Seattle Bubble decided to aim a few barbs at Rain City Guide today about an optimistic article they published about the Seattle real estate market. Seattle Bubble’s take is that we’re on the verge of a huge real estate crash and when the bubble bursts, we’re all screwed. (They also call RCG a blog “by realtors, for realtors” but I just looked at the contributor list and saw only one Realtor out of 12 regular writers, the rest being mortage bankers, agents, lawyers and techies…. And I must say, many of the entries and comments I’ve read there appear to be anti-National Association of Realtors or at least, anti-NAR policies.)

Though I concede that we could be in for a market correction or a slowdown in housing sales and prices, I disagree that it will be of the mammoth proportions that many Bubble devotees believe it will be.

Everyone needs a home, and no matter what the value is, no one will lose money if they don’t sell it. Real estate has always been a buy-and-hold investment and if you’re a flipper, then understand the risks of that….

Seattle P.I. Real Estate Professionals

Statistical Analysis Eases Bubble Talk, Shows Rents Growing

John Cook’s Venture Blog discusses a general internet bubble on his new Bubble Meter.

Per the News Tribune’s Open House the apartment at 1040 Fifth Avenue that was once home to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis is coming on the market with an asking price of $32 million. The Fifth Avenue apartment has four bedrooms, two dressing rooms, a staff room, a library, living room, dining room, conservatory, two terraces, three fireplaces, five and a half bathrooms and a wine room.

William Burroughs, famous American writer, was the previous owner of a quaint and well-preserved cabin on Lone Star Lake, just 10 minutes outside of Lawrence, Kansas, and one hour drive from the Kansas City airport. Lawrence is home to the University of Kansas and is surrounded by rolling hills and the most beautiful landscape in the state. Starting bid is US $159,950.00. Burroughs cabin for sale.

Via Zillow, Elvis’s first home in Memphis, Tennessee is on the market, listed on Ebay…..

A house that used to belong to Ed Gein, the infamous serial killer who has been featured in several movies including “Psycho” and “Silence of the Lambs” was on the market on Ebay, but got pulled. Gein skinned people and made suits out of them. The property for sale was where police discovered all sorts of body parts and people-clothing. Why did EBay stop the auction? Because it violated their policy of not selling items associated with murder.

The press release department of Redfin has been busy lately, announcing its new mapping technology called MapStats.

It rated a story in last week’s Seattle PI by John Cook, a mention on his blog, and an entry in the New York Times Walk-Through .

In checking local MLS statistics, I see that Redfin has had 7 total sales for 2006 (rather than the 8 mentioned in the Seattle P.I.) 2 sales closed in March, the other 5 just in the last few weeks. These 7 sales totaled approximately $3.8 million dollars in sales. Assuming these were “Redfin Direct” sales and the average commission paid was 3% and they refunded 2/3rds of that to the Buyer, the net profit earned by Redfin during this first quarter of 2006 has been approximately $38,180. Redfin lists 4 managers and 5 agents on staff. I assume they also have software engineers and other support staff, but just counting the 9 employees actually listed on the site, that would be about $3426 in earnings each employee, for nearly 4 months of work, from 9 people.

The perfect way to spy on the rich and famous using Windows Live Local…..

Famous Homes

A recent Carnegie Mellon study found that female job applicants who tried to negotiate a higher salary were less likely to be hired by male managers, while male applicants were not.

We already know from anecdotal evidence than men don’t like pushy women (who does, right?), but here’s a study (and book “Women Don’t Ask”) that actually measures the phenomenon. Asking for more money takes some cajoling, but more so for women than men, the experiment suggests.

Much is made of the fact the men often earn more than women. Well, that’s not always the case. See which occupations defy the norm in “Where women’s pay trumps men’s”

Marge write a letter to Frank Gehry from “A Daily Dose of Architecture”.

For views of the Simpson’s House done in real life, view Unusual Homes. (Must scoll down a bit to see…)

Bring back the good times with this “Pimp Your Cubicle” kit that contains everything you need to pimpify a bland and uninspired workspace: a dollar-sign paperweight, gold push-pins, leopard print fringe to run around the edge of your cubicle, a disco ball, and “Bling” mousepad. But, if that doesn’t quench your thirst for individuality, check out the accompanying book for more design Pimp My Cubicle schemes. From a beach front theme to the Taj Mahacubicle, you’re sure to find something that appeals to your inner pimp. See Newsweek Periscope’s Style: Very Niche Marketing

Wanna Pimp Your Crib on a budget? Try J.C.Penney’s Cribs Decor

Pimp is not just another word for Your Baby’s Daddy. For a list of All Things Pimpin’ see That Fat Bastard

Closed sales for the first quarter of 2006 of 4 real estate firms located in Downtown Seattle, from NWMLS statistics:

Coldwell Banker Bain: 50 single family homes and 26 condos = 76 sales
Windermere: 32 single family homes and 31 condos = 63 sales
J. L. Scott: 24 single family homes and 20 condos = 44 sales
Redfin: 1 single family home = 1 sale