ER's flock to Seattle

[Happyras]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fermion Eh, I have a waterfront home (riverfront) about 2/3 acre with 150 feet of frontage 40 min from Seattle and I will sell my 4500sqft home for the first $300k that comes along.

How deep is that water today? I had to stop spreading top soil with my tractor due to the down pour, even though I am quite well drained up on the hill here. I am hoping that the West Snoqualmie Road is still open, as you know the river floods the valley quite often this time of year. Or are you up the river by Gold Bar?

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound My guess is that that home in Phoenix would go for $150K-200K, depending on the location. If I lived up on the Puget Sound, would buy away from the city. Less expensive, and less crowded too. I might even be able to get a waterfront home for less than $1M. Or not, as I have not window-shopped for a while.

Seattle Business Weekly just published a list of the various prices in different King County communities. King County is by far the most expensive Washington county, for sales and rents.

Most expensive are the high end eastside communities like Bellevue, Kirkland, Mercer Island, and ultra high end Lake Washington communities like Yarrow Point, Clyde Hill, Hunt's Point and Medina. Next is Seattle. While there are extremely expensive residences in Seattle like downtown, Washington Park, etc., these are greatly diluted by all the less expensive homes and condos to make for a lower average and median. I think that overall, the Eastside is more expensive than Seattle, and Seattle is more expensive than north King County, and South King County.

There is a strong preference on this board for suburban and exurban and rural living. But that does not seem to be the case in a wider group. Even Metros in the Midwest where the robbers are often ahead of the cops, downtown living has picked up. My Central Seattle Condo has doubled in price in 4 years. For me it is perfect. My girlfriend and I have been going to symphonies and music salons and art galleries frequently. Catch a bus across from my building, downtown in 10 minutes, Or if the weather is better than it has been lately, walk in 25 minutes. We can have a drink or snack before returning home with no concern about driving rules. (Neither of us will drive if we have had anything alcoholic to drink.)

I did live out of town, and like the 60 miles to the beach, 60 miles to the mountains realtor's slogan, 60 miles to the city tends to make evening trips few and far between, or at least it did for me and everyone else that I knew.

Similar to when I lived in the East Coast. I loved NYC, but going into the city did not appeal to me, other than an occasional trip in on the train.

It all depends on what you like. I have no wife to mollify with a big house, so true urban living is really no more expensive for me than other choices that I already know are not so attractive to me. Also, although Seattle obviously does have crime, not enough to trip my "get out of Dodge" warnings.

Ha

[gretah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound If I lived up on the Puget Sound, would buy away from the city. Less expensive, and less crowded too.

Good idea.

When people retire to a very HCoL area, they forget something: who will take care of them later.

Expensive cities like San Francisco, CA, Seattle, WA, and Vancouver, BC, are unaffordable places for repairmen, caregivers, lawn maintenance people, etc.

My town has a medium CoL but well over half the population is over 60 years old. There are more entry-level workers than jobs, so the employers take advantage of that and pay less than what should be paid. So the good people who would make great caregivers, repairmen, etc, all leave to find jobs where they are paid decently. And the seniors gripe about why no one reliable stays. They caused the problem!

So NWBound has it right: move to the suburbs for the best of city living with access for the workers who can help us when we need it later.

[Fermion]

Ha, wait until the RV and tent city crowd in Ballard set up in front of your condo

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fermion Ha, wait until the RV and tent city crowd in Ballard set up in front of your condo

That would be a problem. Where is it in Ballard?

[Fermion]

Quote:

Originally Posted by haha That would be a problem. Where is it in Ballard?

You watch any local news? They are having a heck of a time in Ballard with a bunch of dilapidated RV's that have moved into the area on the streets. The local police refuse to tow them. Needles everywhere, it is a mess.

Seattle is becoming known in the homeless community as the place to go.

I kind of hate it because we plan to live in our RV, but obey rules and pay for parking when needed at RV lots. This type of behavior will spill over into our lifestyle I am sure.

