Seattle Proper For Families - Suggestions? (Mountlake Terrace, Lake Forest Park: fit in, real estate market, apartment)

[socalmommie]

We're considering a relocation to the northern Seattle/Puget Sound area. I've done as much research as I can via Internet & would love some feedback!! I've posted an info request about northern Seattle suburbs, but would really like this thread to concentrate on Seattle's family-friendly neighborhoods with strong public schools.

Based on our needs, I'd like to consider areas north of the 520 bridge - the areas that have piqued our interest include Ravenna, Laurelhurst, Bryant Park, Maple Leaf, Wedgwood, Phinney Ridge, Green Lake, Roosevelt & Wallingford - further north, Lake Forest Park looks nice.

Now - if I'm going to deal with city traffic & less square footage for my $$, I'd like the trade-off to be walkability, proximity to unique shops/restaurants & housing with character... all the while, hoping for great schools!!

And one more question - what do you all do with just a one-car garage?? Some of those driveways look pretty steep for parking a second vehicle not to mention all the chatter about ZERO street parking in the area.

Wait! One more - how much would it cost to finish a basement? Many of the older homes look nice, but would really be more user-friendly with a usable basement!!

Any feedback from you Seattle experts would be awesome!! Thank you!!!!

[mkarch]

By eliminating everything west of Phinney Ridge, you've cut out about half of the top elementary schools in north seattle. The area around Ballard has sort of established itself as the popular location for families with young children over the last few years.

As for the cars - yes, you will probably need to park at least 1 vehicle on the street, however it depends a lot on the area. There are some newer homes under $600K that do have 2 car garages. There are older homes with 2 car's - but they are rare. Some neighborhoods have larger lots and more off street parking (mine fits 9 cars, 8 out 1 in, and doesn't sacrifice landscaping in any way thanks to a good design) These areas tend to be a little less walkable than the ones with 4000 sq ft lots.

As for basements - the homes I looked at earlier this year tended to have around 800-1200 sq ft of potential unfinished space. Most looked like they needed about $40K of work to be comfortable living space. Other thing to keep in mind is many of the homes that have never been finished have water issues, so you're probably looking at adding a perimeter drain before anything else.

[Ira500]

I'll second what mkarch just said. Ballard and environs has some very good schools, and that walkability thing in spades.
And about basements too: Sometimes they're unfinished because they have "moisture issues". My house has a perfectly dry basement, but only because we have a French drain and a sump pump. Some basements are also pretty dark. They're great for adding space, but not always great for sleeping in. Adding a toilet can be expensive if the basement is below grade because things don't flow uphill. They have expensive pumping mechanisms . We have a macerating toilet, which is overall less expensive. It's plugged into the wall and "macerates" so you can use standard , less expensive size pipes. I'm not going into too much detail for the sake of not grossing people out, but I'm sure you get the idea.
Garages: It's just plain weird, but many, many people simply store their crap in the garage and park on the street or in their driveway. People who actually park in their garage? Maybe 25%?

[Hemlock140]

Part of the problem is the one car garages were built 100 years ago along with the house (Ballard, $500,000). Even a Camry won't fit in it with room to get out the door or close the garage door. There are hoes with finished basements, even in-law apartment basements, but they will be on the flatter streets such as off of Market between 15th and about 6th. In the hilly areas there is a problem with drainage except on newer in-fill homes. I would not recommend any of the areas you mentioned if you want "great" schools, either Ballard, Madison Park, Upper Queen Anne or Magnolia. As usual the more expensive areas have the best schools, they drive up the prices because everyone with kids wants to live there.

[Ira500]

I'll disagree with my pal Hemlock here. Bryant Elementary, Wedgwood Elementary, View Ridge Elementary, and Laurelhurst Elementary are every bit as good or better than the schools in Ballard. And the home prices are every bit as expensive as they are in Ballard. Eckstein Middle School and Roosevelt HS are at least as good as what's in Ballard. Madison Park may have an awesome elementary school and be a great neighborhood, but it gets a little murkier after elementary school, with Meany Middle School and Garfield HS, not universally thought of as excellent.

[socalmommie]

All Good Info!!

About garages - given all this info, I will not buy a Hummer... hahaha - it's actually funny to watch the housewives of Calabasas drive those suckers around & try to park.

About Basements - in SoCal, we don't have basements (for obvious reasons!), so there's definitely a learning curve for me!
Would $40k or so typically cover the cost of sump pumps & French drains?

Now, About Neighborhoods - Where can I learn more about Ballard, Madison Park, Queen Anne (differences between Upper/Lower?) & Magnolia? Magnolia seems a little more isolated & we'd be looking at a commute to Mountlake Terrace - how hard would it be to get from Magnolia or Madison Park and head north on the freeway to work?

Thanks again for all your input!!

[socalmommie]

One More Thing - Are there other North Seattle neighborhoods that aren't as pricey but offer great schools?

[mkarch]

Originally Posted by socalmommie

One More Thing - Are there other North Seattle neighborhoods that aren't as pricey but offer great schools?

Define "pricey". Madison park is a fair bit more expensive than Wedgwood, for example. Generally you're looking at a hair under $500k for a 2000 sq ft non- fixer near a better elementary.

Not sure on the drain cost. I know a few people that did them and didn't ask- my basement doesn't need one fortunately.

The mountlake terrace commute is excellent from north seattle by heading up 99 to 145th. I can see how magnolia would not be a great starting point as there is no direct connection to 99. No idea how it is from Madison park, but it looks bad.

The seattle times, and Wikipedia have good neighborhood info. This site is good on statistics obviously, but they take some time to read properly. Seattle police has a good crime map by neighborhood.

[socalmommie]

Thanks, MKarch! Our local real estate market is still depressed & we took a huge hit as we bought our house at the height of the CA market in 2006. That said, not only do I want to downsize but I also want to go down in price & ideally do not want to spend more than $700k on our next house. Is that doable in Seattle proper? Prices seem to fluctuate a lot even within specific neighborhoods - I don't know if that's because there are teardowns that have been rebuilt within an inch of their lives mixed in with post-war construction or if some are on main drags... this is probably where a couple visits and a good Realtor come into play.

But would we be able to find something within that range in one of the neighborhoods we discussed?

[mkarch]

There are a lot of nice homes in the $700k range. Good prices on older view homes in nice areas that need work but are liveable as is.