Questions about Seattle -- young adult son moving there "to find himself" (rent, loans)

[GoBlueInSF]

Originally Posted by SpikeDurden

Pittsburg must be quite a bit cheaper than Seattle. There's no way in hell you're going to find a decent place that's $800 for four bedrooms. Not in the city of Seattle at least unless they want to be living in a poor neighborhood in south Seattle.

They'll wanna be in a young neighborhood like the U district and i'd expect the four guys to pay around $400-$500 each in that area but I've never lived in the u district.

Significantly cheaper. The median price to buy a home in Pittsburgh is about $115,000. My parents live on the eastern side of the state, its the same thing there. Its insane - you could own a single family home with mortgage, insurance and taxes for about $700 a month.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by David Aguilar

$800 for a two-bedroom will be hard. $1000-$1200+ is more realistic.

That's a good range. $1000 is $250, that's the $200 range. LOL Anything under $400 is realistic since I will be supplimenting.

His goal is to keep it as low as possilbe so he can afford to have as much fun as possible when he's not working.

Originally Posted by David Aguilar

Service level jobs seem to be available in Seattle, per my wandering eyes this week.

Great! Since they're still "finding themselves" that's the type of work they will be doing.

My son graduated high school with an associate's degree. He wants to take time off to figure out what he wants to do.

Originally Posted by SpikeDurden

Pittsburg must be quite a bit cheaper than Seattle.

I'm quite aware that I live in one of the country's best kept secrets.

It's way cheaper! Four of them could get by for $100 to $150 each here!

Originally Posted by SpikeDurden

There's no way in hell you're going to find a decent place that's $800 for four bedrooms.

4 bedrooms? LOL

I said 2 bedrooms!

Originally Posted by SpikeDurden

Not in the city of Seattle at least unless they want to be living in a poor neighborhood in south Seattle.

Why wouldn't they want to live in a poor neighborhood? They're poor themselves!

These kids are not snobs. As I said, they're very capable of slumming it.

They'll want to live as cheaply as possible so they can have money to enjoy the experience.

Originally Posted by SpikeDurden

They'll wanna be in a young neighborhood like the U district and i'd expect the four guys to pay around $400-$500 each in that area but I've never lived in the u district.

Is that the professional "young neighborhood?" If so, that's not where they want to be.

They'd want to be in the poor neighborhood where the artists live, not the last neighborhood the artist gentrified to the point the artists couldn't afford it.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by GoBlueInSF

Significantly cheaper. The median price to buy a home in Pittsburgh is about $115,000. My parents live on the eastern side of the state, its the same thing there. Its insane - you could own a single family home with mortgage, insurance and taxes for about $700 a month.

You got it. My first mortgage (including insurance and taxes) is less than $600. That's how I can afford to send my kid to Seattle to "find himself!" LOL

It is more expensive on the eastern side of the state though, especially around Philly. But even the rural areas are becoming more expensive becuase it's starting to become the suburbs for DC, Baltimore, NJ and NYC. Everyone is jumping the border over there to take advantage of the lower cost of living. Fortunately for us in the western side, there is nobody nearby to want to jump the border so our property values will remain stable.

[GoBlueInSF]

Originally Posted by Hopes

You got it. My first mortgage (including insurance and taxes) is less than $600. That's how I can afford to send my kid to Seattle to "find himself!" LOL

It is more expensive on the eastern side of the state though, especially around Philly. But even the rural areas are becoming more expensive becuase it's starting to become the suburbs for DC, Baltimore, NJ and NYC. Everyone is jumping the border over there to take advantage of the lower cost of living. Fortunately for us in the western side, there is nobody nearby to want to jump the border so our property values will remain stable.

My parents live in near Allentown, PA. Makes me think about taking my Bay Area California income and using it to buy investment rental property back home. If only to generate some cash flow out of my savings.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by GoBlueInSF

My parents live in near Allentown, PA. Makes me think about taking my Bay Area California income and using it to buy investment rental property back home. If only to generate some cash flow out of my savings.

That's not a bad idea if there's a commuter train going to NYC because everyone is leaving New Jersey and Long Island for eastern PA.

You'll have to research the rental situation there. It's my understanding that people are cashing in their high priced real estate and buying in eastern PA. Those who don't own real estate in the expensive areas are moving to PA so they can afford to buy. As a result, I'm not sure how much of a high demand there is for rental property from newcomers, but you can easily generate some cash flow renting to locals, just not sure how much.

[Inkpoe]

Its quite possible to get by here w/o a car... it's just best to live closer to Seattle to do so. My husband's friend rents a house for about 1800/mo in West Seattle and has 4-6 roommates -- it's definitely a good fun life. Your son and his friends will have a lot of fun interesting experiences.

[noexcuseforignorance]

Banks? What are you Bill Gates or something? Use credit unions and avoid the fees.

You got it. My first mortgage (including insurance and taxes) is less than $600. That's how I can afford to send my kid to Seattle to "find himself!" LOL

Ahh, why is mommy sending her son here. I take it you're a single mother. He wants to move out on his own. He should be taking the responsibility here and the expectation should be that he's paying you back every cent. He's 19 and not a child.

[Woof]

Mothers like to do things for their sons, noexcuse. Families should work together, just as societies should work together.

Public transportation is fine, it's very expensive to keep and park a car in Seattle.

Bank of America works well for transferring funds through online banking, in my experience. I don't know if it's any different for other banks.

[Hopes]

Thanks, Woof! I'll definitely check out Bank of America!

(LMAO @ noexuse projecting innaccurate assumptions that couldn't be more off-target on every point.)

[noexcuseforignorance]

Laugh all you want, but a 19 year old son's mommy posting on here to figure out how he can move to Seattle is what is funny. More sad than funny.