Here is a blast from the past that really has as much relevance now as it did then, in fact in more so! There are a few pricing tid-bits that are no longer relevant, but the rest of it is spot on as we head into 2020. If the urban lifestyle is your thing, be sure to check out "Urban Living in the 'Couv'.

Originally posted March 20th, 2014 by Rod Sager

Panoramic from 500 Broadway Condo, Rod Sager, 2012

Most people in this area would associate an "urban" view with Downtown Portland or the West Hills of Portland as that is the big city center for this region. That is an accurate association. However, here on the north shore of the Mighty Columbia River we are not without our own urban views. Vancouver, WA has begun an urban renewal process that has already transformed the formerly derelict Esther Short Park area into a thriving urban live/work center. Mid-rise and high-rise buildings with office and condo space flank the east side of the park, a mid rise hotel and convention center and mid rise City Hall building to the south, and to the west and north are low-mid rise condos and apartments with retail/office on the street level. Huge plans are underway for a gigantic billion-dollar waterfront renovation that will bring mid-rise and high-rise development to the shores of the Columbia in Downtown Vancouver.

As of right now there are several condo projects in Downtown, Vancouver that offer up urban city views. These condos range in price from the low 100's for a spartan and small unit to nearly a million dollars for the deluxe accommodations with sweeping panoramic views. The two projects that quickly come to mind for contemporary urban living in Vancouver is the West Coast Bank Building at 500 Broadway with its Frontier Block Condo Project on the 5th and 6th floors and the Vancouver Center III on Washington and West 8th with its upscale condo project on the top four floors starting on the 8th. These two projects feature units with upscale hardwood floors, granite and travertine finishes, and all the plush design elements to complement the spectacular urban views they offer.

One of the great features however about Downtown Vancouver is its clear price advantage over Portland's Pearl District. The Pearl is also suffering from a variety of builder and HOA related lawsuits that can put the pinch on a purchase. Vancouver Center also has two mid-rise condo buildings on Columbia Street that actually fronts the park and offer more modestly decorated units with smaller space at shockingly affordable prices. Units in these more affordable buildings can be had from the mid 100's to the upper 200's and above the 4th floor offer great views overlooking Esther Short Park. These two buildings have 6 and 7 floors respectively. Heritage Place Condos on the north side of the park only has units on the 2nd-4th floors and so the views are limited by the trees in the park. That building offers a mixed use with storefronts and restaurants on the street level. I think it is great that a young single person could easily afford one of the Columbia Street units even with a modest income.

So if the urban lifestyle fits you better than suburbia, take a look at Downtown Vancouver and be sure to "enjoy the view".

What is a View really Worth?

Several years ago I posted on this blog about the value of a view and even prepared a poll for readers to opine on the value of a view to them. Today I am bringing that post back and the poll as well.

by Rod Sager; originally posted on this blog, June 26, 2014

I have broached this question in passing comments over the course of writing this blog, but never really asked it straight out. So click the link below and take the poll about how much a good view is worth to you!

Take the View Poll

Views of course are highly subjective. In general there are certain views nearly universally accepted as desirable. View across the lake, view of the ocean, or grand mountains or a big city skyline, etc. These can command upwards of 50% premium if the view is unobstructed and of a truly spectacular landmark or scene.

Here in Vancouver a view of the Columbia River will command a handsome price, throw in a little Mount Hood action and it starts to get real rich. I have talked about lesser views of trees or local foothills and those are sometimes available without a premium at all.

 There are so many wonderful views in a wide variety of great properties here in America's Vancouver. We also have fabulous opportunity for gorgeous ocean views. Check out my Coastal Living Blog, here. Whatever you do be sure to enjoy the view!

Washougal Value Views!

Washougal has a price advantage over neighboring Camas and the views from hillside neighborhoods like Colorado Ridge are fantastic.

This month I have a featured view property that with full disclosure, is one of my listings. This home has nearly 4000 square feet and is perched like an eagle high atop the Colorado Ridge development.

