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Old 05-27-2012, 05:36 PM
 
Location: Murphy, TX
673 posts, read 3,082,641 times
Reputation: 511

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I might be getting an opportunity to move to Seattle if my recent interview turned out as well as I think it did. I just recently came back from interview!

1.) First question is about Income/C.O.L/Housing. According to many COL comparison Seattle is 60% to 35% more expensive than Dallas Area. That means I need increase my income from ~70K to ~100K just to break even. I already bought a house in Dallas area and you can easily buy nice houses for under $150K (about $1,200 a month) in Dallas suburbs.

How would say COL living is really that high? How much would be to rent nice 2 Bed/Bath Apartment? Or much does nice 3 bed/2 bath house go for in Seattle area?

2.) Second, I really hate cold weather and when came to Seattle the night time 50s degree weather reminded of winter! What bother me a lot about Seattle is climate data shows it under 60 degree high from Nov to Apr, 6 whole months.

Is the weather usually that cold/cool most of year?

3.) One problem is cold weather is makes want to hunker down and reduces my social outing to ZERO. However, I would like to have nice social life in Seattle? How easy would be for me make new friends in Seattle and what is social scene like?
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Old 05-27-2012, 07:55 PM
 
1,630 posts, read 3,872,025 times
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Call the company you interviewed with and tell them you're not interested. If you thought 50 degree evening temperatures were cold, you won't enjoy living in Seattle - 50 degrees is when we think wearing shorts is a good idea. It can be under 60 degrees in August. So, in all honesty, if you don't like cold, don't move here.

And, to answer another question, a starter 3br, 2bath house would cost around $300-400K in the Seattle area.
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Old 05-27-2012, 07:56 PM
 
Location: North Edmonds area
123 posts, read 244,264 times
Reputation: 64
Quote:
Originally Posted by unseengundam View Post
I might be getting an opportunity to move to Seattle if my recent interview turned out as well as I think it did. I just recently came back from interview!

1.) First question is about Income/C.O.L/Housing. According to many COL comparison Seattle is 60% to 35% more expensive than Dallas Area. That means I need increase my income from ~70K to ~100K just to break even. I already bought a house in Dallas area and you can easily buy nice houses for under $150K (about $1,200 a month) in Dallas suburbs.

How would say COL living is really that high? How much would be to rent nice 2 Bed/Bath Apartment? Or much does nice 3 bed/2 bath house go for in Seattle area?

2.) Second, I really hate cold weather and when came to Seattle the night time 50s degree weather reminded of winter! What bother me a lot about Seattle is climate data shows it under 60 degree high from Nov to Apr, 6 whole months.

Is the weather usually that cold/cool most of year?

3.) One problem is cold weather is makes want to hunker down and reduces my social outing to ZERO. However, I would like to have nice social life in Seattle? How easy would be for me make new friends in Seattle and what is social scene like?
1. Probably $300K and up in the suburbs for a resale home.
More on the east side, maybe a tad less in the south end.
2. Temperature mentioned is reasonably accurate for the months
you mentioned. That could be a major drawback.
3. Depending on who you talk to, the social scene will vary.
Some believe the "Seattle freeze" exists. I would say many
people are reserved here, so it could be a problem making a
lot of new friends.

All that said, it's still a great place to live, IMHO.
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Old 05-27-2012, 08:09 PM
 
7,743 posts, read 15,820,348 times
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Honestly, if you hate cold/cool weather and allow it to adversely affect your life like that... Why look into Seattle? One thing about the weather info is it also doesn't really show the effects of humidity.... it's very humid during the winter months, which makes it feel a bit colder than it should and the rain just makes it feel very damp. During summer months, humidity is less and just doesn't warm you up-- so the Seattle summers, while nice, might prove to be too cool for you as well.

You'd definitely have to be ready for a different way of life (and obviously a new wardrobe) if you decide to give Seattle a chance.
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Old 05-27-2012, 08:15 PM
 
Location: Seattle
1,651 posts, read 2,769,886 times
Reputation: 3026
Quote:
1.) First question is about Income/C.O.L/Housing. According to many COL comparison Seattle is 60% to 35% more expensive than Dallas Area. That means I need increase my income from ~70K to ~100K just to break even. I already bought a house in Dallas area and you can easily buy nice houses for under $150K (about $1,200 a month) in Dallas suburbs.
I don't think you can buy a crack house for that here. Not that I've priced them lately, but our 1,000 sq foot fixer in the (close-in) burbs cost $400K. You can certainly live just fine on $70-100K, but it's not going to be buying you a nice house unless you go much further out. I guess the real question is 'how long are you willing to commute?'

Quote:
2.) Second, I really hate cold weather and when came to Seattle the night time 50s degree weather reminded of winter! What bother me a lot about Seattle is climate data shows it under 60 degree high from Nov to Apr, 6 whole months.

