement is unfinished after all these years, so it is also an opportunity. The lot is flat. All together there is plenty of opportunity to redefine the space around new appliances and upgrades. Have fun making it your own, and see if you live in it for the next 29 years.
↑ Carpeting in the garage? Evidently, that space has been more of a shop and storage than a covered parking space. This 3 bedroom, 2 bath house with views of the Cascades has an asking price of $475,000. They caution about needing to cosmetically improve the place, but you've undoubtedly seen worse. Decide what you want to do with wallpaper and paint, and give the old place a new face without having to tear into walls or move doors. It has 2,590 square feet inside on a 7,250 square foot lot; so there probably isn't a need for a riding lawn mower or a full-time housecleaner. You might even have enough time to enjoy that view.
↑ Something old and something new. Evidently, this brand new townhome was built in 1950. How significant was that remodel? Got any of the original wiring left? What's more important is that this 3 bedroom, 1 bath dwelling with new appliances has an asking price of $384,950. It may be a zero lot line townhome, but somehow the 1,860 square feet inside and the 6,960 square feet outside coincide. Those are probably just the details of typos and paperwork. It's much more important that the electrical, plumbing, and other construction and renovation work worked well.
· Haller Lake [SPR]
· Northwest Hospital [NWH]
· North Seattle College [NSC]
· Route 345 [Metro]
· All Bus Tours coverage [CS]
Written by Tom Trimbath
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