Tiny house Seattle 'spite' house for sale. 860 sq ft - $520k

[HoneyBBQ]

"The house is built as a triangle, meaning one end of the house is only 55 inches wide. The other end is 15 feet wide. Between both ends, just 860 square feet of living space.

"There's more than one story, but here's one of the more told tales: The home was built in 1925 as part of a divorce settlement. The judge gave the man the house, and his ex-wife got the front yard. So, out of spite, she had the narrow home built on her sliver of property.

The home was last on the market in autumn of 2013 at $379,000 asking price. In a sign of ballooning King County housing prices, the asking price these days is $519,000.

komonews.com/news/local/seattles-iconic-pie-shaped-spite-house-is-back-on-the-market


link: www.estately.com/listings/info/2022-24th-ave-e--3

[GRG a/k/a goldenrulegirl]

With the current "tiny house" craze, they shouldn't have any trouble selling.  It is really well-done inside.  It's cute.  I'd buy it if I was downsizing or retiring or just too busy to maintain a larger yard.  

[dannylion]

What a cute house! I could live there if I were a better person, but I'm too much of a lazy slug to do all the work needed to downsize that much, so I will continue to inhabit a 4-bedroom, 4-bathroom house that is much too big and serves no purpose other than to provide space for a bunch of stuff I don't need and probably wouldn't even want if I put in the effort to think about it. 

On the other hand, I have bonded with the neighbor's dog and would be very, very sad if I couldn't see her every day and rub her tummy and get doggy kisses. 

 

[Deleted]

860 Sq ft is not a tiny house. My house is 900 Sq ft.

[HoneyBBQ]

Apr 15, 2016 12:34:09 GMT -5 @hickle said:

860 Sq ft is not a tiny house. My house is 900 Sq ft.

Half of the square footage is in the basement. Seattle is very liberal with what they call 'sq footage'. It includes utility rooms and anything with a roof. 

[Tiny]

Yes, it looks like 1/2 the square footage is in the "basement".   It appears you have to go outside to access the downstairs rooms - looks like used as a couple of bedrooms(they converted the garage to a room).   There do not appear to be stairs in side the house.    It doesn't appear to have a laundry room either.

I do think it's intriguing, and it could be a great place to live - not so sure about the 500K price tag. I kinda liked it better at the 250K price point... but, hey, that's me.

I could live there... just would need to add some sort of Cat Shelves or walk ways up near the ceiling so the cats would get some exercise and not always hog the couch or chair.  

[MJ2.0]

NOT FOR NO $520,000!!!!

[Tiny]

Hmmm, I wonder if the house was built  as a tuberculosis or other sickness  'cottage' for a family member?  

A wealthy family in my suburb built a tiny fully functional  "cottage" for their daughter in the back yard of their home - this was so she didn't have to be sent to a hospital or sanitarium?  for months and months.    I believe it was built around 1910 - 1920 (it was in the area with houses built in the late 1890s - so on bigger lots)

In the 60's thru the 1990's it was rented out as a "carriage house" - as it was a fully functional house (bathroom/kitchen/bedroom/livingroom).    I think it was 600 sq ft or so. 

If memory serves me - it was torn down in the 1990's - the original house/property was being sold, and the "carriage house" was in disrepair and not 'zoned' or 'allowed' for.    It was a curiosity - and there was a write up in the local paper - as the owners of the house (and cottage) tried to get the best deal for the property:  did it have to be torn down because the property was a SFH and not 2 houses?   Could the little house be rented as an "apartment"?   Could the house stay and NOT be rented (used as a Mother in Law arrangement)?     Ultimately the little house was taken down.  

[NastyWoman]

The YMer in me is poking its head up: too bad this is not in SF, you could turnthe second bedroom in the basement into an all-electric kitchen and rent to basement out for $1,500/month easily

[Bonny]

Apr 15, 2016 13:46:50 GMT -5 NastyWoman said:

The YMer in me is poking its head up: too bad this is not in SF, you could turnthe second bedroom in the basement into an all-electric kitchen and rent to basement out for $1,500/month easily

LOL, Seattle isn't too far behind SF.