Is the weather usually that cold/cool most of year?
50's remind you of winter? Yes, from Oct to mid Apr or so the temps are generally in the 40's (some low-50's) with lows in the 30's. You may want to check out how close we are to Canada. We actually only stay as warm as we do (at this latitude) due to our maritime climate. And that brings up another point - we get considerably less daylight than TX due to our northern latitude and the mountains to the east and west. It's well on it's way to being dark by 4 pm, and the days are not all that bright either. I love the cool, grey days here, but some folks go a little nuts if they don't see the sun for a few months. If you're one of them - think very, very hard about how much sun you need. We avg 71 sunny days a year, and even those of us who love it may find outselves taking a winter trip somewhere sunny to get some vit D in Dec.

Quote:
3.) One problem is cold weather is makes want to hunker down and reduces my social outing to ZERO. However, I would like to have nice social life in Seattle? How easy would be for me make new friends in Seattle and what is social scene like?
This really depends on the person. Some folks swear by something called 'the Seattle freeze', some folks swear it's all in their heads, but for whatever reason some people really have problems breaking though socially here. Folks are exrtemely polite here, but I think the term most often used is 'reserved'. They're not that outgoing and it can take some time. I've personally not had problems making friends, but I also love the climate and get out a lot.

The climate is the real deal-breaker for many people. I don't want to sound like I'm trying to scare you off but we do get alot, and I mean a lot of cool, cloudy, grey, drizzly days. If you don't like that kinda weather - you will probably be desperately trying to find a way back to TX by year two.

Congrats on rocking the interview and best wishes with your future decisions!
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Old 05-27-2012, 08:37 PM
 
Location: US Empire, Pac NW
5,003 posts, read 12,325,767 times
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If Seattle sounds expensive and cold ... why consider moving here?

That said I know a few people from Dallas and moved here, and they absolutely love it. The reason being it isn't a million degrees and 1000% humidity in the summer, and the people are a bit more chill.

Houses and townhomes can be had for 250k and higher in the 3 bed / 2 bath with garage. But they're in the suburbs or in the generally less desirable areas south of I-90. More working class folks live south of I-90. Ask a realtor what sorts of neighborhoods fit your budget and tour and see if you can afford it.

And yes, Seattle is around 15% higher COL for normal stuff and around 45% higher in terms of housing.

And yes, it is "cold" and "rainy" (misty) for 5-6 months of the year.

But that doesn't stop people from doing other things. If they did they'd all be shut-ins and well ... be a dull, boring city in the winter, which I don't think it is.
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Old 05-27-2012, 09:12 PM
 
1,018 posts, read 3,370,456 times
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150k and a nice home, your looking at monroe, covington, maple valley, marrysville, etc. which is all a 2 hour commute one way to seattle during rush hour. you have to spend about 300k for a nice home around seattle.
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Old 05-27-2012, 11:53 PM
 
Location: Murphy, TX
673 posts, read 3,082,641 times
Reputation: 511
Thanks for the replies. I was thinking the COL and the climate would be the deal-breaker for me. Though, the career/job sounds great if I get an offer.

Honestly, I would take two days of 100+ degree weather over one day of temperature under 40 degrees! I probably be the shut-in guy for 6 months in Seattle who won't really get enjoy much of beautiful city/surroundings due the cold temps.

So, probably won't move to Seattle unless they give me a huge pay raise to make up for COL/Climate, but I think that is very unlikely to happen!
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Old 05-27-2012, 11:58 PM
 
Location: State of Transition
102,086 posts, read 107,144,259 times
Reputation: 115880
There's snow in winter. Nuff said.
But really, it's not the snow that's the bad part. I'm from CA, and I managed to adjust after I figured out what kind of clothes to wear, and so forth. (Buy lots of wool.) It's the rain and the general gloom--lots of overcast days, sometimes weeks of rain without end.
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Old 05-28-2012, 12:24 AM
 
Location: Berlin, Germany
507 posts, read 1,664,974 times
Reputation: 345
People can adjust to the weather, and many do. The good thing is that the climate is not extreme at all. Not too hot in summer, not too cold in winter. I walk to work (about 20 min) every day and last year in late summer I bought a Columbia softshell-jacket in the Columbia outlet in Portland.

A few days ago I thought about it and I am pretty certain I must have worn that jacket almost every single day since then. A couple more layers underneath in winter, now I just wear it with a T-shirt but I still wear it and it's almost June. So the right clothing helps a lot. I love that jacket by the way

My wife though is Spanish and she's just cold all the time. If I wouldn't stop her she'd turn the heating on in August...no Columbia jacket will ever make her feel warm in Seattle. That said, she loves the city for its people, the general friendly atmosphere, the culture and the surrounding (amazing) nature.
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