How much does it really take? (Seattle, Bellevue: real estate, apartments, rentals)

[moonie45]

I may have an opportunity to move to this area but don't yet know the salary. How much money allows you to live comfortably in this city?

Would probably rent a 2bed, 1.5 bath, if those exist. Two adults, no kids. We like to travel, but of course, we'd probably just explore the local area at first. We don't have any expensive habits, unless you count pets. Speaking of, is it easy to find apartments that allow three pets? I've noticed that in many cities, there's a two-pet limit, but Seattle seems dog crazy, so maybe landlords are more relaxed about it.

[renli3d]

All around the Greater Seattle area the cost of rent for a decent 2BR apartment is probably going to be at least $1500/month. As long as your housing cost is no more than 30% of your monthly take home pay I'd say you would be very comfortable. That means your net take home monthly income should be at least $5K/month, or 60K year. This gives you enough money for food, entertainment and retirement savings.

[moonie45]

My current mortgage is $1,600 monthly, but cost of living is much lower than Seattle. Thanks for your response. My quick search for 2 bedrooms places them in the $1,600 to $2,200 range, but I am looking in areas with high walk scores on Rent Jungle.

Is there a good local resource for finding rentals?

[hellopity]

Originally Posted by moonie45

My current mortgage is $1,600 monthly, but cost of living is much lower than Seattle. Thanks for your response. My quick search for 2 bedrooms places them in the $1,600 to $2,200 range, but I am looking in areas with high walk scores on Rent Jungle.

Is there a good local resource for finding rentals?

The usual - Zillow etc. How much it takes really depends on your spending habits, what you deem comfortable, and how much of your paycheck you are willing to pay in housing + living expenses. Different for everyone, so impossible to answer.

[Canamlian]

I would think a nice 2 BR, 1.5+ bathroom in a walkable neighborhood would be more like 2,000+ than 1,500+. A quick look at places on hotpads that are in the 1,500-1,800 range don't look appealing (at least to me).

My guess is 3 dogs will really limit you though. For many rentals, landlords can be picky and won't take you even even if they don't explicitly prohibit dogs because they'll have other applications. Sometimes having 1 small dog doesn't put you at a disadvantage, but 3 dogs is a lot.

[moonie45]

Hey Canamlian, I actually have two cats and one large dog, about 78 pounds, all rescues. I'm at my personal pet limit! I've seen some apartment listings that say they allow two cats, and below that it says two dogs, but I'm unsure of the total pet limit. yhgFor example:
https://www.apartmentsearch.com/apar...ign=affiliates

Is Seattle worth the expensive housing? This will sound crazy, but I've actually never visited. Each time I thought of it, I ended up going to a different place. The flight for me is over 5 hours, so that might have had something to do with it. I know I need to visit before committing to move. Anyhow, I have been to Portland, OR years ago, so I guess I have some idea of the Pacific Northwest : ) We were looking at LA, but this opportunity in Seattle came up.

[Blondebaerde]

Originally Posted by moonie45

Is Seattle worth the expensive housing? This will sound crazy, but I've actually never visited. Each time I thought of it, I ended up going to a different place. The flight for me is over 5 hours, so that might have had something to do with it. I know I need to visit before committing to move. Anyhow, I have been to Portland, OR years ago, so I guess I have some idea of the Pacific Northwest : ) We were looking at LA, but this opportunity in Seattle came up.

"Is it worth it." For who? In terms of real estate investments, it's been wildly profitable if you got in early enough, which in my view ended perhaps as late as 2011. After that, depends on how bad you need to be here. Last I checked, population continues to grow though one might wonder if it reaches SF levels if that will level and reverse. Even tech salaries won't be enough at that point.

I wouldn't have a household income less than $225K to raise children and a keep a home properly in some non-ghetto part of town, in the typical American Dream fashion so to speak. That being upper middle class these days. I understand that YMMV, and it's a precarious existence if both work, and one partner loses their job for a year or so, with a big mortgage of $3-5K.

