Urbnlivn - Latest Comments in Buying at Equinox or Leona tomorrow?

Re: Buying at Equinox or Leona tomorrow?

aly — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 17:08:14 -0000

Anyone with new fron Leona? I think I might make a reservation to check it out.. they will be ready late december. so I think I guess could wait that long :)

Re: Buying at Equinox or Leona tomorrow?

matthew — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 12:05:19 -0000

Another worthless article from the PI. Why the constant comparison of Seattle to San Fransico or San Diego? I'm wondering if the people making these comparisons have even been to either of those cities...

Re: Buying at Equinox or Leona tomorrow?

Foster — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:31:11 -0000

One thing my realtor and I noticed was that the tiles at the shower surround were not bullnosed like most of the other ones you see. It was just caulked at the edge so as not to expose the side of the tile. I'm not sure if this was just done to save time, or if they actually plan on doing this in units. Regardless, it looks awful. They really should put bullnose tiles at the edges.

Re: Buying at Equinox or Leona tomorrow?

aly — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 17:00:40 -0000

hmm,
I was at their showroom last week. Having a solid building is great, especially in the long run. The architecture seems nice. I would definetly like to have one of the places with a little garden/porch. But Weber and Thomson did not do such a great job with interior finishes. I noticed that the tub in the showroom is on the smaller side. I felt like there were some good finishes in their pallet but, maybe you can pick the finishes and come up with your own layout... Did anyone notice the reception counter? now that kinda stuff I like.. Why don't they offer it in the units as well?
After having said all this, I just cannot wait that long to buy a place. I'm going to try to find something this summer.. :)

Re: Buying at Equinox or Leona tomorrow?

mattgoyer — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 12:07:47 -0000

Thanks for the sales updates Foster. Are you planning on keeping your unit? :)

Re: Buying at Equinox or Leona tomorrow?

Scott D — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 23:48:52 -0000

With all the responses to this project, I feel like I must interject our experience with Equinox. My wife and I had an early appointment on Saturday, the first day, and chose to cancel it for the following
reason(s): It seemed to us, throughout our contact with the sales staff, that there was somewhat of a rush job on signing people up with hard contracts. Which begs the question: Why?
We found it strange that a project would forgo a reservation process altogether and make buyers go to hard contract on a project which is at least 2 years out, a fact that would have been more agreeable if they had, in fact, given prospective owners more than two days to review the contract. Two days (plus 7 day grace period) to review an 18-page PSA and 13 pages of addendums is not enough, especially considering it is, after all, hard contract and any changes need to be in at initial signing.

We also found there to be an obvious lack of coordination and organization between developer and marketing/sales team, which in and of itself wouldn't deter us, but didn't help with the process. One last note: we also felt that the pricing was a bit high for presales.

Obviously, many don't feel the same as we do as sales of this project are moving right along, but hey, to each his own. Just remember, the builders need us more than we need the builders.

Re: Buying at Equinox or Leona tomorrow?

Foster — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 20:43:31 -0000

5% deposit. Read the PSA & POS on their website to learn about the refunds on deposits.

Re: Buying at Equinox or Leona tomorrow?

PhilW — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 15:40:33 -0000

Foster -
How much are they making you put down as a deposit? Is it refundable under any conditions?

Studios are more expensive per sq/ft because you still have to put in a bathroom and kitchen. Both of which are major expenses when building.

Re: Buying at Equinox or Leona tomorrow?

Ben K — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 14:49:21 -0000

Foster - nice imagery. And, if you have any Xbox's to spare, shoot one over my way. :)

Jim/Kiery - 208 looks like a great floor plan with the wall of windows. Congrats!

Re: Buying at Equinox or Leona tomorrow?

Foster — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 22:24:29 -0000

Oh, I forgot to tell people.. Unit 317, the only studio, sold for $259,950. 431 sq ft. That means over $608 a sq foot.

Do you know what this means? You could cover every inch of a space the size of that unit with standard XBOX 360s, and then cover THOSE XBOX 360s again with a layer of XBOX 360s and STILL be cheaper than the unit itself.

Re: Buying at Equinox or Leona tomorrow?

Jim&Kiery — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 21:30:43 -0000

Hi,
We're 208! We had a positive experience. The sales staff are very nice and it was much more organized than what we've heard about other presale events. In addition to the construction and the attractive architecture, we like the selection of finishes. They are fresh and current but not excessively trendy and won't be passe by the occupancy date. Eastlake has a nice neighborhood feeling and there is a proposal to extend the trolley up Eastlake Ave to the U District. That would be awesome! And, we'll be glad to have Foster as a neighbor.

Re: Buying at Equinox or Leona tomorrow?

PhilW — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 20:00:36 -0000

I really like the look and location of the Equinox project. Concrete and steel is expensive for a midrise but well worth it; cuts down on noise, holds up better, and allows for more open floor plans. It is also a great location, only downside (some noise potential) would be having I-5 to the east; but with the new trolley going south, buses going north to UW, and Eastlake business district a quick walk away - I think it beats out many other projects for location. Aren't there schools in Eastlake too?

Did a quick review of the POS for Equinox. I'm NOT a lawyer or a RE professional; but areas I would look twice at in any POS:
- Your maintainence responsibilities.
- Uses allowed in condo, including renting restrictions.
- Warrenty Disclaimers by developer, warrenty length, and arbitration procedures.
- Pre-closing Inspection (walk-thru): be prepared and bring an experienced set of eyes with you.
- Read items 20-27; trust me.
- Insurance: coverage for flood and earthquake?.
- #5 should tell you about the developer and what they've built in the past 5 years.

The POS is long, but very important if you're going to buy a condo.

Re: Buying at Equinox or Leona tomorrow?

Foster — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 19:52:30 -0000

I just stopped by the sales center, and they had sold over 30 units from 9am to 4pm. The units sold up to that point are 208, 210, 229, 230, 232, 133, 136, 317, 324, 331, 332, 414, 431, 433, 507, 530, 532, 533, 603, 605, 606, 607, 608, 630, 631, 632, 633, 702, 735, 818, 821.

Re: Buying at Equinox or Leona tomorrow?

PhilW — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 18:28:23 -0000

"King County growth booms"

Wow, that is one misleading headline. Read the story and you find -
"King County's population was 1.8 million on July 1, 2006, up 5 percent from July 1, 2000, putting it 27th among Washington's 39 counties for percentage growth."
So King County took 6 years to grow 5%, and 26 counties in WA grew at a faster rate.

Re: Buying at Equinox or Leona tomorrow?

jo — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 16:00:34 -0000

i wonder how much 208 went for

Re: Buying at Equinox or Leona tomorrow?

Foster — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 14:11:48 -0000

Greetings. I was the first appointment, and I took unit 230. I stayed at the sales center having a full breakfast of nibbles, and by the time I left at 1015, I would say about 16 were sold. The builder is holding 30 units until a later date. These units ARE available for reservation, but the purchase price will not be known until later.

Units I know to be sold are 229, 230, 331, 208, 431, 530, 630. Those are just the units I remember being sold. There were more, but I will let ya'll know later which ones were sold. I'm popping in later today to check out the sales board.

The couple who purchased 208 are readers of urbnlivn, and seemed quite pleasant. They got a unit with plenty of windows. Makes theirs quite unique and desirable, I would say.