We’ve recently lowered the price to $385,000, and taken some new photos.  We didn’t use all the shots in our official listing, so I thought I’d post the extras here.

 The front door…

The kitchen.

A view of the kitchen and hallway, from the living room.  Note how great the slate floors look!

Another view of the living room.

Here’s a nice view of the back of the building, showing the secure garage door.

Oh, and one more thing:  as a part of the scheduled upkeep of the building the deck was just re-finished.  It looks great!

While we’re on the subject of walkability, check out Urban Eat’s “restaurants near you” feature.  Here’s the map for the Florentine.  Not a bad selection, eh?  And, they even managed to miss most of the places in the International District, not to mention a few south of the stadiums.  (via Sweet Digs.)

Do you know your Walk Score?  This is a fun little site that rates your neighborhood based on proximity to stores, restaurants, coffee shops, schools, libraries, and more.  The Walk Score for the Florentine building is 94, or according to the site, a “Walkers’ Paradise.”  So, if your current place isn’t cutting it, move on in!

A recent post about mortgage rates on the Rain City guide blog got me thinking about the investment potential of this unit.  So, let’s do a little back-of-the-envelope work here and see what the numbers could look like.

Let’s assume that you’ll take out a 250,000 mortgage, and put the rest down as a down payment.  At 5.9%, 30 years, that’s a payment of just under $1,500/month.  A quick look at Craigslist shows that you could probably rent this place out for at least $1,500/month, and probably even higher than that.  (Of course, you’d could also have the tenant pay the homeowner’s association dues, which would push the price up.)

I’ve heard, through the grapevine, that Seattle is currently facing a shortage of rental units.  Looking very quickly, I found one newspaper article along these same lines — and I’m willing to bet that more research would turn up similar stats showing that vacancies are low and rents are rising in town.

Anyway, in the short term, you’re looking at a wash.  It is in the long term where this deal works.  Even if the local real estate market slumps for a bit, values will rise in the long term.  And, rents will continue to go up…all the while you’re paying just $1,500/month.  So, you not only build equity, but you could also be profiting each month.

(Of course, you should do your own math prior to following this little plan.)

The weather report indicates that this Sunday will be a great day to check out open houses!  We’ll be open from 1-4pm on Sunday.  So, come on down to Pioneer Square, grab a cup of coffee at one of the many coffee shops, and swing on by the Florentine to see the unit.

(And, if this Sunday is like previous Sundays, there will likely be at least one other unit here open, so you can do an little compare ‘n contrast routine…I think you’ll find that 222 is easily the best deal!)

As you might know, Pioneer Square is Seattle’s art gallery “district”. The monthly “First Thursday” artwalks are the best-known example of this, and art galleries abound in the area. The Pioneer Square association even has a handy map listing all the galleries.

There is one gallery that I’d like to call out: ArtXchange. The reason I mention it is because the gallery is located in the Florentine building. (Like many condo buildings in the downtown and Pioneer Square area, the Florentine features first-floor retail.) From their website:

“ArtXchange has evolved from online gallery to private showroom and finally to our current gallery in Pioneer Square. Our expanded gallery allows us to mount exhibitions on a larger scale, as well as being a community asset for unique events such as art auctions, book-signings and tea-tastings.”

Oh, and they even rent artwork. There are a bunch of great spots to hang art in the building, should you be the lucky buyer! (Click the links under “Blogroll” to view the listing.)
Even if you’re not in the market for art, it can be fun to walk around during the exhibit openings on First Thursday, or at other times. It is just one more reason why Pioneer Square is a great place to live!

Matt at the Urbnlivn blog asked if I could post some pictures of the lifts in the Florentine garage, so I headed downstairs and took some snapshots.  Apologies in advance for the quality of the photos — I took these at night, so the light was less than ideal, and the garage isn’t exactly a perfect place to take pictures anyway.  But, hopefully you get the idea about how the parking works.  Leave a comment if you have any questions about parking here, or about the condo!

#1: Here’s a shot of a car up on a lift.  You’ll note that on the right hand side of the lift you can see the safety latch.  This ensures that the lift doesn’t come crashing down!

#2: A head-on view, showing a car on the lift and another parked below.  You’ll also note that the car in the spot on the left is parked on top of the lift, but was left in the down position.  You’ll also note that that is one big truck! 

#3: A shot from behind the lift.  Note the “lip” on the lift that ensures the car doesn’t roll off the back.

#4: Another side view.

#5: Another wide-angle view, from behind.

Okay, that might be a bit of a stretch.  But, I think that living in a downtown environment like this can help you stay fit.  We’ve found ourselves walking much more here than we ever did in our previous location (a Seattle suburb that will remain nameless).  Trips that would have taken a car in other locations turn into easy walks when you live in a walkable neighborhood.

If you’re looking for something a bit more vigorous, there is a health club right across the street from the Florentine building: Seattle Fitness.

Of course, with all the cookies I’m making for these open houses, I might gain back the weight I lost while living here!

Salumi is a not-so-well kept secret of the Pioneer Square food scene.  Salumi makes the best cured meats you’re likely to find this side of Italy, and the operate a small storefront about four blocks away from the Florentine.  They’re only open Tuesday through Friday for lunch, meaning that those of us who don’t work in the neighborhood only get to visit every once in a while.  But, if you happen to be down here on a weekday and are looking for lunch, I highly recommend it.  The place is easy to find…head over to Third and Jackson, turn north, and look for the long line of people waiting to get inside.  Oh, yeah, that’s the other thing — you’ll need to devote some time to this lunch, as the lines can get long.  Like I said, it is well worth the effort.

Salumi is run by celebrity chef Mario Batali’s family, and has been featured all over the place.  Check out their press page for more.

We’re a very short walk from the newly re-opened bus tunnel, so that’s a great option for running downtown.  The King Street station is two blocks away, so hopping a train to Vancouver or Portland is easy, as well as the Sounder commuter train.  The downtown ferry terminal is a short (5-10 minute) walk for easy access to Bainbridge or Bremerton.  And, the water taxi dock is about a 10-15 minute walk, in case you’re looking to take the easy way to West Seattle.

The condo is a short walk to the commercial and retail core of the city.  You could get to the downtown library in about 15 minutes or so, to give you an idea.