Re-Locating & in need of guidance (Seattle, Tacoma: mortgage, relocating, real estate)

[NoraS.]

My husband and I are relocating to the Seattle area and need some advice on some of the best suburbs with a small town feel. We would love to find a picturesque town on the water, unfortunately we have never been up there and are completely unfamiliar with the areas. We are going to be taking a trip up the first week in April to secure jobs in the mortgage industry and would greatly appreciate any advice on where to look. I also have a friend who is moving to Enumclaw in May and will be watching my daughter from time to time so I would love to find something within 45min. from her too if possible.
Thanks so much!

[allforcats]

Hi, Nora. Welcome to the Pacific Northwest!

Suggestions about locations will depend greatly on information about the following:
1. Where will your jobs be located? Commutes can take a long time, so living rather near your work is important.
2. Do you want to rent or buy?
3. What is your budget?
4. What are your requirements -- what do you need -- besides being fairly near Enumclaw, and possibly being somewhat near water? (If you are very wealthy, you can find houses to purchase ON waterfronts.)

Looking forward to being of assistance!

[Ira500]

Hi Nora,
A couple of places popped into my head for small town feel and water, within 45 minutes of Enumclaw.
1. Black Diamond: Nice small town with a charming old downtown and a bakery that makes the best strawberry rhubarb pie in the world...It's not on any body of water but the Cedar River is nearby as is Lake Sawyer, and not far from Flaming Geyser State Park. Quite close to Enumclaw.

2. Des Moines, on Puget Sound. Also a nice downtown with a small town feel, a marina, and a one screen downtown movie theatre. About 40 minutes from Enumclaw.

[NoraS.]

Originally Posted by allforcats

Hi, Nora. Welcome to the Pacific Northwest!

Suggestions about locations will depend greatly on information about the following:
1. Where will your jobs be located? Commutes can take a long time, so living rather near your work is important.
2. Do you want to rent or buy?
3. What is your budget?
4. What are your requirements -- what do you need -- besides being fairly near Enumclaw, and possibly being somewhat near water? (If you are very wealthy, you can find houses to purchase ON waterfronts.)

Looking forward to being of assistance!

I guess that being so close to Enumclaw isn't that important. We most likely will be working in Seattle, so something outside the city. We probably will rent to start, and purchase once we become familiar with the area. We would love to be waterfront, and are looking to spend about $2000/mo. Water is very important to my husband... the closer the better! My husband has also circled Olympia, Bellingham, and Everett on the map. Any input? Thanks so much for the help!!!

[allforcats]

Hi Nora. Let's start with rentals. $2000/mo is an excellent budget and will get you a very nice rental.
The closer to water, the more expensive. Waterfront real estate here is usually very expensive.
There are so many bodies of water here (ocean, sound, bay, big lakes, little lakes, big rivers, little rivers, streams, creeks) that you'll probably never be more than 5 or 10 minutes away from one or more of them.

NWSource is the combined Classifieds of the two leading newspapers in a very large area which includes Seattle. This is the link for rentals:
NWapartments: Seattle apartment rentals, house rental listings, rental classifieds and other property rentals in Seattle, Tacoma, Bellevue and other Washington areas, cities and neighborhoods

On that page, the map at the right will show you all the many areas. Click on one of them on the map, and all the neighborhoods in that area will come up.

You might also want to try Craigslist, now that you have that map showing neighborhoods.
There's also:
rent.com
forrent.com
apartments.com.

For Olympia:
Here's the Classifieds of The Olympian:
South Sound Classifieds @ TheOlympian.com

For Bellingham
The Bellingham Herald:
Buy Sell Bellingham, Whatcom County - Classifieds | Bellingham Herald

For Everett:
The Everett Herald:
North Sound Classifieds

[Ira500]

Bellingham is fabulous, and parts of Olympia and Everett are nice, but none (except possibly Everett) are a reasonable commute to Seattle...Bellingham is about 90 minutes from Seattle, Olympia just slightly less...Edmonds is a nice town on the water near Everett and easily commutable to Seattle...
I go hiking at Seahurst Park in Burien with my dog, and it's on Puget Sound...parts of Burien are quite nice, and parts of Burien are a bit scuzzy. Just Southwest of Seattle and an easy commute.

[allforcats]

What excellent advice, Ira500!

[SeattleExpert]

How much space are you looking for to rent? If you are planning on working in Seattle, I would suggest one of my favorite waterfront neighborhoods in the city, Madison Park. I don't know what rent is like there now, but I paid $1600 for a 1 br cottage that was a little over 1600 sq ft that had a shared dock with the other cottages (about 600 sq ft) (no moorage). No place as picturesque as Madison Park if you ask me.

Eastlake will also put you right on the water. You may also want to check out Kirkland if you don't mind a commute.

There are also houseboats for rent in the area, one of my co-workers lives in a houseboat community and says nothing compares.

good luck!

[NoraS.]

Thanks so much for all the great advice! It looks like my friend isn't going to be moving up there after all, well just not for awhile. We are going to look at some of the areas mentioned! If any other places come to mind please let us know!!! Thank you!