Moving to Seattle (Tacoma, Bellevue, Kirkland: apartments, rentals, condos)

[FrankGWP]

Hi new to forum...

I am moving to Seattle with my newly pregnant wife. We need to rent an apartment in a safe, "reasonably priced" neighborhood with mass transit access to downtown (where my job will be) and two plus bedroom are a must.

Please offer suggestions as to where I should begin looking.

Thanks!

[tigger865]

Have you looked at rent.net and apartments.com

[teamirene]

Try Craigslist: seattle-tacoma apts/housing for rent classifieds - craigslist

The prices will tell you where you'll end up with the size that you want.

Here's a Seattle PI neighborhood guide - I think some of the linked articles are on the old side, but this gives you an idea of neighborhood locations, etc:

Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Webtowns - Your guide to neighborhoods around Puget Sound

[Heiwos]

I would check craigslist for Queen Anne and Bellevue apts.

Queen Anne is a plateau-ish hill just north of downtown, a relatively safe oasis on top, sketchy around the edges (I guess the vagrants don't like to climb). Queen Anne is generally $$$ but there's some value stuff too, and you'd have a short (< 20 minute bus) commute. Queen Anne has postcard views of the city, Puget Sound, and Olympic mountains.

Bellevue, on the Eastside (of Lake Washington) is even safer (think affluent suburb). It has its own downtown skyscrapers, and there are many express buses to downtown Seattle (about 30 minutes). In the Lake Hills, Robinswood, and Eastgate areas of Bellevue, there are now many rental houses that are almost as cheap as apartments. You can get a 3 br. 1 bath house for ~$1500, or a 2 br. apartment for ~$1300. If looking on the Eastside, definitely focus near I-90 to avoid traffic jams on 520, the alternative bridge.

[FrankGWP]

Thanks...keep it coming!!

[allforcats]

Queen Anne, Ballard, Fremont, Wallingford, Ravenna, Capitol Hill, First Hill -- all are neighborhoods of the City of Seattle. Bellevue, Kirkland, Remond, maybe Issaquah (might be just a bit distant) are all separate cities outside Seattle.

All have direct, one-busline access to downtown Seattle during commuting hours, lots of apartments, condos and tonhouses for rent, and a wealth of nearby resources such as supermarkets, restaurants, banks, libraries, shops, etc. All are pretty safe, as "Seattle" (a very large conceptual area) is generally pretty laid back and is among the safest of cities its size or even smaller.

This is yet another excellent resource. Click on location names to drill down to smaller areas, then to neighborhoods (named above).
NWapartments: Seattle apartment rentals, house rental listings, rental classifieds and other property rentals in Seattle, Tacoma, Bellevue and other Washington areas, cities and neighborhoods

More resources:
Seattle Classifieds - Seattle Weekly
and
classifieds.thestranger.com | seattle classifieds, employment, rentals, buy sell trade, musicians, escorts
also:
apartments.com, rent.com, forrent.com