Moving to Wa, should I choose Kent or Renton? (Seattle: for sale, 2013)

[kiwicat83]

Hi All,

My husband and I will be moving to WA from SLC probably in mid-2013. We both are 30 and will be working. No children so far but probably will try as soon as we move out to WA. Anyway, hubby will be working at Seatac Airport, and I most likely will get a job in Seattle or Bellevue since I work in human resources, and bigger companies are in those areas.

So, we are looking for a house now because the market is great and we want to buy low before it goes up. Before we move there, the house will be rented out and managed by a property mgmt company. I had my eyes set on Renton, but Kent or surrounding areas are not ruled out. My biggest concern is safety, and then of course, commute time. Our highest budget is probably $325,000, thus the east side is just too expensive for us. (Ideally a house built after 1980, 2500 square feet, but as long as it's over 2000 SQ I am ok.) I see quite a few new developments in Kent/Auburn that are affordable, but again, I am just not sure about the commute. Could you give me some advises? If you commute to Seattle/Bellevue from southern Seattle suburbs, how long is your commute?

Thanks in advance! /

[Hemlock140]

Kent or Renton to the airport is no problem. Going into Bellevue, or all the way into Seattle is another matter. From the south the commute to Seattle will only get worse in the next 4 years with the viaduct demolition, new tunnel, waterfront modifications and seawall replacement. It's already bad due to the truck traffic at the container terminals in addition to the commuters. If you can find something in the Renton area off highway 900/Sunset Bl you could commute through Issaquah to Bellevue and save a lot of time, and to Seattle avoid much of the worst parts of highway 405 and go 90 to 5. In the next few years, before you have a school-age kid, you will want to be in the Issaquah School District, rather than Renton, so check the boundaries carefully before buying. You can actually sometimes find a home for $350 in Bellevue, but it's going to be a smaller, older, maybe fixer, but with great schools in the safe, quiet neighborhood of Tam O'Shanter or near Eastgate.

[Ira500]

I spent years commuting from Renton into DT Seattle. It was a 15-20 minute drive most of the the time, but that's in the part of the Renton school district with bad schools. To be in the part of Renton with better schools, add another 15 minutes.
To find a 1980 or newer house with 2000 sq feet for under 325 will not be impossible, but either you'll need to be a little further away( like Covington or Auburn or Maple Valley) or make the compromise and find something older and a little closer.
I wouldn't say avoid the Renton School district at all costs, Renton has some pretty good schools. In Bellevue, 80% of the schools are good. In the Renton school district, 20% of the schools are good. Kennydale and the East Renton Highlands have decent schools. They're not as good as the neighboring Issaquah district, but they're above average. Fairwood has a Renton address, but it's in the Kent school district. Kent School district also has maybe 25% of it's schools that are good. And, interestingly enough, the best schools in the Kent school dsitrict are in the part of Renton that is part of the Kent school district, like Fairwood and adjacent neighborhoods. And that would be a 35ish minute commute to DT Seattle or DT Bellevue if the traffic gods were co-operating. But going south on 405 in the afternoon commute from Bellevue is an absolute nightmare. Maple Valley has terrific schools, and I've seen newer homes in that price range, but that's going to be a 45+ minute commute to DT Seattle or DT Bellevue at best. Auburn will be similar, commute wise, but they do have the Sounder Train to commute to DT Seattle, as does Kent. Auburn's schools are generally thought of as a little better than Kent's or Renton's. Renton has good bus service to Bellevue and Seattle. Covington does have brand new houses for way less than 325, and it's part of the Kent school district, with better schhols than most of Kent( but not as good as the schools in Renton that are part of the Kent school district.)...A little bit of Renton is also in the Tahoma( Maple Valley) school district, but it's more rural, and there aren't a lot of houses for sale there....As it is, even though prices have dropped a lot and interest rates are low, there aren't a lot of houses for sale right now. And a lot of what is for sale is either way too expensive or not in good shape. The only pretty much universally bad school district is Tukwila's.
Long story short, I'm going to disagree with my pal Hemlock here. You're not going to find a house in decent shape in Bellevue or Issaquah for the money you're able to spend. You might find something in Renton in the Issaquah, or Kent school district, but take a look at the data in greatschools on the web at the schools in the Renton district. They're not all bad. Stay away from the bad schools, not necessarily the entire district.

[Harrier]

Listen to Ira - I only really know the little portion of south King County that I grew up in(Des Moines, Kent, SeaTac) but I was about to reccommend Renton -but closer to Fairwood and Newcastle.

Ira knows the area better than I do(the only time I made it to Renton(and area) was for track meets at Renton and Liberty High Schools and cross country meets at Ft. Dent Park. I always thought that they were huge distances from my hometown of Des Moines - kind of like traveling to North Bend and Mt. Si High School.

I also thought that traveling to the "big towns" of Seattle and Tacoma was a big deal. Now not so much - especially since I have traveled extensively in the cores of both Seattle and Tacoma - not to mention Los Angeles.

South King County - with all its warts seems idealic in comparison(I grew up 1 mile away from Gary Ridgway's house - and probally passed it at least 5 times a week).

Listen to that user(Ira).

[NV2TN2AL]

Boy at the risk of sounding like "a kid in a candy store", I just wanted to pop in and add a "Thanks" to all you great posters! I am a complete newbie to these boards, let alone to the subject of living in WA. We are from Southern NV (Boulder City, where Hoover Dam/Lake Mead is), but have spent the last 15 years in the Southeast (14 in Nashville; the last 1 in the Gulf of Alabama). My son-in-law and daughter are both interviewing with Boeing. My son-in-law has interviewed for positions in their Puyallup facility; my daughter will be interviewing for a position in Renton. Again -- we are completely shooting in the dark, so I REALLY appreciate all the great advice! My kids have a 9 mo. old and hope to expand the family to one more in the future, so the school chat really helps (so does the website referral!) I've done a bit of research on Puyallup and found it to look nice and pleasant. We are basically pretty "middle class". We enjoy getting out in nature (camping; riding our motorcycles). Finding a nice, new church home is a priority too (we currently attend a Methodist one; but we've enjoyed worshipping in a wide variety of Christian settings). If anyone has anything to add to the discussion about any areas possibly between the two cities (or anything else to add about Puyallup), I'd sure appreciate it. Oh, by the way, my husband works from home, so he can set up shop anywhere! Thanks!

[kiwicat83]

I want to thank everyone for replying. I still am deciding, but back to focusing on Renton. I saw a nice house in Northern Kent and totally fell in love, but hubby is not exactly interested in buying a brand new house and get in more debt. I will definitely update you all once we buy a house.

Have a good night!

[Luv2byte]

Renton is more central & allows you to avoid SR167 from Kent east hill. You could look kent west hill which would put your commute directly to i5 & east to 405.