Aug. 18, 2008 - Kirkland Condos - Downtown

When we look at sold prices, we don 't get the real story.  Yes, sold prices are generally lower on a price per square foot basis than those that are not sold.  But the real story is in what are people buying, and what are the odds of selling at all?

If you own a one bedroom condo in Downtown Kirkland, price is not the only solution to selling it.

• There are currently 19 people trying to sell a one bedroom condo in Downtown Kirkland
• Only two 1 bedroom condos are in escrow
• Only 7 one bedroom condos have sold in the last 6 months

That means you have about a 1 in 10 to a 1 in 18 chance of selling at all.

19 condos represents about a year and a half of inventory.  2 sold means that maybe 2 of the 19 will sell and the remaining 17 people may have to do something besides selling.  Rent it out.  Stay in it.  Let it go back to the bank.  What are the options if selling is not an option?

Will price alone cause all 19 to sell?  Not likely.  Even if half the people take their property off the market, all of the remaining condos will not likely sell in the next few months.

What does that mean to someone who is planning to put one on market?  Take the lowest possible price at which you will sell it and list it at that price.  Make it look the very best at that low price even though you feel like you are "giving it away".  And then...after all that...know that it still may not sell.

It is not likely if only 7-9 people have bought a 1 bedroom condo in Downtown Kirkland in the last 6 months, that 19 will sell.  Yes, yours
CAN beat out the 19 already on market, but not without extreme sacrifice of some kind.

• Is it price? 
• Is it condition? 
• Is it location? 
• Is it view? 

There is no one right answer.  Sometimes its price and sometimes it's view and location. That the competition is severe when you are #20 on market, is all that is a known factor.