Moving from TX to WA for Accenture-Seattle DT office (work/life balance, cost of living, etc) (Renton: real estate market, sublease)

[NDTX007]

Hello everyone,

I'm from Texas and I am still negotiating pay, but Accenture is working to get me to their Seattle office ASAP. If I can get the pay package I'm requesting (75-80k not including sign on bonus), then I have a week or so to decide. I have never gone to Seattle but I've been told similar things I've read on threads here (beautiful weather in summer, rainy and/or grey majority of the year, fantastic landscapes, extremely expensive, small city, horrible traffic etc...)

Being from Texas, I am used to terrible traffic (takes me about 1.5 hours to drive 15 miles home from work) and unbearable weather (extreme humidity and temperatures up to 103). I am most concerned about quality of life and how much, on average, 75k/year can get me.

My office will be in Seattle DT (near Amazon Kumo building). I have a couple of questions if anybody can help me! I would really appreciate it.

1.) How far should I live from the office? My budget is ~$1500 for a 1 BR (is this too low?). Houston traffic is absolutely terrible so I am willing to pay a bit more to cut down on commute time. Unfortunately I do not know where the client locations are and I understand that plays a huge role. However, I've read many threads here and the majority of folks recommend Capitol Hill, LQA, and Belltown. I've also read that I should take the bus vs. taking my own car. I am totally open to this, but I am generally unfamiliar with public transit since it is basically non-existent in Houston. The only experience I've had with public transit is from my 3 months of living in New York.
2.) What is it like to work for Accenture? I believe this will be a great opportunity for me career-wise, although I am very sad at the thought of leaving my friends and family behind.
3.) Friend of a friend said I should make 85k to live a 'comfortable' life in Seattle... he works for Amazon, so I'm assuming pay packages there are pretty awesome compared to Accenture. How realistic is it to live a 'comfortable' life on less than 85k? For reference, my 'lifestyle' is being able to take trips every other month or so (local or out of state), eating out about 1-2x a week, going to the occasional bar/club every other weekend, and checking out local music shows.

Any other feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,

ND

[Walch1007]

Originally Posted by NDTX007

Hello everyone,

I'm from Texas and I am still negotiating pay, but Accenture is working to get me to their Seattle office ASAP. If I can get the pay package I'm requesting (75-80k not including sign on bonus), then I have a week or so to decide. I have never gone to Seattle but I've been told similar things I've read on threads here (beautiful weather in summer, rainy and/or grey majority of the year, fantastic landscapes, extremely expensive, small city, horrible traffic etc...)

Being from Texas, I am used to terrible traffic (takes me about 1.5 hours to drive 15 miles home from work) and unbearable weather (extreme humidity and temperatures up to 103). I am most concerned about quality of life and how much, on average, 75k/year can get me.

My office will be in Seattle DT (near Amazon Kumo building). I have a couple of questions if anybody can help me! I would really appreciate it.

1.) How far should I live from the office? My budget is ~$1500 for a 1 BR (is this too low?). Houston traffic is absolutely terrible so I am willing to pay a bit more to cut down on commute time. Unfortunately I do not know where the client locations are and I understand that plays a huge role. However, I've read many threads here and the majority of folks recommend Capitol Hill, LQA, and Belltown. I've also read that I should take the bus vs. taking my own car. I am totally open to this, but I am generally unfamiliar with public transit since it is basically non-existent in Houston. The only experience I've had with public transit is from my 3 months of living in New York.
2.) What is it like to work for Accenture? I believe this will be a great opportunity for me career-wise, although I am very sad at the thought of leaving my friends and family behind.
3.) Friend of a friend said I should make 85k to live a 'comfortable' life in Seattle... he works for Amazon, so I'm assuming pay packages there are pretty awesome compared to Accenture. How realistic is it to live a 'comfortable' life on less than 85k? For reference, my 'lifestyle' is being able to take trips every other month or so (local or out of state), eating out about 1-2x a week, going to the occasional bar/club every other weekend, and checking out local music shows.

Any other feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,

ND

1) $1500 is absolutely enough. You might be able to get away with less if you don't mind living older or with a roommate. If you want to be central, capitol hill, belltown, LQA are all good options. A little farther out would be Ballard, Fremont, Wallingford, Green Lake area, which is really nice if you like walking around. I find buses to be pretty good as long as you're living on/near a main road. They are definitely faster than self-driving if timed right due to carpool lanes. That said, if you're used to a 1.5 hr commute, you'll have no problems. Even living in redmond, bellevue, kirkland, west seattle, you should be able to get downtown in under an hour during rush hour. I suggest you download Waze to find routes to avoid the traffic.

