My North Seattle Home

No doubt you have seen some smaller 2 bedroom house listings described in treacle-rich Realtor euphemisms such as cute, cozy and the one the particularly dreadful, “darling!”.

Darling!?!

If those two bedroom houses could talk I’m sure the first words out of their front doors would be “DON’T PATRONIZE ME!”

The majority of Seattle home buyers, if given a choice and if they can afford it, would prefer to buy a house instead of a townhome and a townhome instead of a condo. Most buyers (but not all obviously) want some privacy from their neighbors, a yard to relax in and not to have to share a wall with their neighbors. Buyers escaping rental-land are trying to avoid the things that can sometimes make renting a less than glamorous proposition. And, yes, there are pros and cons to both renting and owing your own home..see here.

When you buy a house you own the land it sits on, you can do whatever you want with the place, within the limits of the legal system and common decency of course. When you buy a townhome or condo however…these 3 little words will decide what you can cannot do…Home Owners Association! Again, townhomes and condo have the pros and cons compared to houses.

I often get asked “are there any 2 bedroom houses available in Ballard or nearby?” or “how much does a 2 bedroom Ballard house cost compared to a townhome?” plus other questions along those lines. Well, I here today to give you an idea of how much a 2 bedroom house in Ballard will cost compared to a 2 bedroom Ballard townhome or 2 bedroom Ballard condo.

Comparison of 2 bedroom Ballard houses with 2 bedroom Ballard townhomes and 2 bedroom Ballard condos

Conclusions:

• There was a decent supply of 2 bedroom Ballard houses over the past 6 months
• There were more sales of 2 bedroom houses than 2 bedroom townhomes and condos combined
• Surprisingly 2 bedroom houses in Ballard were similarly priced to condos and almost $80,000 less (on average) than townhomes
• 2 bedroom houses sold about 4 times faster than condos and 5 times faster than townhomes

My suggestion is that if you want to buy a house in Ballard and think you can only afford  a condo, then the numbers say other wise. Townhomes and condos will tend to be more modern and have recent upgrades (particularly Ballard condos) whereas some houses in the same price range may need a little TLC. But in real estate, owning the land your home sits on has a lot of advantages and gives you a lot more independence