east coasters considering move (Seattle, Bellevue: renting, townhouse, transfer)

[Mrsdean4]

Hi all! I love hearing what locals have to say about their area. My family is considering a move from Virginia (metro DC area) to the Seattle area. I would be very appreciative to hear some opinions on interesting areas to consider settling in. Here is some background: husband and I are both late 40s and we have two middle school age daughters. Husband will be working in Bellevue and I will be work from home but based in Seattle, so would need to be no more than an hour away and adequate internet access is a must.

We are not interested in city living and if dreams do come true, we’d like a 4+ bedroom house that is not governed by an HOA, in an area with a good high school. One kiddo is into horses, but we don’t own. Other daughter is very artistic, not sure if there are school districts that are better for that focus or not.

Would love to hear any insight you all may have, thank you for reading!

[leastprime]

Book a couple of flights and see for yourself. Get a realtor, you'll absolutely need their knowledge.
Sidenote: Our old neighbor has a 4/3 home on 1 acre, 1 mile above highschool and middleschool. UpperMiddle Income for the area. We sold our farm in Jan 2018 and the new owners are putting up a very large arena (80% complete) and horse trails, motorbike trails and a vineyard. It's 0.2 mile from HS and 0.3 mile to middle school (scenic views are literally unbelieveable to flatlanders ). Alas all in Oregon, 210 miles south of Seattle/Bellevue. We sold the land for 1/2 of a Seattle townhouse... IOW be sure you visit first and think about renting for 6months before buying.

[Ruth4Truth]

I hope you can afford that 4+ br. house on 1 acre, within an hour of Bellevue. (Or did you mean within an hour of Seattle? Probably not affordable.) Have you looked at RE values in the area? Do some internet research, then let us know if your dream is doable per your finances. Take a look at: Duvall, Issaquah, Carnation, Monroe, and Maple Valley, among others.

Within an hour of Seattle during commute hours? Or non-commute hours? There's bus service between Issaquah and Seattle, so you wouldn't have to fight traffic yourself. Monroe and Carnation would be a bit beyond your 1-hr. preference, if you mean 1 hr. to Seattle, depending on time of day. But the farther you go out, the cheaper the properties get.

[CrazyDonkey]

One hour to Bellevue is doable: Bothell, Woodinville, Kingsgate, Duvall, North Bend, Newcastle, Renton Highlands, Renton. Figure a 4+bed/2+ba house to start at $700,000.

For one hour of Seattle (if not living in Seattle), reduce that to parts of Bothell and Renton.

[509]

Wow, that's cheap.

The one down the street from me in Wenatchee is $900,000 on a half-acre lot.

[CapitalBat]

Originally Posted by Mrsdean4

Hi all! I love hearing what locals have to say about their area. My family is considering a move from Virginia (metro DC area) to the Seattle area. I would be very appreciative to hear some opinions on interesting areas to consider settling in. Here is some background: husband and I are both late 40s and we have two middle school age daughters. Husband will be working in Bellevue and I will be work from home but based in Seattle, so would need to be no more than an hour away and adequate internet access is a must.

We are not interested in city living and if dreams do come true, we’d like a 4+ bedroom house that is not governed by an HOA, in an area with a good high school. One kiddo is into horses, but we don’t own. Other daughter is very artistic, not sure if there are school districts that are better for that focus or not.

Would love to hear any insight you all may have, thank you for reading!

I believe prices are fairly comparable between DC and Seattle for property, so hopefully there is no sticker shock for you. Sammamish probably fits the bill in terms of school district and lifestyle - but the prices certainly do reflect that!

[Mrsdean4]

Thanks everyone for chiming in. I have looked at the RE market and it is very comparable to what we deal with now. I am looking for suggestions of good neighborhoods/school districts within an hour drive of Seattle. My actual time in the office there will be very infrequent, but would be 8-5 when I am there. I do a 3 hour round trip commute now, so I thats not a shocker either.

We will be flying out for the first trip (job interview for husband) in the next two months or so. My position would be a transfer with my current employer.

[Mrsdean4]

Oh, and to clarify, the size of the lot is not the bigger concern, we just don’t want to be in an HOA.

[homesinseattle]

Mrs Dean, Welcome to our little forum . You might want to have a look at the town of Snohomish. Some other ideas are Maple Valley or Woodinville, depending on your budget.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Mrsdean4

Thanks everyone for chiming in. I have looked at the RE market and it is very comparable to what we deal with now. I am looking for suggestions of good neighborhoods/school districts within an hour drive of Seattle. My actual time in the office there will be very infrequent, but would be 8-5 when I am there. I do a 3 hour round trip commute now, so I thats not a shocker either.

We will be flying out for the first trip (job interview for husband) in the next two months or so. My position would be a transfer with my current employer.

We've had people posting here, who moved to Maple Valley, and Sammamish, and were very happy with the schools and the neighborhoods, and everything. Since you don't need a full acre, you could also look in Edmonds (good schools, too) and Lake Forest Park, which has scenic areas and large lots (lots of 1/2-acre lots, well-treed),and borders Seattle to the north, but isn't urban. It borders Lake Washington, as well.

IDK, though, about what the commute to Bellevue from those last two locations would be like. For you, the commute to downtown Seattle would be easy by public transit that has a commuter schedule.. Can anyone here comment on the commute to Bellevue, from Lake Forest Pk or Edmonds? I'm not sure, but Sammamish may have commuter service to Seattle, too.