Move from Australia To work at Microsoft - Looking for basic information please (Seattle: for sale)

[Lleran]

Hi all - we are currently looking at moving to Seattle as my partner will be working at Microsoft. I am totally unsure of any areas and have just been throughthe "For Rent" ads I could find but I was getting confused.

We are a samll family of 3 but soon to be 4 and I dont even know what a condo is I think it is a detached house but am unsure. I will also be looking for work or volunteer work in the accounting, real estate or social services field.

Could any one reccommend some websites that might be helpful in getting to know the area?

Thank you

[allforcats]

Hi. Welcome to a great adventure! You'll find that people in this area are friendly and helpful.

First: as a Microsoft employee, you have a Microsoft Human Resources person called a relocation advisor who will assist you in answering questions, finding neighborhoods to live in, and many other details of moving to the U.S. Be sure to ask your H.R. contact at MS who that person is, and how to contact that person. Let that person earn their salary by helping you.

Second: to answer an implied question of yours, a "condo" is one unit in a multi-family building. A condo is almost always a single storey, with no upstairs or downstairs area, like the usual flat. Condo buildings often look like apartment buildings, and might have two units or 15 units or any number of units (like flats); it varies with the builder and the local government's building codes. So a condo is not a detached house.
A "townhouse" is also one unit in a multi-family building, but has an upstairs and a downstairs.
So a condo is just one level; a townhouse has interior stairs and has two (rarely three) levels.

Third: Where to live. Working at Microsoft and having children, you would probably be best advised to start by living near Microsoft. Commuting around here can be very difficult because there are too many people moving here and not enough roads to hold all their cars. So, a sensible and comfortable idea is to live near where you work.

That means "the east side" -- of Lake Washington. Therefore, Redmond, Bellevue, Kirkland, Issaquah, maybe Sammamish or Woodinville.
The Microsoft Connector Bus is a great service: you could live within walking distance from the Connector, or you could drive to a pick-up location, park the car, then take the Connector to the office. Here is the most current map of the Connector. Click anywhere on the map to enlarge it. MS keeps expanding the routes, so you can expect increased service.
Map: Microsoft's expanded 'Connector' system

That map can help you see where the cities are surrounding MS (the ones I mentioned above; opening a large map will help you see them).

The following sites will help you find rentals.
This is the combined classifieds of the two leading newspapers in the area.
In the little map, click on Eastside and Eastside Plateau. That will show you where places are. If you continue to click on locations, the map will drill down to smaller areas.
NWapartments: Seattle apartment rentals, house rental listings, rental classifieds and other property rentals in Seattle, Tacoma, Bellevue and other Washington areas, cities and neighborhoods
There's also craigslist. Be absolutely certain you DO NOT send any money to anyone until you verify 1) the person exists; 2) the property exists exactly as advertised; and 3) the person is legally authorized to rent the property. Ask your MS relocation specialist to verify any craigslist listing you might be interested in:
craigslist: seattle-tacoma classifieds for jobs, apartments, personals, for sale, services, community, and events
There are also: rent.com, forrent.com, apartments.com

For rentals: The east side has many, many condos. Quite a few townhomes. Some apartment buildings. And some houses.

To get an idea of the local job market and volunteer possibilities, this might be useful for you, the combined classifieds for jobs of the two leading newspapers:
Seattle area jobs, employment advice and information | NWjobs


I hope this is a good start in your research. Have fun planning!

[Ira500]

Basically, a condo is an apartment that you own. It is often multistory, with a common hall or entry area.
A townhouse almost always has a separate outdoor entrance to each unit, and they sometimes have a yard which is owned by the owner of the townhome ( like a single detached house) , where in a condo you do not own the land surrounding the living space.

[obsidian97]

Originally Posted by allforcats

First: as a Microsoft employee, you have a Microsoft Human Resources person called a relocation advisor who will assist you in answering questions, finding neighborhoods to live in, and many other details of moving to the U.S. Be sure to ask your H.R. contact at MS who that person is, and how to contact that person. Let that person earn their salary by helping you.

Ask your recruiter, they'll give you the contact person at Cartus that will help you with your relo questions.

Originally Posted by allforcats

Second: to answer an implied question of yours, a "condo" is one unit in a multi-family building. A condo is almost always a single storey, with no upstairs or downstairs area, like the usual flat. Condo buildings often look like apartment buildings, and might have two units or 15 units or any number of units (like flats); it varies with the builder and the local government's building codes. So a condo is not a detached house.

Long story short: A condo is an apartment that you pay "rent" to the bank in the form of a mortgage instead of a landlord. They're generally bad news because they have all the drawbacks of an apartment and you can't break the lease. You have to sell it like you'd sell a house.
[/quote]

Originally Posted by allforcats

Third: Where to live. Working at Microsoft and having children, you would probably be best advised to start by living near Microsoft. Commuting around here can be very difficult because there are too many people moving here and not enough roads to hold all their cars. So, a sensible and comfortable idea is to live near where you work.

For the most part there are plenty of roads, especially if you're living in Redmond/Bellevue. It's the traffic lights that are coordinated to make you stop the maximum number of times and the SLOOOOOOW drivers that make it really bad. Just commuting a mile or two can be an adventure.

Originally Posted by allforcats

The Microsoft Connector Bus is a great service: you could live within walking distance from the Connector, or you could drive to a pick-up location, park the car, then take the Connector to the office. Here is the most current map of the Connector. Click anywhere on the map to enlarge it. MS keeps expanding the routes, so you can expect increased service.
Map: Microsoft's expanded 'Connector' system

Be careful. The seats are pre-reserved and you still have to meet the bus at the pickup lot. It's a very popular service. It can be difficult to get a seat but they're trying to improve that.

Also, if you plan on dropping your kids at daycare you can kiss all the commuter options goodbye other than the good old car. The system is totally unworkable for working parents unless you want to spend tons of time waiting for buses and making transfers. Since you have kids you need to IMMEDIATELY start looking for any arrangements you might need to have them looked after if they're not staying at home with a parent or going to a school. The waiting lists are crazy long and the better facilities are hard (and expensive) to come by.

I got soooo burned by this when I relo'ed it's not even funny.

[levendis]

g'day i'm an aussie too, i think you will find seattle to be very much like sydney. i think even better. i live in sydney lol

i would look at seattle real estate, Seattle realtor, search seattle mls, search seattle listings, seattle reo, seattle relo, seattle real estate search, seattle mls search, nwmls search - CLICK HERE TO SEARCH
to find a place take care, have fun in seattle.

[Lleran]

I want to thank you all for your great posts. Got quite a lot of reading to do.

Regards
Narell