Attention Condo Owners

August 13, 2026 by Leave a Comment

A word from your neighbor mortgage lender and Beach Drive Blog Sponsor.

We have several condominium projects that line Beach Drive and Alki in West Seattle and I thought this is too important to not share. There are major changes that are taking place with regards to financing condos.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — which set the rules behind most home loans — recently updated how they evaluate condo buildings. When someone gets a mortgage on a condo, the lender isn’t just qualifying the buyer, they’re qualifying the building too, looking at the HOA’s reserves, budget, and insurance. If a building doesn’t measure up, it can lose eligibility for standard financing, which shrinks the buyer pool and affects resale values for everyone in the building, not just one owner.

What’s changing:

  • No more investor concentration limit. There are still units to how many a person or entity can own in a condo development.
  • A limited review option some buildings has been phased out, meaning more buildings face full financial review. (If your condo has 10 units or less, it may be eligible for a Waiver of Project Review). 
  • Insurance requirements are getting more specific
  • HOA reserve requirements are rising from 10% to 15% of the annual budget (required by January 2027)

One thing worth knowing: this isn’t just a “conforming loan” issue – many lenders rely on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s metrics to determine whether or not a condo is “warrantable”. If a condo is determined to be “non-warrantable” it often means that the mortgage programs that are available may require larger down payments to qualify for along with higher interest rates.

Why it matters even if you’re not selling: your neighbors’ ability to sell or refinance depends on the whole building’s standing, not just their own finances. It’s worth asking your HOA board a few questions — is the reserve study current and is the budget funding toward it — so the condo owners aren’t caught off guard.

Questions? I’m always happy to help a neighbor! 

More information here: Changes to Conforming Guidelines for Condos

Filed Under: Beach Drive Homes Tagged With: ,

Painting of Seattle Missing from the Far Far Away Sailboat

August 11, 2026 by Leave a Comment

Amanda posted on our Facebook page that a painting of Seattle was removed from their sailboat and she would really like to have it returned.

“the one that we are missing from our boat we would have this returned no hard feelings.., understand it came with our boat and stays with our boat… The sooner there is resolution in this matter the sooner we can be on our way.”

I’m assuming it was taken when the boat was beached on the shores of Constellation Park.

Hopefully whoever took the painting will return it to Amanda soon.

 

Filed Under: Art, Boats, Lost and Found Tagged With: ,

Lost Dog: Have you seen Coco the Great Dane?

August 10, 2026 by Leave a Comment

UPDATE: Coco is back home!

Coco is the Great Dane pictured on the right.

Coco’s humans have reached out to see if anyone has seen her around Beach Drive.

Updated August 11, 2026

Filed Under: Animals, Lost and Found, Pets Tagged With:

Three Beached Boats – Far Far Away Saga Continues

August 10, 2026 by Leave a Comment

Far Far Away and the two other boats that came to refloat her, are now all beached on the shores of Weather Watch Park.
Last night, we watched the Coast Guard and Seattle Fire Department tow the two sailboats (with masts) with the mastless sailboat following behind, and honestly, I was surprised that they left these boats and crew anchored at this spot. With our current low tides, this seems inevitable that the boats would be beached again.

Photo Credit Meegan Corcoran

Last fall, you may remember the derelict motorboat, Gooey, that the authorities secured to a buoy off of Lowman Park, until the person aboard signaled he and his dog needed help as they were taking on water. They wound up being towed to Don Armeni where the boat sank at the dock later that night… there was a lot to this story too. It seems that more derelict boats are showing up along the shores of Beach Drive (and everywhere).

We are just past this morning’s low tide of -2.5 at 9:26 AM and are heading towards a high tide of 10.7 feet at 2:02 PM.

The story continues…

Read all our post about SV Far Far Away.

Filed Under: Boats, Parks Tagged With: , ,

Far Far Away is Afloat!

August 9, 2026 by 1 Comment

UPDATE 8:00 pm: Far Far Away is now being towed with the other sailboat by the Seattle Fire Department. “Jimothy” is following behind on it’s own power.

We missed the actual event of Far Far Away floating off of the beaches from Constellation Park today. Witnesses tell us that it was an amazing sight watching the female crew, Amanda, work the mast and halyards to finally free the sailboat.

Photo credit: Scupper, the Intrepid Reporter for Beach Drive Blog

It appears that Far Far Away is tied to their other sailboat and is currently drifting south. Meanwhile, the mastless sailboat (aka Jimothy) is still off the shores (in the water) of Constellation Park with the two dogs and the male crew member aboard.

