Retirement in Seattle area

[AllDone]

What about Bellingham? It's not too close to Seattle, but it's reasonably large. The nearest big city, of course, requires a passport, but the setting is gorgeous.

[Big_Hitter]

well the only reason the liquor tax is so high is that they messed up big time when they privatized liquor sales


don't forget that 2% real estate excise tax. my arse is still chapped on that one

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AllDone What about Bellingham? It's not too close to Seattle, but it's reasonably large. The nearest big city, of course, requires a passport, but the setting is gorgeous.

That nearest city has a cost of living even higher than that of Seattle, I think.

[supernova72]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bamaman I traveled to the far northwest a couple of times working and once on vacation. It's a really beautiful area, however I felt like it was the end of the earth. And 1265 square feet for only $560K? My man cave is larger than that--no kidding. Housing is simply unaffordable--like San Francisco or San Diego. Retirement and unaffordable are two words that don't go together. I have no desire to move anywhere that costs many times as much to live while my standard of living is not so good. But home is home--no matter where it is.

Yea, I know it seems crazy but it was totally my choice to move from the Seattle area suburbs to the "city". I had the bigger house, large lot, vacant lot behind me, "secluded" home for 10+ yrs. I essentially sold the farm to move to the city.
For me it was as much of an investment is a life changing experience to be living in an urban environment. I've really enjoyed downsizing and getting rid of a bunch of stuff I didn't actually need.
I can walk to 20+ restaurants in 10 minutes. I can jump on a bus and see a Seattle Mariners or Seattle Seahawks game in 20 minutes. I'm 1.5 mile walk from Alki beach here in West Seattle.

It's not for everyone and yes I realize I could have a big house with a pool in another low cost region but I just needed a change. For me bigger isn't always better and I'm not really a "lets to go Applebees for dinner!" kind of guy.

[supernova72]

Quote:

Originally Posted by haha Someone just paid 1.7 million for a tear down house that hasn't been occupied for 17 years on my street. It is not the typical 1200 sq ft bungalow tear-down, the houses right here were very high quality. It was an epic estate spat. This is normal city lot in a very nice part of town, less than 1 mile from the Pike Place Market. Likely 8 town homes will wind up on the lot, but I think they will be hard pressed to get $1mm for each of them. If I were the developer I would be worried about the land cost, and of coarse market move during the development process. There is always a moment in Seattle real estate when porky shows up "That's all Folks! Ha

I'm guessing Queen Anne then huh? Wow. Starting to see tear down houses even in my hood. There are probably a dozen projects going on within 2 miles of my place. Tear down, did a big hole for the parking garage and then it goes from there. Condo's, townhomes, first floor is store front shopping.

Not sure how many more can be build before the West Seattle bridge is grid lock all day. First world problems!

[tulak]

A tear down in West Seattle only costs 427k. It was listed at 200k, at which point a bidding war ensued driving the price up. Apparently they had 41 offers.

http://www.seattletimes.com/business...nsane-bidding/

Seattle is definitely a boom town. I wonder how long it'll last...

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by supernova72 It's not for everyone and yes I realize I could have a big house with a pool in another low cost region but I just needed a change...

If I lived in these expensive areas, I would be grateful that not everyone has the same preference. These areas would be even more expensive otherwise. In fact, people there are already getting mad that the housing cost gets so high, and some San Franciscans have been protesting newcomers who drive up prices. They blocked Google employee buses, because the company rightly or wrongly epitomizes the surge of new money coming into town.

Oh boy! If I were a Google employee living in the area I would feel very uneasy being so unwelcome, to put it mildly. Having to run a gauntlet on your way to work adds to the stress of work. I would ER even sooner.

[supernova72]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tulak A tear down in West Seattle only costs 427k. It was listed at 200k, at which point a bidding war ensued driving the price up. Apparently they had 41 offers. Seattle home too dangerous to enter sells for $427,000 after ‘insane’ bidding war | The Seattle Times Seattle is definitely a boom town. I wonder how long it'll last...

