Hmm. It's not the best neighborhood in Seattle, but there really aren't any bad neighborhoods within the city limits by normal urban standards, IMO.

Well, not by Chicago or DC standards, but there are neighborhoods with fairly high crime rates and a severe lack of city services. That's one of them. It is, I should stress, improving fairly rapidly.

In late 2000, a similar house would have gone for about $139k.

Well, not by Chicago or DC standards, but there are neighborhoods with fairly high crime rates and a severe lack of city services. That's one of them. It is, I should stress, improving fairly rapidly.

Right now I feel like I could trade some of the convenience and amenities of life north of the Ship Canal to give Annabel a room of her own and me a proper office with space to file things. And as for safety, given that I'm pretty sure we have occasional drug deals going on on a convenient empty scrap of land (City Light right-of-way) not 50 yards from our house, the crime issue is less scary than it might be.

I just can't figure out why it's going for that cheap. I mean, it's not falling down, and it's not a tacky ugly condo. Hellmouth in the basement?

Right now I feel like I could trade some of the convenience and amenities of life north of the Ship Canal to give Annabel a room of her own and me a proper office with space to file things. And as for safety, given that I'm pretty sure we have occasional drug deals going on on a convenient empty scrap of land (City Light right-of-way) not 50 yards from our house, the crime issue is less scary than it might be.

Well, down there, you'd have occasional drive by shootings, murders, and more than occasional drug deals. The changes to Westwood Village are causing fairly rapid gentrification, but that's still the neighborhood I drive through when I need to feel better about my neighborhood. (And, okay, when I need to get something at Westwood, which is every few months. But I still feel somewhat better about where I live when I drive through there.)

If you decide to buy the house, can you do it before the end of the month? That would be GREAT!

I should add, re: house near Westwood, that it may be a good investment, but that you'd need to weigh that with your actual comfort with living there while the area improves.

Thanks, Plei, that gives me a bit better of a picture, and it may be more of a trade-off than I'd be willing to make. It's probably more sensible to stick with our current plan of hanging on here through 2005, seeing if buying the house we rent now is an option, and paying down our debts in the meantime.

And I may be crazy, since it's contrary to what I hear on NPR and see in the papers, but I'm starting to wonder if housing prices are dropping a bit, at least locally. My searches for 3 bedrooms, under $225K are turning up more results than they ever did before.

Sales of used homes were down last month. And rising interest rates should apply downward pressure on housing prices.

Also, we may be in a housing price bubble.

I'm certain we're in a bubble, I just wasn't seeing any signs it might be bursting before now.

And I may be crazy, since it's contrary to what I hear on NPR and see in the papers, but I'm starting to wonder if housing prices are dropping a bit, at least locally. My searches for 3 bedrooms, under $225K are turning up more results than they ever did before.

Which areas are you searching in? My usual searches aren't seeing any drops in price, and supplies are even more limited, but I'm generally looking either north of Lake Union or in the more northwestern parts of West Seattle. Not that I should be searching, as we'll be here for at least two more years, but I feel better if I'm keeping an eye on the market. (Oh, yeah, and I check my area as well, to keep track of the trends.)

Also, we may be in a housing price bubble.

Depends on where you are. Nationally, there are several places considered to be in the bubble zone--LA and Boston spring to mind--but this one (for a combination of reasons, including our limited housing stock and weird zoning laws--plus prices that have climbed at a more reasonable rate than the bubble areas) isn't usually considered one of them outside of the high-end neighborhoods.