Young family living on the Eastside - affordable for long term?

[abbybernstein]

OP here. I appreciate all the input. We are coming from a similar COL area now, but my husband's salary is 25k less. Hence, our move. We live in a townhome and after selling, we won't be netting much more than 10 or 15k. I worry about affording a downpayment. We also don't mind a smaller home or condo. We don't have family in the west coast at all, so we don't really need a guest room (we're "one and done" on the child-front).

Regarding renting, though; do you find a large number of families are long-term renters on the Eastside or no? Couples with kids? I'd expect lots of renting in big cities, but not sure about Bellevue/Kirkland/Redmond etc.

[mkarch]

There's a decent amount of renters, but I'd expect most are not for more than 1-3 years. There were probably more while housing prices were falling, but I'd expect most now are either recent re-locators or people that don't have long term plans to stay in the area. A lot of people have moved here recently, but they seem to buy after a year or two.

[gwix98]

Abby,

You will do fine. East side or any other area here. Yes inventory is on the light side, but
you will find something to meet your needs. I actually think we might be in a bit of a
housing bubble again. With your income, you will even find something in your chosen area.
And if you rent for a bit, you may even be in a better situation. The biggest problem is often
the relatively high down payment. I've owned 4 SFH, and it's often a struggle to get the necessary
cash together. But eventually you are able to make it work. Best of luck to your family.

gwix

[flyingsaucermom]

Originally Posted by abbybernstein

OP here. I appreciate all the input. We are coming from a similar COL area now, but my husband's salary is 25k less. Hence, our move. We live in a townhome and after selling, we won't be netting much more than 10 or 15k. I worry about affording a downpayment. We also don't mind a smaller home or condo. We don't have family in the west coast at all, so we don't really need a guest room (we're "one and done" on the child-front).

Regarding renting, though; do you find a large number of families are long-term renters on the Eastside or no? Couples with kids? I'd expect lots of renting in big cities, but not sure about Bellevue/Kirkland/Redmond etc.

In that case you're in a much better position than I had first imagined. In my Issaquah neighborhood, we have quite a number of long-term renters. There is a couple that has been renting a townhome on the park for nearly 10 years... I have a number of friends who've been renting for 3-5 years already because they just weren't sure how the cards were going to fall (and indeed, one is moving away and another is building a 2.5mil home at the top of the hill!). Most of these townhome renters have kids.

[SouthSeasLifestyler]

Originally Posted by abbybernstein

Regarding renting, though; do you find a large number of families are long-term renters on the Eastside or no? Couples with kids? I'd expect lots of renting in big cities, but not sure about Bellevue/Kirkland/Redmond etc.

Hello OP,

Yes, there are definitely some long-term renters on the Eastside in townhouse developments, and I've met a few with kids even in condos. We were at a nice townhouse development in Redmond (walking dist to Bella Botega, if you continue past it on 160th northward) and in the evenings, kids were out on their bikes and playing in the grass square in the middle - it was also right by Sammamish River Trail, so lots of families doing recreation there. Of course you will also meet a lot of transient families who are only there temporarily, but certainly I met people who are planning to stay put for awhile, mainly because all their kids are in local schools (the school buses pick up and drop off right at the entrance of these developments, and I saw the parents waiting there - great opportunity to meet other families, I thought). Redmond especially has quite a few townhouses/condos especially in the Microsoft vicinity. A house with yard is more rare in the direct vicinity though they do exist of course. However, many of them take their kids to parks, Grasslawns is a great one for all those Redmond condo-dwellers.

SSLifestyler