Wow, that is 3-4 blocks from my place and did not see if go up for sale. It's kinda scary to see how prices are being driven up. I've said it before but some call it the Amazon effect with high salaries for SW engineers for the DT SEA headquarters.

I'm meeting more and more folks that have moved here for work with SBUX, MSFT also headquartered in the region.

[lhamo]

I live in one of the northernmost neighborhoods in NE Seattle. I have been tracking housing listings for the last several months, as we will be buying sometime in the next year. Housing costs depend very much on microlocation. You can probably still get a 3-4 br home in my immediate neighborhood (I live on a major street) for 500-700k. But if you go east a few blocks, over the crest of the hill where you start getting amazing views of Lake Washington and the Cascades, prices jump to 800k-1mill+. That being said, I have noticed a few listings in that neighborhood where they have listed high and now are dropping the list price.

Lake Forest Park is nice, especially the Sheridan Heights/Sheridan Beach (if you have $$$) area. Sheridan Beach is on the Burke Gilman Trail, which gives you a straight shot by bike to the UW.

Shoreline housing (anything north of 145th) is typically $100-200k cheaper than similar units in the Seattle City limits. Not sure why that is, as Shoreline schools are generally considered better than Seattle schools.

Issaquah/Sammamish is very congested, and not that much cheaper than Bellevue/Redmond.

Carnation/Duvall/Fall City are not that cheap anymore, either, and you have to drive long distances to get to shopping, drs. etc.

[hakuna matata]

Go West into Kitsap County. That is where I live, and I LOVE it out here. My view is all trees. On 2 1/2 acres and love my house. My Seattle friends that come out to visit me are amazed at how much house you can get here compared to the Seattle side. Now if you were working I would not suggest it (although I did the commute for years).

But retired, do it. I am going into Seattle this afternoon to visit a friend in downtown Seattle. I will take the Bremerton boat in which is about an hour, walk a few blocks and have a few beers with him, and grab the 7:55 boat back. I have an hour to sober up! Win-win. I take the hour to relax and read my Kindle and catch up on my book.

[NW-Bound]

Had I gone ahead with my original plan to relocate to the Puget Sound area, I could end up being your neighbor.

I would want to go to the International District to have a fix of either Vietnamese Pho or Chinese Duck Noodle Soup though (my fetish), and it's too far from the ferry dock for a walk. Perhaps a folding bike, if I do not want to pay for the car on the ferry.

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound Had I gone ahead with my original plan to relocate to the Puget Sound area, I could end up being your neighbor. I would want to go to the International District to have a fix of either Vietnamese Pho or Chinese Duck Noodle Soup though (my fetish), and it's too far from the ferry dock for a walk. Perhaps a folding bike, if I do not want to pay for the car on the ferry.

Our light rail has stops near the ferry dock, and also in International District, So you should have come after all.

Ha

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

You got a lotta money?

[mh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by haha Our light rail has stops near the ferry dock, and also in International District, So you should have come after all. Ha

I was just up there last weekend and the light rail from the airport thru downtown Seattle is awesome. no need for a car. I plan on doing more 2 / 3 day vacations now from Southern California since it's so easy to fly from Burbank airport direct to Seattle which is relatively low hassle tsa wise


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

[AllDone]

My spouse was stopped while walking the dogs yesterday by a woman with questions about the neighborhood. She and her husband are shopping for a house in my plush little north San Diego county town because they feel the prices are better than Seattle.

[Big_Hitter]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AllDone My spouse was stopped while walking the dogs yesterday by a woman with questions about the neighborhood. She and her husband are shopping for a house in my plush little north San Diego county town because they feel the prices are better than Seattle.

Had some people from Cali cruising around our hood looking for a place on Sunday. I think our houses are about 75% cheaper.

[Bir48die]

Really? I live in PDX and I think more than 68 days of sunshine plus 5 degrees warmer than Seattle at an given time. Might have had those transposed.

[Chuckanut]

Housing prices in a state can vary a lot. I assure you that you can find some very inexpensive housing in certain parts of So. Cal. For example, check out the prices in Barstow or Yucca Valley.