Is it just me or is Washington State starting to become nearly as expensive as California anymore? (Seattle: rent, new home)

[rkcarguy]

It's gotten ridiculous, we're nearing CA home prices but we have nowhere near the income to afford them like people do in Cali. Worse yet, we have no proposition holding property taxes back for long time owners, so even people who own their homes outright can end up priced out of them by property taxes as the homes around them sell for vastly inflated prices.
My grandmother is one of them, paid $190k for their new home *fully furnished* in 1995. Now even with everything in bad need of updating the property taxes are in excess of $6,000/year or $500/month. Plus an "impervious surfaces fee" was added which runs another $90/month tacked onto the water and sewer bill.

[Ultrarunner]

The tax situation after I-747 was gutted is my real worry...

As soon as I-747 was gone my tax went up 80% in one swoop...

[Gaylord_Focker]

Moving from Seattle to OC. Not a huge difference honestly.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Seattle has always been one of the most expensive cities in the US. There aren't too many cities where cost of living has always been higher.


As Seattle fills up, the areas close by start to cost more and it spreads out from there.

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by Mopac1980

In the past few years seems like the cost of living in Washington State has skyrocketed and it's starting to be on par with California.

I remember several years ago you could get a fairly nice 3 bedroom house for under $200,000 in cities like Spokane and the Tri-Cities, those days now seem to be long gone.

It is partly Californians who are bidding up our real estate values.

[Mopac1980]

Originally Posted by CrazyDonkey

It is partly Californians who are bidding up our real estate values.

I had a feeling that it's the Californians that are moving up here that is jacking up the price of home, I wish people would move to other states.

[Ultrarunner]

Growing up in the SF Bay Area many years more than half of my grade school classes were non-native to California.

Many families lured here for defense and tech...

A lot of established Californians now in Washington first came to Washington via military service or support.

Among my Bay Area friends WA doesn't make the list of top destinations... AZ, OR, ID and NV

[happygrrrl]

Originally Posted by Mopac1980

I had a feeling that it's the Californians that are moving up here that is jacking up the price of home, I wish people would move to other states.

G_d, it never ends.

[Podo944]

Originally Posted by The.Great.Oxen

This is why we got the **** out of WA in 2017 and will never come back. We moved down to San Antonio, and cost of living alone we basically got a $10-14,000 raise. Our house? 2700 sq ft, brick exterior, 1/4 acre yard in nice development. $205,000. Same in WA? $500-600K.

Curious, how do property tax rates compare to Washington? We just moved here and renting. It will be at least a year before considering buying a house. That is if we decide to settle here.

[Tall Traveler]

Originally Posted by Podo944

Curious, how do property tax rates compare to Washington? We just moved here and renting. It will be at least a year before considering buying a house. That is if we decide to settle here.

Property taxes are much higher in Texas and so is the cost of insurance on your house because they have far more disasters. The lower housing prices still makes it cheaper in Texas but not as much as people think.