Seattle - 1 year in. (Kirkland, Pacific: sale, real estate, condo)

[MountainDewRock]

I arrived in Seattle almost 1 year ago having only set foot in the city once, with few preconceived notions about the city. We quickly fell in love with the scenery, the food, the access to nature, the strong outdoor/fitness culture, the concert and live music scenes. Even the weather doesn’t bother us - years in the Midwest, Deep South, and Northeast give you good perspective on the climate. One year in, after buying a Subaru and donning flannel for the first time in years, I've been told I've already "gone native". We love the city enough to put down roots and buy a home. It was great spending a year in the Wallingford/Greenlake, but now we’re headed for Beacon Hill and couldn’t be more excited.

Big thanks to @homesinseattle - world traveler, Seattle area expert, and Real Estate agent extraordinaire (check him out here). In an extremely competitive market for buyers, he made a seemingly impossible task (finding a home that met all our requirements, in one of our target neighborhoods, and staying within budget) a reality. Exactly the type you want in your corner to handle the nuances and the negotiations with the speed needed to get things done in a market like this.

Fellow Beacon Hillers – get ready for your new neighbors, if you have any suggestions, tips, warnings, or just want to say “hi” feel free! I can’t wait to start eating my way through the neighborhood food spots, checking out the parks and nature, getting out and running and biking on the trails, and enjoying the views from the hill on clear days.

[Scotty Dosent Know]

Just out of curiosity why Beacon Hill?

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by MountainDewRock

I arrived in Seattle almost 1 year ago having only set foot in the city once, with few preconceived notions about the city. We quickly fell in love with the scenery, the food, the access to nature, the strong outdoor/fitness culture, the concert and live music scenes. Even the weather doesn’t bother us - years in the Midwest, Deep South, and Northeast give you good perspective on the climate. One year in, after buying a Subaru and donning flannel for the first time in years, I've been told I've already "gone native". We love the city enough to put down roots and buy a home. It was great spending a year in the Wallingford/Greenlake, but now we’re headed for Beacon Hill and couldn’t be more excited.

Big thanks to @homesinseattle - world traveler, Seattle area expert, and Real Estate agent extraordinaire (check him out here). In an extremely competitive market for buyers, he made a seemingly impossible task (finding a home that met all our requirements, in one of our target neighborhoods, and staying within budget) a reality. Exactly the type you want in your corner to handle the nuances and the negotiations with the speed needed to get things done in a market like this.

Fellow Beacon Hillers – get ready for your new neighbors, if you have any suggestions, tips, warnings, or just want to say “hi” feel free! I can’t wait to start eating my way through the neighborhood food spots, checking out the parks and nature, getting out and running and biking on the trails, and enjoying the views from the hill on clear days.

You scored, agent-wise! I bought 2 homes in Seattle over the years, and never had an agent make that kind of effort. Everything was pretty much up to me, to find what I wanted.

[treuphax]

Originally Posted by MountainDewRock

I arrived in Seattle almost 1 year ago having only set foot in the city once, with few preconceived notions about the city. We quickly fell in love with the scenery, the food, the access to nature, the strong outdoor/fitness culture, the concert and live music scenes. Even the weather doesn’t bother us - years in the Midwest, Deep South, and Northeast give you good perspective on the climate. One year in, after buying a Subaru and donning flannel for the first time in years, I've been told I've already "gone native". We love the city enough to put down roots and buy a home. It was great spending a year in the Wallingford/Greenlake, but now we’re headed for Beacon Hill and couldn’t be more excited.

Big thanks to @homesinseattle - world traveler, Seattle area expert, and Real Estate agent extraordinaire (check him out here). In an extremely competitive market for buyers, he made a seemingly impossible task (finding a home that met all our requirements, in one of our target neighborhoods, and staying within budget) a reality. Exactly the type you want in your corner to handle the nuances and the negotiations with the speed needed to get things done in a market like this.

Fellow Beacon Hillers – get ready for your new neighbors, if you have any suggestions, tips, warnings, or just want to say “hi” feel free! I can’t wait to start eating my way through the neighborhood food spots, checking out the parks and nature, getting out and running and biking on the trails, and enjoying the views from the hill on clear days.

Welcome to the neighborhood MountainDewRock.

Congratulations on the new home! Very exciting!

Which part are you in?

I live on the northwest rim looking down on the jungle & SoDo near where the Beacon Ave. goes down to Holgate.

I do want to be warm, friendly and welcoming, but I've become a bit of a curmudgeon as our fellow forum members might attest. Perhaps some of our other neighbors will also share some of their tips and I'll finally find some haunts where I feel at home. For dining and going out, I'm not sure I can recommend anything with my full heart. Bar del Corso does very polished pizzas and little Italian things, but I find Italian Family on 1st Hill more old-fashioned cozy and satisfying. But maybe I'm just a fussy Yank pizza snob yearning for a taste of my youth more than novelty and fine artisanry. Cafe's? I do wish we some other choices for bakery & cafe but maybe you'll be satisfied with what's in the neighborhood. Down in SoDo there seems to be quite a few other options... but you do have to drive. The hill is killer and you and the family might find some of the local SoDo color less than welcoming if on foot. (I'm really trying to put a less menacingly negative spin on it! A future for me as real estate agent?? Maybe not.) I haven't been to Macrina on 1st Ave. yet but it might look promising. I really also really wish we had a solid old-fashioned luncheonette / diner / breakfast place we could walk to... The little brew-pub across from the Red Apple has done a really terrific job making a nice cozy bar also with year round outdoor seating. Not being a craft-brew fan, it's a shame I'm not crazy about their beer, since they made a really nice place to gather. For me I'd rather ordinary beer but with extraordinary company.