The view from the main level, kitchen, living room, master bedroom and deck are spectacular and the house was designed to capitalize on the view.

These views are forever views as the home is perched very high above any potential future rooftop. These are the best views for they will endure. This home is listed for $899,900 and has 4 beds and a den including two full ensuites and 3.5 baths.

Twinkling lights, flowing river, beautiful mountains, this one has it all.

Whatever you do, be sure to enjoy the view!

View Condos are a thing!

I have been writing a great deal about condo units on Urban Living in the Couv, lately. That site deals with Vancouver's emerging urban condo market. There are some condos with great views including a few listed here.

Frontier Block at 500 Broadway, Vancouver. MLS#19319982 listed at $775,000

This south facing 5th floor unit has over 2000 SF and features a picture window view of the Interstate Bridge, Columbia River and nearby Cascades as well as Vancouver and Portland city lights at night.


Looking for a more laid back suburban feel with a nice view and close proximity to the city center? Look no further than Tidewater. Located just east of Downtown right along the banks of the Columbia River this community style development is top drawer for quality. This are well made, premium quality units. This unit has over 4000 SF of living space with views to the East and South

Tidewater, Vancouver, MLS#19480761 listed at $3,500,000

Shorewood, Vancouver, MLS#19376280 listed at #239,000

Perhaps my favorite condo building from a strictly view value is Shorewood. This complex is older with buildings ranging from 4-7 stories and built between 1972 and 1984. They are a bit dated, but these are solid units that are often well priced and have excellent views. Shorewood combines bluff elevation with building height to give a skyscraper feel to the view with out requiring the 20-30 story building. This unit has 1115 SF 2 beds and 2 baths and a fair view for less than $240k

So there it is views from $240k to $3.5m something for everyone, really. What ever you do please enjoy the view!

Golden Opportunity for View Property

Right now in the local region the real estate market is split along a price point with two separate vectors. The entry level to lower mid market is still quite strong, exhibiting some of the characteristics of the last mini-boom in from 2016 till mid-2018. Multiple offers are still quite normal in these lower price reaches so long as the property is not puffed up in price. We can call this the southern vector.

The northern vector is those upper mid prices to the highest reaches are seeing a definite shift towards a buyer's market. View properties often fall into this upper half of the price range and that means buyers may find some leverage to get a nice view home in a more affordable fashion.

Areas like Washougal and Ridgefield have an abundance of homes in the $600k plus price range and there are a great deal more sellers than buyers in those reaches. Washougal in particular offers some amazing views of either the Columbia River Gorge or the River and City Lights. Sometimes both at the same time! The surplus in the high end of the market means opportunity for buyers to 'enjoy the view.'

This home has a spectacular deck with a solid view and has seen a price reduction over the last several weeks totaling $80,000. The has more than 3200 SF and a ADU opportunity as well. 4 beds and 3 baths. Listed at $645,000.

This home in Washougal has seen a $100,000 price reduction over the last 30 days and now looks VERY nice at just $699,900 with a nice territorial view from the front and a Mt Hood view from the back. 3351 SF 4 beds and 4.5 baths with two true master suites and two laundry rooms.

This one also in Washougal features some of the best views in the whole of east county and it has seen a $115,000 price drop over the last month to $985,000.

Another look at Mighty Mountain Views

Last year I wrote up a piece about the mountain views available from a variety of neighborhoods in Clark County, Washington. Still rings true today :)

Originally posted here, March, 20, 2018, by Rod Sager


There is something majestic about a grand mountain view. Last time I talked up this view and I figured I could elaborate a bit. As a Realtor® I often show or list properties with these wonderful views. Some of course are better than others. I do currently have a listing in Washougal, WA with a nice view of Mount Hood, OR. These homes with unobstructed views are often larger and more expensive, but I have seen very modest homes with truly amazing views. On this blog several years ago I wrote an article about such homes in Camas, WA several years back. Read about that here.


