First-time homebuyers learn the fine art of compromise

Rolf Johnson and Kerrie Cooley had different jobs, different priorities and different resources, but on their brave hunt for a $250,000 home in the Seattle area they both learned it came down to what they were willing to give up.

Cooley let go of any notion of buying a house or living in downtown Seattle to find the modern, two-bedroom condo she wanted.

Johnson spent more than a year, bumped up his budget and moved farther from work to find the house, property and studio space he craved.

Compromise is definitely the name of the house-hunting game in the Seattle area, especially for first-time buyers who often can't come close to the $450,000 or so that it costs for a typical single-family house in Seattle and are looking more realistically at prices around $250,000.

If location is top on the list, the bargain hunter will have to go small and if he or she wants new and modern, that's very small.

If size matters, the search will have to go to the outlying areas and if mobile home and fixer-upper aren't in their vocabulary, the distance could really grow.

A quick online search shows that $250,000 can get you a modern condo on Capitol Hill with granite countertops and stainless-steel appliances, as long as one bedroom and one bathroom and a total of 439 square feet aren't a problem.

You can get two bedrooms, one bath and 900 square feet in the same neighborhood if you're willing to take something built a half-century ago as apartments and have been converted.

Going north of Seattle finds a 16-year-old condo with three bedrooms, two baths and 1,200 square feet or a 900-square-foot mobile home in Snohomish with three bedrooms. Go east to Redmond and you can find a 20-year-old condo with two bedrooms, one bath and 860 square feet.

To find a house built in the last four years with three bedrooms, two baths and 1,300 square feet, a buyer may have to look across Puget Sound to Kingston where several such homes are listed.

In an October survey there were 158 single-family houses on the market for about $250,000 in King County and most were manufactured homes in South King County.

"No matter what your price point is, there are going to be trade-offs. You've got to prioritize your needs and your wants. If living in the city and even in much of King County is a priority for you then you are looking at a condo, period," said Laura Smith, a Windermere Real Estate agent in Seattle.

"You really have to make your list and then get out there and see what's available and what you're willing to compromise."

And that is precisely what Cooley and Johnson did.

Full of optimism

In October the house hunt started off for Cooley the way it does for many people: full of high hopes.

Cooley came from Denver to start a new job as a nurse and was hoping to find something in a neighborhood close to downtown Seattle.

"Coming from Denver, I knew I wanted to buy a place and I thought the most I'd spend on a house was $200,000. That number went up pretty fast," Cooley said.

Realizing that she couldn't buy a house even with her revised budget was no great loss for Cooley, who wasn't really interested in taking on the repairs and care of a house and yard. She thought a yard would be nice for her dog, but she didn't want to increase the price or the time of her search for it.

Condo appreciation

For those who are reluctant to enter the condo market, the good news is that condos in recent years have generally appreciated and sold better than single-family houses in the Seattle area.

"Condos really make great starter homes and are doing very well in the market these days. It can be frustrating for first-time buyers, but this is just a start and I try to remind them they don't have to stay there forever," said Lori Knuckey, another Seattle real-estate agent.

Cooley did, however, have a hard time letting go of the dream of city life, but those itty-bitty condo conversions she saw in Ballard, Green Lake and Capitol Hill just weren't enough.

"Everywhere I went I saw these 800-square-foot condos with kitchens in the living room and absolutely no room for even a queen bed. And a lot of them had older appliances when I really wanted something modern," Cooley said.

The real deal breaker for Cooley, however, was the bedroom situation. She wanted two bedrooms, period. And this just wasn't happening in the in-city neighborhoods.

Cooley quickly decided to look south and in November she found everything she wanted and even a yard for her dog in a condo in South Seattle, near Renton and Interstate 5, with more than 1,000 square feet, two bedrooms, a modern look, a small yard and protected wetlands and trees to look out on.

"I was having trouble finding a decent condo for my budget, but I still managed to find exactly what I really wanted. I actually like living out of the city now where it is quiet and I've got everything I need like grocery stores and Walgreens right by me," Cooley said.

And her dog likes that yard, too.

Prices pushed him north

For Johnson the search ended up recently just as happily, but the road to the right home was a much longer and tougher one.

Having spent more than a decade in a small Lynnwood apartment, Johnson wanted some space and a bit of land to call his own.

An avid bicyclist and a semiprofessional musician, he wanted to find a house near the popular Burke-Gilman Trail in North Seattle and one with a garage for studio space.

Condos were out of the question for Johnson.

He'd lived in an apartment with shared walls and no garage or bit of yard for too long already.

"People who need more space and can't stand the idea of living in a condo will have a tougher time," finding a single-family house in the Seattle area, said Smith, the real-estate agent.

"It happened really quickly where the spread has gone so far that houses are much, much more expensive then condos. You would probably have to go outside of King County and even then you're looking at real fixer-upper," she said.

For more than a year Johnson — who works as an audio engineering technician in Woodinville — searched up and down the trail for a home, but the prices were nowhere near his $250,000 budget. And when he did find places he could afford, he faced another problem.

"Gee, it was all double-wide trailers and most often you didn't even own the land they sat on. I'd look at the pictures online and they'd look pretty nice and then I'd drive out there and it was the stereotypical trailer park with cars on blocks and barking dogs," Johnson said.

Johnson had heard stories of people buying mobile homes and then the trailer-park land was sold and they were in a real jam. He wanted the land, he wanted the garage and he wasn't willing to do without them. So, he increased his budget and moved his search away from the Burke-Gilman Trail.

Before too much longer he found an older home with 1,100 square feet, two bedrooms, nearly two bathrooms, a detached garage and a third-an-acre of land — in North Everett — more than 30 miles north of where he started his search. The deal closed in December.

But Johnson said his neighbors take pride in their homes and watch out for each other, his home came with a security system and he doesn't mind the extra 15 to 20 minutes he drives to be at home.

"I knew right away that this would work for me. Believe it or not the garage was the selling point for me because I like to play pingpong and it's a great practice space," Johnson said.

"I really feel comfortable and at home where I live."