3 relocation options! Please help me decide :(

[loves2quilt]

At 112k, you should be fine in Seattle even with it costing more and wanting to pay off debt. Yes it is more expensive but I think you could find somewhere to live that is a good compromise price and amenties wise. I have rental properties(all rented at the moment) and for example, in West Seattle, I have a large three bedroom house that is renting at $1450. A room mate situation would help you keep costs down. The rental market is getting tighter here now that mortgage loans are more difficult to get so rents will probably be going up. If you can handle the winter gray and rain, Seattle is an awesome city to live in. I wonder if you have more options in Seattle for finding another job, contacts etc if this job doesn't work out as you want. Best wishes to you........

[loves2quilt]

Oops, sorry, missed page 2 of the posts. At 175k you have no worries. I did a quick look online to see what you can buy in Belltown-the least expensive 1 br/ 1ba condo I saw was right under 300k and was about 600 square feet. You should be able to do whatever you want to do here. Good luck to you.......

[hinsey86]

Having had experience in all 3 areas I would pick Seattle hands down. We made about 50,000 less than you and were fine. Of course we are not what I consider extravagant spenders but we do like nice things. I loved Seattle and having traveled all over with the military it was my favorite US city by far.

And as far as the weather, all three cities are going to have some of the Pacific Northwest rainy season. (Tacoma may even get more rain) If you dealt with the winters in Pittsburgh the rainy season in Seattle is no biggy. (I am now in Pittsburgh and dreading my first winter here.)

[jahutch]

boylocke:

I'm not from Seattle, but from what you've said, I'd go to Seattle. It sounds like that is where you want to be, so go there. You can definitely afford it with six figures - I think you may be underestimating the buying power of your salary.

I make $52,000 a year in a small town in Virginia, have a 2br apt. I rent for 800/mo, a nice new car I pay 400/mo on, have an HDTV, and still have money left over to save, eat out, and travel some. The big X-factor in cost of living in my mind is housing - all the other stuff (utilities, food, etc) of course vary in cost, but compared to rent/mortgage the variance is no biggie. You will be pulling in about $3,000.00 more per month than I do, so even if rent in Seattle is 2 or even 2.5 times higher, you should still be able to live very well and pay down your loans.

I always say.. live where you want to live. 2 or 3 years is a long time to live somewhere so close yet so far from where you really want to be. Plus, I'm betting if you took option 2 or 3 you'd end up changing jobs after the contract so you can move to Seattle. With the Seattle job, who knows - maybe you'll really like the job - and if you do, you'll already be living in Seattle, so you can stay on as long as you want, and probably get promoted and make even more $$!