I wonder if they can AirBnB it? Great story behind it!

[NastyWoman]

I know Bonny, my DS2 lives in Belltown. However, rent-wise we still got them beat --- for the time being.

[debthaven]

I just converted the square feet to square meters ... first I was thinking, just wow!

Then I realized that DS1 and his GF paid a comparable price for their apartment (including the reno), which is 2/3 of the size of that house, and (for better or worse) much less quirky.

I wouldn't want to live in a house that narrow (in part), or small.

Will they really be able to sell it for that? It's a pretty particular house ...

[Deleted]

I don't know neighborhoods. Sisters house isn't quirky. It's maybe 1 1/2 times size plus smallish unfinished basement.. Currently worth 900+k. Seattle is redonkulous.

[Cookies Galore]

That house is awesome!

[toomuchreality]

Great story & house.
House is HUGE compared to places I have lived for the last 30 yrs. 
(I should add up the amount I've paid in rent, to see what I could have spent on buying a home in 30 yrs. Plus / Minus the cost of repairs etc. )

[tallguy]

The home was last on the market in autumn of 2013 at $379,000 asking price. In a sign of ballooning King County housing prices, the asking price these days is $519,000.

According to Zillow, it sold in May, 2014 for $375,000.   The Zestimate now is about $390,000, which would be low if it were actually worth the $375k that it sold for two years ago.  The 2015 tax assessment was $289,000. 

[teen persuasion]

Apr 16, 2016 10:35:14 GMT -5 tallguy said:

The home was last on the market in autumn of 2013 at $379,000 asking price. In a sign of ballooning King County housing prices, the asking price these days is $519,000.

According to Zillow, it sold in May, 2014 for $375,000.   The Zestimate now is about $390,000, which would be low if it were actually worth the $375k that it sold for two years ago.  The 2015 tax assessment was $289,000. 

Can't trust Zillow too much - they have info that our house sold for $60k a few years ago (nope, we've been here 20 years).  Now, the land next to us is for sale for $20k, and is using our address, so Zillow is lumping all the info together in a mishmash.  They have our plot dimensions, our sale history + the bogus sale, taxes, etc.

[tallguy]

Apr 15, 2016 13:22:48 GMT -5 MJ2.0 said:

NOT FOR NO $520,000!!!!

Well if that is too much, check out this one. It's listed for only $280,000.

Original 1906 fisherman's cottage

480 sq. ft.

1750 sq. ft. lot

No bedroom

3/4 bath 

Apparently needs work everywhere, but it does have an unfinished basement!   

[cael]

I was gonna say 860 sf isn't terribly tiny.. but for that price? jesus and I thought we had it bad with some of the prices around here. not that bad.

[tallguy]

The "Spite House" is open this weekend.  Saturday and Sunday from 1:00 - 4:00.  

And it's such a deal!  The asking price is down to $499,900!  Pictures inside.   

[NoNamePerson]

One 3' x 3' closet? Or did I miss something in the drawing?

[svwashout]

Apr 15, 2016 14:16:59 GMT -5 Bonny said:

Apr 15, 2016 13:46:50 GMT -5 NastyWoman said:

The YMer in me is poking its head up: too bad this is not in SF, you could turnthe second bedroom in the basement into an all-electric kitchen and rent to basement out for $1,500/month easily

LOL, Seattle isn't too far behind SF.

I wonder if they can AirBnB it? Great story behind it!

Looks like Seattle is #9 on the list--
One in five SF homes were worth $1 million in 2012; today it’s three in five. In San Jose, the percentage of million-dollar homes rose from 17 to 46. Rounding out the top 10 cities where the percentage jumped the most: Oakland, Orange County, Los Angeles, San Diego, Ventura County, New York, Seattle, and Honolulu.

www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2016/05/20/california_s_housing_crisis_is_drowning_renters_houston_s_housing_boom_is.html