Advise for accepting an offer and moving (Seattle, Bellevue: rental, condo)

[homesinseattle]

James, Bothell is much closer highly rated schools. Closer in, more money. Common sense, right?

[Canamlian]

$140K all-in, or just base with bonus on top of that?

[Ruth4Truth]

Here's a 3/2 house in Bothell. Check the listings yourself, OP. You may be surprised. I guess places like this get bid upwards, but still...it's better than a townhome. Do your own research.

https://www.realestate.com/2517-171s...8012--38548591

Townhome, 3 br., under $400K:
https://www.realestate.com/2201-192n...8012--38606289

There's hope, OP.

[Blondebaerde]

Originally Posted by james2441139

I have an offer from a midsize tech company in Bellevue. They offered $140k. Health, dental insurance fully paid. Parking and transit pass fully paid. 401k match. My wife will start working in about a year (we are having our first baby). She is in civil engineering. Btw, we are moving from Orlando, FL.

Considering the housing scarcity in and around Seattle, we are thinking of renting a 2/2 for about 6 months or so and start looking for a simple 3/2 condo/townhouse to buy. Initial budget is about $400k.

Considering the background I just provided,

1. How is $140K now a days as an offer in Bellevue?
2. For about $400k budget, which areas should we look to buy a 3/2 condo/townhouse/single family that will not have a commute of more than 45min - 1hour to Bellevue? Is this budget adequate for a simple 3/2?
3. How are property insurance and property tax there? Any comparison to Orlando as to these values?
4. Is transit a faster/reliable option to commute to Bellevue?
5. Anything else that I should be aware of before considering this offer?

Much appreciated. Thanks.

As long as you saw the thread close to yours (at the moment, anyway) about "$1M median home price in Bellevue coming soon" and are not concerned, you're in business. Coming from a place like Orlando, with Zillow indicating median home value index of $176,100 as of today, yes I'd be gravely concerned about the future, if not present. Condos are nice, I lived in one and invested in others, decades past, and made money up through c. 2004. Today, dunno. Seems like people are stuck, given the above.

$140K seems tolerable money for a mid-level role, possibly senior, from a mid-size company. Depends on various things, though. Glassdoor can answer that better, as can a local career coach, not this den of opinions that devolves into sniping pretty quickly.

Personally, for that money I'd live in a Canyon Park condo, which is Bothell. There used to be many, now I gather there are few that are affordable, if rumor is true. I lived in Mill Creek to the north by maybe seven miles for eleven years and to do it again...would vastly prefer to be nearer a mass transit major junction. Cannot stress that enough: mass transit, since you can't afford to live in Bellevue (probably, and unfortunately). Driving to / from on I405 *bites the big one*, see previous, and however you can mitigate that, do so. By close I mean within a mile, maybe blocks if you can. I'm eight blocks from a major bus route, with free street parking, and 1 mile from Kirkland transit center. No way on Earth am I driving anywhere in commute hours, hell with that.

Option 2 is the scummier part of Kirkland. Find a Kirkland agent who deals with up near the hospital. I doubt it will be scummy much longer, if it even is anymore, since they dynamited Totem Lake Mall and seem to be building really cool stuff there as we speak. But, an agent would know more about that.

Might want to go to other parts of C-D (the data), and (other sites probably can't name) for data by-area and look at for-sale pricing trends in the past year. Kirkland, my home, had a crazed year (up 27% YoY).

If you have a second income, eventually, yes: go for it IMO. Once you get over living what you consider not quite poor, but far from rich, on what you thought was damn good money, and your wife starts bringing in real solid bacon, and you get over the enormous cost of child care (you researched that too, right?) this can be a great place to live. Some hate it, others love it.

For tech workers, playing it smart and strategic on a ten or twenty year horizon, there are huge opportunities. Vast. Play it dumb, you'll be angry and bitter like half the clowns who flee the state and complain about "lack of affordability." To them, we say: Welcome to Texas (or Tax-as, given their high property taxes?)

[james2441139]

Originally Posted by Canamlian

$140K all-in, or just base with bonus on top of that?

Bonus is extra. Consider $150k in total.

[Sunaimer]

Originally Posted by james2441139

I have an offer from a midsize tech company in Bellevue. They offered $140k. Health, dental insurance fully paid. Parking and transit pass fully paid. 401k match. My wife will start working in about a year (we are having our first baby). She is in civil engineering. Btw, we are moving from Orlando, FL.

Considering the housing scarcity in and around Seattle, we are thinking of renting a 2/2 for about 6 months or so and start looking for a simple 3/2 condo/townhouse to buy. Initial budget is about $400k.

Considering the background I just provided,

1. How is $140K now a days as an offer in Bellevue?
2. For about $400k budget, which areas should we look to buy a 3/2 condo/townhouse/single family that will not have a commute of more than 45min - 1hour to Bellevue? Is this budget adequate for a simple 3/2?
3. How are property insurance and property tax there? Any comparison to Orlando as to these values?
4. Is transit a faster/reliable option to commute to Bellevue?
5. Anything else that I should be aware of before considering this offer?

Much appreciated. Thanks.

1. $140k is great money to make.
2. Up your budget by $200k
3. Prop insurance is no problem, but property taxes are very, very high.
4. Stay clear of I-405 at all costs.
5. The gray drizzling rain for 9 months

[homesinseattle]

Sunaimer, Many of my clients who move here from other parts of the country say that the property tax rates are lower here than where they came from.

[NWarty]

Two pages in and nobody's told him to not move here?

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Sunaimer

1. $140k is great money to make.
2. Up your budget by $200k
3. Prop insurance is no problem, but property taxes are very, very high.
4. Stay clear of I-405 at all costs.
5. The gray drizzling rain for 9 months

Property taxes are not high, compared nationally, They're about mid-range, for property taxes in the 50 states. They may seem high, because property valuations have been skyrocketing. But the tax rate is not high, comparatively.

[Neerwhal]

Originally Posted by james2441139

I have an offer from a midsize tech company in Bellevue. They offered $140k. Health, dental insurance fully paid. Parking and transit pass fully paid. 401k match. My wife will start working in about a year (we are having our first baby). She is in civil engineering. Btw, we are moving from Orlando, FL.

Considering the housing scarcity in and around Seattle, we are thinking of renting a 2/2 for about 6 months or so and start looking for a simple 3/2 condo/townhouse to buy. Initial budget is about $400k.

Considering the background I just provided,

1. How is $140K now a days as an offer in Bellevue?
2. For about $400k budget, which areas should we look to buy a 3/2 condo/townhouse/single family that will not have a commute of more than 45min - 1hour to Bellevue? Is this budget adequate for a simple 3/2?
3. How are property insurance and property tax there? Any comparison to Orlando as to these values?
4. Is transit a faster/reliable option to commute to Bellevue?
5. Anything else that I should be aware of before considering this offer?

Much appreciated. Thanks.

I don't know what you do so I don't know if $140k is fair. Indeed can provide those stats.

$400k is will get you very close to a 1 hour commute.

Bellevue is already the burbs, so from there, you will probably have to be very selective regarding neighborhoods if you plan on transport.

Good luck and congratulations on your baby-to-be!