For those leaving Seattle or who have left recently? Why did you leave and do you have regrets? (Spokane: assessor, student loans)

[OneTimeSEALover]

Originally Posted by Stonepa

Interesting - almost every single one of these points applies to every metro area in America. Except the taxes comments. Come out to the midwest or NE and WA taxes will seem cheap. Property tax in Ohio is 3x what it is in Seattle. We also pay state, city, regional, and school taxes. Sales taxes is the same. Gas tax the same as well. The only thing different is the housing cost and traffic. Everything is more expensive in a metro area.

Bold statement. Pretty sure the application to "every metro area" is wrong.

[DutchessCottonPuff]

ANYWHERE in Ohio the same as the Seattle Metro area ?? LMAO !!

Ahem anyway , we all know my situation. I HAVE to stick for awhile but in the end it will be COL I am afraid . I love it here, I truly do . I will be tremendously sad to go . We came for my husband to go to work for an aviation co that courted him 4 years before we made the move almost 10 years ago.

I do not like this fearful situation I am in .

[SLUGGGO]

DuchessCottonPuff and OneTimeSEALover,

I hear ya both... Time to leave and start fresh somewhere else. The only thing keeping me here right now is my lease agreement, which I don't want to break, so I'll wait it out until I can make my plans.

Seattle ain't what it once was

[Stonepa]

Originally Posted by OneTimeSEALover

Bold statement. Pretty sure the application to "every metro area" is wrong.

May be missing my point. I've lived in Chicago, LA (Redondo Beach), SF (San Ramon), Milford CT, Dallas, Detroit, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Huntsville, AL, Atlanta, Manhattan, and other garden spots. All of them have these same issues and based on what my friends in Seattle have told me about costs, Seattle comes out ahead on most things. Taxes for sure. Check out taxes in Ohio or NY.

Even the much hated Seattle commute. I takes me an hour to drive 17 miles to work in Cleveland freeway traffic. It took me much more in CT, LA, Dallas, Chicago, and Minneapolis. I've driven from Issaquah to downtown Seattle (SLU) many times at rush hour. It took me an average of 1 hour, even if it was raining. The reverse? The same. Now that may be much worse than it used to be but it is nothing out of the ordinary. My commute in Chicago for a similar distance was never less than 1 1/2 hours each way if I drove or took the train and walked to the office. LA was the same.

I will admit housing costs have increased but they have many places. In fact, there are much worse places to try to buy a house. But I do understand that the run up has been fairly recent so some may be feeling pain.

I think people just like to complain.

Taxes are a big reason why we are moving west in June. The difference in taxes paid to state and local authorities will make up the difference in my mortgage payment.

[Stonepa]

Originally Posted by OneTimeSEALover

Bold statement. Pretty sure the application to "every metro area" is wrong.

Ok - every metro area of roughly the same size as Seattle or larger.

[OneTimeSEALover]

Originally Posted by Stonepa

Ok - every metro area of roughly the same size as Seattle or larger.

And that would include? Denver? St Louis? Indianapolis? Pretty sure "every" will never apply.

[Stonepa]

You guys may need to get out of town once in a while. There's a reason why people from all over the country are choosing to move to Seattle.

[AADAD]

We are going the opposite direction. like rain. COL is less than San Diego, Sports teams win, ART!! and we can actually keep state fax in our OWN pocket. One flight not two to Anchorage (have a home there) and the pub like creative neighborhoods won over our hearts. If we leave it be for Paris (after the lottery winnings come in) lol.

[homesinseattle]

Among my relocation clients, the ones who seem to feel Seattle real estate is affordable have recently come from:

-NYC
-San Fran/Bay Area
-Hawaii
-San Diego
-LA
-Boston
-Washington DC
-China
-London
-Switzerland
-Paris
-Vancouver BC
-Sydney Australia

[tom331]

The property tax at Seattle area is LOW. I received my tax bill from Snohomish County Assessor for my property at Mukilteo. With the similar valuation comparing to my house in Austin, I pay more that double the property Tax in Austin than in Mukilteo even with my homestead exemption. Both states do not have personal income tax. For this reason, we will move to Seattle area when we retire.