Yes, you do need to visit before moving here, though I only visited twice for a total of maybe a week come to think of it so can't throw too many virtual stones at the idea. I'd hang around this forum, read a few hundred posts on various "typical" topics. Wish it existed back when I turned up, though that was now officially a "generation" ago thus has zero to do with today's realities since things have changed so much.

[Bluefox]

Originally Posted by Blondebaerde

"Is it worth it." For who? In terms of real estate investments, it's been wildly profitable if you got in early enough, which in my view ended perhaps as late as 2011. After that, depends on how bad you need to be here. Last I checked, population continues to grow though one might wonder if it reaches SF levels if that will level and reverse. Even tech salaries won't be enough at that point.

I wouldn't have a household income less than $225K to raise children and a keep a home properly in some non-ghetto part of town, in the typical American Dream fashion so to speak. That being upper middle class these days. I understand that YMMV, and it's a precarious existence if both work, and one partner loses their job for a year or so, with a big mortgage of $3-5K.

Yes, you do need to visit before moving here, though I only visited twice for a total of maybe a week come to think of it so can't throw too many virtual stones at the idea. I'd hang around this forum, read a few hundred posts on various "typical" topics. Wish it existed back when I turned up, though that was now officially a "generation" ago thus has zero to do with today's realities since things have changed so much.

Meh. You can still do it on 180-190k. It won’t be the very best, but you can put your kids in a good school still at that income level. In 5 years? Maybe not. Times are a changing fast in Seattle.

Also, I didn’t read where s/he asked about real estate investments. Seems like a family looking to rent a home for themselves.

Hell, I make a peasly 100k and manage to survive in a nice, quaint area.

[Blondebaerde]

Originally Posted by Bluefox

Meh. You can still do it on 180-190k. It won’t be the very best, but you can put your kids in a good school still at that income level. In 5 years? Maybe not. Times are a changing fast in Seattle.

Also, I didn’t read where s/he asked about real estate investments. Seems like a family looking to rent a home for themselves.

Hell, I make a peasly 100k and manage to survive in a nice, quaint area.

I'll take your word for it, I have very few data points (pals with several incomes). That's what they indicate, living in Bellevue and Samm, respectively. I itemized one of those buddy's expenses during a bad breakup, so he and the S.O. (not married) could break up their assets equitably. I've never seen two people raising four kids blow through so much liquidity each month on what I consider bull____, but that is/was their way of living the 'Dream.

They did ask "is it worth it." IMO, it is worth it as an investment in real estate, or at least "was," therefore I suggest relevant. Otherwise worth it? If you make sufficient money to live the American Dream, which is what most people and families want (like either the parents, or for younger people the grandparents). To do that today here is outrageously, heinously expensive.

I made a (cough) measly $100K equivalent awhile, on the mean streets of Redmond (cough cough) and managed to squeak by, too. More means additional options, as one might imagine. Much more, "they" say options really open up. I may never know, so-sad/too-bad I guess

[Bluefox]

Originally Posted by Blondebaerde

I'll take your word for it, I have very few data points (pals with several incomes). That's what they indicate, living in Bellevue and Samm, respectively. I itemized one of those buddy's expenses during a bad breakup, so he and the S.O. (not married) could break up their assets equitably. I've never seen two people raising four kids blow through so much liquidity each month on what I consider bull____, but that is/was their way of living the 'Dream.

They did ask "is it worth it." IMO, it is worth it as an investment in real estate, or at least "was," therefore I suggest relevant. Otherwise worth it? If you make sufficient money to live the American Dream, which is what most people and families want (like either the parents, or for younger people the grandparents). To do that today here is outrageously, heinously expensive.

I made a (cough) measly $100K equivalent awhile, on the mean streets of Redmond (cough cough) and managed to squeak by, too. More means additional options, as one might imagine. Much more, "they" say options really open up. I may never know, so-sad/too-bad I guess

There is a world beyond the East Side. Bothell and maybe Shoreline or Edmonds would be doable on 180k or even less. Schools aren’t amazing but they’re decent to pretty good.

This housing market is crazy but extremely overvalued. They are okay renting for at least a year. The rent vs own cost is one of the lowest in the country right now. There is no other reason why the housing values are so high compared to rents than the market being overvalued. Rents would be much higher in a truly healthy market.