Moving from Dallas to Seattle? (Bellevue, Renton: to rent, condo, townhome)

[Tinyred15]

Hello everyone! My husband and I currently live in a suburb of Dallas. We quite like it here, but I unfortunately work for a company that filed for bankruptcy with not much future in sight. I received a job offer with Amazon and am seriously considering taking it, but after looking at cost of living in Seattle am second guessing the decision. We are a young family that needs great schools and a small yard, but I don’t want a crazy commute into work. Any advice on neighborhoods? Are we crazy for considering the move? I’ve been interviewing with a few Dallas companies but unfortunately nothing has worked out since my experience is so specialized. Appreciate your feedback!

[thatguy950]

Depending on what you do for Amazon you can probably be one of the few to afford the Seattle metro area. What’s the price range?

I’d avoid anything in Seattle itself and focus on Bellevue, Issaquah, or the east side. Maybe Eastgate for an easy commute relatively speaking, if traffic returns to normal that’s a safe area with easy access and good schools, but relatively inexpensive compared to the rest of the eqst side, kind of a hidden little gem of a spot. Still, I know Dallas traffic is bad, but in normal times seattle traffic is several orders of magnitude worse

[Gardyloo]

Housing cost is higher, but other costs, such as utilities, tend to be lower; in the case of electricity remember you won't likely be paying for air conditioning, for example. Like Texas, there's no state income tax in Washington.

Much will have to do with your income and specific working conditions. If you can work part remotely, great; if you are located in some other area than South Lake Union, great. Traffic can be bad, but it's really not particularly worse than in other major metro regions in the US. But the details are very important: for the time being the SLU area isn't well served by direct transit links to other parts of town or the suburbs. The "last mile" concerns - the distance from home to a transit stop, and from the transit stop to your workplace - are extremely important.

[Hemlock140]

Here in Sammamish we have many Amazon people, including the house next door. That one sold for just under $800k, 2,500 sf and 12,000 sf lot. Just this week another sold for $600k, but it was only 1,200 sf and 9,000 sf lot. On the eastside the good schools are in Bellevue, Mercer Island, Kirkland, Redmond, Sammamish and Issaquah. Unless you are able to work for Amazon from home, buying for less than $600k and still have good schools means a really long commute to places like Maple Valley.

[leastprime]

You may not necessarily need a yard. Maybe what you want is space to play in.
Congratulations. Take advantage of any relocation perks and get a RE agent.
Most tech people are WFH.
Try to rent first year. Schools are fine but will go probably go virtual.

[flyingsaucermom]

I grew up in DeSoto and unless your politics are die-hard red or all your family lives there, I can't imagine favoring Dallas over Seattle.

It physically looks and feels a million times better.

Costs are higher and spaces are tighter. I suppose that's another compensation you will need to make. If you like a lot of land, no matter how crappy and dry it is, than maybe stay in Texas.

Amazon FTEs... it's likely you'd have a position where you can work from home. Perhaps indefinitely. My husband is planning on it...

Maple Valley. Issaquah. East Renton Highlands. Sammamish. Bellevue. Redmond.

[Tinyred15]

This is all great info! Thank you!

We are trying to stay under $850K for a 3/2 house/townhome/condo in a good school district. We do need a small yard since we have two dogs. Looks like there could be some good neighborhoods hopefully in that price range. My biggest concern is commute time. Since most people are still working from home, I am seeing a 13 mile commute as a 24 minute drive right now, which I know is not correct.

[Gaylord_Focker]

Originally Posted by Tinyred15

This is all great info! Thank you!

We are trying to stay under $850K for a 3/2 house/townhome/condo in a good school district. We do need a small yard since we have two dogs. Looks like there could be some good neighborhoods hopefully in that price range. My biggest concern is commute time. Since most people are still working from home, I am seeing a 13 mile commute as a 24 minute drive right now, which I know is not correct.

You can absolutely hit your goals with that budget. Won't be a perfect home if you want to be in Seattle or the Eastside, but that budget goes far in some of the northern and southern burbs.


As for traffic, it feels like it's almost back to normal.

[homesinseattle]

Take a look at Bothell-Northshore Schools!

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by Tinyred15

This is all great info! Thank you!

We are trying to stay under $850K for a 3/2 house/townhome/condo in a good school district. We do need a small yard since we have two dogs. Looks like there could be some good neighborhoods hopefully in that price range. My biggest concern is commute time. Since most people are still working from home, I am seeing a 13 mile commute as a 24 minute drive right now, which I know is not correct.

When I was driving to work my 23 mile commute at 5am took 25 minutes, but coming home at 2:30pm took 45 minutes to an hour. You will definitely want to consider commute distance in case the job ends up being at South Lake Union after the pandemic. There are also vanpools. My next door neighbor has a King County Metro van and before the pandemic picked up 5 others on the way to Amazon, carpool lanes all the way.