Best bang-for-the-buck suburb? (Seattle, Bellevue, Kent: condo, house, neighborhood)

[CT_trackstar]

Possibly relocating to Seattle for a job in Eastlake. Looks like the "premier" school districts (Bellevue, Issaquah, Mercer Island) are probably going to be outside of our price range. What's the "next best" location? Schools are a priority, reasonable commute to Eastlake, and would like to get into a 3 or 4 BR, 2000+ sq ft house for under $450k, if that's possible. There's got to be that goldilocks town where the schools are very good and housing is somewhat reasonable, right? Right???

[flyingsaucermom]

Have you considered Issaquah Highlands??? Our condo is 1850 sq ft, 4 bed.. bought ours in the $350's last year, but one recently sold for $402k. I've heard Maple Valley is more affordable than other areas.

[BellevueNative]

I suggest Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Mukilteo, Bothell and Mill Creek.

[RotseCherut]

If bang is in bullets, there is always the South Sound?? Cheap , and lots of bangs for your buck.

Sorry, I am being a bit sarcastic..

You get what you pay for around here, that I will tell you.. Puyallup would be the only place where you can truly get decent housing for a more sane price and still be within reasonble distance from the city..

And when I mean bang here, I mean your buck goes a long way, not the other types of bang, that is more like bang bang bang, oh crap I'm hit..

[Bimmerfanboy]

If you want to be relatively near to Bellevue, Seattle, and other central locations in the metro, I highly recommend looking at Bothell or Mill Creek. The area is a bit cheaper and still has pretty decent schools. A lot of white-collar folks working for Microsoft and Amazon are moving there since Redmond, Bellevue are becoming so expensive and saturated. I attend the UW and know several very intelligent individuals who graduated from high schools there.

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by BellevueNative

I suggest Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Mukilteo, Bothell and Mill Creek.

I agree, also possibly Edmonds. South around Maple Valley or down to Puyallup is more affordable but the commute would drive you nuts. There are some homes in Bellevue that fit your price range, if you don't mind an mid-century flat topped house, look in the area east of 156th between Bel-Red and I90.

[angelenogirl]

I second Bothell, and imagine home prices will increase there when The Landing is completed. It's a beautiful area with some decent schools

[Ira500]

I guess a lot depends on your definition of a reasonable commute. But here's a few:
1. You can live in the part of Renton that is within the Issaquah School District.
2. Maple Valley has great schools. The school district is called Tahoma. The commute to Eastlake will be in the neighborhood of an hour.
3. Northshore School District includes Bothell, Kenmore, and Woodinville. Woodinville will be mostly out of your price range.
4. Edmonds schools include Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace, and are well thought of. Edmonds is a lovely town.
5. Shoreline's schools are good.
6. You can live in that part of Renton that is within the Kent school district. Oddly, the Renton school district is generally mediocre, and the Kent school district is generally mediocre, but the schools in the Kent district but near the Renton border are top notch.

[Minntoaz]

Issaquah highlands! If you're looking for "goldilocks" type this is it for sure. It's like a quaint little town but a neighborhood.

[west seattle gal]

Supposedly Woodinville has excellent schools, and it's beautiful over there. Cute downtown, lots of farms and wineries, amazing YMCA with ropes course, somewhat posh, close to Redmond and Seattle...