Updated Jun 25, 2009 - 9:02 am
Local spec homes sit empty, cheap
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KIRO Radio
What started as a fun project turned into a nightmare for a builder in Kenmore.
Ken Youch, with Kenmar Construction, is happy to give tours of any one of the million dollar houses he has built in Kenmore.
"They're absolutely beautiful homes that we built when the market was booming. This is my very first attempt at spec building," he said.
It is also his last. Like many builders across the Puget Sound, Youch is losing a lot of money on these three sister homes. All were priced over one million dollars and now they're going at about $500,000 lower.
Youch initially thought it would be a creative undertaking, adding high end touches.
"There is no vinyl, laminate, or even ceramic in these homes. It's all natural stone, the floors are all select Brazilian cherry, entries have these incredible inlays," he said.
With an average of 3,600 square feet and four bedrooms he still hasn't gotten any legitimate offers. "We finally got our first offer, but it was extremely low. It was on the house here that we just dropped $110,000 from last weekend," he said.
They've been on the market a year and a half. "This is going to be in the history books, what we're going through right now," said Youch.
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