Bothell, Woodinville, or Kirkland? (Kingsgate, Lake Stevens: bank owned, short sales, apartment) - Seattle and King County Suburbs - City-Data Forum

mhmd4031 · 02-24-2009, 09:42 PM

My family and I just recently moved here from southern california. Currently we are living in mill creek. My husband works in seattle and takes the bus to work. Our apartment lease is up in 4 months, and we are thinking of buying a house but not higher than 250k (yes, we would be buying a bank owned or forclosure). I havent been able to tour the towns much, but we are looking into bothell, woodinville and kirkland areas. We like nice, newer areas and kid friendly places. (we have a toddler). I heard theres a village and a nice downtown in bothell that we were thinking about visiting and I know woodinville is supposed to be beautiful and nice as well. Kirkland we hear is very nice, a little more pricey but worth it. Any suggestions??

jojo7 · 02-25-2009, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mhmd4031

My family and I just recently moved here from southern california. Currently we are living in mill creek. My husband works in seattle and takes the bus to work. Our apartment lease is up in 4 months, and we are thinking of buying a house but not higher than 250k (yes, we would be buying a bank owned or forclosure). I havent been able to tour the towns much, but we are looking into bothell, woodinville and kirkland areas. We like nice, newer areas and kid friendly places. (we have a toddler). I heard theres a village and a nice downtown in bothell that we were thinking about visiting and I know woodinville is supposed to be beautiful and nice as well. Kirkland we hear is very nice, a little more pricey but worth it. Any suggestions??

Just thought I would attach a website that has homes that sell in a range equivalent to your income. Sometimes there are some great deals through the Arch and quite frequently you can purchase something new for a fraction of the cost. My mom is purchasing through Arch and it is a great way to get the most for your money. Some of those income requirements can be quite generous and it might be worth it just to keep checking to see there is something of interest. If you browse through the website, it will list the income requirements and how it works. Unfortunately, majority of the sales are townhomes and condos but some of these townhomes can be large. The website is archhousing.org. I think your choice in area is going to depend upon where that great foreclosure deal is located. All three towns are nice in their own unique way and I don't think you can go wrong with any of those areas. Good luck.

Ira500 · 02-25-2009, 10:28 AM

Downtown Bothell is nice, most of Kirkland is really nice, and Woodinville is nice but a little further out.
Within Kirkland, I'm not real fond of the Kingsgate area, it has a lot of older apartment buildings and strip malls..
About foreclosures and bank owned property, you'll be a lot better off buying a bank owned property rather than a foreclosure. A foreclosure itself means that you will buy he house at the foreclosure auction. You might get a good deal there, but you can't get to see the inside of the home beforehand, and financing it is more difficult. Also, at the foreclosure auction, the opening bid is the amount that the owner still owes, and all too often they bought at the height of the market or took out a home equity loan, so the minimum bid will be more than what the house is worth...It's fun to go to the foreclosure auctions, but just to watch. Bank owned properties are sometimes listed with agents and sometimes sold directly by the bank, and are financeable and you can get into them beforehand.
The other way people sometimes get deals is with short sales, where the seller owes more than what the house is worth and is behind on their payments, and the bank has agreed to accept less than what is owed...But of the three, the easiest is bank owned property, which sometimes but not always offers good deals.

mhmd4031 · 02-25-2009, 02:32 PM

Thanks for reply, they were both very helpful. I know Lake Stevens is pretty far out, but I have heard alot of good things about it to. Once we can narrow down 2 maybe 3 good places, then we can check into the housing market. Thanks again!!

Redline · 02-25-2009, 08:07 PM

From what I've seen, single family homes in Kirkland start at $600k and the nicer ones are around $800k. Not sure what you can get for $250k

Re: short sales, I hear those can take forever. True? I know a couple that put a bid down on such a property 3 months ago and still haven't heard back.

Ira500 · 02-25-2009, 08:10 PM

Re: short sales, I hear those can take forever. True?
True.

jojo7 · 02-25-2009, 11:10 PM

I am not trying to kill your hopes in a short sale but most articles I have read are not very confidence inspiring. I thought I would attach one article for you to read so you know what to expect and although it's rather lengthy, it gives you a lot of details on a short sales that might help you decide if you should go that route. Hope it helps you.

Where Short Sales Stumble - washingtonpost.com

cpastars · 02-28-2009, 02:43 PM

Don't want to sound like a jerk, but those places are 30 minutes from you...hop in the car and start driving around the areas.

mhmd4031 · 03-01-2009, 09:17 PM

Thanks for the advice. Actually, the places we have found to buy are in our price range and in all the areas we are looking at. My father in law is a Realtor so it helps. I like all the towns so far, we will have to look more into them as time goes on. thanks again