Please help a young midwest couple moving to the Pacific Northwest! (Seattle: for sale, apartments)

[smleeth]

Hello everyone! My girlfriend and I are currently living in Manhattan, KS and are looking to move to the Pacific Northwest sometime between May and July of this year. Kansas is a very cheap state to live in, though Manhattan is definitely on the expensive end of the ladder. We're looking at flying up to Seattle in 2 weeks for a few days to check out the area. I have some questions I'd appreciate any input on...

We are considering Seattle because she is interviewing with Nordstrom's. She graduates with an Apparel design degree in May. I have a degree in Life Science and have been working as a service technician for a wireless company for about 4 years now. We are honestly going to be making a combined $60-80K per year to start up there once we secure jobs. Is Seattle doable? Should we be looking towards Portland or somewhere else?

We do not have to (nor really want to) live in the middle of the city and know that our limited funds will dictate our choices. We are looking for a 2 bedroom that preferably has a yard for our dogs. $700-900 a month would be spectacular. I have a good friend that lives in West Seattle and he recommended West Seattle, Ballard or the area near the university. What are your thoughts? Are those areas just pipe dreams and we need to be looking much further away? What are your suggestions? We'd like to be in a decent (not nice) area without too much crime and hopefully some younger people and nightlife (live music) nearby.

So far our housing search has really only turned up apartments. Are houses much harder to come by? Or, are they just pretty expensive overall?

Any input would be GREATLY appreciated! We'll be up there soon and plan on scouring the newspapers and any bit of physical info we can get our hands on. We're also planning on checking out Portland/Vancouver area for a day and hopefully will be able to make it up to the Vancouver, BC area for a day.

[Ira500]

not a total pipe dream, but 700-900 for a house with a yard will be hard to find in Ballard, West Seattle or the U District...But you can maybe find a house with a yard in a different neighborhood not far from downtown, but not as "cool" as the above neighborhoods.
For instance, in West Seattle there are less expensive neighborhoods south and east of the more trendy parts...In Seattle, Rainier Beach, Rainier View, Lake Ridge, Skyway are all affordable ...Renton and Burien are also fairly close in and not too expensive..All of these areas have rough parts but also nice parts, and maybe you'd want to find a cheap place in an area that's nice but not your ideal area and then after saving money move o a more desirable area.

[allforcats]

Hi, smleeth. Do you know about NWSource? It is the combined Classifieds for the two leading newspapers in the area. The first link below is for jobs:
http://marketplace.nwsource.com/jobs/

the second link is for rentals:
http://marketplace.nwsource.com/rentals/
And you might also want to check Craigslist.

The rentals ads will give you a pretty good idea of space and prices.

As for the difference between Seattle and Portland -- there are lots of geographical and climate similarities, but the "feel" of each is different. Everyone will have a different way of describing that, but I'd say Seattle is faster, more techy, slicker, more exciting; and Portland is gentler, slower, more "boutique" (smaller, more like a town than a city). Seattle, being larger with a larger population, has more resources (restaurants, clubs, libraries, etc.).

My advice to you is that if one of you has a definite location for a job (Seattle), start there, live and enjoy there, roam around for a year or two and learn both areas. Then you'll be able to make a more knowledgeable choice, right?

Have fun planning this wonderful change!!

[SeattlitefromNC]

Originally Posted by smleeth

Hello everyone! My girlfriend and I are currently living in Manhattan, KS and are looking to move to the Pacific Northwest sometime between May and July of this year. Kansas is a very cheap state to live in, though Manhattan is definitely on the expensive end of the ladder. We're looking at flying up to Seattle in 2 weeks for a few days to check out the area. I have some questions I'd appreciate any input on...

We are considering Seattle because she is interviewing with Nordstrom's. She graduates with an Apparel design degree in May. I have a degree in Life Science and have been working as a service technician for a wireless company for about 4 years now. We are honestly going to be making a combined $60-80K per year to start up there once we secure jobs. Is Seattle doable? Should we be looking towards Portland or somewhere else?

We do not have to (nor really want to) live in the middle of the city and know that our limited funds will dictate our choices. We are looking for a 2 bedroom that preferably has a yard for our dogs. $700-900 a month would be spectacular. I have a good friend that lives in West Seattle and he recommended West Seattle, Ballard or the area near the university. What are your thoughts? Are those areas just pipe dreams and we need to be looking much further away? What are your suggestions? We'd like to be in a decent (not nice) area without too much crime and hopefully some younger people and nightlife (live music) nearby.

So far our housing search has really only turned up apartments. Are houses much harder to come by? Or, are they just pretty expensive overall?

Any input would be GREATLY appreciated! We'll be up there soon and plan on scouring the newspapers and any bit of physical info we can get our hands on. We're also planning on checking out Portland/Vancouver area for a day and hopefully will be able to make it up to the Vancouver, BC area for a day.

If you are looking to rent a house, you are probably looking at $1200-2000+ for a house in the city. West Seattle will be a little cheaper, but not by much.

[smleeth]

Originally Posted by Ira500

not a total pipe dream, but 700-900 for a house with a yard will be hard to find in Ballard, West Seattle or the U District...But you can maybe find a house with a yard in a different neighborhood not far from downtown, but not as "cool" as the above neighborhoods.
For instance, in West Seattle there are less expensive neighborhoods south and east of the more trendy parts...In Seattle, Rainier Beach, Rainier View, Lake Ridge, Skyway are all affordable ...Renton and Burien are also fairly close in and not too expensive..All of these areas have rough parts but also nice parts, and maybe you'd want to find a cheap place in an area that's nice but not your ideal area and then after saving money move o a more desirable area.

Thanks for the info Ira! I may be in contact with you in the future!

[smleeth]

Originally Posted by allforcats

Hi, smleeth. Do you know about NWSource? It is the combined Classifieds for the two leading newspapers in the area. The first link below is for jobs:
http://marketplace.nwsource.com/jobs/

the second link is for rentals:
http://marketplace.nwsource.com/rentals/
And you might also want to check Craigslist.

The rentals ads will give you a pretty good idea of space and prices.

As for the difference between Seattle and Portland -- there are lots of geographical and climate similarities, but the "feel" of each is different. Everyone will have a different way of describing that, but I'd say Seattle is faster, more techy, slicker, more exciting; and Portland is gentler, slower, more "boutique" (smaller, more like a town than a city). Seattle, being larger with a larger population, has more resources (restaurants, clubs, libraries, etc.).

My advice to you is that if one of you has a definite location for a job (Seattle), start there, live and enjoy there, roam around for a year or two and learn both areas. Then you'll be able to make a more knowledgeable choice, right?

Have fun planning this wonderful change!!

I appreciate these links. The downside is that I plugged in 2 bedroom, dog friendly places and only found a handful....and that's when I bumped the rent ceiling up to $1200.

[allforcats]

Originally Posted by smleeth

I appreciate these links. The downside is that I plugged in 2 bedroom, dog friendly places and only found a handful....and that's when I bumped the rent ceiling up to $1200.

You're welcome! Considering the dog situation, "a handful" is a great result, and it's certainly a heckuva lot better than none, right? If I were in your shoes, I would definitely check them out!

[Pittgal]

Check on craigslist: seattle-tacoma classifieds for jobs, apartments, personals, for sale, services, community, and events for house rentals. Thats where you have the best luck!!! Good Luck!

[wannabeaTexan]

Rentclicks.com is good for rentals too.