"This delightful 3 bedroom Craftsman home built in 1925 boasts tons of original charm: built-ins, and hardwood floors throughout. Sunny spaces including living room with traditional fireplace, formal sitting den/parlor, and large updated eat-in kitchen w/French doors leading out to deck for BBQs & huge level backyard for relaxing & summertime fun! Two bedrooms upstairs, one bedroom on the main, full bath updated w/pedestal sink. Unfinished lwr lvl for expansion or storage. Sweet Ballard location!"
3 bedroom, 1 bath, 1280 square feet. $499,950
Underpriced isn't an adjective that I'd use in association with long-commute-free real estate in Seattle. Whether you think that paying a half-a-fucking-million for a 1300 square foot home on a postage-stamp lot constitutes a good value becomes irrelevant at some point. Get to a certain price threshold, and the math just doesn't work anymore for the average household, and the folks that want to own their own detached house start moving to places where they can actually afford to buy, and perhaps buy something with a bit more square footage than your average two bedroom apartment. Supply/demand constraints being what they are, that's bound to be way out in commuterland for the forseeable future.
When I commute from North Ballard (technically Crown Hill, so I'm as north west as you can get without being in Golden Gardens) to Seattle in my car, it takes 20 min.
I am at the start of the bus line, so the bus is always on time. If I take the express, it takes about 30-35 min. So what is this horrible commute?
I understand the restraints and moving somewhere you can afford and all that shit--that's how I bought my place in Ballard. All the whining in the world won't change that (not that you are whining-I just mean folks in general). Housing is expensive and living on the streets ain't fun.