How much do you need to make to live comfortably? (Seattle: for sale, real estate)

[MsHell]

How much do you need to make to live comfortably in Seattle, Kirkland, Issaquah area?

Could 2 adults live comfortably making around $80k (combined)?

How's the real estate these days? Is it realistic to look to buy 1-2 bedroom condo in a safe, nice area for around $200k?

[Ira500]

If you don't have kids, I think it's possible to live comfortably in the Seattle area on 80 thousand a year. Real estate in the Seattle area right now is mostly slow, with a few pocket areas defying that slowness. A 200,000 dollar condo in a nice safe area is not impossible, but also not very common. Almost none within the city of Seattle, a few older units in Bellevue and Redmond, a few in a less desirable part of Kirkland, almost none in Issaquah, and more so in Renton and Tukwila and Burien and Kent . There's a 2 bedroom unit currently for sale in the Fairwood section of Renton for 153,000 dollars, and Fairwood is a nice area.Neither Renton nor Tukwila nor Kent nor Burien have great school districts, but all of them have nice parts...Renton and Burien have some very good restaurants and good hiking trails, Kent has an awesome bakery. Tukwila has a major mall.

[Jennibc]

Making that much and also wanting to be home owners might be a little tight. Much of it depends on how you define being comfortable. Do you have any consumer debt or student loans? What kind of tastes do you have?

[850]

I'm also interested in this topic as my wife and I are considering moving to Seattle next Spring or Summer. What I want to know is, do jobs pay significantly more in Seattle? How is it that people are able to afford living there with the high cost of living?

[Jennibc]

Significantly more than where? We found that in the technical sector, it does NOT pay much better than where we lived in Austin, TX. Lawyers, professors, many kinds of doctors, and research scientists don't make any more than many less expensive parts of the country either. People in the tech sector were really making money with stock options which probably drove up the cost of living here in the late nineties (much more money circulating in the area at that time) But you very rarely hear of people getting a big lift in their incomes that way anymore mostly because tech stocks are not going through the roof any longer.

[Pittgal]

Originally Posted by Jennibc

But you very rarely hear of people getting a big lift in their incomes that way anymore mostly because tech stocks are not going through the roof any longer.

Not true for all. We moved here for hubby to work at a "tech" company. The stock was 32.00 when we came in 2006, it is now 82.00. Thats 50.00 more a share we get then we thought, I'd say that they're still going up!

[Pittgal]

2 people on 80K with no debt will be fine here, but you are not going to find a nice condo in a nice area on 200,000.

[obsidian97]

I dunno... $80k for two people... You're not going to be too happy if you want to buy a new car or save up for a down-payment on a house, or save much for retirement, and still have money to play around with to take vacations, etc.

It's really a matter of personal preference and choices. I know that there are people running around here making $80k/yr for two people and not living in abject poverty because of the cost of living. I also know people who make a lot more than that, still take a close look at their grocery receipts, and would consider a trip to Whole Foods to be a frivilous expense.

It also matters who you work for (sadly). If you work for an employer that pays a lot of your medical insurance costs, and say, is a member of Prime, has free commuter options, etc. then you can stretch your dollars further than one that doesn't offer all of that.

[ComfortablyNumb]

Could someone give me an idea of just how expensive seattle is if you just want to rent? Are basic things (restaurants, groceries, car repair, etc etc) a lot more expensive too?

[obsidian97]

Originally Posted by ComfortablyNumb

Could someone give me an idea of just how expensive seattle is if you just want to rent? Are basic things (restaurants, groceries, car repair, etc etc) a lot more expensive too?

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