As of the publishing of this post (6:30 pm) it looks like Amanda is trying to tow Far Far Away with their other sailboat and are somewhere in the Puget Sound between Emma Schmitz View Point and north of Lincoln Park.

Read all our post about SV Far Far Away.

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Neighbors and Strangers Try to Help Far Far Away

August 8, 2026 by Leave a Comment

Scupper and I happened to be passing by Constellation Park today and decided to check in on how the effort to refloat the beached sailboat Far Far Away was going. Plenty of people were gathered to watch the two people try to free the boat as they resourcefully strung line from Far Far Away to the mastless sailboat with a motor.

Someone in the crowd said “let’s help” and then a group of kind people gave it all they had to assist the grateful sailors.


Alas, it seems that the tides were just shy of being enough of what would free this boat this afternoon.

Scupper went back with water and wound up giving it a second try with another group of people who wanted to help.

I’m sure they’ll keep trying as tides will continue to get higher through the 15th of August.

I am very touched by those who paused their day today and came together to offer help.

Next daytime hightide is tomorrow at 4:45 pm.

Read all our post about SV Far Far Away.

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Update on the Grounded Sailboats off of Constellation Park

August 8, 2026 by Leave a Comment

Get the popcorn out people. The saga continues with SV “Jimothy” joining SV Far Far Away on the south beach of Constellation Park. (Pic of both)

The shallow draft, mastless boat was spotted yesterday motoring northward along the shores of Beach Drive stumbling over a few shoals before anchoring near the other grounded sailboat that’s been drawing crowds of onlookers for over a week now.

Refill that popcorn bowl for how the small sailboat anchored out about 200’ from the grounded boats made its way there. One of the two crew members, being cheered on by 2 dogs on the bow actually towed the sailboat with her small kayak all the way from the 4900 block of Beach Drive. That is approximately 1.25 miles!

The determination of these two boaters to refloat Far Far Away is pretty amazing. Tide levels will undoubtedly be key for this effort & tides are forecasted to increase up to an 11.9 by August 15th. The other obstacle is just how far the boat has been pushed by waves up the beach towards the seawall. Even a king tide might not free its keel from the beach. Maybe just maybe, the rumored owners of Far Far Away will “abandon” their hopes of refloating her and pull the mast & rigging for their shallow draft boat Jimothy which shouldn’t have any problem getting off the beach with a higher tide.

Scupper, reporting for the BDB

PS. I’ll be on assignment for the next few days so I will miss how this all unfolds. Please keep me informed in the comments section!

EDITORS NOTE: Scupper came up with the name “Jimothy” for the mastless sailboat that is now part of this ongoing story. The boat appears to be nameless and without registration.

Read all our post about SV Far Far Away.

Filed Under: Boats, Parks, Scupper Tagged With: , ,

Grounded Sailboat Off of Constellation Park Update

August 7, 2026 by 2 Comments

It appears that the rumored “captain” of Far Far Away has returned to the boat that has been re-beached off the shores of Constellation Park. He and a crew member arrived sometime yesterday with two dogs in a separate sailboat that is towing another boat (sailboat without a mast) and are anchored off around the 4900 block of Beach Drive. The rumored captain and crew heading towards Constellation Park along the shoreline.

The SV Jimmothy as seen on the southside of Harbor West Condos

Our intrepid reporter, Scupper, has this from the field.

The Department of Natural Resources has issued a Notice of Intent to Obtain Custody for the vessel Far Far Away.

Photo Credit: Scupper – Intrepid Reporter for Beach Drive Blog

The boat has been declared as derelict and/or abandoned and per the attached notice, DNR intends to take custody of the vessel on August 24, 2026. The owner is responsible for all related costs.

The gentleman from the parks department who posted the notice mentioned that they are overwhelmed with derelict boats, much the same as the rundown RVs.

The notice was published due to the numerous calls they received.

UPDATE: The “crew” member managed to tow the sailboat that was off 4900-ish block of Beach Drive via a kayak with their two dogs cheering her on for 2 km!

The fleet was reunited on Saturday afternoon.

Read all our post about SV Far Far Away.

Filed Under: Boats, Parks Tagged With: , , ,

Seattle’s Neighborhood Night Out is Tonight!

August 4, 2026 by Leave a Comment

Neighborhood Night Out West Seattle

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Sailboat Grounded Again

August 2, 2026 by 1 Comment

The sailboat that recently grounded near the condos off Beach Drive has landed ashore again off Constellation Park.Sailboat Far Far Away

We’ll see if she’s able to float with the next high tides.

Read all our posts about SV Far Far Away.

Filed Under: Boats, Parks Tagged With: ,
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