Moving to Seattle this fall (Maple Valley, Mill Creek: appointed, homes, neighborhoods)

[analogkid84]

Facing some of the windstorms that hit the Maple Valley/east side foothills areas, while they can be quite fierce (especially when you get gap winds coming through the passes), would not be any more daunting than facing the potential tropical storms/hurricanes in the area that the OP is moving from. And as they can probably attest, getting homeowner's insurance here is significantly more difficult and expensive than it will be there. Not only did our property taxes jump tremendously upon moving here, but insurance policy costs did too. The Houston area is quickly losing its "affordable" label. Yes, the purchase price of a home is still somewhat low, but that is changing by the month. The county appraisal districts pretty much maxed out everyone's appraisals, and I suspect this will continue for a few years to come. We just bought here in 2012 and I'm fairly confident that we could sell for close to $30,000 over what we paid. For us, the cost-of-living has pretty much been a wash.

Being an outdoors person, I would love Maple Valley due to the proximity to the Issaquah Alps and all of the opportunities there. Plus you're nicely positioned for getting into the Cascades via I-90 or the White River/Rainier area via 410. We chose to live 40 miles north of Seattle because I want to live close to activities I do outside of work. I also had the option of working more of a flex schedule with an early start/leave time. I am also of the work-to-live mindset, which is a shrinking faction nowadays, where sometimes survival at your job requires the opposite behavior.

Mill Creek is a nice place and all, but there is a bit of an air of pretentiousness there. As one person mentioned they do get more rainfall, as does most of the north Sound area due to the convergence zone. Coming from Texas, where persistent drought has existed for several years and does not look to be waning any time soon, I would gladly welcome the rain and green that comes with it. Then again, the "oppressiveness" of winter there never really bothered me.

[RufusXavierSarsparilla]

Originally Posted by analogkid84

Facing some of the windstorms that hit the Maple Valley/east side foothills areas, while they can be quite fierce (especially when you get gap winds coming through the passes), would not be any more daunting than facing the potential tropical storms/hurricanes in the area that the OP is moving from. And as they can probably attest, getting homeowner's insurance here is significantly more difficult and expensive than it will be there. Not only did our property taxes jump tremendously upon moving here, but insurance policy costs did too. The Houston area is quickly losing its "affordable" label. Yes, the purchase price of a home is still somewhat low, but that is changing by the month. The county appraisal districts pretty much maxed out everyone's appraisals, and I suspect this will continue for a few years to come. We just bought here in 2012 and I'm fairly confident that we could sell for close to $30,000 over what we paid. For us, the cost-of-living has pretty much been a wash.

Being an outdoors person, I would love Maple Valley due to the proximity to the Issaquah Alps and all of the opportunities there. Plus you're nicely positioned for getting into the Cascades via I-90 or the White River/Rainier area via 410. We chose to live 40 miles north of Seattle because I want to live close to activities I do outside of work. I also had the option of working more of a flex schedule with an early start/leave time. I am also of the work-to-live mindset, which is a shrinking faction nowadays, where sometimes survival at your job requires the opposite behavior.

Mill Creek is a nice place and all, but there is a bit of an air of pretentiousness there. As one person mentioned they do get more rainfall, as does most of the north Sound area due to the convergence zone. Coming from Texas, where persistent drought has existed for several years and does not look to be waning any time soon, I would gladly welcome the rain and green that comes with it. Then again, the "oppressiveness" of winter there never really bothered me.

Good feedback. Thanks. I agree with you on work to live. Too bad our society is going the other way. It's like a badge of honor if you're willing to work yourself to death for a company that couldn't possibly care less about you. They don't even call you a person. They call you a resource.

[eightbitguy]

Wow, my wife and I were planning to move out there soon (as soon as one of us finds a job) but this thread is scaring me! lol. That said, we have considerably different criteria than the OP.

We'd like to live somewhere in Seattle, within bike/transit of our jobs (I'm currently looking at Amazon, but who knows how that'll turn out). Our budget for a house (though we'll probly rent for 4-6 months first) is about $450k, and ideally we'd like to get a older house with the intention of gutting it before we move in (we do have some equity). We'd like to be somewhere with decent schools, but don't have kids yet, so an "up and coming" or "in transition" neighborhood would be fine.

Are we anywhere near meeting that goal or am I way off base thinking I'll be able to pull that off?

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by RufusXavierSarsparilla

We've decide to move to Seattle from Houston, TX. We moved to Houston almost 5 years ago which is enough time to determine it kind of sucks. Not job-wise, as far as employment goes it's probably one of the best places in the country but there's more to life than that.

