Couple Moving to Seattle (Bellevue: real estate, subletting, apartments)

[Existentialone]

Hello everyone,

I've read quite a few pages worth of threads and have yet to have this question answered. Where do young couples look for places to live? I'm relocating to Seattle from Southern California due to being recently hired by Jewish Family Services. My fiancée and I are both in our mid-late 20's, have M.S. degrees (she also has an additional M.A.), and can't find anyone who is willing to offer us a room.

Because I've never been to the city, I don't want to jump too deep into commitment with a year-long apartment and would rather do something from the 3-6 or month-month type commitment with a renter. I've been replying to ads on craigslist, looking into places on padmapper, roomster, etc. After about 3 weeks, I've had zero people willing to even entertain the idea of offering us a place.

I've lived with her in SoCal, and Oklahoma(where i did my M.S.), and both times we found rooms within 1 week. Is there something special about Seattle that I don't know about or have a just found a particularly anti-couple group of renters over the last month? I understand that some people don't like renters due to fights and whatnot, but I have 2 years worth of references to prove that we've never been in a fight, loud argument, or anything to disturb other roomates.

[Ira500]

Maybe it's the economy? Companies are hiring, and lots of people have moved to the Seattle area because of work. So that there's lots of competition. If they can easily rent a room in their house to one person instead of two, why wouldn't they?
Agreed, there is a lot of crap to wade through, and craigslist seems to have an extremely high proportion of flakes and non responders.
What's the worst case scenario? That you have to sign a six month lease for an apartment/house ?
And check out the bulletin boards at one or more of the PCC Co-op stores. Maybe thestranger.com classified's? Or nwsource.com's classified's.

[Kayela]

The local rental market is very tight. Landlords/future roommates can be pretty picky about their criteria because they have plenty of applicants. The further out from the core neighborhoods you get, the less picky the landlords get.

Sorry to say it, but would you take a risk on future potential couple drama in close quarters if you didn't have to? I don't know that folks here are anti-couple, but they are definitely conflict-averse. They also tend to stay out of each other's personal business. Add all that to you not being a local renter, and that's probably a hard sell when there are so many other people looking too.

You may have better luck finding something like a studio that rents month-to-month, or someone subletting their apartment for a couple months.

[mkarch]

One option is to check with the organization you'll be working for. Given the community/religious affiliation you might find it easier to get a break by leveraging your association. There may also be a few neighborhoods where the landlords would see your job as a positive in renting to you.

Wedgwood, Seattle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Existentialone]

Thanks to everyone for the advice.

Ira, I will have to agree to terms before I leave as I don't want to drive from SoCal to Seattle twice. So I think the PCC suggestion is great, but unfortunately it won't work for me.

Kayela, I do understand people being conflict-averse, but I do have proof that I and my fiancée are about as relaxed as any potential renter you could imagine.

Mkarch, I am not Jewish. But the organization is a huge non-profit that hires people of all faiths. I will also be doing some work with the International Rescue Committee, but mostly JFS. That being said, are there any areas of Seattle that are known to have social service workers and might be more willing to rent to one?

Again, thank you all for your input. Even if something you said might not help me, I'm sure it will help someone else who comes here for help like I have.

[FromChicagotoSeattle]

airbnb.com was a godsend when I moved here a month ago. I live in Bellevue now, but I stayed with this lovely woman in Green Lake for almost 2 weeks. They have many options on there (for daily, weekly, or monthly room rentals) and they'll mention in their ad if there is an additional fee for a couple or not. Check it out. I'll bet you can find exactly what you need.

Keep us updated on how it goes!

[baba_yaga]

I think it's harder to find short-term rentals because its a lot of work to turn over a property every few months. I suggest you look at VRBO.com or contact a real estate broker at Windemere or another large local agency since they usually manage a lot of rental properties too.

[sean98125]

One year isn't that big of a commitment.

[JonasW]

There are a lot of places that offer 6month leases here. No idea where you are looking or your budget but they exist. You'll probably need to look at apartments owned by large corporations not ads on Craigslist though.

[sean98125]

A lot of the short term housing is being taken up by Amazon temps, and Seattle hospitals are starting to hire traveling nurses again.