Moving to Seattle, welcome all suggestions! (Tacoma, Bellevue: sales, affordable apartments, rentals)

[WhitneyRoz]

I am planning a move to Seattle late this summer for graduate school. I was lucky enough to get funding, but I have a stipend of about $1800 a month and I am hoping to find affordable housing within a manageable distance of campus. I am not sure what I can expect to pay for a 1-2 bedroom apartment, but I definitely have a limited housing budget. I have been looking for a breakdown of mean apartment rent by neighborhood, but I haven't been able to find any information along those lines. I will be moving out with a friend who is a teacher, but it sounds like teaching jobs are few and far between. I am not sure what our rental budget might be, but we are trying to play it safe by only counting on my income at this point. If we need to move into the suburbs, I can deal with that, but we would prefer to live somewhere in Seattle proper. Any help with respect to the teaching market, cost of living, or suggested neighborhoods would be great! Thanks all!

[Jennibc]

Check out Lake City (neighborhood within Seattle proper). Apartments are cheaper than you would find in the trendier neighborhoods of Ballard, Wallingford, and Greenlake. Additionally, there are several bus routes that can get you to the UW in 20 minutes or less.

[eskercurve]

For two people on a monthly stipend of $1800, consider your other expenses:

Do you own a car? If not, factoring in only bus transportation, if you get a monthly pass and your friend does too that will be 144 per month. For two people my wife and I eat roughly 300 per month, NOT including time eating out. We don't eat cheap food that's terrible for you, so your cost may vary.

So, for food and transportation, you're left with $1350 per month. That alone will get you a one bedroom near UW (I'm assuming you mean UW and not Seattle Pacific nor Bellevue CC nor Edmonds CC nor any one of the other metro colleges). If you want an internet connection plus cable plus phone service, plus normal utilities, you're looking at a mere $1000 per month.

There are places that are that cheap but they are income restricted places, mostly. There is one place that isn't ... on Mercer Island believe it or not! It's called the Shorewood apartments and for $750 you get a one bedroom. It's old, and spartan, but MI is beautiful in the summer.

I'm certain you can find better deals though. The further you get from the city north you will find more affordable apartments. East side there's also more affordable places.

I highly recommend your friend get a job to supplement your income, even if it is between jobs (like a barista, or service, or something). Seattle has one of the highest per capita cost of living indices in the nation. Also consider applying for assisted living benefits like utility being paid for you. Keep in mind the mean income in King County is a whopping $75,000, so you know it's expensive everywhere.

[Heiwos]

I agree, the friend should get a job, otherwise it'll be tight. Fortunately minimum wage is ~$8/hr, the highest in the nation, and those jobs are available. Eat at home mostly, if only because there's no sales tax (9.5%) on unheated grocery store food.

[WhitneyRoz]

Thanks to all of you for the great advice, anything I can find out is helpful! My friend is definitely going to find a job, but we are just trying to be conservative with cost estimates. There is certainly a lot to consider when moving to a larger city from a town with a population of > 5,000 in Minnesota! I will look further into the neighborhoods you suggested, it gives me a great jumping off point. Keep the comments coming, I appreciate you all taking the time to help a Seattle transplant!

[allforcats]

Try these resources:
craigslist (although be very very very careful), rent.com, forrent.com, and NWSource (combined local classifieds) at --
NWapartments: Seattle apartment rentals, house rental listings, rental classifieds and other property rentals in Seattle, Tacoma, Bellevue and other Washington areas, cities and neighborhoods
Click to narrow down.
And Seattle City Clerk's map of neighborhoods, to learn the names and locations (which the little map in NWSource will also do for you) --
Seattle City Clerk's Neighborhood Map Atlas
Click to enlarge.

[happiestever]

I agree that Lake City/ Northgate would be a good stepping stone. And there are some cheaper places near the UW, but they are not going to be very nice. CL is a great place for rentals.

[eskercurve]

Originally Posted by happiestever

I agree that Lake City/ Northgate would be a good stepping stone. And there are some cheaper places near the UW, but they are not going to be very nice. CL is a great place for rentals.

I concur that CL is a great place to find stuff for rent. You may also want to consider rooms for rent instead of entire apartments for rent. I don't know what your stuff that you're bringing is, but if you have a lot of it, keep to 1 br.

Another thing to consider ... if you can afford it, I highly highly recommend flying out here and hitting the pavement to look for deals. For every property on rent.com and those kinds of places, there's 2-3 that aren't and many of those that aren't have better deals. CL has some unscrupulous characters who would be all too willing to scam you with a "deposit", give promises, only to have you arrive and your place is nonexistant or worse yet, already occupied!

What university are you going to? One thing to consider as well is that the housing department at your uni may provide good recommendations on where to live, on campus as well as off campus. UW has a very high ratio of students who live off campus. If there isn't a housing dept., ask around your new department. There's bound to be other RA's and TA's and students who were in the same boat. Graduate student associations also help.

[WhitneyRoz]

I am actually going to we going to the UW, but I will be doing my research work at the VA, so I am trying to find somewhere that has easy bus access to both places. I don't mind a commute, so Lake City might be the best choice for me. I am planning to come back out in July(about a month before I plan to move) to look at apartments and sign a lease. Is that enough time in advance to look?

[eskercurve]

Originally Posted by WhitneyRoz

I am actually going to we going to the UW, but I will be doing my research work at the VA, so I am trying to find somewhere that has easy bus access to both places. I don't mind a commute, so Lake City might be the best choice for me. I am planning to come back out in July(about a month before I plan to move) to look at apartments and sign a lease. Is that enough time in advance to look?

That is plenty of time in advance. I'd say that you're probably timing it so that you come in after the spring quarter gets out and can probably find some deals.

Don't forget to ask around the university in your dept. and the housing dept. if it exists.