Moving from Michigan to WA - Need advice pls (Seattle: apartment, to rent)

[bunny_hopper]

My family (me, husband, 3 young girls) are going to be moving to the Seattle area in August or September, depending on school start dates.

I could really use some advice and opinions to help us decide where to go, please excuse me if this is quite long but here is some background:

My husband has been laid off (2nd time now) and collects unemployment. I do not work (have been home with the girls and going to school). I am an accountant with a BBA_Acct degree and working on my Masters. I will be the one getting a job, as we are not moving with work yet. I will be looking as soon as we move. My husbad will be home with the girls because they are too young for us to put in daycare and daycare is too expensive. My husband runs a small business at home and will continue to do that when we move.

We are looking for an apartment that isn't too expensive (around $800 or less), in a very safe area. We would like to be within an hour commute to Seattle, closer if possible. We also need decent schools, I have one daughter going into 1st grade.

We have been looking in Bremerton, Federal Way, Renton, Tacoma and those surrounding areas. We will be moving with only around $4-$5,000.

Please, any advice on what areas to go to, or avoid. Accounting jobs advice. Graduate schools for accounting. And how it will be for us moving there. I have always wanted to go there, so has my husband, and with nothing tying us to Michigan we see this as our chance to flee!

Thank you!!!!

[Woland]

Within an hour commute? I would knock Bremerton of your list right off the bat. The fastest way to get from Bremerton to Seattle is the ferry and that takes an hour just to get there.

Sounds like you want to be close to Seattle, but not the expense of Seattle proper. Renton isn't bad. Federal Way is further south and has plenty of cheap living available.

Job wise, Seattle isn't doing to great right now. Jobs may be a little hard to come by right now.

[bunny_hopper]

Originally Posted by Woland

Within an hour commute? I would knock Bremerton of your list right off the bat. The fastest way to get from Bremerton to Seattle is the ferry and that takes an hour just to get there.

Sounds like you want to be close to Seattle, but not the expense of Seattle proper. Renton isn't bad. Federal Way is further south and has plenty of cheap living available.

Job wise, Seattle isn't doing to great right now. Jobs may be a little hard to come by right now.

Thank you for the advice. I will check into Federal Way and Renton. I am in Michigan and it is so much worse here. We can live off unemployment plus some other income we have, so we are going there because we have always wanted to go and since we have to move from our house anyway, we figure its better than Michigan!
Thanks again!

[Northman]

You have a 5 person family and want an apartment in the Seattle area for $800 or less?

Are you serious?

You'd have trouble finding a one bedroom apartment in a "very safe area" in Seattle for $800 a month.

Why would you even consider moving somewhere without a job lined up in this economy? It would cost you 5 grand just to move your family out there from Michigan. What if you get all the way out there and you can't find work?

And no, I don't live in Seattle, but have been there and also came close to moving there a couple times, so I've done a lot of research on the COL. It's much more expensive to live out there than anywhere in Michigan.

I'm really not trying to rain on your parade, but your plans don't sound rational at all. At the very least one of you should land a job first.

[509]

Well, moving to Seattle is a move of desperation.

However, try this website for jobs: https://fortress.wa.gov/esd/worksource/

It is the unemployment office site, but is lists jobs by occupation and anybody that has a job vacancy and a government contract must file their openings with the unemployment office.

In the smaller towns, you can really get a job through them. Not sure how well they work in urban areas like Seattle.

Try it for accounting jobs. It will give you a feel for openings throughout the state.

If your lucky you can find a job outside the Seattle area.

[SonicsFan93]

Originally Posted by Northman

You have a 5 person family and want an apartment in the Seattle area for $800 or less?

Are you serious?

You'd have trouble finding a one bedroom apartment in a "very safe area" in Seattle for $800 a month.

Why would you even consider moving somewhere without a job lined up in this economy? It would cost you 5 grand just to move your family out there from Michigan. What if you get all the way out there and you can't find work?
And no, I don't live in Seattle, but have been there and also came close to moving there a couple times, so I've done a lot of research on the COL. It's much more expensive to live out there than anywhere in Michigan.

I'm really not trying to rain on your parade, but your plans don't sound rational at all. At the very least one of you should land a job first.

Actually, I've heard from many, many posters on this board that they've had to move to the area in order to get a job. It's a lot harder to line up a job, than it is to come to town, and then get one.

