Affording a house in Seattle... (Vancouver, Bellingham: relocate, real estate, affordable houses)

[scirocco22]

Again, CityGirl has it right.


Let's say you have good access to the 520 corridor into Redmond. The ST Rt. 545 has excellent service in both directions in the off-peak hours. Why in "both" directions? Because it's very heavily used my Microsoft employees who also use subsidized bus passes. Therefore, if you choose a location with good access to the 520 corridor, you'll have excellent service during all hours of the day right up until midnight.

Incidentally, again I explained this in another post, you'll see that a route such as the 545 is going into and out of downtown Seattle but, it stops at the Montlake Express Stop which is a short walk from the southern edge of the campus. Consequently, you'll again have a multitude of bus routes to choose from because, not only the ones going directly into the campus, you'll also be able to use the ones going over 520 into downtown.

--'rocco

[jwb123]

I wouldn't move to Mill Creek.

We just moved FROM Mill Creek/Bothell to Austin, TX. We sold our 23 yr old crappy fixer upper (which we did really nicely fix up) in a rundown neighborhood for $370k. 4 bedrooms, 1600 sq ft.

I would not recommend the Edmonds school district, which serves Edmonds, Lynnwood, and my little pocket of Mill Creek/Bothell.

Do a search on "Mill Creek" in this forum - I have posted several times the issues with the area (in need of revitalization, spotty, bad schools, depressed neighborhoods, high property crime). We lived there for 3 years. We had an income there of $120k.

The commute from the UW to Mill Creek (a straight shot up 5, about 25ish miles) will run anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour, both ways. The bus system will be difficult, because you cross from King county, into Snohomish County - and have to go from riding Metro, to Community Transit. It's convoluted.

[Stonecoldharbours]

Can one live in a nice modest home in a safe community in the area of Seattle or is this too little? THanks!

[jwb123]

Well, we don't know what your debt to income ratio is... and what other mitigating expenses could be.

You could definitely rent - but not knowing the other factors, nor what your definition of "nice", "modest" and "safe" is, or how close or far away from Seattle you want to consider - there is no way to answer this definitively.

[scirocco22]

Originally Posted by Jenbar

The commute from the UW to Mill Creek (a straight shot up 5, about 25ish miles) will run anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour, both ways. The bus system will be difficult, because you cross from King county, into Snohomish County - and have to go from riding Metro, to Community Transit. It's convoluted.

eh, not necessarily convoluted, Jen. Yeah, time wise, it could take that long BUT, there is a direct bus right into the UW if 1ggy's DH can get to either the McCollum or Mariner Park and Ride. No transfer needed from those points.

--'rocco

[jwb123]

Where are those parks?

My husband had a hard time scheduling both, trips to SafeCo in the UW area, and trips to Microsoft, from 164th. It didn't work out to be worth it - considering the travel time and transfers.

[Stonecoldharbours]

As far as safe, I mean really safe, and more suburban than urban of course, thanks for your input!

[magrack]

70K is higher than the average for WA, but might be a little low for the immediate Seattle area, but certainly doable, many people in the area do it on less.

Are you looking to buy or rent?

Depending on what you're used to, it may require strict budgeting and planning if you're looking to buy.

If you're not bringing a bunch of equity money with you, you may not qualify until you can save enough for a substantial down.

You could look in Maple Valley or Black Diamond, but they are more rural than you might like, but are safe.

[CityGirl72]

I say anything is doable - and safe and affordable is easy to find - but you will need to be farther away from the Seattle proper area, I've heard Duvall is nice too

And I was impressed with Bellingham - but that's quite a drive away

[jwb123]

Duvall is nice! It's just difficult to get in and out of. 2 lane roads make for big traffic congestion during peak commute times.