Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hello, I am wondering if $80,000-90,000 is a decent amount for living in Seattle, particularly downtown. I currently live in Indianapolis, Indiana, which is a really low cost of living city, so I'm not used to any sort of expensive lifestyle.
In terms of living, a decent sized 1br apartment for a single man, having a decent car and furniture would be noteworthy aswell. Going out every once in a while would be nice, parades and theatres, etc.
Last edited by Daetor2005; 08-19-2010 at 05:05 PM..
Let's figure that after taxes you're seeing, what, $6k per month?
Here are some very nice apartments:
Great Move-In Specials!!Spacious,Perfect Location,Luxury Interiors!! (http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/apa/1908381387.html - broken link) $1595
Top floor, designer one-bedroom available Sept 15th! (http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/apa/1908274662.html - broken link) $1267 (?)
2bath, Built with Your Comfort & Privacy in Mind... (http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/apa/1908054169.html - broken link) $1995 - 2 bedroom, look at the views!
Don't know what you consider "decent" in terms of cars, but a new or newer luxury/sport sedan or coupe (BMW 335ci, Infiniti G37, etc) would certainly fall within your budget on a lease or finance... or you could pay cash if you save up a few years.
I, personally, would just turbocharge my S2000, get it a hardtop for the winter, and call it a day
This would still feasibly leave you with around half your monthly income for food, entertainment, furniture (which is usually a one-time expense).
Let's figure that after taxes you're seeing, what, $6k per month?
Here are some very nice apartments:
Great Move-In Specials!!Spacious,Perfect Location,Luxury Interiors!! (http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/apa/1908381387.html - broken link) $1595
Top floor, designer one-bedroom available Sept 15th! (http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/apa/1908274662.html - broken link) $1267 (?)
2bath, Built with Your Comfort & Privacy in Mind... (http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/apa/1908054169.html - broken link) $1995 - 2 bedroom, look at the views!
Don't know what you consider "decent" in terms of cars, but a new or newer luxury/sport sedan or coupe (BMW 335ci, Infiniti G37, etc) would certainly fall within your budget on a lease or finance... or you could pay cash if you save up a few years.
I, personally, would just turbocharge my S2000, get it a hardtop for the winter, and call it a day
This would still feasibly leave you with around half your monthly income for food, entertainment, furniture (which is usually a one-time expense).
Anything sportsy like a Mustang or BMW sounds good to me man haha. I'd rather save up for it, because the police department gives you a take-home patrol car anyway, I could just use that until I save up the money. Oh, those apartments look amazing, more than enough for me to be satisfied. It's still wierd seeing the rent so high though, here in Indianapolis it's around $600.00 for a good apartment in a nice complex haha. The reason I want to go to Seattle is because it's beautiful, and its a big city with lots of work for police officers but it has a small-town feel to it. Which brings me to another question, how cheap is it buying a 3-4 bedroom house, 2-3 bathrooms? Doesn't have to be in the city, in the outskirts would be fine.
Anything sportsy like a Mustang or BMW sounds good to me man haha. I'd rather save up for it, because the police department gives you a take-home patrol car anyway, I could just use that until I save up the money. Oh, those apartments look amazing, more than enough for me to be satisfied. It's still wierd seeing the rent so high though, here in Indianapolis it's around $600.00 for a good apartment in a nice complex haha. The reason I want to go to Seattle is because it's beautiful, and its a big city with lots of work for police officers but it has a small-town feel to it. Which brings me to another question, how cheap is it buying a 3-4 bedroom house, 2-3 bathrooms? Doesn't have to be in the city, in the outskirts would be fine.
Hm, I'm not so knowledgeable about real estate since at this point in my life, buying isn't on my radar (I work in a job that occasionally requires me to move, and my preferences are generally for cities that have a prohibitive housing cost - LA and SF, basically... or a foreign city where I won't be able to get a visa long enough to make buying worthwhile). Ira500 on this forum is a real estate agent, you should talk to him!
Be thankful: the SFPD pay is about the same, and for a 1 bedroom anything like what I showed you, you're looking about 50-100% more You could most likely find a house somewhere on the outskirts of Seattle that fits what you're talking about. Although Seattle itself is more expensive than a city like Indianapolis, it's not that expensive, really... the bigger issue is that in most jobs, the wages are often lower than in other major, coastal metropolitan area relative to the cost of rent. 80-90k is definitely adequate for living a good standard of life in Seattle.
Just don't go punching any jaywalkers while people are taping you with a cellphone camera
A mustang would be a great idea... you could get a fully-loaded GT for less than a BMW coupe and it'll be faster in a straight line, it just won't have the handling. Keep in mind though, Seattle's roads get wet for much of the year, so anything RWD with a monster low-end torque isn't going to be the most fun thing to roll for 8 months out of the year. Maybe look at an Audi, Subaru STi or Lancer Evo, or one of BMW/Infiniti's AWD options (that said, I got along just fine in my RWD S2000, which doesn't have traction control).
Hm, I'm not so knowledgeable about real estate since at this point in my life, buying isn't on my radar (I work in a job that occasionally requires me to move, and my preferences are generally for cities that have a prohibitive housing cost - LA and SF, basically... or a foreign city where I won't be able to get a visa long enough to make buying worthwhile). Ira500 on this forum is a real estate agent, you should talk to him!
