New job in Issaquah, limited funds (Seattle, Bellevue: rental, insurance, condo)

[jlillywh]

I've been working for a company located in Issaquah for nearly a year while my family (wife and 4 kids) live in Utah. We are now considering moving to Issaquah mainly because it is difficult to work alone in a different state from the rest of the office. We are little nervous about this because we lost all our equity in our current home so we have nothing down for a home in the Issaquah area. We realize we would have to rent to save some money. I will be earning close to $100K/yr. The idea is to rent in a place that is close to a home we might like to buy. Our kids are still quite young so we are interested in a neighborhood with kids. After looking around a bit online, I'm starting to wonder what areas we should focus on.

Does anyone out there have thoughts on nice, affordable, kid-friendly areas in the Bellevue/Issaquah area? I'm kind of drawn to Issaquah Highlands. Any thoughts on that area?

Thank you!

[tigger865]

If you like the Highlands you should focus your rental search there. It is very family friendly with kids everywhere in the various parks. People are always walking around/walking dogs etc. Good SD as well.

[rabagley]

If you can rent and save money (which is still the case for many Seattle neighborhoods), then you should be doing that and not trying to buy until after you've saved up enough to cover a down payment without breaking a sweat. Good for you that you already seem to be headed that way.

IMHO, the Highlands are postage-stamp sized lots with new(er) homes. Personally, I prefer bigger lots with older structures and find that there are better rental rates on those sorts of homes in nearby Issaquah and Sammamish without any compromise on school quality. YMMV.

[Vinylly]

The 'burbs' are nothing but bedrooms for Seattle. You'll find kid freindly neigborhoods all over the place, even Issaquah, because that's all there is.

[AddyLaddy]

We have 4 kids too and live in Sammamish. It's a nice place to live and we can walk to the schools, parks and library. People are fairly friendly, but it's been hard to meet our neighbours over winter (which feels like it is still going on ;-)

Rental for that size house hits around $1 per sqft up to 2500 sqft, and there are a few 5 bed houses available. So I'd expect you'd need to spend $2500-$2900 per month to rent a place big enough for your family. YMMV

It often appears to be cheaper to rent a bigger place in the northern part of Sammamish, I don't know why, perhaps because it is in the LWSD ?

[texastrigirl]

You could also consider Maple Valley. Smaller town, close to Issaquah, good schools...might be a better price range if you are trying to save and then buy. And not that I would advocate uprooting kids and moving...but generally if they are younger, they will likely do fine. Mine were 4 and 7 when we moved and I was surprised at their resilience.

[jinj]

Originally Posted by Vinylly

The 'burbs' are nothing but bedrooms for Seattle. You'll find kid freindly neigborhoods all over the place, even Issaquah, because that's all there is.

I disagree.

Most people do not work in Seattle, they work in other surrounding cities. I only go to Seattle a couple of time a year, each time I go I wonder why I even went there as its such a hassle to get there and park. Unfortunately some of the county offices only exist in Seattle so we don't have choices.

To the OP, look at Maple Valley, you can find places to rent that will fit your budget and its a very family orientated small city that is growing. If you are not a Mormon, you might feel like an outcast in some areas. But as you are coming from Utah, it might be your perfect town.

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by AddyLaddy

It often appears to be cheaper to rent a bigger place in the northern part of Sammamish, I don't know why, perhaps because it is in the LWSD ?

The Sammamish schools are great whether in Lake WA or Issaquah District, but some of the homes at the north end are bused down
into Redmond which is a l ong ride and the schools are not as good.

I noticed the other day a home for rent, appeared to be older with acreage on 212th and SE8th in Sammamish for $1,800.

I'd also consider Klahanee, for reasonable rents, and good parks with trails and community swimming pools.

[Capo]

If your ultimate goal is to rent where you will eventually own, I would highly encourage you to do your homework on average home prices in the various areas.

Most financial experts will advise you to buy a home no more expensive than 2 to 2.5 times your gross family income (some may say 3 times, but that would be the very cap, IMHO). If your gross family income is 100k, that means you should be purchasing a home around 250k... no more than 300k.

While you can rent homes in Issaquah for around 2k~ or so a month, you will pay significantly more than that to own. Essentially, unless you want to buy a smallish condo, I don't think Issaquah is within your budget. You really need to be more in the 400k to 600k range for a "standard" family 4/2 in Issaquah.

With your budget, places like Bothel, Lynnwood, Duval, etc. would be a better fit.

Just my opinion, but I highly do not recommend buying a home where more than 25% of your gross income (28% to 30% if you really want to push it) goes towards mortgage + taxes + insurance + pmi (if applicable). Ideally, you also have 20% saved for a downpayment to avoid PMI all together.

Good luck!

[seattlenextyear]

Lolz, if everyone obeyed Capo's advice, all of the homes in Seattle would be empty.

The house we live in is 4x our income and we're doing just fine. Still saving a lot of money.