Moving from Japan - 120K enough to live in Issaquah w/ 3 kids? (Seattle: real estate, to rent)

[khammo01]

Hello,
I am originally from the Seattle area but have lived in Japan for the past 14 years. We're finally moving back this summer and I'm so excited.

The best thing is I'm going to be able to keep my job, which I like -- but the salary is going to be adjusted to local market.

I'm in salary negotiations with my employer, who has suggested that my salary will probably be in the 110-120K range.

We've decided we like the Issaquah Klahanie area.
Most of the houses we like are listed with asking prices at around 475,000 to 500,000. We're looking for a place with at least three bedrooms (preferably four) PLUS a home office on the main level. The home office is requirement.

So my question is: is 120K income enough money to live in Klahanie?
We are a married couple with 3 kids ages 5,7,9. Mom is a Japanese native and will be a homemaker in the U.S. I'll be working full time in the evenings remotely managing Asia.

Our house payment will be close to 2000 per month in order to get the kind of place we want in Klahanie, but that doesn't include the costly property taxes or homeowner insurance. On the other hand, I will be working from home so I don't have to pay for daily commute or eating out for lunch.

We're a little behind on our retirement savings so we need to save about 20% of our gross income.

We don't have any daycare expense but we need to visit Japan every year and the wife is addicted to expensive organic groceries. I also have a IT gadget addiction (barely under control).

Does this sound like a reasonable monthly budget estimate?
Are any of these too low? Did I miss any obvious expense?
Anyone else making $120K total household income and living in Klahanie? Do you feel 'poor' compared to your neighbors?

Sorry for what might seem obvious questions - I haven't lived in the US since 1995!

Taxes & healthcare - is about 30% reasonable? 3000
Mortgage 1800
Property tax 500
House insurance/HOA 150
Car insurance 200 (2 cars)
Car payment 200 (we'll pay cash for one, 50% down for another car)
groceries & eating out 700
Electric,water,gas 350
Phone 25
Mobile phones 100
Internet 70
Cable TV 50
Gasoline 200
Misc expenses (clothes, etc.) 500
Lessons for kids 500
Retirement saving 2000
Saving for family vacation 600

Thanks in advance. We already know about the huge Uwajimaya downtown. We're really excited to see what Seattle offers to us after being gone for so long.

[Count David]

Car insurance looks a little low, a lot of people don't have house phones anymore, mobile phones looks low, cable TV looks low. Everything else looks close to fine.

With $120K, if you aren't fine in this Klahanie place, you'll be fine somewhere else in the greater Puget Sound.

[caravan]

Is your $1800 mortgage amount based on a certain amount down? Will you have savings to sustain the 5 of you if anything goes wrong? Will your wife be able to work if necessary, in the future? Those are the "backup" things I would consider in your position (especially as your kids get older and want more and more gadgets... I would bump up your mobile phone to include cell phones for all 3 of them, for the near future--are you into smartphones? My husband and I pay $160/month for our two).

Also, when you talk about health care, is your employer going to provide that for everyone in your family? Or would there be any surprise costs you would need to cover, in an emergency? Something else to save for. Kids' college funds?

But yeah, as already said, you should be fine somewhere in Puget Sound, if not in Issaquah... especially since commuting is not an issue.

[Count David]

My mobile bill is ~ $240/mo. Two phones and an aircard.

Highway robbery.

[khammo01]

Hi, thanks for the replies.
Yes, the $1800 is payment I am estimating will be required after putting our down payment to get a place we'll like.
We would still have enough emergency cash savings set aside.
We are fortunate enough to have fairly sufficient cash at the moment - but I want to make sure our budget is an affordable one.

My wife and I don't want her to have to work and I don't think she would make a ton of money anyway (doesn't speak English that well, not good with computers, etc.).

And although we could be flexible in the location, we really want to be in the Klahanie neighborhood for its proximity to the other things in life. (close to I-90, easy trip into Seattle to go to Uwajimaya, reasonable distance from Bellevue, etc.) Over here in Japan, everything practically right next door (you could walk virtually anywhere) so we want to be close to stuff - but don't want to live in the city. We are also worried about schools.

I know there are cheaper places than Issaquah but we really like the area.

Thanks for the comments about low estimates for insurance/phone/cable, etc.

[act98006]

Klahanie is kinda far out there. I do not consider it convenient to Uwajimaya if that is a priority. When we were looking for a house and I mentioned to my father we had looked in Klahanie he commented that *that* was practically Yakima. I would suggest SE Bellevue. $120 K should be more than adequate to live comfortably in the area (either one.) However, if your wife is planning on shopping at Uwajimaya (Bellevue or downtown) I think you will find SE Bellevue more convenient. It'll be 20 minutes more to Seattle from Klahanie then from SE Bellevue area. Bellevue will also be more convenient for Japanese school if you are going to enroll your kids. The Saturday school is a Sammamish H.S. in Bellevue on 140th SE.
Also, you will find a lot of Japanese families in SE Bellevue that would be nice for your wife. Check out Cougar Mountain, Somerset or Forest Ridge areas. Bellevue has the best school system in the state (according to the Seattle Times.) My kids attend Issaquah schools and I have no complaint with them either.

[khammo01]

Thanks for the insight.
I actually lived in SE Bellevue when I was in high school. I liked the area and would be happy living in the house we lived in back then, but prices have gone up so much that I could never even afford that house, which is 25 years older now. We haven't so far seen any places that we can afford which meets our house needs (not wants).

We would only be going to Uwajimaya basically on the weekends, probably once a week. We'd do other shopping locally. We'd be in Bellevue for the Japanese activities mainly on the weekends as well.

I guess you could say that 'comfortable house with enough room' is more of a priority than distance from Uwajimaya, because we wouldn't be going there that often... but will discuss with the wife again and reassess priorities...

Thanks,

[Inkpoe]

No, what Act was saying was that there is a Bellevue Uwajimaya location. Albeit a small one, but its there. Uwajimaya already announced that the Bellevue is going either get a new location or somehow be expanded. (There is also a Uwajimaya store in Renton, as well.)

The entire Eastside from Bothell down to Newcastle/Renton is desirable. And there's a lot of great school districts in between. There's a wide berth to choose from.

[khammo01]

Hi.
Yes, I know about the Bellevue Uwajimaya store.
I'm looking at places online now and I have to go all the way up to Bothell to get decent-looking houses for what (I think) we can afford. And with the traffic, I understand it would take same amount of time to get from Bothell to Bellevue as it would be to get from Issaquah.

Maybe I'm being too house-picky but the stuff in Klahanie just seems so much nicer and only a little bit further away...

[eskercurve]

I second Inkpoe's opinion. From Bothell down to Renton there's tons of nice areas and there's ~300-500 places just from using Google real estate (go to maps.google.com and click the "more" button and select real estate).

I even narrowed it down to $350k with 20% down and your payment will be roughly $400 a month lower, which will help when college comes around, as college tuitions in the years you've been in Japan have far outstripped inflation (5-15% per annum every year you've been gone).

The Eastside has lots of things outside of the neighborhood you have your heart set on.