hoping of moving from Boston area with family (Seattle, Edmonds: house, neighborhoods)

[homesinseattle]

tobester, I love Columbia City, I'm actually listing a neat house there next week. I stayed away from that idea for tilley as they seemed pretty school focused and wanted a bigger lot (lots can be a bit small there). Also, Columbia City is very hot with the Amazon crowd right now, homes are selling $100K over list with multiple offer, broken record, right? I just find the other areas we have been discussing here to have a touch (note, just a touch) less competition and the lots a good size.

[misscross]

OP, Columbia City isn't known for good schools although it's hip and walkable, one couple we know who managed to snag some older house with basement issues around $400k are able to do so because they have free childcare provided by family. They also wouldn't be able to afford that house now it's over $500k. For an infant daycare can easily run $1200-$1800 a month.

Two physician assistants (I assume that is what PA means) should easily bring in $200-300k combined depending on inpatient/outpatient work so I'm not sure why the housing budget is only $400k?

[jtilley7]

Our student loans are killing us, 3k per month. We both have 4 years experience so based on current job postings I was think we would end up around 230k for combined income. If you know of people getting more than that or places paying more than that we would be thrilled. There has been a giant surge in PA schools in the northeast so that has kept salary relatively low compared to other parts of the country where there are far less PAs.

[cmswazey]

So, would that be 10 to 12k monthly take home? 13? You may net more out here due to there being no state income tax. Also, we have lower property taxes out here than most of the NE. I'm not suggesting you shoukd over commit or anything but definitely look at all factors.

[cmswazey]

Before my husband retired, I think we grossed about 125k a year. We probably netted close to 7k a month though hard to discern that since we had about 15% deducted for 401k which changed our take home a lot.

[jtilley7]

Ya I've already factored in those two things. We would pay about 1k less per year in property tax and we paid about 11k combined in state income tax last year. Defiantly nice having an extra 12k in our pocket but unfortunately I've already calculated that into what I think our budget would be.

[cmswazey]

Ah!

I do hope it works out. Values and prices are rising here.

[Cecilia M]

If you do end up working at UWMC, living in Shoreline is very convenient. I work for UW and all buses lead to UW. There's also a light rail station there opening up this month and the light rail is slowly moving north.

I too have thought for a long time that I need to live in the city forever but I am getting ready to move up to Shoreline, Mountlake Terrace, Lynnwood, Edmonds or somewhere like that. Some of those areas are closer to UW than some of the areas of Seattle that are south of downtown. In your price range you will be lucky to get into Shoreline nowadays, much less look down your nose at it. Those areas aren't all that "suburban" either, as you will find many people in this area share your values/wants etc.

Before you decide on a neighborhood, you should get jobs. Commute is everything here as we have some of the worst traffic in the country according to online articles I have read. Open yourself up to jobs in other areas (the U district is very dense) and open your mind to living in other neighborhoods.

Farmer's markets- Seattle has a robust network of farmer's markets. You won't be going to Pike Place Market as a local.

Restaurants - Many of the city's best restaurants are in Ballard or other northern neighborhoods, not downtown, so if you live in the northern suburbs, you can still get to these places easily.

Living south of downtown is only advisable if you are also working south of downtown, as commuting through downtown can be a bear. You want to save as much time as you can for that new baby!

Speaking of which, I don't have kids. But I did have friends who were all like "oh we are totally cool with apartments and small spaces" until they had a 2-year-old running around and she was pregnant again. Then the mom went bonkers, begged the husband to rent a house, they broke the lease and were outta there. LOL

[Cecilia M]

Somewhere in this thread you mention the ocean- we are not all that close to the ocean. It's about a 3-hour drive to the closest ocean beaches.

[jtilley7]

I am hoping to land at UWMC because they have positions similar to where I currently work but both my wife and I will be applying to many different places. I would actually like a teaching hospital just outside of Seattle so my commute would be opposite of traffic but I don't know those hospitals yet. We are currently in the process of applying for our WA state PA license, which looks like it may take awhile.

Its nice to hear good things about Shoreline. If we can't find something in Olympic hills it will defiantly be the direction we go in. I am just trying to gather info about the area from locals. There is only so much statistics from the internet can tell you.

Being relatively close to the sound is all we are looking for, no need to be on the open ocean.