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Old 02-20-2017, 05:02 PM
 
Location: Naperville
12 posts, read 56,294 times
Reputation: 10

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Ok, Here it is. I live in Naperville, IL (burb of Chicagoland). I have been smitten with the Seattle outdoor bug ever since I visited last year. Love hiking, photograph, travel, national parks, snowboarding, all outdoorsy stuff. Tired of living in Chicago, bored the heck out, so decided to sell my house here and leave. I am so done here. I work from home 70% of the time, 30% travel anywhere in the U.S. My data - Got wife and 2 boys 10 and 12, Asian Indian. Wife is in the Health industry (coding, Medical IT) and she will look for a new job after we move. Will sell house here in summer and move but in the meantime, I am coming over to the Seattle area to scout for new houses, this weekend, in the Issaquah, Sammamish, Bothell, and Kirkland areas.

Not too much single family houses left in the Issaquah and Sammamish areas, few housing construction in the 950K+ to 1300K range.

1) Considering that I will have a take a good jumbo loan between 400K to 650K to live in any of these areas, which place is the best bang for the buck? From what I see, all these burbs are increasing some 10% a year.

2) Which high schools schools are better? From all the reviews I am reading, I see that EastLake High, Inglemoor High, Woodinville High, Bothell High are better than Issaquah High and Skyline High, Is that true? I heard from my friends that Issaquah has one of the best school districts but great schools rankings say otherwise. US News and Niche.com shows Issaquah High better rated than Eastlake and the others that I listed. So, not sure which one is right on. If all these schools are similar in terms of ranking, I might think about Bothell.

3) Is Bothell a good place to live? I have not seen Bothell but have been around Issaquah and love the landscape and views there. Looks great. Wonder if Bothell is similar, if it is like Naperville, IL (just flat and plain boring), i would not consider it. Also, I am hearing that there are too many Asian Indians there, umm, not sure if I want to live in a place with more desis (Indians), too much competition for the kids education . Wonderubg if Issaquah and Sammamish has similar competition.

4) Bothell seems to be more reasonable in terms of pricing (even though it has gone up like 100K in a year or so). I still can get a decent new construction within 800K unlike Sammamish which pretty much is 1M+ for similar construction. But the way it is going, maybe Bothell pricing will end up like Issaquah and Sammamish soon, Do you think so?

Would really love to get the advice from as many people as possible. Thanks in advance.
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Old 02-20-2017, 05:07 PM
 
21,988 posts, read 15,608,858 times
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Issaquah and Sammamish have great school districts and are probably more convenient to the airport. From an appreciation standpoint, they might be better there as well and if your wife will be commuting, they will give her easier access to Seattle via 90.
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Old 02-20-2017, 05:31 PM
 
Location: Seattle
8,154 posts, read 8,201,692 times
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I like Bothell. It offers good house value for your money compared to a number of other Eastside areas, cute little down to earth town core, accessible to Seattle (if you want) without having to cross Lake Washington. The Northshore School District is excellent, closeby Hwy 522 allows you to escape to beautiful Stevens Pass, hiking trails, waterfalls, skiing and the mountains quickly. I believe it will appreciate just fine and has a varied mix of people.
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Old 02-20-2017, 10:48 PM
 
Location: Washington state
450 posts, read 544,707 times
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pretty much all the schools in the areas you mention are good that it is splitting hairs to compare them. Sammamish is to me extremely suburban with the least amount of commercial/business activity compared to all the other areas you have mentioned. Friends living there have complained they drive 20-30 minutes just to get onto the freeway. I mention this because you are wary of ending up someplace boring.

Why not just rent first?
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Old 02-21-2017, 07:29 AM
 
Location: Naperville
12 posts, read 56,294 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by misscross View Post
pretty much all the schools in the areas you mention are good that it is splitting hairs to compare them. Sammamish is to me extremely suburban with the least amount of commercial/business activity compared to all the other areas you have mentioned. Friends living there have complained they drive 20-30 minutes just to get onto the freeway. I mention this because you are wary of ending up someplace boring.

Why not just rent first?
Thank you. I thought about renting first but don't want to lose money going towards rent. Not sure when I can get a house with bidding wars going on for all houses. Easier to actually buy new, especially there is good amount of new construction in Bothell. Looks like by the time I get there, there will be very limited or no choices for me at all in Issaquah/Sammamish when I get there this weekend. The remaining few houses available there are flying away.

So, looks like Sammamish might be same time as Bothell if driving to Seattle because it takes time to get to the highway.
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Old 02-21-2017, 07:32 AM
 
Location: Naperville
12 posts, read 56,294 times
Reputation: 10
Thank you all for the advice. Would definitely appreciate more viewpoints.
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Old 02-21-2017, 07:33 AM
 
Location: Naperville
12 posts, read 56,294 times
Reputation: 10
Quote:
Originally Posted by homesinseattle View Post
I like Bothell. It offers good house value for your money compared to a number of other Eastside areas, cute little down to earth town core, accessible to Seattle (if you want) without having to cross Lake Washington. The Northshore School District is excellent, closeby Hwy 522 allows you to escape to beautiful Stevens Pass, hiking trails, waterfalls, skiing and the mountains quickly. I believe it will appreciate just fine and has a varied mix of people.
Thanks. Some great points. Am definitely feeling good about Bothell.
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Old 02-21-2017, 07:33 AM
 
Location: Seattle
8,154 posts, read 8,201,692 times
Reputation: 5957
There are always new listings, just have to be ready and decisive when the time comes.
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Old 02-21-2017, 07:34 AM
 
Location: Naperville
12 posts, read 56,294 times
Reputation: 10
Quote:
Originally Posted by Seacove View Post
Issaquah and Sammamish have great school districts and are probably more convenient to the airport. From an appreciation standpoint, they might be better there as well and if your wife will be commuting, they will give her easier access to Seattle via 90.
Thank you. Yeah, from a price appreciation point, these area I feel will be better. Just have to find a house in the price range (900-1M).
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Old 02-21-2017, 08:34 AM
 
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,104 posts, read 80,155,784 times
Reputation: 56923
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mohawksan View Post
Thank you. I thought about renting first but don't want to lose money going towards rent. Not sure when I can get a house with bidding wars going on for all houses. Easier to actually buy new, especially there is good amount of new construction in Bothell. Looks like by the time I get there, there will be very limited or no choices for me at all in Issaquah/Sammamish when I get there this weekend. The remaining few houses available there are flying away.

So, looks like Sammamish might be same time as Bothell if driving to Seattle because it takes time to get to the highway.
That depends on where in Sammamish. Crossing the plateau with only 228th takes time with all of the signal lights and 3 high schools. We are about in the middle and can get to either I90 or 520 in 15-20 minutes, but if you are in Timberline and go to I90 or are in Pine Lake or worse, Klahanie and must go to 520 it can take 1/2 hour to get all the way across Sammamish. That will get worse when Central Market opens, already the YMCA behind the library has caused more congestion in the area.
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