Potentially Moving to Seattle From Texas - Advice Please!

[redfusion]

If you were moving from CA or NY it would be easier to adjust to the COL and less living space. Coming from TX it wont just be less house but very old house too. Even if the home is updated you are always gonna be thinking about the newish mcmansion goodies. Ofcourse there are tradeoffs but people just want to know why you picked seattle. politics? greeness? clouds? lifestyle change? Just curious.

I'd say browse thru some zillow entries and then fly in to check them out.

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by FlappyPaddleGearbox

Is there some reason why not?

Why don't you want to elucidate your reasons for wanting to move to an area that, honestly, couldn't be more different (not just in cost of living, but also in culture, politics, religion, geography, weather, etc.) from where you're coming from?

In the absence of positive reasons (or the presence of only a single reason, such as a job or career), you could be setting yourself, wife, and family up for disappointment. It can't help but beg the question of what, or who, would be driving this move.

Unless it involves a significant increase in income, it is hard to see how this move pencils out. Even so, it'll still likely be little more than a lateral move, financially speaking, whether doing with considerably less or spending considerably more.

The real wildcard is the commute. 30 minutes is a fantasy, unless willing to considerably pay more for housing and/or downgrade your other expectations, than what you've so far indicated.

[analogkid84]

Man, I wish I had the problems of a $700K-$1M house budget. I'd be out of Houston and back to the Pac NW tonight.

[bluehorseshoe]

Originally Posted by FlappyPaddleGearbox

good schools are a necessity.

Did you get an input on schools here? I would base my neighborhood decision on quality of schools. The public schools in Seattle are really really mediocre. Most people that can afford to, send their kids to a private school for good reason. North Seattle has the better schools. The Eastside has the best schools, that would be Mercer Island, Bellevue, etc.

Unfortunately the areas with the better schools are going to be way above your budget. Seattle is a great place to live in, has one of the healthiest job markets in the country, can't keep up with all the people moving here, and anyone who thinks the market here is topping out is just bitter and not in touch with reality. It is getting very expensive though so be prepared to spend more here and keep spending more here for years to come.

If you purchase a more expensive house here in a hood with good schools you will most likely make good money off the house at least since there is zero reason to believe the market here will slow down anytime soon. I say this as someone who is selling and moving soon. There is plenty of upside left in this town.

[Gardyloo]

Here's a useful tool that estimates how far a 30-min commute using public transportation will take you. Mapnificent - Dynamic Public Transport Travel Time Maps Intuitively it looks pretty good, but I have no idea how it comes up with the "contours." Set the blue arrow where you're commuting TO, then once it loads, use the sliding scale to come up with your target time.

I disagree with the previous poster who says Seattle schools are mediocre, but don't want to get into a fight about Seattle's deficiencies. We're all grownups who can use research tools as well as the next person. Education, like real estate, archery and place kicking, is all about location, location, location.

[thatguy950]

Originally Posted by bluehorseshoe

Did you get an input on schools here? I would base my neighborhood decision on quality of schools. The public schools in Seattle are really really mediocre. Most people that can afford to, send their kids to a private school for good reason. North Seattle has the better schools. The Eastside has the best schools, that would be Mercer Island, Bellevue, etc.

Unfortunately the areas with the better schools are going to be way above your budget. Seattle is a great place to live in, has one of the healthiest job markets in the country, can't keep up with all the people moving here, and anyone who thinks the market here is topping out is just bitter and not in touch with reality. It is getting very expensive though so be prepared to spend more here and keep spending more here for years to come.

If you purchase a more expensive house here in a hood with good schools you will most likely make good money off the house at least since there is zero reason to believe the market here will slow down anytime soon. I say this as someone who is selling and moving soon. There is plenty of upside left in this town.

lol you sound like a real estate agent, they all say the same things every time Seattle is in an upswing. History has proven Seattle booms and busts, fairly regularly. How are all the millennials going to afford 800k starter homes with 200k in student debt for a worthless art history degree? What goes up must come down.

[bluehorseshoe]

Originally Posted by thatguy950

lol you sound like a real estate agent, they all say the same things every time Seattle is in an upswing. History has proven Seattle booms and busts, fairly regularly. How are all the millennials going to afford 800k starter homes with 200k in student debt for a worthless art history degree? What goes up must come down.

No, just someone who has made a lot of money in the past investing in real estate. I live in a very nice large house on Capitol Hill. How about you?

[carroll4628]

For researching schools, the best place to start is a map of where you would like to live, pick out some schools, then head to the state database.

Washington State Report Card

Look by district, schools, etc.

Take test scores with a grain of salt. If you child (or their parent) choses not to participate in the annual state testing, the current system has that child receiving a Zero. So, if you're in a school where a handful of parents are "anti"-testing, it can impact the results.