Ask What the Lot Permits Before Pricing the House
Across most of this site the sequence is: assess the damage, cost the restoration, compare it against the finished value. In the Central District that sequence can produce a number that is simply irrelevant.
Seattle rezoned substantial parts of the city through the 2010s and again more recently. Where zoning now allows substantially more on the parcel than the burned house represents, a buyer is not pricing a restoration at all. They are pricing the land against what may be built on it, and the condition of the existing structure barely enters the calculation. The statewide layer is on our page covering Form 17, IFCA and the excise tax.
How Do I Know Whether My Lot Is Worth More Than My House?
Which Changes Who You Should Be Talking To
Much of the housing dates from the 1900s through the 1940s, with substantial later redevelopment. Form 17 under RCW 64.06 applies regardless of whether a buyer intends to clear the site, carrying a 3 business day rescission right and a fresh window on any amendment. Washington charges a graduated real estate excise tax on the sale, customarily paid by the seller. Where more time is needed the insurer must notify within 45 days of the initial notice and every 30 days after that. A first party claimant must give that notice 20 days before filing, and serving it tolls the limitation period for those 20 days. Washington's real estate excise tax is graduated and customarily paid by the seller, with a local component added on top.
The two file types attract different buyers, and it is worth knowing which you are being offered on.
A rehabber prices the restored house and cares a great deal about the structural condition. A builder prices the developable parcel and cares mainly about the land, the zoning and what it costs to clear the site. On a lot with real capacity the builder's number is usually the higher one, and the fire damage barely moves it.
An owner who does not know which situation they are in cannot tell whether an offer is good. An owner who does can ask each buyer which they are, and compare like with like.
Should I Be Selling to a Builder or a Rehabber?
We publish no land values or development capacity figures for the Central District. Zoning designations vary parcel by parcel and what a site supports depends on dimensions, access and setbacks. The city's mapping and a local architect are the right sources.
The Disclosure Position Is Easier on a Land Sale
A practical advantage worth knowing. Where a buyer intends to clear the site, the condition of the building matters less to them, which means findings about the structure are less likely to be material adverse changes for that particular buyer.
That does not remove the Form 17 obligation, which attaches to what you know regardless. But it does mean a land buyer is less likely to treat a structural discovery as a reason to exercise the 3 business day rescission right, because it was not part of what they were buying.
Central District in Context
Where flat ground and older frame stock make the building the whole question, see our page about a district of older frame houses. Where the ground itself is the dominant cost, see our page for a peninsula of bluffs and steep lots.
Central District Questions
Two Buyers Gave Me Completely Different Numbers.
Likely one is pricing the restored house and the other the developable lot. Ask each which they are doing, then compare each against the right benchmark rather than against each other.
Does the Fire Damage Matter If I Sell to a Builder?
Less than you would expect, because they are clearing the site anyway. It still affects the clearance cost and it remains disclosable, but it is not the main thing they are pricing.
Will You Buy on Either Basis?
Yes, and we tell you which basis our figure is built on so you can compare it properly against anyone else's.