Any trouble closing on SLU condos?

[rollinst.]

I am (hopefully) moving into Rollin Street Flats in March when it is finished. I was wondering if anyone else here has purchased a presale unit there and if they are worried about closing on their unit? Or if anyone has advice for those of us who are. We are feeling a bit anxious at this point.

[rollinst.]

Ok Ok I am in suspense. What did you learn about last night?

[Rick]

Haha, nothing specific.

I was at an early design guidance meeting for the Laundry Block apartment project which is 2 blocks north of Alley 24, kiddie corner to Cascade Playfield. Vulcan also owns the block in between the Laundry Block and Alley 24--they call it the Florist Block because its a supply warehouse for Evergreen Florist.

Vulcan said they plan on eventually putting a condo project on the Florist block, once the market turns around. It would be right across from Cascade Playfield with (partial) Space Needle views. Another cool aspect about it is that they plan on continuing the pedestrian-friendly alley concept all the way north from Alley 24 to Mercer. The Blume office park will be at the other end of it.

[rollinst.]

I am so curious about what your day job is. How are you able to make it to all of these meetings? When I get home (preschool teacher) I am so exhausted that all of my good intentions fall by the wayside, so to speak.

That is cool news about more new buildings to come in the future. I am so glad that they are following through with their vision.

So, what will the Laundry Block apt. be like? Is it affordable housing? I actually thought this site was across the street north from Rollin. But it seems I am wrong. So, not the building with the big basketball player painted on it?

[Rick]

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Here is the post on the Laundry Block. It may take advantage of the multifamily tax exemption and have some affordable housing like Alley 24. It's up in the Cascade neighborhood.

I don't know what they're going to do with the Detlef Schrempf building. It looks like it was owned by Vulcan at some point, but now its been sold to a partnership that seems content with it being vacant and boarded up.

[rollinst.]

Oh yah, too late to not dig too far into our savings. We have over $50k in at Rollin. Yikes. We have definitely learned a lot from this. No, not that we are dumb. Ok, maybe a little, but that things can change dramatically in a relatively short period of time.

[cfresh]

Thank you so much rollinst for sharing your situation. My jaw dropped as I read on...I thought for a moment that I had written this e-mail myself, perhaps a new phenomenon called sleep e-mailing or maybe it was the drunken black out from trying to dull the pain of throwing away our deposit. Um, we are in EXACTLY the same situation you find yourself in. We were sold on or rather bought into the Rollin Street dream. The market has done a 180 in such a way we couldn't have imagined. This weighs on me daily; like you, we are likely to lose a sizable amount of money and take responsibility for our choice to buy at the pre-sale stage, what were we thinking? I agree some transparency and guidance from Vulcan is sorely needed. What should we do next?

[rollinst.]

Thank you for sharing as well, cfresh. It is a hard thing to do, but maybe by voicing our concerns something positive will come of it. Maybe just understanding that others are in the same boat is enough to help us out a bit. Keep us posted on what you decide. We are in limbo at this point and it's probably a good idea to keep the lines of communication open in case one of us hears anything helpful. Take care.

[beth chaput]

I am in the same situation at gallery - put 5% earnest money down - they are not budging or willing to negotiate on price. I have looked at other places (Parc, Vine, etc). that have dropped their prices significantly. There is no way my place is worth what it was a year and a half ago. Do I have recourse? Should I consult a real estate attorney?

[rollinst.]

I am not sure if it will do any good, but it may be worth consulting one to look over your POS. There may be something you can do. I have heard of people getting half of their earnest money back in some cases. Something like : it's easier for the developer to give half the earnest money back rather than having it be tied up in court for so long. Don't quote me on this, it's just something someone told me second hand. We may look into this soon, too. Best of luck to you . Please keep us posted.

[Christina]

They have dropped prices. They listed some units on MLS.
http://www.redfin.com/WA/Seattle/120-Westlake-Ave-N-98109/unit-212/...

When I purchased, that unit was going for 420k. That's over a 70k drop. If they are slashing prices, I doubt our appraisal will be anywhere near the price in the contract. No one has answer me yet but does anyone know what happens if the appraisal comes out lower than the asking price? Do we have to make up the difference?

[rollinst.]

I saw that unit today too, and was wondering how much the drop might be. It looks like a really tricky layout to sell since the entry way hall is so long and skinny. It is also an east facing unit on the second floor. I assume these will still need to go down more to sell. I am sure that other floorplans have gone down too, just not as drastic. I am still not sure what we will need to do if our appraisal comes in below our agreed to price. I am assuming we will be asked to make up the difference. Which most of us probably cannot do since we were not expecting this.

[Rick]

It is my understanding that you would have to make up the difference in order to close. Ran it by an ex-mortgage banker friend and he agreed, but you should consult your loan consultant and discuss your options.