2) No idea about accenture. I heard it's a good learning ground, but you have to put in a solid 3-4 years.

3) 75-80k is comfortable depending on where you want to travel to. Might be a stretch if you want to go to Europe twice a year. Just know that you won't be saving much with so many trips. I would suggest getting a roommate to cut your rent down to $1000. Compared to Houston, Seattle is 20-25% more expensive for meals, drinks, groceries, etc.

[homesinseattle]

I think you'll be okay with that salary as long as you don't have other mouths to feed and aren't extravagant. Look at Columbia City and Beacon Hill, rents a little better, still pretty close in and nicely located close to light rail.

[hurricane harry]

85k, you'll be fine. We're in east lake area @$1600 a month easy walk\bus ride to downtown. Come join those looking for Mecca, if it where toward the end of the year I would let you sublease our apt.

[Blondebaerde]

If you're "requesting" 75-80K not including bonus, you're playing poker at a table where everyone knows who the mark is but you.

You've never been to Seattle, as people leave Seattle for Texas. Right. LOL.

$75K / year for a single person will buy you a nice 1 bdrm rental in Renton at $1,500 plus first and last. Or smaller, on Capitol Hill, which is where I'd live as a single person. Take mass transit downtown. I drove downtown during the day for the first time in years recently, and paid $16 for two hours of parking. Lots more than that per day. Avoid it.

If you don't know the answer to 2), you're on a seriously mistaken path so far. Go to some of the aggregation sites about salaries and etc. to find various answers to that question. Management consulting is not for the faint of heart. For that money, I assume you're talking some sort of entry-level finance or IT role.

As for 3), your friend is right. Pretty obviously, if you ever want to get ahead in real estate or a portfolio.

I lived on garbage money in San Francisco twenty years ago, just enough to have the flash car and clothes but not enough to really live. That more or less halfway sucked: nice to be there, bummer to not being able to really live. Over time, I took steps to remedy that, including leaving town to a place where I could invest heavily in a then-burgeoning IT an real estate market. The market is still booming, but *in my opinion* the real estate thing is a major risk rather than a major opportunity as it very obviously was end of the 1990s.

May want to think it over and redo the math a few more times.

[amaiunmei]

Accenture is at the corner of 8th and Stewart in downtown Seattle; it's closer to the Moore Theatre than the Amazon buildings (by a couple of blocks).

My advice, as my husband worked for them: get your experience in and get out after 1-2 years. It's not a place you want to stay at too long, though working with them gets you a look at the tech scene in Seattle and can give you some understanding of the market for tech workers.

Also, trust me on this: if you think you can get by on $75k, go ahead and ask for $85k. This place is more expensive than you think. You may not think you need the $$$, but you do.

Belltown and Cap Hill are within walking distance of 8th and Stewart. If you choose to live in Belltown, you could walk to work; if you choose to live in Cap Hill, public transit would easily get you to the building.

[Walch1007]

I wouldn't worry too much about the money. If you have PM experience, Amazon will easily put you over 100K and jobs are plenty for people with decent experience/qualifications.

[Canamlian]

If you're in your early 20s and single, $80-85k will work.

I wouldn't want to make that move at that pay grade though if you're looking to start a family or are older and don't have as much runway on income growth.

[NDTX007]

Originally Posted by Walch1007

1) $1500 is absolutely enough. You might be able to get away with less if you don't mind living older or with a roommate. If you want to be central, capitol hill, belltown, LQA are all good options. A little farther out would be Ballard, Fremont, Wallingford, Green Lake area, which is really nice if you like walking around. I find buses to be pretty good as long as you're living on/near a main road. They are definitely faster than self-driving if timed right due to carpool lanes. That said, if you're used to a 1.5 hr commute, you'll have no problems. Even living in redmond, bellevue, kirkland, west seattle, you should be able to get downtown in under an hour during rush hour. I suggest you download Waze to find routes to avoid the traffic.

2) No idea about accenture. I heard it's a good learning ground, but you have to put in a solid 3-4 years.

3) 75-80k is comfortable depending on where you want to travel to. Might be a stretch if you want to go to Europe twice a year. Just know that you won't be saving much with so many trips. I would suggest getting a roommate to cut your rent down to $1000. Compared to Houston, Seattle is 20-25% more expensive for meals, drinks, groceries, etc.

Thank you!!!!

[NDTX007]

Originally Posted by homesinseattle

I think you'll be okay with that salary as long as you don't have other mouths to feed and aren't extravagant. Look at Columbia City and Beacon Hill, rents a little better, still pretty close in and nicely located close to light rail.

Definitely not looking to have another mouth to feed for a long time Thank you for your feedback- I will look into Columbia City and Beacon Hill!