what salary is needed for one person (Seattle, Pacific: apartments, rent)

[birdofparadise]

How much gross annual salary do I need to support myself in Seattle assuming that I will rent a studio apartment in a safe area someplace with a lively social scene and close to all amenities?

[allforcats]

How "close" do you want to be to the amenities -- walking, bus ride, or driving distance? And what does "all" amenities include?

For you, what constitutes "lively social scene"? Singles bars? Jazz clubx? Museusms? Participatory sports? Churches?

A necessary yearly salary will depend entirely on how much you wish to spend on the lively social scene, clothes, transportation especially car, and eating out. What are your parameters?

A studio in a safe area (all of western Washington is safe) of Seattle or close suburbs will run $700 per month and up, mostly up. Plus electricity, cable, internet, phone if landline, garage parking... The closer to all that lively social scene and "all" amenities, the higher the rent.

[birdofparadise]

Are there a lot of vacancies in Seattle? I have my own car. I'm living very simply on the east coast right now - mostly fast food and other than going to church, no social life. All that needs to change when I get to Seattle. Lively social scene to me means downtown with people my age - mid 30's. Living near the Pacific Ocean would be great.

[JesseJames34]

Originally Posted by birdofparadise

How much gross annual salary do I need to support myself in Seattle assuming that I will rent a studio apartment in a safe area someplace with a lively social scene and close to all amenities?

It all depends on your income to debt ratio, but assuming you want to scrape by and don't have much monthly debts (eg car, credit cards, etc), then I'd say $20/hr or $3200/mth or $38000 annual gross is the minimum to get by.

apartments.com is your friend....

[Ultimate Cheapskate]

It use to be that "success was earning your age." In this new economy, I think success is spending ~10% LESS than your age.

[birdofparadise]

How about if I want to buy a one bedroom condo? How much down payment would I be looking at and how much in monthly payments? This is assuming that I don't have much to put down as a down payment. Thanks.

[JesseJames34]

Originally Posted by birdofparadise

How about if I want to buy a one bedroom condo? How much down payment would I be looking at and how much in monthly payments? This is assuming that I don't have much to put down as a down payment. Thanks.

Are you jerking us around or what? Your down payment will be based on so many things that nobody could possibly tell you. You may not even need one. bankrate.com has mortgage calculators. craigslist.com and seattletimes.com have realestate listings.

[birdofparadise]

I haven't bought a place before, ok? I was just asking for a generalization, e.g. 10%.

[JesseJames34]

Originally Posted by birdofparadise

I haven't bought a place before, ok? I was just asking for a generalization, e.g. 10%.

It depends on your income. If you mortgage a $100,000 property but only make $1000 a year, then you will need around $99,999 down payment. See, ti's not really possible to tell you. Generally 3+% is needed.

[birdofparadise]

OK, thanks. I am assuming that I will make at least as much as is needed for one person to survive without credit card debt and without car payments. 3+% sounds workable for me.