issaquah highlands vs. sammamish (Bellevue, Redmond: 2011, countertops, houses)

[Ira500]

Yup. Squak Mountain state Park is awesome. Great hiking. There are a couple of trailheads, and the area has nice homes with a rural feel, but close to Issaquah.

[70Ford]

Originally Posted by Heiwos

For $500K I'd buy in Redmond/Bellevue. (Pretty much what I'm planning to do.) You can have a nice place for that, esp. if you wait another year. If you could get a considerably better house in Sammamish for the money, that might be fully offset by the worse location over a decade or so, not just in terms of gas money, but also time, and because Redmond/Bellevue offers a better standard of living (IMO). For example, in exchange for less house, you get great & numerous parks.

The Issaquah Highlands is low-quality construction, the HOA is onerous, and you'd likely have to walk up the hill in the snow. Other than that, it's a relatively good location. I lived in Issaquah for more than a decade and liked it a lot. A lot better than Sammamish IMO. I agree with the poster above, that for my money in Issaquah I'd buy an older house on Squak Mountain. From there you & kids have better access to schools (except elementary), the pool, the library, and most Issaquah shopping/restaurants. Plus Squak Mtn. state park is a nice place to walk.

They're going to toll I-90. Just watch and see.

[sophie1110]

u mean toll 520 and I-90 birdge?

[sophie1110]

Originally Posted by Heiwos

For $500K I'd buy in Redmond/Bellevue. (Pretty much what I'm planning to do.) You can have a nice place for that, esp. if you wait another year. If you could get a considerably better house in Sammamish for the money, that might be fully offset by the worse location over a decade or so, not just in terms of gas money, but also time, and because Redmond/Bellevue offers a better standard of living (IMO). For example, in exchange for less house, you get great & numerous parks.

The Issaquah Highlands is low-quality construction, the HOA is onerous, and you'd likely have to walk up the hill in the snow. Other than that, it's a relatively good location. I lived in Issaquah for more than a decade and liked it a lot. A lot better than Sammamish IMO. I agree with the poster above, that for my money in Issaquah I'd buy an older house on Squak Mountain. From there you & kids have better access to schools (except elementary), the pool, the library, and most Issaquah shopping/restaurants. Plus Squak Mtn. state park is a nice place to walk.

But it's hard to find relatively new community in redmond/bellevue with decent school district within our budget

[seattlenextyear]

Originally Posted by sophie1110

But it's hard to find relatively new community in redmond/bellevue with decent school district within our budget

What about Redmond Ridge?

[ElektroDragon]

Originally Posted by seattlenextyear

What about Redmond Ridge?

Have you seen their mile long CC&Rs from hell?

If I had any authority I would outlaw all HOAs and CC&Rs. Let there be anarchy. Freedom for everyone I say. If its not illegal by state and federal law, I don't want some ridiculous comittee telling me what to do. As if having all these stupid rules did squat to prevent real estate values from falling when the housing bubble burst! Ha!

Sadly, avoiding CC&Rs and HOAs in western WA is almost IMPOSSIBLE unless you want to live in a isolated shack 2 hours from Seattle. And even then you'll probably pay $300K for the honor.

[seattlenextyear]

The OP didn't seem to be anti-HOA. Its impossible to find new construction without also finding a HOA almost anywhere in the country.

[Heiwos]

Originally Posted by sophie1110

But it's hard to find relatively new community in redmond/bellevue with decent school district within our budget

Then just drop the "new" requirement New houses offer less value for the money in most cases. It's not that hard to update an older house so that it looks great. There is a 2000 sq. ft. house w/ 2-car garage near the Issaquah library on Squak Mtn., built in 1980, that recently sold for $370K. For an additional $100K (still below your budget) it could've been nicely updated. It's on 1/3 acre, with good buffer between neighboring houses. You can't touch that value in the Issaquah Highlands.

[MichaelinWA]

Yeah, that would really help my property values. After spending a half-million dollars on a home, I would be more worried about getting stuck with the neighbor from hell than having to deal with an HOA. Our is actually run pretty responsibly; it's too bad others are not.

Originally Posted by ElektroDragon

If I had any authority I would outlaw all HOAs and CC&Rs. Let there be anarchy.

[MFetch]

My husband and I looked at a home in the Highlands this weekend and are considering purchasing it. Before we were pretty set on finding something in Sammamish but the price (of the IH home) had come down over $100K, we loved all the parks, and the walkability of the elementary school. It just fit better. Also, the HOA fees were much lower than we expected and the yard is larger than the one we have in Seattle.

I can understand why some people would dislike it but I think it will be a good fit for us.