Be thankful: the SFPD pay is about the same, and for a 1 bedroom anything like what I showed you, you're looking about 50-100% more You could most likely find a house somewhere on the outskirts of Seattle that fits what you're talking about. Although Seattle itself is more expensive than a city like Indianapolis, it's not that expensive, really... the bigger issue is that in most jobs, the wages are often lower than in other major, coastal metropolitan area relative to the cost of rent. 80-90k is definitely adequate for living a good standard of life in Seattle.
Just don't go punching any jaywalkers while people are taping you with a cellphone camera
A mustang would be a great idea... you could get a fully-loaded GT for less than a BMW coupe and it'll be faster in a straight line, it just won't have the handling. Keep in mind though, Seattle's roads get wet for much of the year, so anything RWD with a monster low-end torque isn't going to be the most fun thing to roll for 8 months out of the year. Maybe look at an Audi, Subaru STi or Lancer Evo, or one of BMW/Infiniti's AWD options (that said, I got along just fine in my RWD S2000, which doesn't have traction control).
ah, haha. Yeah I definitely won't be buying a house anytime soon, I'm just wanting to know for future reference. Hey, I do find it annoying when people think they can break the law just because its a less-serious crime, :P. I'm not really concerned in speed, I don't think I'd be able to go fast anyway because from what I've read the traffic is bad in Seattle xD plus being a patrol officer you get to speed when the need arises, I just want something very sportsy looking, I dislike the cars that look like boxes haha. How are the restaurants downtown? Are there lots of other cultural type places, like mexican, chinese and italian restaurants for example.
In the City of Seattle or across the lake on the eastside, a 3+ bedroom, 2 Bath + home in a pretty good neighborhood is generally going to cost 400,000 dollars or more. You can get a similar house for a lot less by going 20-30 minutes south or north.
I've got two police officer pals. One lives on North Beacon Hill, in a house he and his wife bought before house prices went crazy.
The other lives out in the country in Graham. He likes it really quiet when he's not working. It takes him 45 minutes to get to work, but it's probably over an hour for mere mortals.
In the City of Seattle or across the lake on the eastside, a 3+ bedroom, 2 Bath + home in a pretty good neighborhood is generally going to cost 400,000 dollars or more. You can get a similar house for a lot less by going 20-30 minutes south or north.
I've got two police officer pals. One lives on North Beacon Hill, in a house he and his wife bought before house prices went crazy.
The other lives out in the country in Graham. He likes it really quiet when he's not working. It takes him 45 minutes to get to work, but it's probably over an hour for mere mortals.
400K+? Wow, that's a lot of money..what would be the downside to getting a cheaper house? I'm thinking maybe a bad neighborhood with lots of crime, etc. So, Ira, would you say police officers in Seattle live comfortably off their salary? (64K-84K) depending on how much experience, I visited the department website earlier heh.
400K+? Wow, that's a lot of money..what would be the downside to getting a cheaper house? I'm thinking maybe a bad neighborhood with lots of crime, etc. So, Ira, would you say police officers in Seattle live comfortably off their salary? (64K-84K) depending on how much experience, I visited the department website earlier heh.
I don't think there's a huge downside in living in a cheaper area, and sometimes the crime rate is actually lower. The downside is that the lower priced areas are not hip, not cool, not trendy. The highest crime neighborhoods in the Seattle area are not the least expensive. Capitol Hill and Ballard are higher crime than most Seattle neighborhoods, but they also have all kinds of restaurants and nightlife. If you're willing to drive 10 minutes for a meal or a beer, it'll save you a lot of money, unless gas goes to 20 dollars a gallon.
I would say Seattle police officers live fairly comfortably off their salary. But most of them don't live in the city, unless they either rent or bought when prices were more affordable.
wow, 80-90K? Is that a normal salary for a police officer in the US? Where can I apply? :-) I am moving to Seattle soon on 60K and I have to pay for two of us as my wife won't be allowed to work for a while for Visa reasons. When I did my research I thought, we could live fairly comfortably with only my salary for a while, at least quite a bit better than here in London where we are at the moment...so I guess it all depends on the perspective, i.e. where you're moving from...having said that we're not exactly big spenders, don't have a car at the moment, no big TV and stuff like that, we probably blow most of our money on food and travel ;-)
I don't think there's a huge downside in living in a cheaper area, and sometimes the crime rate is actually lower. The downside is that the lower priced areas are not hip, not cool, not trendy. The highest crime neighborhoods in the Seattle area are not the least expensive. Capitol Hill and Ballard are higher crime than most Seattle neighborhoods, but they also have all kinds of restaurants and nightlife. If you're willing to drive 10 minutes for a meal or a beer, it'll save you a lot of money, unless gas goes to 20 dollars a gallon.
I would say Seattle police officers live fairly comfortably off their salary. But most of them don't live in the city, unless they either rent or bought when prices were more affordable.
Ah, wow, I don't care much about what's in style at the moment, or anything like that, I just want a nice apartment with a gym, pool, and decent space, you know not a cramped up apartment. I actually kind of like the idea of living out in the countryside or in a rural neighborhood. Any suggestions on where I should consider moving to? Anything 40 miles or less from the downtown area is perfect.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
You could most likely find a house somewhere on the outskirts of Seattle that fits what you're talking about. Although Seattle itself is more expensive than a city like Indianapolis, it's not that expensive, really... the bigger issue is that in most jobs, the wages are often lower than in other major, coastal metropolitan area relative to the cost of rent. 80-90k is definitely adequate for living a good standard of life in Seattle.
