Scared after reading (Seattle, Rainier: violent crime, houses, buying)

[pwright1]

Originally Posted by Baldy

Seattle is a city and you have every right to be scared. City life sucks and it sucks real bad if you have kids and a limited income.

If you don't want to deal with city life, why do it?

[WANative]

Originally Posted by seattlerain

Chenebe, and hdys, don’t be let a few negative posts scare you. There are many fine and very livable areas in the Puget Sound region.

In an area of several million people most people as Ira pointed out do not have an income of 120,000 dollars. Is there a certain amount of struggle involved? Sure...but the positives of the region in my opinion far outweigh the struggle.

You are correct in that most people dont make $120k BUT alot have 2 incomes and most purchased their homes 3-10 years ago when real estate wasnt so expensive--that makes a huge difference.
Renting vs buying will help! Paying off the credit cards etc will too. Seattle is a beautiful city but you do have to be prepared financially--nothing is cheap anymore. The traffic however you will just have to deal with.

[Chenebe]

So, hypothetically, do you think the following lifestyle can be recreated in Seattle on 120k household income:

- own comfortable home in good suburb, 4 bedrooms, gardens, views, etc (just about everything we wanted)
- 1 modest car using 1 tank of petrol a week on average
- 10 mins commute to work (housewife drops the husband off)
- eating almost exclusively organic food, almost all fresh, very little canned
- 1 husband who: works, has a computer hobby, does some sport, gardens (some unusual and pricy plants), buys expensive work clothes, loves entertaining friends at home at least once a week (big dinner, drinks, the lot)
- 1 housewife who: gardens (buys new plants almost every week), buys books, constantly buying stuff for the home (tea pots, cushions, linen, etc), occasionally buys clothes for herself, has a massage or facial once a week, lunches out or has coffee with friends 2-3 times a week, goes swimming 3 times a week, loves cooking gourmet meals and baking cakes, has wierd Art hobbies, travels overseas at least once a year
- 1 child who: has all the best baby gear (sorry, I'm a sucker, I know), wears organic clothes, goes to baby gym and baby music, goes to childcare 3 times a week, gets books and toys occasionally (am anticipating costs to go up as baby grows and goes to more activities)
- being able to give elderly parent some money to help out

[jwb123]

No.

I'm sorry to say, no... I just don't think so. Your lifestyle is lavish, in my opinion. I think $120k is doable, but with heavy budgeting and a more frugal lifestyle.

Are you moving with a significant downpayment? Buying a home, and having a reasonable mortgage will be your first hurdle.

Gardening in WA? You need sun to grow - and I am being completely honest here... I love to garden, love it. You just can't garden like you can elsewhere, in WA. That's not to say people don't do it - but specific types of plants (moist soil, shade loving) thrive there - so it's a different type of gardening. Hydrangeas, hastas.... nothing particularly interesting or unusual.

A 10 min commute to Microsoft will have you in the Education Hill, Redmond area - most likely... considering you will want to be in a good school district... and that commute will be more like 15-20 mins just FYI. So, you are looking at a home from $600k to 800k plus. My brother just sold his 4 bedroom, 3000 sq ft home in Education Hill for $875k.

I am not even going to touch the "having friends over" and "meeting friends for lunch" issue... all you need to read about that is in the "Seattle Freeze" thread.

[JensJools]

This is just my opinion, but it is based on an insane amount of research as we will be relocating to the eastside Seattle area within the next year.

On that income, you could do all that you suggest, IF you rent.

Owning is another story and relative to your take home pay and down payment.

A nice home in Kirkland or Redmond near good schools (one that doesn't need $100k worth of remodel) will cost you around $6-700k. If you have a good downpayment ($100-$200k) you could own and still live comfortably. Probably. If you're maxing out your 401k contribution and paying for your healthcare, you're not taking home as much, so those are things to consider. To own, save, and live comfortably, I'm thinking we will need to earn closer to $200k.

In our case, I think we'll be renting for at least the first year. We own several properties, but in this market, I'm not wanting to sell them or max out their equity just to dump it into the Seattle market, which my still be about 10% overvalued. I think we will wait for things to settle and see where we are.

Good luck with your move.

[pwright1]

Originally Posted by Jenbar

Gardening in WA? You need sun to grow - and I am being completely honest here... I love to garden, love it. You just can't garden like you can elsewhere, in WA. That's not to say people don't do it - but specific types of plants (moist soil, shade loving) thrive there - so it's a different type of gardening. Hydrangeas, hastas.... nothing particularly interesting or unusual.

You have got to be kidding. Western Washington is a gardner's paradise. I love to garden especially in this area compared to most other places I lived. The growing season last longer than many other parts of the country and you can grow just about anything here. My hydrangeas were in a full sun part of my yard and the flowers burned so I moved them in the back under filtered sun and now the flowers are beautiful when they bloom. Walk down any residential street and you will see more than 'nothing particulary interesting or unusual' but beautiful yards filled with all kinds of interesting plants and flowers. Check out our annual Seattle Flower and Garden Show. One of the largest in the nation. Heck, check out our Central Area Garden Tour. You will see more than 'NOTHING INTERESTING' or see the beautiful hanging baskets in Pioneer Square. Today why don't you simply head to any garden center or even Lowe's or Home Depot and see what's available here in western Washington.

[jwb123]

I've had many gardens in my homes in Western WA. Hydrangeas are shade loving plants, so of course they burned in "full sun" ... seems like if you knew anything about gardening, you would have known that. It all depends on what you consider a "gardener's paradise" if you like Rhododendrons, then I guess you are right... it's a "paradise".

[toughguy]

So I guess the botanical gardens in Bellevue, the Japanese garden at the Arboretum, the woodland rose garden, Molbak's in Woodinville etc.. are just figments of our imaginations.

[seattlerain]

Originally Posted by Jenbar

No.

Gardening in WA? You need sun to grow - and I am being completely honest here... I love to garden, love it. You just can't garden like you can elsewhere, in WA. That's not to say people don't do it - but specific types of plants (moist soil, shade loving) thrive there - so it's a different type of gardening. Hydrangeas, hastas.... nothing particularly interesting or unusual.


I am not even going to touch the "having friends over" and "meeting friends for lunch" issue... all you need to read about that is in the "Seattle Freeze" thread.

Jenbar, your statement about gardening in Washington is really one of the strangest things I've read on here. I'm nearly speechless...

[seattlerain]

Originally Posted by Jenbar

I've had many gardens in my homes in Western WA. Hydrangeas are shade loving plants, so of course they burned in "full sun" ... seems like if you knew anything about gardening, you would have known that. It all depends on what you consider a "gardener's paradise" if you like Rhododendrons, then I guess you are right... it's a "paradise".

We all know that the ONLY thing that grows in Washington are Rhododendrons