Yet Another Where Should We Live Thread - Have Kids - Want Good Schools (Seattle: appointed)

[hey32g]

Hi, we have 3 kids and want good schools. We'll be moving from San Antonio and there is a huge difference in the cost of living between SA and Seattle. We're both professionals and will both be working. The problem is, here we have a $375k home that, from what I can tell, would cost about $1.5mil in Seattle - well that's not going to happen! Our kids also would go to the best schools in town here. We have an 8th grader that wants to be an orthopedic surgeon, a sixth grader that wants to go to law school, and his twin that's into the arts. I know we won't be able to live in the best Seattle has to offer like we do here, but we need to make sure they go to above average schools and are in a positive environment.

I'm in the money management business and my wife is in the internet/tech field.

For what it's worth, we're also considering the Denver area.

What area around Seattle would best fit our needs? Please any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you.

[Seacove]

More Texans? I don't get it. Did Texas run out of space? Did Sleepless in Seattle run on all the stations there? Try Medina or Clyde Hill. Those are upscale and budget friendly. You'll be in Bill Gates' neighborhood.

[hey32g]

Originally Posted by Seacove

More Texans? I don't get it. Did Texas run out of space? Did Sleepless in Seattle run on all the stations there? Try Medina or Clyde Hill. Those are upscale and budget friendly. You'll be in Bill Gates' neighborhood.

Yeah I've left Bill several messages. He must be busy!
As for Texans, try border issues and an intense desire to be reminded what rain actually looks and feels like. And for us, we really need to get away from some family issues.

[Inkpoe]

I'm assuming house budget would be around 375K?

Honestly, if you're looking for "affordable" and above average schools near Seattle. Maple Valley and Shoreline are your best bet. You could even find something in the Bothell/Kenmore/Woodinville area (for the Northshore school district) and in Kirkland's neighborhoods (Inglemoor, Finn Hill, Norway Hill).

[Seacove]

If you could get into Inglemoor/Finn Hill/Norway Hill for $375K that would be a huge win.

We've got lots of rain, but we're on a border too and pretty good with that; this is a far more liberal place unless you like Eastern WA.

[Verio]

Originally Posted by Seacove

More Texans? I don't get it. Did Texas run out of space? Did Sleepless in Seattle run on all the stations there? Try Medina or Clyde Hill. Those are upscale and budget friendly. You'll be in Bill Gates' neighborhood.

There isn't really a tech market here and there's a reason that San Antonio's cost of living is so low.

[texastrigirl]

Okay, here's a different take. We moved here from Austin in July 2007. We almost tripled our mortgage BUT my husband's income went up more than enough to handle the monthly cashflow mortgage difference. Unfortunately we bought before housing crashed a bit so with interest rates AND lower prices, you do not have to spend 1.5M on a house. I don't know how big the difference is between a 375K house in SA and Austin, but here, we were on par by tripling our price and we ended up in way better schools in the process. We were actually in a pretty good part of Austin ISD too. We moved to Sammamish and our kids are in Issaquah school district. My husband commutes downtown to Amazon in South Lake Union. Seattle in general is a city that is highly literate and you will find a lot of parents who have a high expectation as to education. I don't think you will be disappointed. Mercer Island is a very expensive place to live with great schools. Then onto Bellevue for the next most expensive with great schools. Then onto to Issaquah and Sammamish. Issaquah and south end of Sammamish are served by the Issaquah School District and north end of Sammamish, Redmond and Kirkland are the Lake WA School District. All are terrific. Shoreline in Seattle has really good schools and certainly if you are inclined to live in the city, you can find great schools...it's just harder to matriculate steadily through high performing schools unless you plan your location carefully.

I always recommend the Fraser Report for starting on school stats along with the usual suspects of schooldigger and greatschools.

How do Washington schools compare? | Fraser Institute

Feel free to DM me with other questions. I also lived in Denver so could help there with differences between the two.

Someone also mentioned Maple Valley. More of a small town feel with lower housing prices, good schools but longer commutes downtown.

I feel Seattle is a tech city - Microsoft, Amazon, etc. Just a few of the big names here.

Good luck!

[hey32g]

Thanks all for the input. texastrigirl I will DM you w/ some questions!

Can anyone tell me anything about Kent?

[Hemlock140]

I'm in Sammamish too and can second all that texastrigirl said. You would not be happy with Kent. Go for less house and better schools. You can still get a decent home for your price in Sammamish, Issaquah, Redmond and even Bellevue. An older 3,000 sf (1982) like ours is still going to be over $550k but
2,200 sf 4 br 3 ba that age are still under $400k. Don't worry about the yard size, 10,000 sf is enough considering no need for a pool and a short growing season, and plenty of parks and trails.

[texastrigirl]

So here's an example of a really nice, newer house in Sammamish in a newish, small neighborhood right off Pine Lake just up the street from me. Beautiful, high end homes. (I live in the old 80's version of it the next street over) It maps to what I think $375K would look like in a new, nicer SA neighborhood with really good schools.

27530 Se 29th CT Sammamish WA - Home For Sale and Real Estate Listing - MLS #245899 - Realtor.com®

Here's an older Sammamish home, essentially same schools or equal quality, just a few blocks away near Beaver Lake. Location to I-90 is comparable in both.

24412 Se 17th Pl Sammamish WA - Home For Sale and Real Estate Listing - MLS #29137791 - Realtor.com®