Moving to Seattle: Dad/Mom/teen: We need assistance, where to live (rent)and great high school (Bellevue: apartments)

[mercer.b]

Employer forced this move. We don't know anyone there, coming from ATL.

We need some family friendly rental locations in the city

and a good high school for our son.

We are looking to spend $1500 for 2 bedroom/2 bath

:in an area we can walk in at night.

Please offer any suggestions.


Thanks

[rabagley]

Originally Posted by mercer.b

Employer forced this move. We don't know anyone there, coming from ATL.

We need some family friendly rental locations in the city

and a good high school for our son.

We are looking to spend $1500 for 2 bedroom/2 bath

:in an area we can walk in at night.

Please offer any suggestions.


Thanks

I put your constraints in trulia.com and found more than a hundred apartment listings without really trying. If you can fly in or stay in temporary housing before signing a lease, a lot of smaller rentals are only advertised by a sign in the yard and might easily be in your price range. This will also give you a chance to eyeball neighborhoods. Don't forget about craigslist, but if it seems too good to be true on craigslist, you're probably right.

redfin.com shows schools and their greatschools rating (1-10). Just search for big houses for $50,000 and they won't show you any results, but you can still see the school locations and the ratings.

There are some recent threads in this subforum where people are talking about neighborhoods they like and dislike. Go looking for those and mark up a street map of the Seattle area.

One really important question: where's the office? If you can avoid crossing a bridge on your commute you'll be happier.

A last detail, I'm a big fan of being able to walk from my home and see more than other houses in the development. Seattle, Washington Neighborhoods on Walk Score is a pretty cool heatmap that lets you visualize the scores, or you can enter the specific address to get the actual score (and lots of info about local businesses, etc.)

Good luck!

[Hemlock140]

Where did you find anything in Seattle with 2br/2 ba for $1,500? I put that in and came up with none found. Generally a decent place in Seattle is going to run that much for 1 BR.

As for schools, Seattle has it's problems, currently if I still had kids that age would move to Ballard, Magnolia or Queen Anne, or go for a private school.

There are far better schools on the east side, Mercer Island, Bellevue, Issaquah and Sammamish, but then you have a long commute over a bridge and home prices are even higher. The best schools are always in the highest priced areas.

[Vinylly]

Avoid downtown areas, Capital Hill, Magnolia, Queen Ann. Look for areas in West Seattle, Ballard, and Wallingford, they are more 'family friendly'. If you want better schools, go to the suburbs, like Shoreline, Bellevue, Mercer Island, Kirkland, or Bothel.
Your going to have difficulty finding a two bedroom, two bath place for $1500. What your looking for will cost you more like $2000 -$3000.

[Inkpoe]

$1500/mo for a 2brm/ba seems reasonable. Question is, how far are you willing to commute?

Contrary to what the previous poster says, it is *very* possible to find a place (with 2bd/ba) for $1500/mo in the suburbs with great schools. Check out CraigsList as well.

[rabagley]

Originally Posted by bisjoe

Where did you find anything in Seattle with 2br/2 ba for $1,500? I put that in and came up with none found. Generally a decent place in Seattle is going to run that much for 1 BR.

As for schools, Seattle has it's problems, currently if I still had kids that age would move to Ballard, Magnolia or Queen Anne, or go for a private school.

There are far better schools on the east side, Mercer Island, Bellevue, Issaquah and Sammamish, but then you have a long commute over a bridge and home prices are even higher. The best schools are always in the highest priced areas.

I suspect you're being too literal. I understood the OP to be asking about the Seattle metropolitan area (i.e. commute distance from Seattle), and not just the incorporated city of Seattle.

183 apartments found in a quick trulia.com search.

[sean98125]

You want a great high school for your kid?

Live in Bellevue.

[Capo]

Bellevue and Issaquah are typically known for the "best schools." As long as you're a bit flexible, you should definitely be able to find a 2/2 for 1500 a month.

The only caveat is the "walking at night" part. Do you mean to just take an evening stroll? Or do you mean walking distance to food, entertainment, etc.? Keep in mind that these types of walkable communities are rare on the east-side (simply meaning east of Lake Washington). Ideally, a car or use of public transportation will be needed to get around. The advantages are of course the better schools.