Owning a home vs. renting in Seattle (Bellevue, Shoreline: sales, real estate)

[Narya07]

Hello everyone, I am looking for some advice. My husband and I are possibly relocating to Seattle. We've been planning this move for a long time and have done oodles of research about the Seattle area. The only draw back I can find is how absurdly expensive it is to live there, which leads me to my question.

How expensive is it to own your home in Seattle? Is it better to rent long term or own your home? How much are the property taxes in Washington? Can my husband and I own a descent house or town home (2/3 bedrooms with a small patio or yard for my shiba inu) on roughly 65k a year? West Seattle is the area that both he and I are the most interested in, with Ballard and the U-district coming in second. Which areas should we avoid?


We are currently living in Oklahoma (not by choice, he is retired Air Force, and I am still active duty awaiting my medical discharge/retirement) and everything is super cheap here from housing to gas. We will be moving to Seattle to finish school. In Oklahoma, you cannot live without a car and if you take the bus, you need to carry a concealed weapon if you don't want to get mugged. To offset the cost of living in Washington, is it possible for me to sell my car? Is public transportation good?

I am sorry for all the questions, but any information would be very much appreciated.

[azoria]

Nothing is cheap here.

You can rent the same house for less than you can buy it for in Seattle. Especially if you are attached to the military and move frequently, renting is a much better strategy. Selling will cost you 6% of the sales price in real estate fees, and the state of Washington will also charge you an excise tax of nearly 2% of the sales price when you sell. (they don't have that in Oklahoma)

In other words, if you live in the property for less than about 10 years and sell, you're going to lose money buying a house here just on all the fees that get deducted from to the seller at the time of sale.

Not to mention (extortionate) Washington property taxes....which are calculated to raise the money they need to fulfill the projected budget--they don't budget based on expected revenues.

[Narya07]

Thank you for the info. I couldn't believe the huge cost of living difference between Washington and anywhere else I've lived (18 different cities in 8 different states). The move to Washington would not be in connection to the military. My husband has been out for a year, and I am going to be leaving the service soon due to medical complications.

Originally we were contemplating moving to Austin (much cheaper, with a similar vibe as Seattle), but both of our careers and would have eventually landed us in the Seattle area within five years, and it would be better for us in the long run to go ahead and relocate to Washington. Also, I have horrendous allergies and asthma (part of the reason why I am being medically booted from the military) and the climate in the midwest keeps me sick most of the year. The cooler weather in Seattle would do miracles for me and it would help get me off of allergy shots.

How much of a cost difference is it to live in one of Seattle's suburbs, and how bad is the commute? We've looked at Redmond, Bellevue and Shoreline. My husband would be commuting to the University of Washington and I'd be traveling to Belltown daily. I've heard that the only way into Seattle from the East is to cross a toll bridge. Is that true? And is there any route that can circumvent the toll?

Sorry for all the questions, but thank you for help.

[Inkpoe]

Originally Posted by Narya07

How much of a cost difference is it to live in one of Seattle's suburbs, and how bad is the commute? We've looked at Redmond, Bellevue and Shoreline. My husband would be commuting to the University of Washington and I'd be traveling to Belltown daily. I've heard that the only way into Seattle from the East is to cross a toll bridge. Is that true? And is there any route that can circumvent the toll?

Sorry for all the questions, but thank you for help.

COL depends on which Seattle suburbs you choose to live in. (Generally speaking, South of Seattle is more affordable than North of Seattle. Eastside is the more desirable due excellent schools so the houses are more pricey. Ferry Life can be hard on the wallet.)

How "bad" is relative... What do you define as bad?

Redmond, Bellevue are definitely pricey. Shoreline got some nice areas... and areas that are really cheap-- but that comes with the caveat of being undesirable (because of hwy 99, crime element, et. c)

We have 2 floating bridges that links the Eastside to Seattle. The 520 bridge which is tolled, and i90, which is not. A lot of people choose to circumvent the 520 toll which has led more traffic to the other routes. It's almost worth it to just pay and deal with less traffic--- 520 is just not as bad as it was before the toll. Other than i90, if you live towards the northern part of the Eastside (Bothell, Woodinville, parts of Kirkland)-- you could take route 522 which will take you towards DT Seattle and UW. Do not presume that i5 is any easier, traffic-wise. You could look into using Public transit.

[Ira500]

You don't have to take a toll bridge to get into Seattle from the east. You can also take I-90, or go around either the south end or the north end of Lake Washington via surface streets.
Redmond and Bellevue are generally going to be more expensive than Shoreline, but if you're considering buying, you may have to look in a few other places like Mountlake Terrace or Kenmore.

[Hemlock140]

People do buy homes in Seattle and the nicer suburbs on an income of $65,000 but with a big down payment to qualify, and they are not going to drive a luxury car and have nice vacations to Europe. You can still find fixers in nice areas for about $300,000 but most are going to be $4-500k. It's not Seattle, that's expensive, it's the west coast. Oregon is a little more affordable but coastal California is even more expensive.

[azoria]

Rent a place to live! Then if you don't like it and want to move somewhere else, you're not stuck there and free to go when the lease expires. And you don't lose 8% selling and your 20% down payment as well.

Rent!

[gwix98]

Originally Posted by Ira500

You don't have to take a toll bridge to get into Seattle from the east. You can also take I-90, or go around either the south end or the north end of Lake Washington via surface streets.
Redmond and Bellevue are generally going to be more expensive than Shoreline, but if you're considering buying, you may have to look in a few other places like Mountlake Terrace or Kenmore.

These are two very good choices for more reasonable rent or condos/homes to buy.

[civic94]

I have lived in quite a few places, while seattle is expensive, it is still cheaper than boston, ny, san fran, etc. Renting is much much cheaper here than buying if you dont plan to stay here for long, but in the long run, I would say its better to buy. with the way America is, if Jobs started to leave this area, prices will come down, nothing is a guarantee. I would say its best for you to rent for a few years, then decide if you want to stay. the overcast issue, some can take it, some cant. I know quite a few people that came here for a better paying job, then left after a couple years because of the overcast.

the good thing about this area is that electricity rates are low, and you wont spend much in cooling in the summer, you maybe have to crank up the a/c twice per year, and in the winter its not all that cold.

with your 65k income, if you follow the guidelines, you shouldnt spend more than 200k for a place or else you will have issues with money. 200k and liveable house means you have to be in auburn or covington for that, not seattle.

[tatania199]

I think that gut instinct is to buy and not "throw away money one rent" but if you aren't committed to staying in one place long term (or relatively so) sometimes renting is more financially viable than buying. I mean, you have to factor in all of the extraneous costs of the purchase like realtor fees and closing costs, interest (especially in those first few years) on the mortgage and then extra costs of home ownership (like insurance and property tax). The first two can offset any profit from selling in the near future and the latter can just make it less viable month to month.