Anyone in or near Seattle?

[Larabeth]

We are looking to move to the Seattle area soon for my school.  Specifically Kenmore.  Does anyone live in this area and have recommendations on a better area to buy?  Or should we just rent?  Will probably be in the area only around 5 years.

[Sailor Sam]

Hey Larabeth, there's a large Seattle contingent on the forum. I think there's even a facebook page, organized for meetups, which you might try cross posting too. Sorry I can't give you the linky, I don't have a Facebook account.

I've been living in Seattle for 14 months, and I can definitively say that housing costs are spectacularly inflated. Things become (somewhat) more affordable further north, or further south, but the commute is a thing of acute and startling misery. Stop and go for miles, and miles, and miles along the I-5 and I-405 corridors. Plus miserably high tolls.

On the other hand, the housing market doesn't show any signs of slowing and you might be able to turn a tidy sum in 5 years. Have you been looking at Zillow and Redfin? If not, I'd suggest poking around, and getting over the sticker shock as quickly as possible.

I had every intention of buying a house when I moved here, but I got priced out of the market and ended up renting. On reflection, I'm glad I rented. Of course, YMMV.

[seattlecyclone]

What school will you be attending? That makes a difference in terms of commute times. I'm a big fan of living as close to where you work/study as you can afford. Traffic here is terrible and not getting any better.

[Syonyk]

Good luck buying.  The housing market out there looks like eBay.

"Well... I'm asking $450k, but I'm not going to accept any offers below $500k, cash, with inspections waived."  "Cool, sold for $525k!"

[Vilgan]

Kenmore/Bothell housing isn't nearly as insane as Seattle proper. Most of my knowledge is inside Seattle city limits, so can't add much other than I think its pretty unlikely we are at a peak. More and more companies are moving to Seattle and many companies already here are planning to significantly expand hiring in the next 2-3 years. Even suburbs like Kenmore should go up in the next few years as people cash out of their Seattle homes (ours is up 60% in the last 4 years) and buy more affordable ones further out.

Love the area, love the PNW, hope you love it as well :)

[big_slacker]

As others have mentioned the housing market is batshit crazy right now. I'd say there is no way it could continue to climb but I've been to the bay area, so...

I rent and have since I moved here around 5 years ago. As others have mentioned commute times/stress can get ridiculous so it pays to be as close as reasonably possible to where you'll be working/going to school *OR* close to a workable public transportation option. Where is your school?

[SimpleSpartan]

Hey Larabeth! I'm currently attending the local community college there in Bothell which is a couple minutes from Kenmoore. While I actually live in Kirkland which is about ten minutes away, Bothell is a great area. Kenmoore is a little more redneckish, but still a quality suburb.  I would HIGHLY recommend renting, housing prices are overvalued and through the roof. My advice for you is to research apartments in Bothell and Kenmoore and get a good sense of what you want to spend. A rough estimate from what I've seen for bothell is around 1100 minimum for two bedroom. I hope this helps somewhat! If you have any more questions about the area I would be happy to answer them for ya ;)

[coppertop]

My daughter and her husband bought a house in Kenmore last year and they are very happy.  They previously lived in both Bothell and Lynnwood and liked those communities as well.  They moved to Kenmore for the school district. 

I live in southeastern PA (Philly suburbs) and what I don't like from what I have seen of the Seattle area is the tiny lots the houses are on.  I like a nice big yard.  But it doesn't seem to bother the kids at all.  They simply take the children to the playground instead of having swings in their own back yard.

[big_slacker]

My daughter and her husband bought a house in Kenmore last year and they are very happy.  They previously lived in both Bothell and Lynnwood and liked those communities as well.  They moved to Kenmore for the school district. 

I live in southeastern PA (Philly suburbs) and what I don't like from what I have seen of the Seattle area is the tiny lots the houses are on.  I like a nice big yard.  But it doesn't seem to bother the kids at all.  They simply take the children to the playground instead of having swings in their own back yard.

I always want the kids to go out to play rather than stay in or in a yard. Bigger spaces, better playgrounds, get to meet and talk to people (us and the kids) and the city cuts the grass. :D

[honeybbq]

Another Seattle person here... but I'm in the city.

Kenmore should be relatively cheaper but still inflated from what you're used to.

