seattle houseboats

Seattle Houseboats History Resource

Houseboat History, Lake Union, Lake Union Loop, Lake Union News, Seattle Floating Homes, Seattle historic homes, Seattle houseboats, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Curious about Seattle houseboats and their history on Lake Union?seattle houseboats

You have to go back over a hundred years and look beyond Lake Union to see the roots of Seattle houseboats.  Beth Means and Bill Keasler  wrote a great piece about Seattle houseboats history on The Seattle Floating Homes Association website.  Seattle Floating homes have played a significant part in shaping the city’s history and landscape.  We at Seattle Afloat have a whole category on this site dedicated to it: Seattle houseboats history on Seattle Afloat.

There is also a great spot to see amazing pictures and get more information on HistoryLink where the site describes various houseboats around Seattle and their origins:

“Some of these communities — especially those off the Madison Park and Leschi neighborhoods on Lake Washington —  were formed by the well-to-do who enjoyed summering aboard their fancy abodes. Others — along the Elliott Bay waterfront, the Duwamish River, Harbor Island, Salmon Bay, Lake Union, Portage Bay, and Union Bay — were mainly inhabited by workers struggling to stay financially afloat.. “

Howard Droker wrote the fascinating book Seattle’s Unsinkable Houseboats in 1977 and there is a great video about Seattle houseboats featuring him on the http://www.lakeunionhistory.org/ website.  I have embedded it here because it is worth a watch:


Vannessa Ho at the Seattle PI wrote an interesting piece about Seattle houseboats  – it was a cool slide show of houseboats then and now.  Here is a link to that slideshow: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/slideshow/Seattle-houseboats-Then-and-now-64448.php

seattle houseboatsIf you are curious about Seattle houseboats and interested in purchasing a Seattle floating home, then please let us know.  These are special homes and the ultimate in Seattle waterfront living.  You should work with real estate agents who understand the ins and outs of Seattle houseboats.  We understand all of the unique intricacies of the Seattle floating home world and we are happy to help you.  We can also help you with the various FSBO floating homes available across the lake.

You can reach me at 206-850-8841 or Courtney@cooperjacobs.com

Cooper Jacobs Real Estate for all your realty needs – we have brokers who specialize in all Seattle neighborhoods and suburbs.

Seattle houseboats

Seattle Houseboats Happenings: Lake Union Ramblings

Eastlake, Floating Homes Tour, Houseboat Docks, Houseboat History, Houseboat Living, Houseboaters, Lake Union, Lake Union Loop, Lake Union News, Lake Union Waterfront Homes, Seattle Floating Homes, Seattle historic homes, Seattle houseboats, Seattle Water View Homes, The Log Foundation, Westlake, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

seattle floating homesA few random Lake Union thoughts –  Would love to hear some of your thoughts, too….

Seattle Floating Homes Association Website – One word: Gorgeous.  The updated Floating Homes Association website is fresh and beautiful.. I am jealous I didn’t make it myself.  Love it.  Kudos! You can see it here: www.seattlefloatinghomes.org Jann, I know you had a hand in that and it’s amazing!  You can see all the newsletters, updates, tour info, etc.  I particularly am fond of the Seattle houseboats history page.

Reality TV and Seattle houseboats.  It’s been overdone already. Have you watched  those shows on HGTV and other channels?  We get phone calls almost every other week from producers hoping to film the next reality TV show featuring  Seattle houseboats and us.  They ask us to be on these shows, but we say NO.  We STRONGLY believe that protecting the Seattle houseboat community’s privacy is far more important than cheap fame for ourselves.  We appreciate all that the Seattle floating home community has given to us and we would never ever cross what we feel is a strong trust boundary.

FSBO Seattle floating homes – dining room 2Word on the docks is lots of private sales going on.  Last night it was the talk of the Seattle Floating Homes Association meeting.  We verified it with Krista Todd at Sound Community and I verified it with Phil Miller who is a local legend and closes most of the floating homes in escrow.  Of course being real estate agents, we are partial to the idea of listing your home in the NWMLS (with Cooper Jacobs Real Estate preferably), but putting that aside, why aren’t you listing your floating home with a Realtor (please also make sure they are actual dues paying Realtors who abide by a code of ethics)? The Realtor’s commissions aren’t that high in comparison with how much more money the open real estate market would bring you in the form of a higher sales price.  I know news travels fast on the docks when someone is ready to sell, but even that can’t compare to the global exposure the MLS and the internet offer. I would love to hear some feedback on this.   Many FSBO buyers have the false misconception that if they go around the listing agent then they will be able to get the home for a discount to the tune of that full listing broker and selling broker commission.  That simply isn’t true.  While the seller may be willing to give you somewhat of a discount, in most cases they will more likely want to pocket the savings of not listing it themselves.  Any discount you could have gotten would easily be beaten by a skilled real estate agent in a negotiation.

seattle houseboats

That’s it for now – as always, thank you for your business.  We love serving this community and look forward to doing it for a long time.  please email us or call us if you need anything at all   Courtney Cooper 206-850-8841  Courtney@CooperJacobs.com  We are Seattle Houseboats Realtors.

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