We're like 3-4 hours south of Seattle. It's much cheaper to live down here. Not that I've looked much into it but I remember years ago looking at housing prices in Seattle and they were comparable to what it costs to live in my dad's area of Chicago (Midway area).
We pay $950/month in rent for a 3bed/2bath house, family room and living room, formal dining room, 1 1/2 car attached garage, fenced back yard.
Considering the house down the street is going for $170k and it's bigger than ours I think we could easily afford a house this size in this neighborhood IF we could get a loan. Which we can't because of the bankruptcy (it hasn't been long enough yet).
My husband actually picked up one of those free housing brochures and there was a house that was exactly like this one (it's a pretty common model around town) was for sale in the next town over and it was around $160k. The houses in my dad's neighborhood (3-4 bedrooms and 1-2 baths) go for 200-300 thousand. Or they did. The market was bad when we left. The house next to him which was only 2-3 bedrooms with 1 bath and no garage finally had to short sell at $180k. It was originally listed as $230k which was cheap at the time. They took a big loss after remortgaging to improve the townhouse they bought. I felt bad for them.
Not sure how the market is doing here. There are several houses for sale in our neighborhood. But over the last year the ones that were up for sale sold pretty quick. It's a nice area, family friendly and cheap. The other areas in our little town are much more expensive to live in.
There's a minor chance I might be looking for a residence around the Seattle area. Depends on first of all, whether I actually get past the interview round I did Friday (haven't heard yet, nerves are jumping), and past the next (final) interview round to an offer, depends on the offer ... depends on what we decide about things if I get to the point of an offer.
That would be awesome. We could meet half way and have lunch, lol. If I had a car that is because my husband sure wouldn't drive me to a lunch date, lol.
As I said, minor chance ;) I received an unsolicited recruitment from a major company in my field, located in Seattle. No telecommuting options. I did interview round 2 on Friday.
C is also thinking about looking too, and Seattle is not a bad place for him to look. Our biggest problem would be the house here, and probably having to hold onto it. Given how much we've paid down, we could easily sell it to cover the mortgage (probably the mortgage + 60-75K even) but that would still be a big loss for us.
It'd be a great adventure (I know our move was). I've yet to get up to Seattle. We had planned to go this summer but never got around to it (the kids always wanted to go to the beach instead) and now it's the rainy season so too blah to go.
hopefully it'll all work out for you guys whichever way. My husband started talking move again to a different house (maybe something bigger but that means moving out of this town to a cheaper area) and I started having a panic attack. I am so not into moving again. I told him that. This was our 5th move since we've been together (12 years). I'm tired of moving every couple of years. Especially since I have to do all the work. Ugh.
We pay $950/month in rent for a 3bed/2bath house, family room and living room, formal dining room, 1 1/2 car attached garage, fenced back yard.
Considering the house down the street is going for $170k and it's bigger than ours I think we could easily afford a house this size in this neighborhood IF we could get a loan. Which we can't because of the bankruptcy (it hasn't been long enough yet).
My husband actually picked up one of those free housing brochures and there was a house that was exactly like this one (it's a pretty common model around town) was for sale in the next town over and it was around $160k. The houses in my dad's neighborhood (3-4 bedrooms and 1-2 baths) go for 200-300 thousand. Or they did. The market was bad when we left. The house next to him which was only 2-3 bedrooms with 1 bath and no garage finally had to short sell at $180k. It was originally listed as $230k which was cheap at the time. They took a big loss after remortgaging to improve the townhouse they bought. I felt bad for them.
Not sure how the market is doing here. There are several houses for sale in our neighborhood. But over the last year the ones that were up for sale sold pretty quick. It's a nice area, family friendly and cheap. The other areas in our little town are much more expensive to live in.
Reply
There's a minor chance I might be looking for a residence around the Seattle area. Depends on first of all, whether I actually get past the interview round I did Friday (haven't heard yet, nerves are jumping), and past the next (final) interview round to an offer, depends on the offer ... depends on what we decide about things if I get to the point of an offer.
Reply
That would be awesome. We could meet half way and have lunch, lol. If I had a car that is because my husband sure wouldn't drive me to a lunch date, lol.
Reply
C is also thinking about looking too, and Seattle is not a bad place for him to look. Our biggest problem would be the house here, and probably having to hold onto it. Given how much we've paid down, we could easily sell it to cover the mortgage (probably the mortgage + 60-75K even) but that would still be a big loss for us.
Reply
It'd be a great adventure (I know our move was). I've yet to get up to Seattle. We had planned to go this summer but never got around to it (the kids always wanted to go to the beach instead) and now it's the rainy season so too blah to go.
hopefully it'll all work out for you guys whichever way. My husband started talking move again to a different house (maybe something bigger but that means moving out of this town to a cheaper area) and I started having a panic attack. I am so not into moving again. I told him that. This was our 5th move since we've been together (12 years). I'm tired of moving every couple of years. Especially since I have to do all the work. Ugh.
Reply
Leave a comment