Help? New Home at Bothell (Seattle, Everett: power lines, new house, safe neighborhood)

[xgrocks]

I am from Texas and will be relocated to Seattle in about few months. Currently I am looking for a new house in Bothell. D R Horton just opened a new community at 4010 180th St SE Bothell WA, 98012. Could some one comment on this area? is it a safe neighborhood? convenience to shopping mall or stores? How traffic looks?

Many many thanks in advance.

[Seacove]

That is pretty far north but just on the edge of the Northshore School District which is good. 180th is the boundary. The traffic along Bothell Everett Hwy is pretty terrible and you'll have to take that to get to 180th. Thrashers Corner is not terrible but not great. Bothell is growing very well but personally I would not want to be around Thrashers. Since you're asking I would suggest for new housing to look at the developments along 228th in Bothell. You can avoid Bothell Everett Hwy and that whole street is sprouting new developments, it's a wide street, sidewalks on both sides and hwy access at both ends. I'm guessing the prices along 228th will be higher than around Thrashers though.

[Teuscher]

I'd advise you to buy a house in the incorporated part of Bothell....stay away from the unincorporated areas.

If you want to live in that part of WA, take a look at Mill Creek. It's right next to Bothell. It's a beautiful city with great schools, lots of parks, safe neighborhood, etc.

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by Teuscher

I'd advise you to buy a house in the incorporated part of Bothell....stay away from the unincorporated areas.

If you want to live in that part of WA, take a look at Mill Creek. It's right next to Bothell. It's a beautiful city with great schools, lots of parks, safe neighborhood, etc.

Mill Creek is definitely nicer than Thrashers Corner but it will also require you to take Bothell Everett Hwy (heavy traffic and several street lights) or 164th to 5, also heavy traffic. At least try the commute once or twice before buying to see if it will be a problem for you.

[jm31828]

Originally Posted by Teuscher

I'd advise you to buy a house in the incorporated part of Bothell....stay away from the unincorporated areas.

If you want to live in that part of WA, take a look at Mill Creek. It's right next to Bothell. It's a beautiful city with great schools, lots of parks, safe neighborhood, etc.

What is wrong with the unincorporated areas? We are looking there and there are lots of great, beautiful developments in the unincorporated areas.

[mkarch]

Originally Posted by jm31828

What is wrong with the unincorporated areas? We are looking there and there are lots of great, beautiful developments in the unincorporated areas.

Generally poor planning and layout, few or no parks or permanent/public greenbelts and piecemeal development. Road network is inadequate and will probably go for decades without being upgraded to handle the thousands of homes put in. Character of the neighborhood can change quite a bit over time. Parts of it are also really ugly, mass clear cutting of entire hill sides so all you see are the power lines where there used to be a forest. Check out the area off 228th between say 35th and 45th for an example of what I'm talking about. That used to be a really pretty area.

[eskercurve]

Cheap housing too.

Some of the houses in those areas went up in as little as a month. And after having dealt with poor home building in my home ... I can honestly say I will never in a million years trust anything built after 1980 ever again. Too many illegal laborers, unscrupulous builders, and cutting corners for that extra $100 profit on that house (literally in many cases, it's ridonculous!).

I personally wouldn't live in any of those pixie stick homes, much less with kids. Dollars to dinars there's class action lawsuit just written all over those homes.

[jm31828]

Originally Posted by eskercurve

Cheap housing too.

Some of the houses in those areas went up in as little as a month. And after having dealt with poor home building in my home ... I can honestly say I will never in a million years trust anything built after 1980 ever again. Too many illegal laborers, unscrupulous builders, and cutting corners for that extra $100 profit on that house (literally in many cases, it's ridonculous!).

I personally wouldn't live in any of those pixie stick homes, much less with kids. Dollars to dinars there's class action lawsuit just written all over those homes.

I think that just depends on the builder. I live in a home that was built in 2009 in the unincorporated area between Lynnwood and Bothell and it is great, solid build with no issues at all. We know some people in homes built in just the last couple of years in that unincorporated area of Bothell along the 35th Ave corridor and their homes are great, too- they love them, no issues at all. I know there are definitely some builders who do shoddy work on new homes, but we can't generalize and say all new construction is that way- it is just not true.

[eskercurve]

Originally Posted by jm31828

I think that just depends on the builder. I live in a home that was built in 2009 in the unincorporated area between Lynnwood and Bothell and it is great, solid build with no issues at all. We know some people in homes built in just the last couple of years in that unincorporated area of Bothell along the 35th Ave corridor and their homes are great, too- they love them, no issues at all. I know there are definitely some builders who do shoddy work on new homes, but we can't generalize and say all new construction is that way- it is just not true.

Issues typically don't crop up in homes till 7 years into it. That's when all the gremlins come out. So even if your home is junk it will look nice ... just don't plan on raising kids in them.

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by mkarch

Generally poor planning and layout, few or no parks or permanent/public greenbelts and piecemeal development. Road network is inadequate and will probably go for decades without being upgraded to handle the thousands of homes put in. Character of the neighborhood can change quite a bit over time. Parts of it are also really ugly, mass clear cutting of entire hill sides so all you see are the power lines where there used to be a forest. Check out the area off 228th between say 35th and 45th for an example of what I'm talking about. That used to be a really pretty area.

Of course that used to be a really pretty area when it was just woodland. Now there are several developments being built there and you can lament the loss of the trees but I think that is a really positive development for Bothell. There are parks being built there, they've put sidewalks on both sides all the way to Hwy 9 and you can easily get to 522 by going east or 405 by going west. You've got Canyon Park for shopping without having to be tortured by Bothell Everett Hwy. And that whole area looks clean and new.

I'm not sure how you would have chosen to develop it or if your preference would have been to not develop it at all but the reality is there is a market for new housing. I have no vested interest and we chose an older home with an acre lot but many people want new. That area is honestly about the only area I can think of in the greater metro area that has numerous new developments to choose from in a new area with reasonably good access to the metro.