[bunny_hopper]

Originally Posted by Northman

You have a 5 person family and want an apartment in the Seattle area for $800 or less?

Are you serious?

You'd have trouble finding a one bedroom apartment in a "very safe area" in Seattle for $800 a month.

Why would you even consider moving somewhere without a job lined up in this economy? It would cost you 5 grand just to move your family out there from Michigan. What if you get all the way out there and you can't find work?

And no, I don't live in Seattle, but have been there and also came close to moving there a couple times, so I've done a lot of research on the COL. It's much more expensive to live out there than anywhere in Michigan.

I'm really not trying to rain on your parade, but your plans don't sound rational at all. At the very least one of you should land a job first.

It may not sound rational to you, but we do have some income, but I do need a job to really be stable. We have had many ups and downs in Michigan and have been thinking of moving for over 3 years. There is no work here and it is going to take so long for Michigan to recover from all of this.

I know that we are going to have to be in a less than desirable area in the beginning, butwe have to make some sacrifices before moving up. Even in Michigan we have to move to a less than desirable area because we cannot afford it.

I know Seattle is more expensive than a lot of areas, but it is where we want to live.

It is close to impossible to line up a job before moving - I am not a high level executive, but I have good experience and a good education.

Thank you for your honesty, but trust me, this isn't being done on a whim and my kids are the most important things to me and I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't truly believe we could make a good living once we get out there. I am being realistic, I know it can still take some time to find a job there, but we can live off the income we do have, just not as well as most.

[bunny_hopper]

It is very true that many people are moving to antoher area to get a job. Especially here in Michigan. The thing is, we have to suffer alittle to be good in the end. Even if I found a job in Michigan, I don't feel safe here, meaning I will always be thinking I will be getting laid off. I know the economy isn't the best everywhere, but its all better than in Michigan. I know a lot of people who have just left to another state to find work.

We have unemployment to live off of until we get work. I hate living off the gov't money, but we have to until a job comes along.

Really think about this - we have no work tying us to Michigan, we don't own a home, and our family is scattered so we aren't leaving our entire family. Why not take this opportunity to go where we will end up moving one day anyway, and try to make a better life for ourselves?

I understand why people think its irrational or out of desperation, but only my family and I know how much thought, research and soul searching went into this decision. I just was hoping to get some honest advice on the Seattle area, thats all.

[obsidian97]

Some people like to throw rocks, don't let that dissuade you though. You're just going to have to really carefully plan things out to make this work.

For school districts, a few that keep coming up over and over as being really good are Lake Washington, Bellevue, Mercer Island, Northshore... I'm sure there are others.

Seattle itself doesn't have the best school district on the whole as others. Different schools within the same district may be a bit better than others at different grades (for instance, Bellevue's high school is very highly ranked, but other districts have more effective grade schools at the moment, etc.)

One thing to consider for your particular profession is that you may be competing with people in Seattle who were impacted by Washington Mutual being sold to Chase. Perhaps there are some folks here on the board who can comment on that.

On $800/mo, you're almost certainly going to have to rent, which isn't such a bad thing because (if all goes well) you'll probably want to move in the future anyhow.

Another thing to consider is that not only is daycare expensive here, it's relatively scarce for the better facilities. With more than 2 or 3 kids needing care, many people switch to a nanny because it's cheaper. Your husband will need to be happy with watching the kids otherwise one of you will be working for the daycare/nanny to one degree or another.

Post-secondary schools here seem to have problems with generating enough supply to meet the demand. With the recent heavy budget cuts this is probably only going to get worse. You may want to contact a few schools you're interested in before you move if getting additional education here is important to you.

Good luck.

[Northman]

Originally Posted by obsidian97

Some people like to throw rocks, don't let that dissuade you though. You're just going to have to really carefully plan things out to make this work.

Throw rocks? I hope you're not referring to my response!

Warning someone with a husband and 3 kids about moving to one of the more expensive areas in the country with no jobs and next to no money should hardly be labled "rock throwing".

Hey, I don't feel "safe" in this Michigan economy either, and I'm a licensed allied health care tech. If I have to move, I'll have the financing and employment all secured ahead of time, though.

You don't have to live in Seattle to get a job there. Just tell any potential employer that you're moving there for sure and you don't expect them to pay any moving expenses. That's the 2 things they're concerned with.

Do whatever you want. Free country. Good luck!