This house today is a little less modest but still not too terribly high on the price either. It is brand new construction just below Colorado Ridge and the lot was perfect for a front view of Oregon's highest peak. The 3000 plus square foot home is less than 600k and has this view from the upper bonus room.

I would love to be able to kick back and just watch the snow fall on winter day or a sunrise behind that mountain. Wow what a view huh? Sure, I've sold a few homes with much better views than this, but those are usually home reserved for the fifty foot yacht owners. This home is within reach of people who don't own their own airplane.

In fact it is safe to say there are scores of homes in the hills above Washougal that have these sorts of views and for prices that are almost pedestrian.

Oh, by the way, for those wondering about the house attached to the views I showed today and last month, here it is in all her glory. It is a fabulous floor plan with more than 3000 squares and 2400 of those are on the main level. The master and a full guest suite are on the main along with a den/bedroom with 10 foot ceilings and then two giant bedrooms/bonus rooms up stairs. I love this house and you probably would too.

OK enough of my cheap marketing moments on this otherwise fantastic blog about views. I have always had a soft spot for a nice view and the hills around Washougal are one of many Clark County neighborhoods serving them up.

I will continue my quest for the ultimate views and pass them on to you as they come up. Rivers, mountains, city skylines and sometimes all from the same deck! I love it when that happens, anyhow, that's all I got this time, and please remember, what ever you do, be sure to enjoy the view.

Amazing River Views!

There are still some homes available in Colorado Ridge with spectacular views of the Gorge, City, and Columbia River. These lots are running out and there is a limited amount of future develop-able land with these kinds of views.

I have written several times about Colorado Ridge over the years. It is an excellent alternative to the much pricier options on Prune Hill in Camas. Prune Hill and Colorado Ridge, along with Lookout Ridge offer excellent views from a location that is high enough to see over the top of trees and the local city yet low enough to have modest snowfall in the winter.

This is partly what makes these areas so desirable, they lie in that sweet spot of low elevation hillsides granting the best of both worlds so  to speak.

This property for example will go live on the MLS next week. The home features more than 4000 square feet with room to expand in the unfinished daylight basement. It should be priced at around $1 million to $1.1 million.

The home has an eagle's perch that gives the owner a feeling of being in a high rise rather than a house. It feels much higher than it is. The home is situated at an elevation of less than 600 feet above sea level so the winter weather will not vary much from the valley floor. These properties are located within the city of Washougal and are close in to services. It is a mere 20 minute drive to PDX.

Clark County is a wonderful location for view properties of all types and these suburban hillside sin Camas and Washougal are just a another example of how easy it is to the enjoy the view.

Summer Hills Revisited

Main road in Summer Hills in the Autumn

Sometimes people want to get out of town. They want to rid themselves of the city atmosphere, the endless sirens, traffic noise, crowds, etc. Often these weary city beaten folks find themselves in areas like Hockinson or Brush Prairie. There is a subdivision that offers an escape from the city with reasonable proximity to services and of course the prerequisite for this blog is amazing views and it has that too.

Currently listed for $1,496,000

The Summer Hills subdivision offers some of the best territorial and city views in the area. This subdivision is located in the Cascade foothills of Brush Prairie above Hockinson. This subdivision is up around 1000 feet of elevation at the top, so snowfall is more common than Vancouver but the southwest exposure does help the snow melt fast. This is a neighborhood filled with larger homes priced above $700,000 and many exceed $1,000,000. Despite the upper end pricing, these homes tend to be much less expensive than similar homes in Camas or along Evergreen Hwy in Vancouver.

View from a listed Summer Hills Property

Buyers that pay this lofty but actually reasonable price are rewarded with breathtaking views that reach beyond the Metro area to the Coast mountains of Northwestern Oregon, South all the way down the Willamette Valley and across the greater Vancouver area. City lights by night and mountains by day. Most of these homes lack a view of the High Cascade peaks because of the southwest exposure but the territorial views are among the best you will find locally.