I'd buy now if you can if that appeals to you. They expect a 30% population boom over the next few years or something in that range. It's not going to slow down any time soon.

[Northwestie]

We are looking to move to the Seattle area soon for my school.  Specifically Kenmore.  Does anyone live in this area and have recommendations on a better area to buy?  Or should we just rent?  Will probably be in the area only around 5 years.

Welcome.  Kenmore is suburb-like, but nice.  Like any place around Seattle housing prices dipped a little bit during the great recession - but not for long.  I would say it all depends on how much liquid assets you have, what you will need over those 5 years, and can you afford the down-payment.  Interest rates are still good but don't expect to find anything decent for under $450k.   Dang - a tear down in west Seattle had 40 bids last month and went for $475k.  But rents are no bargain these days either. 

I don't see the housing market slowing down -  the Seattle area job market is surging and is driving the limited availability of single family houses.  Shoot - we bought our house 18 yrs ago for $200k, now worth $750 - $800k.   

I'd say if you can swing the downpayment with not much dent in your emergency funds then buy - you could easily get roomates to help on the mortgage. Best of luck.

[bigwhitedawg]

We're also looking to relocate to PNW.  We haven't narrowed down any particular area, so are open to hearing about the different neighborhoods and which areas are good for kids.  I look at the Seattle area now, in terms of real estate, job growth, and population growth, and it reminds me of when we moved to Austin 5 years ago.  That again puts us on the fence regarding renting versus buying.  Thanks for the info already provided and look forward to reading more responses from folks familiar with the area.

[OlyFish]

if you want to live the PNW life and not in a big city, Olympia is pretty awesome. You are close enough to Seattle or Portland to take advantage of concerts/ museums/ games but far enough away that you can pretty much avoid traffic on a daily basis. The downside is employment--we have government, universities, or hospital as the big 3, and if you aren't in those groups I don't know how the jobs market is.

I know a couple of people who commute to Seattle for work, but the very thought makes me start dry heaving.

[bigwhitedawg]

We'll look at it.  As a day job, I'm an IT guy and I've worked at all levels from operations to CIO and my preference is to stay in healthcare.  My wife is a professional jazz vocalist, so we would want to be somewhere that live music has a foothold and a following.  I'm a musician as well, but my dollars just go straight to savings.

[honeybbq]

We'll look at it.  As a day job, I'm an IT guy and I've worked at all levels from operations to CIO and my preference is to stay in healthcare.  My wife is a professional jazz vocalist, so we would want to be somewhere that live music has a foothold and a following.  I'm a musician as well, but my dollars just go straight to savings.

It depends where you work. You will probably want to live on the same side of the water as your job, otherwise get used to 60-90 minute commutes each way.

If you want to work for Microsoft, you can find a wide variety of east side and more suburban (cheaper) housing. If you're going to work downtown, well, I wouldn't go across the water or further north or south than 10 physical miles.

[big_slacker]

We'll look at it.  As a day job, I'm an IT guy and I've worked at all levels from operations to CIO and my preference is to stay in healthcare.  My wife is a professional jazz vocalist, so we would want to be somewhere that live music has a foothold and a following.  I'm a musician as well, but my dollars just go straight to savings.

Healthcare meaning insurance or hospital. Hospital you can take your pick of areas. Insurance Premera is in the mountlake terrace area and bothell is an easy commute! Music scene OTOH you're in trouble. :D

Sounds like you want to be in the city.

[bigwhitedawg]

Insurance or hospital.  I've done both (currently in insurance.) 

What is the music scene like?  My wife sings jazz, I play a bit of everything from bluegrass to jazz and most stops in between.

[magnuminator]

I grew up here and am officially being driven out right about...wait for it...now.  Just kidding, I'm not leaving until Sunday.  Really.

Your mileage will definitely vary depending on where you are coming from and what your expectations are.  If you're moving here to live in a rapidly expanding coastal city, well this is one of those.  You may love it.  If you're moving here for a weird, low density, low key midsize city with a small town feel, that was 20 years ago.  Or more.  And you may still love it, but that will really depend on what you are comparing it to.  It's probably still cheaper and mellower than Brooklyn or something like that. 

Best way to describe Seattle may be that it is trying as hard as it can to be San Francisco, with all of the pros and cons that entails. Good luck with the move.