Seattle Area cost of living (Bellevue: real estate market, apartment, rent)

[Radek]

Can someone find us information on cost of living expenses for various seattle areas?

NOT salaries,
and NOT home prices.

I'm concerned that many people are getting skewed views of the cost of living in Seattle due to the current real estate market. Rents are pretty comparable to most other areas last I checked, and while food is slightly more expensive, its not terribly so.



However, I'm a young, single male, making good money... so my budget is far from standard.

Thanks in advance all you kind Seattleites!

[Prple]

Moderator cut: linking to competitors sites is not allowed

[BostonBorn]

Also, Google "cost of living" and "cost of living calculators" and you'll find plenty of good data to sort through.

[Pittgal]

Originally Posted by Prple

This website gives all kinds of information on demographics and cost of living. Moderator cut: linking to competitors sites is not allowed
Just type in the name of the city or the zip code.

This site is really great for someone to use when moving...Thanks!

It says this about my area...Compared to the rest of the country, Bellevue (zip 98006)'s cost of living is 47.21% Higher than the U.S. average. That is about how much more it is for us to live here than back home.

[Radek]

The median home cost in Bellevue (zip 98006) is $729,000

Housing225 v. National average of 100.

See, heres the issue that I'm talking about. The housing market prices are not accurate. I just checked Bozeman, MT where I currently live and the 'median' is not 485k. And I can't imagine the median being $730k in Bellevue... $853k if you count all of Bellevue and not just the 98006 zip.


But, maybe I just can't believe that houses in Bellevue would cost a median of $850k.

[cobolt]

Those cost of living calculators are not always accurate, sometimes not even ballpark. You'll find scads of people on citydata who have used them and find the reality to be very different. Just be aware of that. Nothing takes the place of a good scouting trip to visit stores, see prices, talk to people in person. I did scads of "research" on the internet and although I got a good understanding of a place, I didn't get a good feel until I actually visited and wasn't hit with reality until I actually moved.

Just my two cents

[Pittgal]

Originally Posted by Radek

But, maybe I just can't believe that houses in Bellevue would cost a median of $850k.

At least for that zip code I can. Most houses in my area are going for mid 700's - over a million.

[wannabeaTexan]

Originally Posted by Pittgal

At least for that zip code I can. Most houses in my area are going for mid 700's - over a million.

Me too. I have a family member that sold their 3 bed/2 bath house in Bellevue for $500K. This is for a house purchased by the family member in the early '80s, had a couple of updates, but for the most part, looked just how it did back then.

The people who bought it planned on doing some major renovating.

[MichaelinWA]

Something in the paper about inflation in Seattle.

Empty wallet? Blame Seattle inflation

So those grocery bill increases last year weren't just my imagination.

[The A-Team]

I pay about $1,400 a month for a 690 sqf 1 bedroom apartment with one parking space, no pool, no workout center, no air conditioner in the international district(i rent a stand alone air conditioner from the apartment for $50 a month which isn't very effective :/). But its a nice apartment quality wise . Though a lot of bums outside and at night very questionable people hang out around the outside at a gas station across the street and sometimes in the parking lot. I've had them chase my car and yell at me, one person followed me in the garage(i think she was on drugs) told me there were people trying to kill her and that they were right outside(I ended up calling 911, that whole situation sucked lol). The gas station across the street was $3.27 last night, and 2 in the burbs I saw were $3.19 and $3.09. Hope this helps