suggestion needed !!!(buy house in issaquah highlands)

[Ira500]

She expected that we'd visit the townhouse, be wowed by that third floor with the view of the dog park..

Nothing enhances property values as much as watching dogs taking dumps.

[jenlion]

That's what she said.

[texastrigirl]

And our realtor showed us IH but was thrilled when we opted out of living in IH! He never encouraged it but I insisted we see it.

[zulan78]

Hope this information helps you to understand why IH has low income housing. The city of Issaquah mandated to have affordable living available to those who do not make as much money in comparison to the median population in the city. They want a mixture of professions/people to have the ability to live there (i.e. teachers) who otherwise wouldn't be able to buy a house in that neighborhood. What builders must do is to have a certain number of homes available for "low income" and they usually are the ones who get first priority. If the homes are not sold within a certain time frame, they will open it up to the general public and the price is often increased. It is not really "low income" housing as you may normally think of that phrase. If I can remember correctly, when my husband and I looked two years ago, the household had to make less than $70k a year to be qualified to buy a low income home. When the national average person makes $42k a year, it doesn't shout out "low income" to me.

You may actually get a very good deal on it if you qualify for the home. Different builders may have different critiera when you can sell. Just make sure you are fine with it if you like the area and read all the documents. Personally I found the IH to be a bit claustrophic and decided to live on the plateau.

A few positive factors about the IH is the growth of the area. They will be building a Swedish Hospital, grocery stores, movie theater and etc. in the coming years. Microsoft originally owned a ton of the land so they may decide to build some of their offices there as well. If MS does build, you will definitely see growth in the neighborhood. As for now, selling would be hard as there are a ton of competition. Then again, which neighborhood isn't seeing the result of the economic hardship?

If you like the close proximity of the homes, then go for it. IH has a community feeling where there are a ton of parks to bring your kids/dogs to play or for easy hikes and the homes are supposed to be build more green than your average new construction.