Google overview of neighborhood

This place feels like it is way out in the country yet it is only 6 miles to Padden Parkway and 162nd in Vancouver and less than 30 minutes to catch that flight out of PDX. The neighborhood backs up to open space and forest land. Summer Hills remains one of my favorite communities in Clark County. I always enjoy showing and listing property in this wonderful neighborhood. This is really quite the little paradise and I would invite you to check it out if you really want to enjoy the view!

Hip or Serenity? Pick a View

What's your favorite view? A hip view downtown, looking at the skyline or maybe an urban park, waterfront, etc.? Or perhaps something more serene, a quiet lakefront, forested mountains with snow-capped peaks in the distance. The best part is that we have all of that and most of the stuff in between right here in Clark County, Washington.

From Downtown Vancouver which has an increasingly urban vibe and lots of new high rise developments for the city dwelling dreamers right out to places like Yacolt and Amboy with serene forests and spectacular mountains. You can have the city buzz with the metropolitan clatter and clank of the busy bees downtown or you can hear nothing but the breeze through trees and the summer crickets singing at night.

The best part is that it is only about half an hour drive between to two extremes! That is more amazing than the sum of all the views. City to Country and back on your lunch hour.

I had an open house last weekend in a high rise condo downtown. The Farmer's Market was happening, the sun was out and the crowds were buzzing around the park soaking up the vitamin D after a chilly and snowy second half of winter. There is a serious cool factor being in the thick of the city with everything a short walk away, yet high above it all.

Clark County views are a diverse mix of city, suburban, and rural and they are all fabulous. What ever you do, be sure to enjoy the view.

What About the 'lesser' Urban Views?

I recently wrote an article for Urban Living in the 'Couv' about views that are eliminated or obstructed when new high-rise projects are erected. That article focused on the potential for loss of property value as well as losing the view which may have been an important part of the decision to buy a particular unit.

Here is a link to that article: Careful, Urban Views can be Fleeting

But many units in urban areas already have obstructed views of the city. In fact the target project of the above reference article is Parkview Tower in Downtown Vancouver WA. This building has west facing units with a permanently protected view of Esther Short Park but the east facing units all look directly at Vancouver Center 3.

What about these obstructed urban views? Some may feel that their is a lack of privacy when you are looking right into the windows of another high rise only 50-100 feet away. But there is a certain cool vibe about it. Sure, at night you might want to pull the blinds in your bedroom, but looking out your living room window after dark yields a pretty nice city lights type experience. For some there is value in this real urban type view, that whole New York City style view. You don't have to be up 40 floors to get it either.

Really the view is highly subjective. Some people just like being up high off the ground, others expect a view to include something spectacular like a grand panorama or a river, mountain, etc. To each his own as they say, but bear in mind that those more majestic views will not come cheap in most cases. But "not cheap" is subjective as well. This nice little condo in Parkview is listed for $350k and features a permanent view of the very majestic, Esther Short Park. Who says you can't get a cheap view? The guy with a budget of 290k, I guess ;)

Whatever you do, enjoy the view be it majestic or just another building.



 

New Views on the North Shore of Lacamas Lake

The north shore of Lacamas Lake in Camas has been opened up and soon a whole new series of neighborhoods with views of Lacamas Lake and Prune Hill will come to market. The map shows the overall area that will undergo development although sizable chunks of the red area is reserved for permanent natural preservation and parkland.

Lacamas Shores has been the exclusive neighborhood featuring homes overlooking the lake. Now that Camas has opened up the north shore of the lake, more opportunity for that Lacamas experience should soon arrive. The first of these new north shore developments, Deer Haven is nearly built out and features modern homes on smallish lots, many with a view of the lake.

I have a property in Deer Haven listed at $695,000 and it has a peek-a-boo view. But others have a more majestic vista of the lake and surrounding terrain. The range of prices in this subdivision run from $700 to $900k and 3000-4000 SF. Deer Haven is featured in New Homes of Clark County, here.

Camas is on the move and growing like a weed it was only a matter of time before the North Shore opened up. So now at Lacamas you can be sure to enjoy the view... north or south.