Apartment hunting sucks!!!! (Seattle, Roosevelt: apartments, renters, condos)

[bxtx]

Good apartments are going faster than star linebackers in the NFL draft! WTH! It seems impossible to get a decent apartment in Seattle. Everything seems like the ads just lie to you and it is way crummier than it seems online, or it gets taken in 2.5 seconds!

Over $1300 for a govt subsidized 400 sqft studio!?!

I'm moving back after a couple years but things sure have changed. This seems like apartment hunting in NYC or something.

[Hemlock140]

Amazon alone has added 1,900 employees in 2011, more than half high paid tech people, and still have over 4,000 openings. They are still adding more buildings. Those people have to live somewhere, so yes, it drives up prices and limits availability. Other big employers like Costco,
Microsoft and Boeing are growing at slower rates but still growing. Most people I know have found rentals by passing by and seeing someone move out, or a friend of a friend passes the word, so they never hit the market and are rented before they are vacated.

[Rikaku]

What areas have you been looking at?

[amaiunmei]

Yeah, this is one of those towns where everything works via consulting friends and your own personal network.

Renting inexpensive apartments has always been challenging here, but with the uptick in hiring, things are getting worse. Also, my experience has taught me that those who offer inexpensive rentals have lived in Seattle a long time, tend to be older, and many of these landlords are not exactly tech-savvy. In another market, that landlord might be motivated to advertise online to rent out property. In Seattle, however, these landlords have no incentive to change their behaviors as renters often come to them rather than having to advertise.

Where are you looking? What's your price range? If I can help, I'd love to if I had more details.

[RunTheDistance476]

Where did you find a crummy $1300 Govt subsidized studio? You can just go across the lake and get a NICE, non-sub apartment for 1000. Where are you trying to live? Magnolia?

[shaylahc]

Try hotpads.com That is how I found our house. The rental market is CRAZY here. When we were looking, we were often the 5-6th+ application. They would take a bunch of applications, and then choose who they wanted :-/ We ended up renting sight unseen, and when we got here we understood why no one else had put in an application. The house was trashed. We've been slowly working on fixing it up, but honestly, most days I'm just grateful we HAVE a place to live. GOOD LUCK!

ETA we pay an insane amount in rent, we could live in a nice mansion back in NC (where we moved from) for what we pay here to live in a not so special house.

[bxtx]

I've been looking at Ravenna, Greenlake, Capitol Hill (CDish Capitol Hill), Eastlake, Fremont, Wallingford. I know these are hot places, and they were 4 years ago when I was in Seattle. I'm now switching to Greenwood and Lake City.

Seriously, multiple properties say they're "accepting applications but a few have been put in already." So, you want my wife and I to pay $100 so you can pick and choose who can live there? Who made you god? LOL

I seriously feel like it is like trying to catch a cab on New Year's Eve. This is a lot more stressful then I ever imagined.

Also, the apartment that was 400 sqft for $1300 and it was govt subsidized was Kavela in the Roosevelt area.

PS Answering other questions.

No way am I living on the eastside.

Why would anybody want to live in an apartment in Magnolia? Magnolia is among the worst neighborhoods for fun. I totally understand having a house there though.

[angelenogirl]

Greenwood is cute. I've also seen some cute-ish apartment buildings in Wedgwood. Looks like there are some decent rentals on Seattle Apartments at Seattle Rentals .com - condos, houses and apartment listings and online rental classifieds. We also found rentals on Get Your Walk Score - Find Walkable Apartments and Rentals and Zillow.

[mkarch]

I'd take Greenwood over Lake City. Quite a bit of new development going on and it's getting a better neighborhood feel. Obviously, parts of it are still a little icky but it's not a bad option IMHO.

Since the new Fred Meyer opened up, I've been shopping there a lot rather than heading down to Ballard FM.

[mrman78]

Yeah, I was really shocked when I got my apartment after hearing some of the horror stories of the tight rental market. I pay $845 for a small 1 bed/1 bath (500 sq ft) on top of Queen Anne hill. It includes parking and water/sewer/garbage too. I was mostly surprised as I was still living in Texas and was looking at apartments here in February (which I think really helped) before my move in April and didn't expect anyone to rent to me until I moved. Anyway, totally a case of right place, right time! My lease ends this month and then I'm month-to-month, but my landlord said he doesn't have any plans to raise the rent. Hopefully it will stay that way for a while as I really don't want to have to search again!