How do you find an apartment when you're 3000 miles away? (Seattle: best neighborhood, affordable apartments)

[SugarIsMyPimp]

I have been feeling crazy, because I knew I was moving, and in the past few months I have considered Seattle, NYC, florida, Colorado springs, montreal, Dallas and albuquerque. Yeah. I always wanted Seattle more than any place, but I didn't think I could afford it. Now, finally I can.

I am trying to figure out how to do this though. Craigslist seems like a nightmare, and some of the worst buildings spam it daily, then you go to apartmentratings.com an check and they have a 34% rating. I am selling my car to add to my savings, so I am of course looking in neighborhoods near downtown or on buslines. But how can I find a place while in North Carolina? I really don't feel like I'm too special in my demands, but I do want a largish 1 bedroom (at least 600 squarefeet) in a decent building for under $1000 a month. No pets, no kids. Just me, working from home on my computer. Are there apartment hunters that people use, or is everyone just hoofing it around the city, and all of it's suburbs? It seems like many places don't advertise at all, entire buildings that don't even have a website, I don't understand.. in some way Seattle seems so progressive and techy and cool, and in other ways it seems quaint and exclusive.

If you don't live anywhere near Seattle, how do you move here?? If you don't have friends, how do you find an apartment? For you seasoned Seattlites, what would you do if you weren't from here?

ETA: Is my $1000 pricetag realistic? Or am I putting myself in a neighborhood filled with college kids (I'm 30) or a slum? Selling my car frees up alot of money monthy, i could go higher, but I felt like if I was paying 1200 a month for a rental, I might as well go up to 1500 and get a roommate.. In a way I'm cheap. I just wish it felt easier somehow.

[SeattlitefromNC]

Originally Posted by SugarIsMyPimp

IBut how can I find a place while in North Carolina? I really don't feel like I'm too special in my demands, but I do want a largish 1 bedroom (at least 600 squarefeet) in a decent building for under $1000 a month. No pets, no kids. Just me, working from home on my computer. Are there apartment hunters that people use, or is everyone just hoofing it around the city, and all of it's suburbs? It seems like many places don't advertise at all, entire buildings that don't even have a website, I don't understand.. in some way Seattle seems so progressive and techy and cool, and in other ways it seems quaint and exclusive.

The best places to live virtually never advertise. Why? Because THEY DON'T HAVE TO. I'm not joking: the best apartments are off the market in days. There would be no point in advertising, as a simple sign in the window usually does the trick. As such, CL is swamped with ads from less than desirable places ... the more desirable places generally have waiting lists to get in.

As to how apartment hunting can be done from NC, I will say for the record that I have done it before. I moved from NC only months after 9/11 ... the job market sucked and times were hard, but I made it. How?

I just did it.

Simply put: you've got to decide if you want to have the apartment already in place, or if you want to see all of the options available to you before making a decision. I moved into a less-than-desirable apartment in the suburbs (hint: don't let anyone tell you that Kent is close to Seattle), but I made the best of it for a year before moving to the big city. However, you can also decide to move all of your stuff here, stay in a hotel, and do some intensive apartment-hunting for 3 days (I think that is all that it would take, really) before deciding on a choice.

The choice is yours.

I have found that the best places want a commitment right away, and they tend to favor those they actually meet face-to-face. So, if I were you, I'd find a hostel to stay in for a few days and then do some intensive hunting. All it takes is to decide on a neighborhood where you want to live, and then walk all over it for 2 hours. It's just that simple. There are "FOR RENT" signs all over the place; you just have to be here to see them.

Originally Posted by SugarIsMyPimp

ETA: Is my $1000 pricetag realistic? Or am I putting myself in a neighborhood filled with college kids (I'm 30) or a slum? Selling my car frees up alot of money monthy, i could go higher, but I felt like if I was paying 1200 a month for a rental, I might as well go up to 1500 and get a roommate.. In a way I'm cheap. I just wish it felt easier somehow.

It is realistic for the city as a whole, but it gets less realistic the closer you get to downtown. Sad but true. Still, you should be able to find a 1 bedroom for $1000 in some pretty desirable locations.

[allforcats]

Here's the combined classifieds for the two leading newspapers in and around Seattle. If you look at the map you'll see areas. Click on an area and it will drill down to neighborhoods, to help you learn their names and locations.
NWapartments: Seattle apartment rentals, house rental listings, rental classifieds and other property rentals in Seattle, Tacoma, Bellevue and other Washington areas, cities and neighborhoods

Another alternative: The Seattle Weekly:
Seattle Classifieds

Also, there's rent.com, forrent.com, apartments.com.

Good luck!

[SugarIsMyPimp]

I am thrilled to death to find that I can just walk around an area and look for signs, because I cannot begin to explain to you how hard it is in my head to remember the "good" areas, and when I look at a map things seem distorted in terms of location.. I mean.. How far away is kent & federal way? I don't want to live out that far, but I can't wrap my head around it.. Kirkland? WHere are these places that everyone seems to consider "seattle" anyway?

