Can people here stop panicking everyone else about cost of living?? (Seattle: apartments, houses)

[destroycreate]

Can I just ask some of you guys who can't afford houses here...what type of jobs do you have that are so low paying a $300K house is considered expensive? Wages in Seattle aren't *that* low I can't imagine.

PS - I am by NO means rich (unless you count $60k annual salary as rich?). I just want to be able to comfortably rent a 1 bedroom for no more than $1,500 with my spouse in a decent area. Something that is pretty impossible to do anywhere in the Bay Area at the moment.

[thedonwind]

Originally Posted by destroycreate

Can I just ask some of you guys who can't afford houses here...what type of jobs do you have that are so low paying a $300K house is considered expensive? Wages in Seattle aren't *that* low I can't imagine.

PS - I am by NO means rich (unless you count $60k annual salary as rich?). I just want to be able to comfortably rent a 1 bedroom for no more than $1,500 with my spouse in a decent area. Something that is pretty impossible to do anywhere in the Bay Area at the moment.

Finding a decent 1 bedroom for 1,500 or less in Seattle is more than possible with a 60k salary....

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by destroycreate

Can I just ask some of you guys who can't afford houses here...what type of jobs do you have that are so low paying a $300K house is considered expensive? Wages in Seattle aren't *that* low I can't imagine.

PS - I am by NO means rich (unless you count $60k annual salary as rich?). I just want to be able to comfortably rent a 1 bedroom for no more than $1,500 with my spouse in a decent area. Something that is pretty impossible to do anywhere in the Bay Area at the moment.

That one-bedroom was well less than a $1,000 just five years ago...

[pnwguy2]

A bit of nostalgia for you. I keep meticulous notes and here is what I paid in rent in Seattle in the 80's:

1980 - 1 BR, modern building, on Bellevue Wy SE just south of the main district $255 per month.
1982 - 1 BR, modern building, on Sand Point Way NE $315 per month.
1986 - 1 BR, mid-century building on lower Capital Hill w/city view $475 per month.
1989 - 1 BR, Northgate area, nice 60's building $450 per month.

Feel free to do your own COL adjustments. My pay during this period was in the 24-29K range.

[mkarch]

Originally Posted by destroycreate

Can I just ask some of you guys who can't afford houses here...what type of jobs do you have that are so low paying a $300K house is considered expensive? Wages in Seattle aren't *that* low I can't imagine.

PS - I am by NO means rich (unless you count $60k annual salary as rich?). I just want to be able to comfortably rent a 1 bedroom for no more than $1,500 with my spouse in a decent area. Something that is pretty impossible to do anywhere in the Bay Area at the moment.

A $300K house is going to require work in excess of the purchase price. In a lot of areas $300K is below tear down pricing. You're really just buying a lot with a structure at that price, you still have to do a major rehab or pay for demolition and rebuild after buying it.

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by mkarch

A $300K house is going to require work in excess of the purchase price. In a lot of areas $300K is below tear down pricing. You're really just buying a lot with a structure at that price, you still have to do a major rehab or pay for demolition and rebuild after buying it.

But you can also go with a brand new house for that if you go farther out to places like Marysville or Puyallup.

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

A bit of nostalgia for you. I keep meticulous notes and here is what I paid in rent in Seattle in the 80's:

1980 - 1 BR, modern building, on Bellevue Wy SE just south of the main district $255 per month.
1982 - 1 BR, modern building, on Sand Point Way NE $315 per month.
1986 - 1 BR, mid-century building on lower Capital Hill w/city view $475 per month.
1989 - 1 BR, Northgate area, nice 60's building $450 per month.

Feel free to do your own COL adjustments. My pay during this period was in the 24-29K range.

I don't remember what our pay was but we rented a four bedroom house in Bellevue in the early 90s for $1100.

I would still take the $300K tear down closer in over the new build further out.

[Sonnenwende]

Originally Posted by destroycreate

Can I just ask some of you guys who can't afford houses here...what type of jobs do you have that are so low paying a $300K house is considered expensive? Wages in Seattle aren't *that* low I can't imagine.

PS - I am by NO means rich (unless you count $60k annual salary as rich?). I just want to be able to comfortably rent a 1 bedroom for no more than $1,500 with my spouse in a decent area. Something that is pretty impossible to do anywhere in the Bay Area at the moment.

For me, it is a cultural thing. I came from an area where you can easily buy a nice house for under $200k. If you want all the bells and whistles, $300k will cover that nicely. I just don't think most homes are worth more than that and am not willing to pay it. I'd sooner move back to the Midwest than pay what people are asking here and will probably end up doing that in a few years.

Also, I am not interested in being house poor. I am not interested in being a slave to my employer, dependent on making a large sum of money per month for the privilege of living in my overpriced house for the next 15-30 years. Being someone that has had the joy of being laid off a bunch of times yeah, I am pretty risk adverse in this department and want to keep all of my base expenses as low as possible. Buying is way more expensive for me than renting in the Seattle area, so not interested in buying.

Seattle probably seems cheap coming from SF, but if you are like me and coming from the Midwest, it can be pretty expensive in some areas. Real estate is way more expensive, water/sewer is way more expensive, liquor is way more expensive, car insurance is more expensive, gasoline is more expensive, higher education is more expensive, groceries are somewhat more expensive. Strangely enough, the costs of renting a SFH are similar to what they would be where I came from and also there is no state income tax here that makes a difference.

[AmFest]

Originally Posted by Sonnenwende

For me, it is a cultural thing. I came from an area where you can easily buy a nice house for under $200k. If you want all the bells and whistles, $300k will cover that nicely. I just don't think most homes are worth more than that and am not willing to pay it. I'd sooner move back to the Midwest than pay what people are asking here and will probably end up doing that in a few years.

Also, I am not interested in being house poor. I am not interested in being a slave to my employer, dependent on making a large sum of money per month for the privilege of living in my overpriced house for the next 15-30 years. Being someone that has had the joy of being laid off a bunch of times yeah, I am pretty risk adverse in this department and want to keep all of my base expenses as low as possible. Buying is way more expensive for me than renting in the Seattle area, so not interested in buying.

Seattle probably seems cheap coming from SF, but if you are like me and coming from the Midwest, it can be pretty expensive in some areas. Real estate is way more expensive, water/sewer is way more expensive, liquor is way more expensive, car insurance is more expensive, gasoline is more expensive, higher education is more expensive, groceries are somewhat more expensive. Strangely enough, the costs of renting a SFH are similar to what they would be where I came from and also there is no state income tax here that makes a difference.

Yup. If you don't value being in Seattle enough to pay the premium, go somewhere more affordable. Those of us that value what Seattle has to offer bite the bullet and stick around.

[AmFest]

Originally Posted by CrazyDonkey

That one-bedroom was well less than a $1,000 just five years ago...

So?

The economy and job market were terrible 5 years ago.