Austin to Seattle family of four - Point us in the right direction (Vancouver: fit in, real estate market)

[kat78613]

My son-in-law is considering accepting a job in the heart of downtown Seattle near Pike's Peak. Expected salary in the mid-100's. They have twin toddlers (age 3). My daughter is looking for a neighborhood that is safe, nice, and within a 20-30 minute commute for him. Schools are not an immediate concern, but eventually they will be important.

They will probably rent a house to start and will want at least a 3/2 with a yard.

Any suggestions for areas/neighborhoods to start researching? The final decision will be based on whether then can manage on this salary. It's double his Austin salary, but they live really comfortably in Texas.

We've done a bit of online research, but would like to hear what the residents think!

Thoughts? and thanks!

[Hemlock140]

It's Pike Place, and you will find people here sensitive to correct names. I work near there, take the bus from Issaquah and walk through the Market every day. With our trafffic, even living in Seattle can take more than 30 minutes at peak commute times, which last about 3 hours. I start at 6:30am and can drive to work in 35 minutes. To be within 20, Bellevue, Mercer Island, Kirkland, or most locations in Seattle will work at that hour. If work starts after about 7:00, it's very limited. I have employees in West Seattle, Ballard, and Northgate that take over 1/2 hour. Renting a 3/2 will run $2,600-3,500, which should be doable on that income, but most of the suburban Eastside cities have few rental homes, and high demand, with many being used as corporate transitional rentals. I would suggest looking at areas in Seattle such as Ballard, Maple Leaf, Wallingford, Fremont, and Queene Anne. Pike Place is in Belltown, but I wouldn't recommend it with kids.

[CrazyDonkey]

Maybe look at Northeast Seattle: Ravenna, Bryant, View Ridge, Sand Point, Wedgwood, Maple Leaf, etc., with a direct bus to the UW Light Rail Station, which will get you to Downtown in 8 minutes. Figure, since his salary will be twice as much what he was getting, that his housing, childcare, and possibly healthcare costs will be too.

[perigee]

Everything is much more expensive here, houses, especially in those neighborhoods tend to be much smaller then houses in Texas, I know people that had to sell their furniture because they would not fit in the rooms. I know people like to complain about traffic in Austin and the traffic here is magnitudes worse. People making similar money to that take buses, because traffic and parking is a headache.

Living in Seattle you have to make a lot of sacrifices, there are plenty of positives, but I would strongly encourage your SIL to book a trip up here for a quick visit, preferable soon so he can see what our short winter days are like. Do at least one day of driving during the times he expects to be commuting.

If he has a comfortable life in Texas the extra pay might not be worth all the negatives he will have to put up with. There are posters that seem to have a personal grudge against the city and state, because they didn't research the negatives before moving here.

Finally, I'll second CrazyDonkey's post, those are some good neighborhoods to look into.

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by kat78613

My son-in-law is considering accepting a job in the heart of downtown Seattle near Pike's Peak. Expected salary in the mid-100's. They have twin toddlers (age 3). My daughter is looking for a neighborhood that is safe, nice, and within a 20-30 minute commute for him. Schools are not an immediate concern, but eventually they will be important.

They will probably rent a house to start and will want at least a 3/2 with a yard.

Any suggestions for areas/neighborhoods to start researching? The final decision will be based on whether then can manage on this salary. It's double his Austin salary, but they live really comfortably in Texas.

We've done a bit of online research, but would like to hear what the residents think!

Thoughts? and thanks!

It sounds like he would be much much happier in Texas.

[flyingsaucermom]

Let's back up:

How does your daughter and her husband feel about liberal politics?

... Grey skies, rain, cooler weather for over half the year?
... Dark winters (Right now it's almost dark at 4pm)
... Horrible traffic?
... Very expensive housing (as defined as "starter homes" in good school districts starting at $550k)?
... Higher density?
... No breakfast tacos,
... And for that matter, no Bill Millers, Taco Cabana, Magnolias, Kerby Lane, Chuy's, Salt Lick

But also...