Homeless RV camps in Ballard - MyNorthwest | MyNorthwest.com

[bld999]

@ Fermion,

No one who has seen the likes of what has been going on in Ballard will mistake your outfit for trouble.
Most of those motorhomes are on their last trips if they run at all. broken windows stuffed shut with old pillows or sleeping bags, etc. Tagged by the local punks, flat tires, on and on. People ravaged by drugs and booze in some cases, the rest are simply flat out of health or luck and on their last stand.

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fermion You watch any local news? They are having a heck of a time in Ballard with a bunch of dilapidated RV's that have moved into the area on the streets. The local police refuse to tow them. Needles everywhere, it is a mess. Seattle is becoming known in the homeless community as the place to go. I kind of hate it because we plan to live in our RV, but obey rules and pay for parking when needed at RV lots. This type of behavior will spill over into our lifestyle I am sure. Homeless RV camps in Ballard - MyNorthwest | MyNorthwest.com

Strange that they characterize NW 50th as an industrial area. I guess if one considers the zoo industrial it might be.

Re local news, I swore off all local news. A million heartfelt stories about how needy someone else is, and how I had better open my pockets to them. I guess all local news sucks, but Seattle seems to be leading that parade. My WSJ delivery guy tucks a Seattle Times into the rain sleeve when he has an extra. No better.

Ha

[ShortInSeattle]

We sold our 2bd condo in downtown seattle 18 months ago and there's a part of me that is kicking myself for not waiting longer. Inventory is so scarce right now (particularly 2 bedrooms) that I don't doubt we could get 100-200k more for it today.

We were glad to downsize and we got a decent premium for it (we bought in 2011) so we weren't unhappy with the deal by any means. But hindsight is 20/20.

SIS

[HadEnuff]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R Wow, what an insane price for that house, if it is as small as it appears to be! My dream house cost less than 1/3 as much and it is everything I will ever want and more. I'm not headed for Seattle. It's probably a beautiful place to live, but maybe a bit too pricey for me. Here's what you can get in my suburb, for under $700K: 1713 Palm St, Metairie, LA 70001 - Home For Sale and Real Estate Listing - realtor.com® Not that I would ever spend that much anyway! With only one of me, I don't need the hassle of a place that big. We are having a bit of a housing bubble here too, right now, but I have never seen a home sell for more than the asking price.

Good to know that I cannot afford a lot more house on New Orleans than I cannot afford in Seattle.

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by W2R Wow, what an insane price for that house, if it is as small as it appears to be! My dream house cost less than 1/3 as much and it is everything I will ever want and more. I'm not headed for Seattle. It's probably a beautiful place to live, but maybe a bit too pricey for me. Here's what you can get in my suburb, for under $700K: 1713 Palm St, Metairie, LA 70001 - Home For Sale and Real Estate Listing - realtor.com® Not that I would ever spend that much anyway! With only one of me, I don't need the hassle of a place that big. We are having a bit of a housing bubble here too, right now, but I have never seen a home sell for more than the asking price.

Wow! That is a very attractive house.

Ha

[NW-Bound]

$735K in my area gets you this 2,770 sq.ft. home. There's access to a man-made lake in the back, else you can get 3,500 sq.ft. without the water.

Hmm... Just noted the cracked driveway.

[Accidental Retiree]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rosie A very nice area! We considered moving up there, but we ultimately decided to stay in Northern CA. The Port Angeles & Port Townsend areas are high on our nice places to visit list, in fact we'll be in PA late May-early June. Lots of Chinese and Indian buyers in the market when we sold our SF East Bay area home last year. We were an easy commute to Facebook, Google, etc., and we got what I thought was an exorbitant amount for our home ... not that I'm complaining.

