Planning a move ... From NE FL to Seattle Area ... help, please! (White Center: real estate market, apartment)

[Ira500]

Originally Posted by scarlett_ptista

18th ave and se 100th st

You mean SW 100th St, right? That would be White Center. All kinds of stuff to walk to, and a couple of blocks away from the rough part of White Center. But it's still White Center, which you might find shockingly diverse. I'm not sure I'd want to live in White Center, but it is changing for the better, and has some great places to eat and drink.

[Ira500]

Originally Posted by scarlett_ptista

120th and 1st ave ne

Nice enough. Near Northwest Hospital. Not far from Northgate Mall. Not a lot within easy walking distance, but a lot a few minutes away by car.

[scarlett_ptista]

Yes to the street name.
How is the diversity shocking?

And I anticipated the other house not having much in walking distance, just as long as its safe

[skidamarink]

If I can be nosy, why are you in a hurry to buy a house instead of coming here and renting?

[scarlett_ptista]

Originally Posted by skidamarink

If I can be nosy, why are you in a hurry to buy a house instead of coming here and renting?

I don't mind any "nosy" questions.

For us it just makes so much more sense financially and logistically. While I am trying to get a feel for neighborhoods and the like so I can check them out this September we're not in a hurry, persay. We're willing to take our time in finding something, and don't plan on compromising on must haves.
As to why we dont want to rent? Were currently living in a house now, I hated apartments, and don't want toplace my stuff in storage while living out of boxes and house hunting. Plus , as this will be a large cross country move for us, I'd like to make it simple and get settled as soon as we can make the move .

Ideally, we will find a home in the coming year, and purchase it. A friend in the area will manage the property while we arrange to transfer our jobs, and coordinate moving services. While that might sound unconventional, it seems much easier to me and my husband .

[mkarch]

Originally Posted by scarlett_ptista

I don't mind any "nosy" questions.

For us it just makes so much more sense financially and logistically. While I am trying to get a feel for neighborhoods and the like so I can check them out this September we're not in a hurry, persay. We're willing to take our time in finding something, and don't plan on compromising on must haves.
As to why we dont want to rent? Were currently living in a house now, I hated apartments, and don't want toplace my stuff in storage while living out of boxes and house hunting. Plus , as this will be a large cross country move for us, I'd like to make it simple and get settled as soon as we can make the move .

Ideally, we will find a home in the coming year, and purchase it. A friend in the area will manage the property while we arrange to transfer our jobs, and coordinate moving services. While that might sound unconventional, it seems much easier to me and my husband .

Here's my take on this. I lived in Seattle for a long time, left for a bit and then moved back. It's difficult to assess the neighborhood(s) from afar, even if you know the place well. Financially, buying the wrong house can be quite expensive - more than the cost of renting for a year or more. (figure 10% of sales price in excise taxes and commissions). Picking a house for a long term stay right after moving here is a real gamble- unless you're buying something in the $1M+ range, in which it's a little easier to know what kind of neighborhood you're moving to. There are a lot of $500K houses in areas I personally would not find appealing, and more so the further you go down the pricing scale.

Yes, renting is inconvenient but from a purely financial perspective it makes a lot of sense even if you're paying $2K+/mo.

[Ira500]

Originally Posted by scarlett_ptista

Yes to the street name.
How is the diversity shocking?

And I anticipated the other house not having much in walking distance, just as long as its safe

The diversity might be shocking if you've been reading how white Seattle is. Seattle might be quite white, but White Center is not. White Center seems to have some of everybody. Whites, Blacks, lots of Mexicans/Central Americans, Vietnamese, Cambodians. I find that kind of fun.
But as far as safety, the place on 120th is probably safer, and so is the place on Dixon Drive.

[scarlett_ptista]

Originally Posted by Ira500

The diversity might be shocking if you've been reading how white Seattle is. Seattle might be quite white, but White Center is not. White Center seems to have some of everybody. Whites, Blacks, lots of Mexicans/Central Americans, Vietnamese, Cambodians. I find that kind of fun.
But as far as safety, the place on 120th is probably safer, and so is the place on Dixon Drive.

Lots to do, lots of different people ... Sounds ideal.
As a real estate agent , what's your take on renting vs. buying? Renting would be massively inconvenient, and cost us more imo, especially factoring in moving and / or storage costs.

[skidamarink]

Originally Posted by scarlett_ptista

Lots to do, lots of different people ... Sounds ideal.
As a real estate agent , what's your take on renting vs. buying? Renting would be massively inconvenient, and cost us more imo, especially factoring in moving and / or storage costs.

You wouldn't necessarily have to put all your stuff in storage if you rented a big house. There are indeed bigger house rentals here, more in the north and south suburbs if you're not opposed to that. How would renting be inconvenient?

In your case, I think it's the safer bet to just rent first. And even if you do have to put your stuff in storage, I'd imagine that it'd ultimately all be cheaper than buying a house and having to fund all the renovations. But the biggest risk is buying a house that you realize you don't want in a neighborhood that you turn out not liking.

It took me a good 6 or 7 months of living here to really get a feel of what neighborhoods I like and how I feel about them. And it turns out my opinions of them completely differ from what people told me before I came. Even visiting for a couple weeks isn't going to give you the real deal IMO.

Ira made White Center sound like an ideal place to live, but a lot of people would tell you it's rough and kinda ghetto. It's conflicting opinions like that which make it better for you to be here for a while and see for yourself. Yeah, people will always point out that such a neighborhood has such and such street that is upscale and nicer or that it's "gentrifying", but then how close do you want to be to rest of the gritty action in the hood? I wouldn't risk it.

[mkarch]

Yes, it's important to keep in mind that a lot of residents in white center are living in poverty. Significantly more than most neighborhoods.

http://www.city-data.com/poverty/pov...ashington.html