Mill creek vs east renton highlands (Seattle, Bellevue: apartment complexes, to rent, crime rate)

[kernel32]

Looking for ~10-year old, >2k sq.ft. house with good schools. The budget is around ~$650k so the only neighborhoods have the availability of such houses are mill creek, north creek and east renton highlands. I work in Redmond, spouse in Seattle. The commute to Seattle and Redmond from those neighborhoods are quite similar.

Which one do you recommend from those: Mill creek, north creek, and renton highlands? I did notice that the houses (>2k sq.ft.) around mill creek did not gain in value much for the past 10 years. I cannot say anything about the future, of course, but it seems a bad sign. East Renton highlands seem a good option but it is close to Renton where the crime rate is high.

Thanks in advance!

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by kernel32

Looking for ~10-year old, >2k sq.ft. house with good schools. The budget is around ~$650k so the only neighborhoods have the availability of such houses are mill creek, north creek and east renton highlands. I work in Redmond, spouse in Seattle. The commute to Seattle and Redmond from those neighborhoods are quite similar.

Which one do you recommend from those: Mill creek, north creek, and renton highlands? I did notice that the houses (>2k sq.ft.) around mill creek did not gain in value much for the past 10 years. I cannot say anything about the future, of course, but it seems a bad sign. East Renton highlands seem a good option but it is close to Renton where the crime rate is high.

Thanks in advance!

North Creek. Mill Creek requires you to go down a single lane Bothell Everett Hwy with traffic lights.

[homesinseattle]

I would choose to get a slightly smaller home and live in Bothell-Northshore School District. Investment and commute wise, it will serve you better over time.

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by homesinseattle

I would choose to get a slightly smaller home and live in Bothell-Northshore School District. Investment and commute wise, it will serve you better over time.

Just be aware of Bothell Everett Hwy 527. North Creek is exit 24 on 405, Canyon Park is exit 26 on 405. But Bothell Thrasher's Corner is on Bothell Everett Highway 527 and while closer than Mill Creek, is still not easy to get out of if trying to get to Redmond. If unsure, test it.

[Blondebaerde]

Originally Posted by Seacove

North Creek. Mill Creek requires you to go down a single lane Bothell Everett Hwy with traffic lights.

Yes, and that sucked for eleven years I lived north end of MC. My greatest tactical error on places to live, that seven miles could be 20 min or longer.

In a do-over I'd choose Canyon Park in a heartbeat, at that budget.

[Ira500]

I'm not going to recommend one or the other. Just wanted to comment on Renton's crime rate. It's misleading. There are a few small areas where the crime rate is very high: The western part of Renton adjacent to Martin Luther King Way, the apartment complexes just west of the downtown Fred meyer store, and parts of the Western Renton Highlands. If you take those areas out of the equation, Renton's crime rate is not much higher than Kirkland, Bellevue, etc. If you're in the eastern Renton Highlands, you wouldn't be affected by the crime in those other parts of Renton( which are primarily car thefts and home burglaries).

[cmswazey]

And for dwelling size, well, how big is the op's family? I have a smaller home, for example, but a huge shed and large lot so we had other ways to utilize space.

But if I'd had several children or extended family moving in, it would not have worked.