... Beautiful summers (end of June-first week of September, typically)
... Evergreen trees and nature
... Yummy Thai, Japanese, Korean, Chinese food
... Taking a ferry across Puget Sound

[kat78613]

First of all, thanks for your replies. We're not "Texans", per se; my SIL was transferred here four years ago. The kids were raised in San Diego, so we're not foreign to the high cost of living. My daughter and I are both liberals and living in a blue state again will be a refreshing change from Texas politics....especially now.

I appreciate your input and will forward it to my family. My SIL's job is in media and his hours (luckily) are not during rush hour. Roughly 2 p.m. to midnight. But we are concerned mostly about the housing costs...very reminiscent of California coastal. And then there's the weather....

The housing prices that you cite remind me of San Diego before the big crash of 2008. Is the market inflated in your opinion, or is that just the cost of living?

[StealthRabbit]

Green Lake area is very nice for families, but rents will reflect that. can be worth the price of admission!

Being near / adjacent to a park is very handy with toddlers > Jr High. There are many nice parks in SEA.

Keep those 'off-shift hours', less time sitting in traffic! fewer whining dayshifters! fewer / no bosses! hopefully more pay (28 yrs of working evenings helped me retire 16 yrs early). We homeschooled and farmed, so being home and having DAYLIGHT off was wonderful. It can work well in the city too! (no crowds!)

We keep a 'cheap' home near Austin (1 hr sw) for the 200+ days / yr I despise the PNW-we_tside (came to PNW from CO 34+ yrs ago, I never got used to it here, but family prefers PNW, so...we (they) stay). I find TX politics refreshing, since in WA, 3 counties rule the other 36 non-represented counties. NOTHING ./ NO ONE I have voted for in WA for 30+ yrs has ever passed. but... being in one of the '36 non-chosen-counties', you get ZERO election info / hassle. No need to campaign or convince cuz our vote doesn't matter a bit.

[flyingsaucermom]

Originally Posted by kat78613

The housing prices that you cite remind me of San Diego before the big crash of 2008. Is the market inflated in your opinion, or is that just the cost of living?

I do think it's the actual COL, but of course like any market in any city our COL is reactive to many factors.

1) We are a very popular city right now and we are attracting young talent from all over the world. Amazon is completely transforming Seattle's north end. There are constructions cranes on both sides of Lake Union.

2) Our housing stock is incredibly low. I live in Issaquah (a great family-friendly community BTW) and I know real estate agents in my community that are like sharks circling the community social media groups just waiting to pounce on anyone even remotely interested in selling. They all seem to have a list of clients clamoring to get in to the neighborhood.

3) We've got foreign competition. Although we've been getting Chinese investment for awhile it was Vancouver BC real estate market that was especially being inflated by cash-carrying Chinese investors. Vancouver recently slapped on a foreign investors' tax and now all those multimillionaire Chinese are looking at Seattle to squirrel away their monies and keep them away from their government.

The last factor probably concerns me the most. There have been a few threads about it here if you want to look it up. I already own my home so of course I'm loving our current home values, but not at the expense of strong communities or unnecessary economic volatility.

[CrazyDonkey]

An appreciating market can be a factor in the low supply, in that many are holding off selling because they're expecting prices to go even higher. They also are hesitant to sell, unless downsizing, because it'll cost even more to buy. The big employers are Boeing, Microsoft, and, more recently, Amazon. If all three should hit the skids, you could see a housing crash, but most think that is unlikely.

The demand side, on the other hand, has been pumped up by families/workers trying to move closer to jobs, to shorten horrific commutes, as well as by a good amount of outside money (speculators, investors, flippers, airbnb entrepreneurs, etc.) .

If commuting off-peak/telecommuting, your SIL could look further out to find newer/larger houses, bigger lots, good schools, and lower prices. Renting at first would be smart, until he gets the lay of the land.