How high and low can you go?

It's that time of year again when KPLU's John Maynard and real estate appraiser Richard Hagar look at the least expensive and the most expensive homes on the market. This time around, they're zeroing in on King County.

The Extremes are Dramatic

The least expensive home is in White Center near West Seattle. It's on the market for $48,000.  It's small and tilting a little.  But the land is woodsy and private.

In comparison, the most expensive is  a mansion sitting on a large parcel of waterfront property on Mercer Island. That's on the market for $26,880,000.  Richard Hagar says there's one thing both of these properties have in common:

About 80% to 90% of the value of these properties is in the land, not the house.

Land is in Demand

Hagar points that in that in King County, the demand for property is high. That often leads buyers to tear down or rebuild their purchases within the first 10 years of purchasing them, just to get their hands on the dirt under the foundation.

He also says that there are quite a few houses on the market in King County for under $100,000. But it's likely no surprise that the majority of them are "fixer uppers," or even "tearer downers!"