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Old 01-03-2012, 12:40 PM
 
5 posts, read 18,692 times
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Just returned from seattle to good ol' sunny so.cal. Was visiting the inlaws out there. Went to Mercer Island for the first time and was like, "wow, who can afford to live like this?" No doubt my shabby income could never land me anything like that. So, who lives there? Microsoft and .com gurus? Doctors and lawyers? The Seattle Mariners? Lol, here I was thinking that Queen Anne is where the elite resided. Silly me. Just curious.
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Old 01-03-2012, 01:24 PM
 
1,018 posts, read 3,381,276 times
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you pretty much nailed everything, except for boeing workers.
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Old 01-03-2012, 02:12 PM
 
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I'm pretty sure there are one or 2 expensive neighborhoods in so.cal, it's not that odd is it? I'm surprised that you are surprised.
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Old 01-03-2012, 03:33 PM
 
195 posts, read 377,879 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by swerver View Post
I'm pretty sure there are one or 2 expensive neighborhoods in so.cal, it's not that odd is it? I'm surprised that you are surprised.
Indeed Just take a drive around San Marino, Beverly Hills or Manhattan beach ..... or try to buy anything bigger than a shoebox in Santa Monica etc...pretty eye-watering
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Old 01-03-2012, 03:47 PM
 
7,743 posts, read 15,874,077 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wander_around View Post
... Lol, here I was thinking that Queen Anne is where the elite resided. Silly me. Just curious.
Even then, the elites don't necessarily live in QA... more likely Magnolia.
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Old 01-03-2012, 04:03 PM
 
5 posts, read 18,692 times
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Yes, Los Angeles have many great and expensive places to live. San Marino, South Pasadena, Palos Verdes, Newport Beach, Malibu, Brentwood the list is endless. However, we don't have an island with picturesque views that separates our elite from the drama in an oversaturated Los Angeles proper. I just imagined that the people of MI have paid perhaps more to live a island than Angelinos to just merely live on a different part of a street. Lol, you're on your own island! If Los Angeles had that option the prices would be sickening. Anyway, MI was beautiful. I can see why people want to live there.
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Old 01-03-2012, 04:21 PM
 
21,989 posts, read 15,716,760 times
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Mercer Island is not all wealthy. While there are some very wealthy people on Mercer Island, I just pulled 26 homes under $750K
Real Estate Search | Redfin
The beauty of Mercer Island is it is a connected island centrally located between Seattle and the Eastside with good schools.

Medina has one listing under $750K and it's pending.
Real Estate Search | Redfin
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Old 01-03-2012, 06:05 PM
 
9,618 posts, read 27,345,532 times
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A lot of folks who live on Mercer Island bought their homes a long time ago. I met a guy a couple of weeks ago who bought his home on Mercer Island in 1972 for 38,000 dollars. The mortgage was paid off a long time ago, but he pays a thousand a month in property taxes.
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Old 01-03-2012, 06:37 PM
 
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,725 posts, read 58,067,115 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ira500 View Post
...who bought his home on Mercer Island in 1972 for 38,000 dollars. The mortgage was paid off a long time ago, but he pays a thousand a month in property taxes.
Yup, sounds like WA

So he re-pays the price of his house every yr and a half in taxes His payment on the $38k was likely $200 / month vs $1200/month in taxes.
You can bet his pension / retirement has not risen to match tax burden.

I also rent my house from Christine (WA State) for $1,200 / month.
I built it for under $100k in 1994. Maximum house payment was $550 (less than 1/2 current tax payment).

The folks recently moving to Mercer Island probably have asset managers to pay for such trivial things as property taxes.
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Old 01-03-2012, 08:58 PM
 
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,585 posts, read 81,206,701 times
Reputation: 57821
Next time you are up here, check out Medina and Hunts Point. Median family income over $200,000, median home value over $1,000,000, average cost of homes built in 2010 $3,395,100. Those people look down their noses at Mercer Island.
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