Small family moving to Seattle on $43,600 - Ballard? Or suburbs? (Everett: foreclosures, renters)

[26wilderness]

Hi!

We may be moving to Seattle for my job (making $43,600 annually). My wife stays at home with our 6-month old son, and is not likely to work in the next few years. We have savings enough for a downpayment, and would love to own a small house... but is this even possible in Seattle on my salary? We are very frugal, but even then the housing prices I'm seeing online are way out of my range for anything decent...

My brother used to live in the area and suggested the Ballard neighborhood as a place we would love to live. We love to walk (we usually go on 1-2 hour walks every day, plus we love longer hikes when we have time), and having parks and museums nearby would be great as my son grows up.

My job involves visiting businesses all over Seattle and to a lesser extent the rest of the state, so we really can live anywhere in the greater Seattle area. We love the idea of living in a walkable neighborhood in the city, but I just don't know if we can afford it (I'd love to pay less than $150,000 for a house, but could possibly imagine going up as far as $200,000).

Is it possible/worth it to live in the city... if so, is Ballard a possiblity in my range, or do you have other suggestions? Recommendations for realtors?

If not, where would you recommend looking instead in the larger Seattle area?

[seattlenextyear]

I would not recommend you move here for that salary and with those house price expectations.

[VeronikaW]

Originally Posted by seattlenextyear

I would not recommend you move here for that salary and with those house price expectations.

I would have to agree. With that salary and those housing price requirements you will not be happy in Seattle. I don't even think you'll find anything in that range except maybe 1 bedroom condos, in not great areas. Use a website like www.redfin.com and you'll see what's available.

[Inkpoe]

The odds of buying a house for that price range in the Seattle area is long gone. If there is a house near DT Seattle for less than 200K, it'll be snapped before the end of the 1st day on the market.

Unless you have the patience to go through the foreclosures (but even that has its caveats) it would be best to rent, look for a townhome/condo close Seattle -OR- branch out up north or south of Seattle, your odds of finding a house in that range increases as you get the further away from Seattle. Start at a 12 mile radius and expand from that point, odds are you'll find something closer from the South of Seattle but it won't be "decent" or come with a good school district.

[southking500]

There plenty of houses and condos in the greater Seattle area for under 200K. You'll have to live at least a 45 minutes drive out from downtown Seattle in south King County or north Pierce County if you want a house. You can also look north to Everett/Marysville. There are probably no houses available in your range any closer but I have also seen 2 bedroom condos on realtor.com in Kirkland, Edmonds, Bothell, Renton, Des Moines and Tukwila for under 200K.

[Ira500]

You're certainly not going to find a house in Ballard for 200,000. Maybe 350 if you're lucky.
But there are houses a 20 minute drive from Seattle that are under 200, or close to it. Real houses, not condos. But they are in areas not considered hip and cool, areas not famous for having good school districts.
For example, the 98178 zip code has homes for less than 200. 98168 also. Probably 98188.
I just previewed a couple of houses in the 98178 zip code that are listed for 225 that were actually pretty nice.
But it's not an area where you can walk to the bookstore or the food co-op.
Of course, your other option is to rent. You can rent a fairly nice smaller home in a nice neighborhood like Ballard for around 1400 and up. It also makes sense to rent at first when you're moving to a new place, so you can explore neighborhoods and really see if you like the area after all.

[26wilderness]

Thank you all for your thoughts! We certainly aren't opposed to condos/townhouses either

[Livelife2010]

To be honest, I wouldn't even try to buy a house on that salary, even if you can find a sell price that somehow fits.

The true cost of ownership, especially in this area, is much, much higher than just the sell price. From an article I saw last year, I believe 43k would put a family of 3 in the poverty level in the Seattle area.

You can get by if find something cheap to rent, but I wouldn't even think about owning right now. Wait until you can double your take home pay. Either by your wife going back to work or you increasing your earnings.

[docwatson]

Sounds like you have a few things to think about: what size place do you need/will you be having more children? will your future income go up (i.e. if your wife starts working in a few years). And at least in the meantime, are you comfortable with condo living or renting? A condo certainly seems doable around $200 from what I've seen, maybe less?

One thing to check out may be downpayment assistance thru the housing programs in Seattle. This may help close some of the gap, if you have savings already even better.

Although given closing costs and cost of resale, it may make sense to rent for 2-3 years, then when you are more comfortable income-wise, buy something. If you buy a condo as a "starter" home, it may not appreciate much in 2-3 years and the costs of resale would more than eat up the appreciation. Plus at $43,000 per year, and with one child, you are unlikely to see any tax benefits from a mortgage. And, you want to be careful about condo pitfalls - does the HOA have sufficient capital reserves? Are they planning, or have a repair coming up that requires, a major assessment on the owners? Is the balance of renters to owners unfavorable for resale?

I looked at Seattle too and one thing I found out are there are many "infill" townhomes in north Seattle areas like Ballard and Green Lake. While still out of your (and my) range, I realized that I could live in these attractive neighborhoods for around $300,000. Int he same neighborhood where a 50-year old 1,100 sq. ft. bungalow (and I don't mean a really cute historical one) goes for $400,000, I could buy a 1,500 sq. ft., brand new 3 Br townhome with a small front yard for $299,000 - $350,000; and a 2 BR in the 200's.

Also, I have no idea, but is Seattle housing going to come down in price in the coming years? If so, buying could be risky (again, I have no idea what the forecasts are) unless you plan to keep it for a long time.

[usabrit1]

As a recent transplant from southern California, you should not make this move....you will be very hard pressed to find a house for that price in even a marginal neighborhood...it is expensive here..both housing and food, gas etc.