issaquah highlands vs. sammamish (income, living, deal)

[wsugrad03]

You really should stick to South Sammamish near the I-90 corridor. Don't go up into the weeds of Redmond Ridge or deep within Sammamish. You'll hate your commute. Location will give you a better resale value. I would also consider Newcastle or Bellevue. You're not going to want to commute an extra 20 minutes from the freeway exit to get to your house, which is why the I-90 corridor is expensive.

Now...about IH. This is a "new urbanism" development. The idea is you don't need a yard when you have community parks. It's all a zero lot line community, which I personally hate. The prices are still waaay too high for my taste. However, having a future shopping center and direct freeway access with park and ride is pretty cool.

In defense of the Issaquah Highlands, the construction is not "low quality." Most homes are 2x6 construction and energy efficient. There's high building standards there, although you still feel like you're getting ripped off. Prices are cooling right now, but there's speculation that after the highlands shopping center is completed, prices will start going back up. There is still a good year or two before that happens.

The schools in the Issaquah, Sammamish, Redmond, and Bellevue areas are all fantastic.

[texastrigirl]

Mfetch, you may want to check on overcrowding issues at Grand Ridge Elementary if that applies to you (don't know if you have kids yet). Not sure if it's an issue yet but there have been rumblings of it. You basically want to ask what capacity the building was built for and how many students it is currently serving. Also if Kindergartners will be bused elsewhere at some point in time.

[MFetch]

Thank you texastrigirl! I hadn't considered that.

[texastrigirl]

Unfortunately the Plateau is getting very crowded. There is a new school going in for the 2010-2011 school year and that should help. Right now I think they only offer one full day Kinder class at GRE because they have so many kids there. Maybe you don't care about having a full day option but it is something to consider.

[MFetch]

Don't you live in the Pine Lake area? How do you like it?

One of the big reasons I like IH is because I hate driving and really wanted to have basic things (like a drycleaner for example) that I could actually walk to. Most things that we've looked at in Sammamish have been in never ending subdivisions or in areas with nothing but houses and no sidewalks.

[texastrigirl]

Yes, we live on the southwest corner of Pine Lake right off of Iss-Pine Lake road or 32nd as it's called over here. It's our little slice of heaven. It's a little over a mile to walk over to the gym, Starbucks, drycleaning, a few restaurants. Plus we can shoot down 212th to get down to East Lake Samm so it's convenient for commuting and to Trader Joes, Costco, etc. I guess it's like living on the north end of Issaquah a bit from that perspective. We love the location plus we have a large treed lot, live on a culdesac but have a small HOA (50 houses split between two separate areas...my immediate section is only 30 houses). And being right off of Pine Lake is heaven. We walk our canoe down the street, pop it in at our HOA park and we are suddenly on vacation. We can also walk a few hundred feet to an organic blueberry farm. 99 cents a lb! Have you been to Pine Lake Park? It's just lovely. My husband works downtown so we really tried to stay as close to 90 as we could and it has worked out well. We looked at IH. It was just way too congested for us and expensive for what you got for your money. Of course we bought in July 2007 at the height of the market too so everything was expensive!! Our dear friends live up there in a gorgeous home with an incredible view and they want out but can't sell without taking a bath. They feel like it's too hard to get in and out of IH and that when/if the High Streets go in, traffic will be tougher. They would like to be in Samm or Issaquah with more room.

[MFetch]

Thanks again texastrigirl, a friend of my husband's lives in your area too. I think we'll snoop around there this weekend. Being close to I-90 is a priority. We don't want to add much to our commute time.

Does anyone know how Talus compares to IH?

[jenlion]

Originally Posted by MFetch

Does anyone know how Talus compares to IH?

Far as I can tell... IH is for people who are faking/wish they had money. Talus is for those who actually do.

Seriously, (with a grain of salt because I really,really don't like IH), IH is like Frisco, TX. Put together in a hurry, everyone comparing their BMWs and Mercedes, who has the best paint color or light fixture. Competition, keep-up-with-the-Joneses, debt-to-your-eyeballs. My very strong impression.

Talus (also with a grain of salt because I'll never live there either!) struck me as the confident-money type of area. They don't have to show off because the homes already have the best taste installed. No granite tiles on those countertops to save money while pretending to be nice: solid granite, thanks. Unless you happen to prefer something else, in which case that's fine, and no one will question it because you must be expressing your personal taste, which you are entitled to once you reach a certain S-E status.

The homes there (at least the ones I've seen) can still be ostentatious, but it's more like University Park in Dallas. Older money mixed with newer but realer money than IH. You might just get asked to use the servant's - no, excuse me, side - entrance. Or not. Depending.

That's my impression. I only have one friend that lives in Talus so all my impressions are based on her home and those around it. And I don't have any friends in IH, I just researched it while househunting 18 months ago, toured several of the homes. IH was doable; Talus was not. I would guess that if you are trying to raise money to cure cancer, you want the people in Talus; if you want people to wear your t-shirts about curing cancer, you want the people in IH.

[ElektroDragon]

Now if only they'd widen the 405 to be size of the 90, my new house in Bothell right off the 405 will skyrocket in value.

[MFetch]

Far as I can tell... IH is for people who are faking/wish they had money. Talus is for those who actually do.

Really? Just from looking online it seems that the prices for type of house we want (4 br) is pretty similar. But then, the market isn't what it was. A RE agent told me that Talus doesn't have the common areas and playgrounds that IH has. Instead they have access to more trails.