Help finding a great family friendly suburb... (Seattle, Bellevue: real estate market, apartment)

[hunter_mom]

I've seen some great advice on these boards so hopefully you can help me. My husband is on the verge of getting an offer from a firm in Bellevue. We currently live in NY and don't know anyone in Seattle so this will be a big move for us.

We have a one year old son and I'll probably be staying at home for a while until we get settled and I can start the whole job search, so we'd really like to find a suburb that would be an easy commute for my husband and where I would be able to meet a lot of other families with young kids. Proximity to the city is not as important as finding a comfortable home life.

We're looking to spend about $800K and would like a 4 (or 5) bedroom house with a nice yard, if possible. Newer construction is preferred. Great schools are very important. I've never even been to Seattle so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!

[CityGirl72]

Easy answer

The Eastside - which has Bellevue located in it - it's the best family area - nice clean suburbs and the best schools

If you want to get real fancy - you can go up to Woodenville

[scirocco22]

I agree with CityGirl. As I always say, stay as close to work as is allowed. Less time commuting = more time with family.

You may find it difficult to find a newer construction in Bellevue proper but you should be able to find a 4 bedroom house in that price range in an older (perhaps 20-30 year old) neighborhood in Bellevue.

If newer constuction is important, then yes, Woodinville, Redmond Ridge, Sammamish, Issaquah, etc. may be an option as the newer developments are mostly located further from Bellevue.

But agreed, stay on the eastside.

[hunter_mom]

Thanks. We're definitely planning on looking on the East Side, but I was hoping to hear about specific neighborhoods. My husband saw some new developments in Snoqualmie (Snoqualmie Ridge?) when he was there. Do you know anything about that area?

[scirocco22]

Yeah, I should have mentioned that one too. Snoqualmie Ridge is a huge master-planned community located just west of North Bend. Lot of new houses.

I wouldn't say it would be an "easy" commute into downtown Bellevue. If DH is driving alone, he's going to run into traffic (horrendous traffic) from Issaquah on in assuming that he'll be commuting during the regular rush-hour commute and obviously encountering the same or worse coming back home.

Again, with the area's terrible congestion, I still say to find something as close to work as possible. There'll be some days where hubby will be home an hour late to dinner ...I still say; less time commuting, more time with family.

[hunter_mom]

Originally Posted by scirocco22

Yeah, I should have mentioned that one too. Snoqualmie Ridge is a huge master-planned community located just west of North Bend. Lot of new houses.

I wouldn't say it would be an "easy" commute into downtown Bellevue. If DH is driving alone, he's going to run into traffic (horrendous traffic) from Issaquah on in assuming that he'll be commuting during the regular rush-hour commute and obviously encountering the same or worse coming back home.

Again, with the area's terrible congestion, I still say to find something as close to work as possible. There'll be some days where hubby will be home an hour late to dinner ...I still say; less time commuting, more time with family.

The main reason for our move is so that DH can spend more time at home during the week. I really like the new master-planned communites. Any others that you'd recommend closer to Bellevue?

[scirocco22]

Ah man, since I no longer live in the area, I'm not as familiar as I once was with what's going on the in the real estate market but I do visit quite a bit. I'm thinking Washington Ridge in Newcastle is a nice development but I think all the new houses up there are now over a million dollars. A huge amount of new houses are being built up on the "plateau" ...Issaquah/Sammamish. The Issaquah part of the plateau, Issaquah Highlands, is a nice planned community with good access to the freeway.

As we've talked about in other theads, you might want to consider renting at first to get the "feel" of the area. That would give you time to search around a little more leisurely and not be pressured into quickly finding a neighborhood to buy a house. Perhaps try to find a rental in these neighborhoods we've been mentioning and then after you meet people at work and start making friends, you can get a better feel of what area you might want to settle in "more permanently."

And again, as we've gotten into several heated arguments about, real estate prices may drop in the meantime. I'm not saying that I necessarily think that, as I usually argue to buy a house if it's to live in, but I still don't think it will hurt to rent for awhile and get familiar with the area.

Good luck.

[noplacelikeWA]

Rocco is right about the "plateau" area in Issaquah, really nice neighborhoods, easy commute to DT Bellevue. I would also look into Newcastle developments, really good location, new homes, beautiful views, zip is 98059, sudivisons to look into...

Ridgewood at Newcastle
The Vineyards in Olympus
China Falls

[Evlevo]

The geography of the northwest (lots of hills, streams, wetlands, and valleys) blocks off a lot of land for building. That means you usually have to go to further out areas to find something new. The ones that are closer tend to be on the pricier side (3,000+ homes are typical) and run $1,000,000 or more in most cases.

There are a lot of "older" areas that have fantastic homes, and other than the house being 20-30 years old instead of 2-3 years old, fit what most people enjoy about the "master planned" aspect. An example is the "South Cove" collection of neighborhoods in Issaquah. $800,000 would find a very nice place there! It is on the lake (with "private community" beaches and parks), it's clean, and there are plenty of other families with children. It is also on the west end of Issaquah and a mile from the freeway, so the rush hour commute is about 20 minutes less than even the "Plateau" areas of Issaquah. There are lots of areas like that that are great... they just aren't brand new.

[tlg1331]

If you are going to work in Bellevue, I would recommend looking for homes in Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, or Newcastle. Portions of Woodinville and Issaquah that are closer wouldn't be too bad. Anything else and your commute will be getting long. Sammammish is very nice, but there are so many people living back there and no freeways in that area that the commute would not be fun. I suggest renting an apartment for a few months while you decide on the area and the commute time you are willing to deal with.

We live in Redmond on Education Hill and really like the area. We don't have kids, but the area is known for great schools and it has a lot to offer in shopping (Redmond Town Center) and restaurants. We find it to be a very quaint city with a good mix of new and older homes. 116th has a lot of new construction communities within your price range.