Looking for info about lovely Seattle (Bellevue, Renton: homes, high school, square footage)

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by Seattlefan

I'm not sure whether I will be tied to Seattle or not work wise however I would like to stay closer to Seattle if possible as I do want to visit the city several times a week. Most likely with prices of houses in Seattle area being this high we will have to find a new job that is higher paying

I live in Ballard and I might go Downtown once a month, if that. Pretty much everything I need is here.

Originally Posted by Seattlefan

Can someone please explain why are the house prices so high in Seattle? Is it because of Californians moving in or is it foreign buyers causing this boom . Or is it because of the tech industry growth ?

1) Tons of tech workers being imported from California, Texas, etc. Seattle has become the worldwide center of Cloud Computing.

2) People moving from the suburbs to the City to get closer to jobs and shorten commutes.

3) Young families choosing to stay in the City rather than move out to the suburbs.

4) People wanting to move to the last great place, after ruining where they're coming from.

5) People being drawn to the country's hottest job market, without realizing it is also the hottest housing market.

6) People being drawn by the Seattle Mystique (cue the theme music from the Twilight Zone).

7) Tourists who visit once and decide it is where they want to be the rest of their lives.

8) People fleeing heat, drought, the sun, snow, crime, violence, intolerance, bible thumpers, tornadoes, hurricanes, bugs, skeeters, snakes, scorpions, zika...

9) When housing prices are skyrocketing, everybody wants to buy, before the price goes up another $100k, and no one wants to sell, because they are hoping it will.

10) Lot's of luxury apartments are being built, but very few houses. Too many people moving here want what they had where they're from (minus the bugs), a big house on a large lot, 30 minutes outside Downtown. Good luck.

11) The Chinese, the Chinese, the Chinese. All-cash speculators, generally.

[homesinseattle]

Nice work Crazy, pretty much nailed it, just left out good beer, good coffee, laid back people, relatively mild climate, house prices half what the are in San Fran and even less if you are from NYC, clean air, organic food culture everywhere and some pretty dang cool mountains closeby.

[James Bond 007]

Originally Posted by Seattlefan

Wow thanks for all the input. We are confused that 950k does not get much in Seattle area. It sounds like everyone is very wealthy over there and 950 is a starter home price??? Is it becoming like California??

Yes.

We definitely don't want to use public transportation or ferry. We also don't want to live in rural area. Privacy does not mean we want to live in boonies in a middle of nowhere with closest shopping 30 minutes away. Right now we live outside of a major city on east coast on an acre of land in a very serene park like setting. We have major shopping near us within 15 minutes, gym and grocery within 10 minutes. We don't want to give that up. We can be okay with 0.5 acres with mature trees around for a sense of privacy. What we don't want is to be surrounded by houses on every side and our backyard facing someone else's home. Perhaps 950 is little money for Seattle but for us it is not. We are seeing properties in our price range that look very private in Redmond, issaquah and sammamish. What can you tell us about these places? Are people friendly? What is the wibe? Demographics? Thank you again so much.

Good luck with that one. It's going to be hard to find a lot the size you want, at the price you want, at the location you want. You're probably going to have to compromise on something.

[James Bond 007]

Originally Posted by Seattlefan

Can someone please explain why are the house prices so high in Seattle? Is it because of Californians moving in or is it foreign buyers causing this boom . Or is it because of the tech industry growth ?

It's because there are thousands of people just like you attracted to Seattle's wonderful scenery who move there every month.

[James Bond 007]

Originally Posted by Seattlefan

HuskyDawg it is depressing to me as well. You mention Seattle being the next Silicon Valley. Are there other industries such as manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, publishers in the area or is it essentially limited to tech and everyone works in IT?

Yes, there is Boeing of course. There is actually a lot of other stuff but it tends to get overshadowed by tech and Boeing.

[misscross]

OP I think your requirement of 1/2 to 1 acre lot is really limiting you. $750 -950k is a dang good budget.

Given the abundance of evergreen trees here, you can achieve privacy on 1/4 acre lot or smaller if it's got lots of mature trees, backs up to greenbelt or some combination thereof. You need to look past the lot size and probably buy an older home that has all the mature trees in place.

Many older homes sitting on decent size lot that are sub-dividable are immediately snatched up by builders here. That is why your lot size requirement is a huge headache.

[homesinseattle]

Misscross, very good point about the 1/4 acre. It's hard for people who haven't lived here to understand that.

[leastprime]

Originally Posted by Seattlefan

20% above asking price??? I am lost for words. i wanted to move there since 2007 but at the time I was poor and could not afford even a car. It took me and my husband 10 years to come close to this move. But now I feel that we are late to the party.

Took us a lifetime.

[homesinseattle]

Seattlefan. Not nearly all homes sell for 20 percent over list. As you move away from the city core, you'll get more for your money with less competition. I am a big fan of approaching homes that survive the initial review period without an offer, so homes that are about 8-20 days on market. Looking for places that aren't perfect in every way can help too, perhaps needing a bit of carpet, paint, remodeling. Don't lose hope before you even try, people like you succeed every day. You just need a good strategy and maybe a little vision and creativity.

[USDefault]

Originally Posted by Seattlefan

I currently live on East Coast and just hate it here.

If you feel that way, you likely are going to love the West coast. I felt the same about the East coast; twenty years ago I couldn't wait to get out. Made the move, lived in California, now Washington, and never looked back. And never will return except for short vacations. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who feel the same, hence housing and the cost of living is significantly higher on the left coast.

Also, read Crazy's post. Talk to any moving company or driver -- the trucks are going one way only: out of California, and into the Pacific Northwest, meaning Portland, southern Washington, Seattle, some to Texas and Colorado, some to Nevada. PNW is exploding all over, and Seattle is ground zero.