Seattlite & All, I really appreciate your responses, I think I'm going to focus on capitol hill, because it sounds the most like where I'd like to live if money were no object, even though I think it's pricier than other places? I don't know, there's a million "where should I move threads" but I haven't found anyone who just wants to move to a roomy apartment somewhere near bus lines.. where job requirements and school districts or even nightlife don't matter. Because none of that matters to me. I just want to be in Seattle. I want to be near shopping and cute restaurants and walk my butt off (literally) so any recommendations on living areas if Capitol Hill isn't the place for me? Or if there's a cheaper version of it close by?

[Kaytee003]

you have come to my issue of finding housing in Seattle from far away (MI) and at this point I think my friends are getting irritated with me saying "how far away is ------ from downtown" lol I've mainly been looking on craigslist and rent.com and apartments.com since I will be in town though in 10 days (woooooo) staying with some friends that were paying 1100 for their 1 bedroom on capitol hill are now moving to a place for 900 but I'm not sure if they have moved up to a 2 bedroom or not at this point.

My problem is decent affordable apartments that allow dogs

[SweepingTheNation]

Being that I just did the same thing, Ill tell you how I did it. I did make the trip out there to neighborhood search, but that was not that necessary. My trip was an inexpensive, 3 day weekend. I stayed in queen anne and payed something like 100 bucks a night and my flight from JFK was $225. Money well spent. I came to this forum and first narrowed down the right neighborhood. Seattle's neighborhoods are very distinct, if you ask me, and this decision will affect your day to day life more so than the actual apartment building. Its funny, in some cities, the neighborhoods blend together in an organic kinda way, but Seattle has the 32 flavors thing going on. I think this is a real upside to the city as a whole. As for using that apartment ratings website, I find it to give some useful insights, but it sure paints a crappy picture of a lot of good places. I have lived in a bunch of cities and used that site as a reference and sometimes it is waaaay off.

I dont know the best way to search it out, but I started a thread titled "My thoughts on Seattle after first visit", and did a brief synopsis on each neighborhood. Others have done it as well, but more in depth.

After investigating, I found that renting someone's condo (craigslist) can be a little bit more cheap than going into an apartment building. You get a little bit more for your money and sometimes a parking space for free. Renting a 1 Bedroom condo might cost you $1500 though and could be price restrictive. You are probably studio hunting. It is still something to consider.

So, in short, really pay close attention to your neighborhood (there are tons of threads on here explaining the pros and cons of each one), don't let apartment ratings make your decision, and consider making a short trip out there (not to lock an apartment down) but to just get a general feel of things. I was sold on lower queen anne and belltown until my trip and decided on first hill after my visit. It wasn't until I got home that I chose an apartment building. M street apartments, they are called, if you wanna add them to your list to check out.

Good Luck

[SeattlitefromNC]

Originally Posted by SugarIsMyPimp

I am thrilled to death to find that I can just walk around an area and look for signs, because I cannot begin to explain to you how hard it is in my head to remember the "good" areas, and when I look at a map things seem distorted in terms of location.. I mean.. How far away is kent & federal way? I don't want to live out that far, but I can't wrap my head around it.. Kirkland? WHere are these places that everyone seems to consider "seattle" anyway?

Seattlite & All, I really appreciate your responses, I think I'm going to focus on capitol hill, because it sounds the most like where I'd like to live if money were no object, even though I think it's pricier than other places? I don't know, there's a million "where should I move threads" but I haven't found anyone who just wants to move to a roomy apartment somewhere near bus lines.. where job requirements and school districts or even nightlife don't matter. Because none of that matters to me. I just want to be in Seattle. I want to be near shopping and cute restaurants and walk my butt off (literally) so any recommendations on living areas if Capitol Hill isn't the place for me? Or if there's a cheaper version of it close by?

There will be time (sometime in the future) to go over the distance of the suburbs from the main city. Suffice it to say, Kent is about 30-40 minutes away from Seattle ... and that depends on traffic. Federal Way is about 10 minutes south of Kent. Kirkland is "across the water" (read: to the east, across Lake Washington) and is about 15 minutes away.

Because this region is hilly and there's lots of water, it is hard to get a sense of how far things are and how long travel times will be. Traveling by car is not a bad idea, unless you are out and about during rush hour(s).

Since you want to be in Seattle, I would definitely recommend staying within city limits. However, I must make a confession: most people who first move to Seattle move to Capital Hill ... not because it's the best neighborhood, but because it is the most storied (particularly with regards to the history of music in Seattle). Nevertheless, Capital Hill is not the only game in town. Seattle is but a collection of neighborhoods, and you would do well to understand that and what each neighborhood has to offer:

Neighborhoods on the Net

Take some time to go over each area and get a sense of what each place has to offer. Seattle is a singular city, but each neighborhood has a distinct personality of its own ... I trust that you will find that out before too long.

As for a personal recommendation? I admire Capital Hill, but as far as where I would want to live, I'd pick Ballard. I lived there for years, and I was never bored there. It is by far my favorite Seattle neighborhood.

[SugarIsMyPimp]

Rereading some of the comments, what price is the average 1-bedroom going for? Say in Capitol Hill, or Queen Anne? Is the university district/ravenna area cheaper?