We've visited Seattle several times and have even explored some suburbs but we don't know it near as good as locals and wouldn't presume that we do.

What I'd be looking for is probably areas of new construction. Within 25-35 minutes of downtown. Somewhere in the suburbs when I can buy something new and nice for up to $400K for 4 bedrooms, 3 full baths. An area with highly rated public schools. Also important is reasonable proximity to a bus park and ride or train station. I hate commuting but love to nap or surf the net while a bus driver or train does the commuting for me.

I'm sure there are plenty of places that meet these requirements and I've done a lot of research myself but since I'm not local I don't really know where the best places area.

You're dreaming, OP. You'll have to scale down your expectations considerably, or stay put. Sorry, but that's the reality.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by eightbitguy

Wow, my wife and I were planning to move out there soon (as soon as one of us finds a job) but this thread is scaring me! lol. That said, we have considerably different criteria than the OP.

We'd like to live somewhere in Seattle, within bike/transit of our jobs (I'm currently looking at Amazon, but who knows how that'll turn out). Our budget for a house (though we'll probly rent for 4-6 months first) is about $450k, and ideally we'd like to get a older house with the intention of gutting it before we move in (we do have some equity). We'd like to be somewhere with decent schools, but don't have kids yet, so an "up and coming" or "in transition" neighborhood would be fine.

Are we anywhere near meeting that goal or am I way off base thinking I'll be able to pull that off?

Check the real estate listings, and see for yourself. You don't give the size of the house you want, but $450 doesn't sound do-able anywhere in Seattle, except a condo, with luck.

[Inkpoe]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Check the real estate listings, and see for yourself. You don't give the size of the house you want, but $450 doesn't sound do-able anywhere in Seattle, except a condo, with luck.

Why don't you check the R.E. listings and see for yourself? You clearly have not, because you would've seen that is actually very do-able. 8bitguy has a more realistic list of wants and could actually find what he's looking for, even in Seattle Proper.

[mkarch]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Check the real estate listings, and see for yourself. You don't give the size of the house you want, but $450 doesn't sound do-able anywhere in Seattle, except a condo, with luck.

Actually it is doable if they're open to a doing a full gut remodel on a fixer. Pre-1950's houses, especially anything built prior to 1940 that have not been updated frequently sell for under $225/sq ft, so it's not impossible to find a 2000 sq ft house under $450K near Ballard. If you go to more transitional areas like Columbia City or Beacon Hill they're even more prevalent.

[eightbitguy]

Thanks for the confirmation. I did do a little digging and found what appeared to be several places that had sold or were listed below $300k, which is what we'd want to pay if we gutted a place. Of course we'll move there and rent first, find a neighborhood and a good agent, then stalk the listings till we find what we want even if it takes 6 months to a year, then gut. I was planning on moving in a month or so but not buying till the winter. We'll see, I have to find a job first. =)

Thanks, guys!

[Ira500]

Originally Posted by eightbitguy

Thanks for the confirmation. I did do a little digging and found what appeared to be several places that had sold or were listed below $300k, which is what we'd want to pay if we gutted a place. Of course we'll move there and rent first, find a neighborhood and a good agent, then stalk the listings till we find what we want even if it takes 6 months to a year, then gut. I was planning on moving in a month or so but not buying till the winter. We'll see, I have to find a job first. =)

Thanks, guys!

I think that's a good plan. It's hard to judge a neighborhood by Google maps, and by opinions of people who are sometimes completely wrong. The thing about transitional neighborhoods is that some streets are much nicer than others, so as you explore a neighborhood, you might find a house on a real crappy street, but three blocks away it can be just awesome. Renting first makes good sense, especially if you're unfamiliar with neighborhoods. You rent in a place you later don't like, 6 months later it's easy to say goodbye to it. You buy a place you later don't like, it's much more complicated to get yourself out of there.
Also, one trick that some real estate agents use is to label the neighborhood a house is for sale in as what it's near, not where it's really at. For example, something is Hillman City or Rainier Valley might be called Columbia City, or something in the Central District might be called Capitol Hill.

[benleis]

Just for another point of data:

Home prices climbing fastest in region’s most affordable spots | Business & Technology | The Seattle Times

The current median price of a house (including townhomes) sold last month in Seattle was 479,000 i.e. half the houses sold for more and half for less. There are definitely still lots of houses selling near 450.
Ben