Seeking a move...from FL (Seattle, Edmonds: apartments, foreclosures, rental)

[adigitalmoment]

I am 28 and self employed and my g/f is 19 going to school/self employed as well. We are seeking a possible move to Seattle in the near future possibly. We are seeking any kind of information about rental house prices monthly, how the economy is there, gas prices, which areas are better than others, etc...pretty much the main areas of an easy, smooth living status. Right now, we live in South Florida...I have been here my whole life but also lived a few years here and there in Detroit so I know the main basics of how to make it from nothing. Like I said, any input is appreciated

[Hemlock140]

From what I've seen on other threads the prices here are a lot more than Florida. The job situation is better than much of the country but still dismal,
with hundreds of applicants for every job. My son recently rented a 3 br 2 ba house in Edmonds, a rural area NW of Seattle for $1,500/month.

Decent apartments in somewhat sketchy areas of Seattle are going to run $800-$1,000 for a studio. A house in Seattle is going to be $1,800+ except in the worst areas. Craigslist will show some in the $700 range but beware, sometimes those are people that take your deposit but then disapear and don't own the house (vacant foreclosures).

Gas today was $3.67 for regular, and seems to be going up every day. The economy here, like job is better because of Boeing, Costco and Amazon all doing better, some even hiring. The cost of living is higher than Florida, probably in the top 5 in the U.S. I would say comfortable survival income here for one person is minimum equivalent of about $20/hour.
Median income is about $46,000 in Seattle, but in some eastside cities such as Sammamish it's well over $100,000.