Redmond - Microsoft (Seattle, Bellevue, Everett: apartment complexes, rentals, house)

[Madakatude]

Hello all, I'm from NYC and just got a pretty nice offer from Microsoft in Redmund WA? Any comments...I have 3 kids and don't want to live in the city (there has to be some benefit to relocating from NY) Also, I don't want to have a long commute.

Any opinions on where to live, best schools, and how a city slicker might fare in Redmund etc.

[scirocco22]

Hi Madakatude and welcome to the forum. First, as suggested by our T.O.S., we'd urge you do to a search of the forum as we have many threads which deal with the exact same questions you're asking.

Then, please come back and ask specific questions as your opening post is fairly general in its inquiry. I hope you're not taking this the wrong way and I'm not trying to be rude and don't want to discourage you from asking questions and posting but being more specific will help you to get better responses.

Thanks ...and by the way, it's Redmond.

[jwb123]

First things first - what's your housing budget?

[Madakatude]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I've never lived in an apartment (with the kids) but definitely don't want to get ino a house until Im familiar with the area and sure I want to stay. So renting is fine in the short term.

My only requirements now is finding a decent rental for about 1200-1400 per month. I need a 1/2 max commute, top schools and that's really it. Im looking at several areas right now and my kids are small and don't require much right now.

Im not sold yet because my real desire was to relocate to someplace warm, someplace I could actually stay during my golden years.

[dharmabummer]

You won't be able to rent a house for 1200-1400 per month, so a really large apt would probably be best. Check out Avalon in Bothell (google it). I lived in an Avalon complex in Everett for a year. It's clean, nice and run by professionals. Our apt was 1200 sq ft. I won't tell you what we paid because that was over 5 years ago and I'm sure the rents have gone up since then.

[zulan78]

You will only be able to get a 2 or 3 bedroom apartment (appox 1400 sqft) for that rental price on the Eastside. If you only want a 1/2 hour commute then I would stick to Sammamish, Issaquah, Redmond, Bellevue, Kirkland, Woodinville as most of these areas have pretty good school districts.

[Pittgal]

We rented a 1464 sq ft - 3br 2 full bath apartment in Issaquah last year and it was $ 1570.00. There are TONS of apartment complexes out here on the eastside, but I am not sure if you'll find one big enough for 1400.00 a month.

[allforcats]

Your schools requirement, and being reasonably near Microsoft, would suggest looking in the cities of Bellevue, Issaquah and Redmond which have schools usually cited by posters on City-Data to be the best in Washington.

The fastest resource is called NWSource, a combined Classifieds from the two leading newspapers in Seattle and a wide radius all around Seattle, including Bellevue, Issaquah and Redmond:
http://rentals.nwsource.com/rentals/

You might also want to research on Craigslist for rentals.

As long as you don't expect constant traffic noise, boom boxes, muggings, and lots of traffic lights, you'll do fine :-) I lived in NYC for the first 30 years of my life and loved it there. I love it here.

[70Ford]

My rent for a 3 bedroom 2 bath is 1432. Actually, you can do a search for "1432" and I have all my monthly bills listed on that posting - so you can get an idea of the cost of living. I live in 98075. I don't think I can list the apartment name..might be against the rules here. I wouldn't want to "Self ID" that much anyway. I IMAGINE that with the housing market cooling, my rent will go up ~ 100 bucks the next time that I sign a new lease. But as of right now...rent+water+trash = 1432. I signed that lease last August. It might be more now. BTW..for a description of Seattle weather, etc. - check out the "My Seattle" post. It's true and very informative.