Things will be also changing much. You see the signs almost everywhere.... They'll be tearing down and replacing a big chunk of the shabby neighborhood commercial district with among others a seven-storey mixed use retail multi-family development later this year if all goes to plan. So something to look forward to.

For food shopping, we might not have a real farmer's market in the 'hood (yet), but we perhaps have enviable resources that neighborhoods lack. Costco, Big John's Pacific Food Importers, Mutual Fish, all the Asian groceries and Chinatown / Little Saigon are very nearby too. I know people who come from as far as the Eastside to shop at these.

If you're a cyclist, I probably don't need to tell you about the connection to the Mountains to Sound Trail.... But you might not know about the Cheasty Mt Biking trails they're making.

Cheasty Greenspace | Mountain Bike Trails

There's even still opportunity to get involved with trail building. I've done this a few times and it might not be a bad way to meet folks with similar interests working on a worthy project.

Before I sign off, I'll share my favorite place in the neighborhood...
https://www.seattle.gov/parks/find/p...outh-viewpoint

[treuphax]

Originally Posted by Scotty Dosent Know

Just out of curiosity why Beacon Hill?

Not sure what you mean by the question...
I do get it all the time.

Colleagues or acquaintances look at me funny when I tell them I live in North Beacon Hill. I guess they think it's uncool or sketchy. Perhaps they're right. (Hmmmm. Maybe also not the best place for a single like me still looking to meet a match...? Isn't Green Lake the best Meat Market for that?)

Maybe these acquaintances are just snobs that can't bear to live in a neighborhood that isn't uniformly bourgeois bohemian populated with folks just like them. But later on they like to lecture us about how important diversity is to them...

So they live north of the Shipping Canal with all the other cool kids.

But they rent.

I own.

Also it takes 30 - 40 minutes to get from their cool digs in Ballard just to the I-5. In that time I could be already past North Bend, well on my way to the hills where I can be doing pleasant and fun things I actually enjoy. Also when I want to really get out of town, the two block walk to the Light Rail Station which takes me to Seatac is shorter than the walk from airport security to the plane gate.

[Scotty Dosent Know]

Originally Posted by treuphax

Not sure what you mean by the question...
I do get it all the time.

Colleagues or acquaintances look at me funny when I tell them I live in North Beacon Hill. I guess they think it's uncool or sketchy. Perhaps they're right. (Hmmmm. Maybe also not the best place for a single like me still looking to meet a match...? Isn't Green Lake the best Meat Market for that?)

Maybe these acquaintances are just snobs that can't bear to live in a neighborhood that isn't uniformly bourgeois bohemian populated with folks just like them. But later on they like to lecture us about how important diversity is to them...

So they live north of the Shipping Canal with all the other cool kids.

But they rent.

I own.

Also it takes 30 - 40 minutes to get from their cool digs in Ballard just to the I-5. In that time I could be already past North Bend, well on my way to the hills where I can be doing pleasant and fun things I actually enjoy. Also when I want to really get out of town, the two block walk to the Light Rail Station which takes me to Seatac is shorter than the walk from airport security to the plane gate.

I see your location appears was Chicago. People from here probably look at you funny because its like moving from North Chicago to South Chicago. I mean obviously not as drastic but thats how locals will see it. I havent really been up in that area for years so I dont know how much it has or hasnt changed but with home values on the rise im sure its been fixed up in the last 10 years. I have a friend that purchased a condo on Beacon in 09 and just sold it and purchased a home on Beacon several weeks ago. He seems to really like the area. I get out to rainier valley and skyway for work fairly often and I know those areas are still not all that great but thats not up on the hill.


Edit - Just realized that the OP was from Chicago and not you, still applies though I guess lol

[CrazyDonkey]

I lived on north Beacon Hill back in the mid-1980s. I enjoyed it. Very close-in. Used to walk down to 12th & Jackson to catch the bus for free (within the Ride-Free Area), and then the reverse coming back. Would walk down to Borracchini's Bakery on Rainier (still there, check it out). The view from Jose Rizal Park is great (the Jungle wasn't then).

[mhays25]

Beacon Hill is a good area, and getting better especially near the Link station. Good choice.

[acousticset]

Hi, we also moved here about a year ago and are on our search for a permanent residence. Curious as to why you picked Beacon Hill? Was it an easy route for work for you? Congratulations on settling in to your home. Best of luck!

[greg717]

Just wanted to add a +1 for Vince Decker. He helped us buy our place in Kirkland in winter last year. At the time there was record low house inventory level (i.e. nothing on the market) and it was very competitive. When we found one we really liked he moved incredibly quickly to get us in to see it, get it inspected, and put the offer on, all within a matter of hours. Offer was accepted and we got it. Fantastic work, sale went through smoothly and we're very happy.