I’ll just stay right here, thank you.

I agree it seems like a good idea that the could move the house to a new site as her familiar neighborhood is gone. She would still have the same house. Has anyone suggested this to her?

I live 10 minutes from her and often drive by.. Kudos to the girl.

P.S., 1 mil is not much money here in Seattle. A tiny old house (built in the 30's, 2000 sq feet) is going for 400,000 to 800,000. 2 million's a more equitable deal.

Kudos to her. Whether you or the developers or the neighbors or whomever think she is crazy not to sell is frankly irrelevant. That's what property rights are all about. If I have something that you want to buy, you need to offer me something I am willing to agree to. If you (or your minions) force me to take anything less, that is THEFT. She's under no obligation to take offers for the benefit of her heirs, charities, or anyone else. It is HER property.

I'm actually surprised that the developers weren't able to "grease thë skids" with the local paid-for politicians. Nowadays after the Kelo ruling, it's pretty easy for anyone to steal your land by paying you what they want to pay for it and just convincing the local political machine in power that they are offering you "a fair price".

As for offering her "10x what is worth" , that is a crock. The property is worth whatever a rational individual or corporation is willing to pay for it. The developer offered $1M (and not a penny more), because that is *exactly* what it was worth. If it was worth less, they would have offered less. If it was worth more to them, they would have upped the offer rather than build around her. The problem they ran up against, is that it is worth more to HER. And that's all that matters, folks.

Hasn't anyone ever taken Economics? Were you all asleep in class? Geez.

She may be simply being stubborn, but, in fact, she's not turning down ten times what the property is worth. The assessed value of the home and property is $128,000, but that's not the same as what she could sell it for. Assessments for tax purposes are lower than the actual worth of a parcel, sometimes (as in this instance) significantly so. Given that the house has been valued at $8000, it's probable that this is the "frozen" value of the home, which is how the assessor calculates the value for homes owned by seniors who fall below certain income levels. For the area of the city that the house is located in, the actual worth of the house and property is probably more like $500K to $600K. Considering what in-city property sells for (even in less desirable neighborhoods than Ballard), not to mention the profit that the development company stands to make if they could get her out and turn that parcel into a commercial site, $1M is a gross insulting underbid. They tried to take advantage of her and she didn't allow them to.

She's an old woman with no heirs; the developers will get that land eventually. I say good for her for making it difficult for them.

If she likes the house, she can always move it (though it's best not to do it yourself).

The neighborhood is going to be gone anyhow - might as well get the money, have them pay for the move, and still have your old 100-year old house, but in a better neighborhood.

This form of stubbornness is like a pyrrhic victory.