moving south of Seattle (Bellevue, Everett: sales, real estate, how much)

[drichards702]

My husband and I and three kids (15, 13, 10) will be moving to this area hopefully this summer. We haven't decided on a town yet but we were checking out the Maple Valley and Covington areas. My husbands job would be in Auburn, WA. I have some questions for the locals.
First, the obvious, the RAIN. How do you all manage? Is it gloomy and rainy everyday? I'm worried that I may miss the sunshine.
Second, schools. Any recommendations? What about charter schools or homeschool settings? I'd prefer this over neighborhood schools-unless of course we can find an awesome one.
Third, churches? We are looking for a non-denominational church that offers a good youth program. Fourth. Property taxes. How much do they run? Let's say on a 300,000-350,000 house? I know about the sales tax. That's manageable. Anything and everything about this area would be appreciated. We love getting outdoors. We love a good hike with the kids. We love rivers and big trees. We love nature. We also love checking out the local eateries and shops. Being from AK, we LOVE the snow. From what I read, staying on the east side of Seattle MAY bring us a little bit of the white stuff??!! We also looked into Crystal Mountain and that looks doable from where we are looking. Thanks so much for the help!

[Blondebaerde]

Wow, who knew: the weather sticky is up to 4,300-some odd replies. Hope that is sufficient.

Property tax rates are online, King County dot gov. Looked up on Bing and saw weasel-words like "about" and "maybe" in other replies not on the dot gov site. Might be smart to go to the source.

I "think" Maple Valley has great schools. They were certainly helpful to the ex GF's son, with special needs. Maybe someone else w/kids can comment on that.

My issue with Maple Valley and Covington is actually getting anywhere points-north in a timely manner, but it's a great thing for Boeing employees in-particular. If working in Auburn, sounds like you're totally on the right track, however. The problem with Seattle metro is moving to and from major points of commerce during commute hours, of course (traffic).

There is a massive volcano pretty close to Enumclaw (relatively speaking). Guess you know about that, it's hard to miss and quite the site those days when visible. Countless interesting roads, trails, and things to-do in that area. Nature wipes man's work clean every twenty years or so w/rain, slides, etc. NW WA wilderness is like that. While inconvenient, definitely interesting.

Odds & consequences of a lahar from said-volcano and/or major earthquake are discussed extensively on other threads: may occur today at 3PM, or 15,000 years from today. Just adds to the excitement, living in the lahar zone, I'd say.

[JoeRock]

First of all I do not live in Seattle. But my son does. He loves it and has no problems with the weather. I am very certain this is mostly because of where he came from. We lived in the Chicago area for 7 years and before that in the Netherlands. I don't want to go in detail about the climate differences but it comes down to that there was actually an improvement when you think about the midwestern cold winters and humid hot summers.
Now if you come from SoCal or AZ on the other hand I think you might encounter some problems...

[Hemlock140]

With a few exceptions it's either raining or mostly cloudy October-June, with an occasional "sun break." I happen to love it, but most people from CA do not. It's what keeps it green here all year. Snow is maybe 2-3 times a year, usually melting in a day or two, but you do have Crystal and Mt. Rainier. You can also go up highway 18 to 90 to Snoqualmie Pass for snow in winter. If you are in Maple Valley save your money and use their schools, they are very good. Figure on $3,500-$4,00 for taxes on the homes in your price range, 8.6% sales tax, no state income tax.

[SaltyDawg]

God the weather discussions here drive me nuts.

It is most assuredly not "raining or mostly cloudy October-June with an occasional sun break". That is absurd. November and December were very dry, colder than normal, with plenty of sun. February was wet, until it was 60 degrees and sunny the last week of the month. March has been basically a monsoon, with a month's worth of rain in the first 5 days. It's also 55 degrees.

Truth? We're the northernmost major city in the US. That means it's DARK in the winter, with early sunsets and late sunrises. The weather itself changes a lot, however. I played golf in January, twice, in the sun. I also skied in a blizzard 50 miles from here. You know what else that means? Incredibly long days from May-September.

Again, it is not "mostly cloudy October-June". It is absolutely cloudier than most areas, but there is plenty of variety.

[Caver Girl]

Why go north, Blondebaerde? Ha ha, just kidding mostly! We looked at real estate "up north" in the Everett and Lynnwood area before trekking south one day to check out Maple Valley. We fell instantly in love. What we were doing up north those last few days?! Needless to say, we chose Maple Valley and have lived here for about a year now. If you travel, being on the south side is better no doubt. The airport is only about 30 min away and we don't have to drive through Seattle or Bellevue to get there. And yes, Mt. Rainier is SO close! We're just outside the lahar zone where we are, so I'm not too concerned. There is SO much explore in our neck of the woods, from the National Park to trails right off I90, Cougar Mountain, several little pockets of forest not 5 min drive away, ghost towns, etc. And we have an awesome school district.

[tobester]

Originally Posted by Caver Girl

We're just outside the lahar zone where we are, so I'm not too concerned.

You're outside the "statistically predicted" lahar zone - I wouldn't get too comfortable

[usernametaken]

Originally Posted by Hemlock140

With a few exceptions it's either raining or mostly cloudy October-June, with an occasional "sun break."

100 percent inaccurate misguided info, especially surprising coming from a "senior" member. And this past December and January, it was almost the opposite. i.e., with few exceptions, it seemed there were a few hours of sunlight almost every day. Probably not true, but sure seemed that way.

[kaonevar]

We live in the Magnolia neighborhood, and the property taxes on our $300K home are $2600/yr.