Yep. Just so. When Facebook moved in, I knew it was time to start thinking about selling up and moving out. 👍


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by haha Seattle Business Weekly just published a list of the various prices in different King County communities. King County is by far the most expensive Washington county, for sales and rents. Most expensive are the high end eastside communities like Bellevue, Kirkland, Mercer Island, and ultra high end Lake Washington communities like Yarrow Point, Clyde Hill, Hunt's Point and Medina. Next is Seattle. While there are extremely expensive residences in Seattle like downtown, Washington Park, etc., these are greatly diluted by all the less expensive homes and condos to make for a lower average and median. I think that overall, the Eastside is more expensive than Seattle, and Seattle is more expensive than north King County, and South King County. There is a strong preference on this board for suburban and exurban and rural living. But that does not seem to be the case in a wider group. Even Metros in the Midwest where the robbers are often ahead of the cops, downtown living has picked up. My Central Seattle Condo has doubled in price in 4 years. For me it is perfect. My girlfriend and I have been going to symphonies and music salons and art galleries frequently. Catch a bus across from my building, downtown in 10 minutes, Or if the weather is better than it has been lately, walk in 25 minutes. We can have a drink or snack before returning home with no concern about driving rules. (Neither of us will drive if we have had anything alcoholic to drink.) I did live out of town, and like the 60 miles to the beach, 60 miles to the mountains realtor's slogan, 60 miles to the city tends to make evening trips few and far between, or at least it did for me and everyone else that I knew. Similar to when I lived in the East Coast. I loved NYC, but going into the city did not appeal to me, other than an occasional trip in on the train. It all depends on what you like. I have no wife to mollify with a big house, so true urban living is really no more expensive for me than other choices that I already know are not so attractive to me. Also, although Seattle obviously does have crime, not enough to trip my "get out of Dodge" warnings. Ha

If I move to the area, a home on Bainbridge Island would be right for me. It's only a ferry ride away from downtown, in case I want to go have some Oriental food in the International District.

[zedd]

Sharing. Our old stomping ground in the NW - 30 minutes east of Seattle:
Real Estate - 0 Homes For Sale | Zillow

I won't point out which property specifically. Beautiful area for sure. But seriously why tie up so much of your net worth in real estate. DW and I actually built a home in this area years ago.

But we're just not "those people" anymore. Anyone feel that way?

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zedd Sharing. Our old stomping ground in the NW - 30 minutes east of Seattle: Real Estate - 0 Homes For Sale | Zillow

At midnight? I have 2 sons who work or worked for MS, easy enough to spend 55 minutes from the 520 MS exit to Madrona or other eastern Seattle neighborhood at evening rush hour.

Ha

[W2R]

Quote:

Originally Posted by haha Quote: Originally Posted by W2R Wow, what an insane price for that house, if it is as small as it appears to be! My dream house cost less than 1/3 as much and it is everything I will ever want and more. I'm not headed for Seattle. It's probably a beautiful place to live, but maybe a bit too pricey for me. Here's what you can get in my suburb, for under $700K: 1713 Palm St, Metairie, LA 70001 - Home For Sale and Real Estate Listing - realtor.com® Not that I would ever spend that much anyway! With only one of me, I don't need the hassle of a place that big. We are having a bit of a housing bubble here too, right now, but I have never seen a home sell for more than the asking price. Wow! That is a very attractive house.

Yes, it's pretty, I'll give it that. It doesn't do much for me personally because to me it is insanely large.

A certain person laughingly labels New Orleans homes on this scale as being "monuments to oneself". That cracks me up!

I guess we are just happy with our smaller homes.

[NW-Bound]

I looked again on Bainbridge Island, and there's no nice waterfront home around $1M like there used to be a few years ago. Back at the time of the Great Recession, there were plenty to chose from, but not anymore.

But for roughly the same money as the $717K home in the OP, here's one I would prefer, on Bainbridge Island. Home is 2,600 sq.ft. and lot size is 0.81 acres. That lot size is a big plus for me. If one does not have to go to work and does not want a city life, so can live further out, he can get a lot more home for the money.

This house is but a 5-min bike ride to downtown Bainbridge and the ferry to Seattle. Just perfect!

[Fermion]

I dunno, for $700,000 I can get a 10 acre ranch with a 2500 sq ft house and still be closer to Seattle than a hour wait for the Bainbridge ferry.

[old woman]

I have a large house on a large lot in Seattle that has a huge 6 car garage. The garage is on a separate tax lot so .62 acres total. I want to sell but can't find a house to buy.
Looking for a rambler that is newish not 50 years old on a low maint lot with plenty of parking. Afraid I would sell then be homeless even if I got a half million or more.