Rental Insanity

People talk about the inflated house prices out here on the West coast. There's even a blog devoted to the proposed Seattle Bubble. But sometimes you run into a rental that's offered at just as insane a price as some of the houses around here. Here's one example.

From the Craigslist post advertising the unit:

This may be the most unique apartment on Capitol Hill. It features, 18ft ceilings, modern/industrial design, large living room and bedroom, full bathroom, open style kitchen, nicely redone concrete floors and loads of charm. This is a nice private unit that has its own entrance... Located on Bellevue Ave and Harrison it's just a short walk to Broadway, Downtown, and South Lake Union...and everything you could possibly need.

Ah, a master of spin! Everything in the description, and the photos to boot, is accurate. Here's the reality:

• This is a small apartment. It's a studio, after all. It's really not that big.
• The unit was created out of an existing storage/laundry space. As a result, there's not a lot of natural light in the place.
  
• The apartment has a street-level entry door that faces a street that dead ends and leads to an alley.
• This is a street that has witnessed crime, including gun violence, in the past year.
  
• The door to the apartment has a glass face.
• The place is being offered for nearly $1500

So what we're talking about here is a small, dark studio apartment with a glass-faced door that people can peer into, that leads out to a street that you may not want to be hanging around on at around 3AM. All for the low low price of $1500! What a steal!

What else can you get for $1500 on Capitol Hill? A nice 2-bedroom apartment, easy. That very same building has decent-sized 1 bedrooms, without the needless street-level entry, for just over $1000.

At least the market has been honest with this one: it's been available for rent for many months now, with no takers. Serves the owner right: this is an insane offer.