Please vote in this poll using the sidebar.
I would move to a different (economically viable) region for home prices ___ cheaper than Seattle.
- 25% (15%, 19 Votes)
- 50% (35%, 43 Votes)
- 75% (10%, 12 Votes)
- I will live in the Seattle area no matter how expensive it is. (40%, 50 Votes)
Total Voters: 124
This poll will be active and displayed on the sidebar through 12.05.2009.
I can’t answer that. There’s more to an area than home prices. There are places I wouldn’t move to even if I was paid to do so. Would I move to an area with 25%, 50%, 75% cheapers housing? Depends on where it is.
I voted that I will live in Seattle, but I meant the area, as in Bellevue. I have a good job here that cannot be found elsewhere, and I have family here. So, I here I will stay. I also was in LA and believe me, it is still a bargain here compared to LA.
Poll doesn’t really apply to me I suppose, since I want to move away from the city anyway. Comparing home prices in other cities doesn’t do me any good since I don’t want to live in a city at all. I’d much rather live in the country, closer to the mountains. Unfortunately, I’m still leashed to a job that requires me to be rather urban.
As soon as my youngest is out of HS I think we’ll move, probably to eastern WA or northern Idaho. The homes are half the price, the weather is better, and with the money we save we can buy a 45-65′ boat to keep in Seattle and use as an apartment for visits as well as cruising. It’s a nice area but for me there’s more to see and do than just Seattle. And don’t kid yourselves, it is expensive here.
This is hard to answer. I only live here because of my job. I cannot do this job anywhere else, but I would probably move pretty quickly if it wasn’t for this job. The weather around here is too atrocious for the prices. Mind you the suburbs around here seem much cleaner and nicer than many other places in the US I have been.
Is this asking me assuming I can get the same job elsewhere? Will I be making the same money?
If for so many years Californians have moved from beautiful areas with wonderful weather to Seattle because of a job and what for them at that time was very cheap housing, I would bet most would the same if the situation reversed.
Off topic; but interesting. Surprising this was in the market for that long at about $100/sq.ft. Now is pending at $88/ sq.ft. Looks very clean and nice.
http://www.redfin.com/WA/Monroe/15655-Canby-Dr-SE-98272/home/2884711
By Lake Hills Renter @ 3:
That’s sort of my situation. I’ll probably retire to some place that is more rural, but that will probably still be some place in Washington. That might be as close as Enumclaw, but Oregon and Idaho are also possibilities. Any place with high humidity (e.g. most the south east) is out under any conditions.
If San Diego is cheaper than Seattle in 5 years….hasta luego.
The “economically viable” qualifier is intended to imply that you are able to find a similar job in the alternate region. Also, I did say “Seattle area” and “different region” (as opposed to city) in the poll, so I’m not talking about just Seattle proper, but basically the greater Puget Sound region.
For me, at 25% off, it would be a tough call. At 50% off or more, it’s a no-brainer as long as the alternative isn’t LA or Texas.
RE: Ben @ 5 – You can answer the question any way you like, but I feel that money indeed must be in the equation. I took a pay cut when I moved out of Seattle last year. At first, I was just sick about it, but soon I found that the increased quality of life more than made up for the reduced income. My living expenses in my new adopted town are about 50% of those I had in Seattle, so that does help make up for the income reduction.
The other bonus is that living smaller puts me in a lower tax bracket – something that will become more and more important as our bill for this spending binge comes due.
If I could find a job comparable to what I have now I would consider moving to Phoenix or Miami. For what a house that I wouldn’t live in for free costs in Seattle I can buy a nice 4 bed, 2 or 3 bath house in Scottsdale with a pool. Changing jobs right now isn’t appealing to me though. However, if/when the economy actually does turnaround I will likely be looking to get out of the Seattle area, the weather sucks and it really is greatly overpriced. In the meantime I’ll put up with 6 months of rain and dank while the talking heads drone on about green shoots.
We chose to live here after very careful consideration. After two years of researching and thinking about it, the Puget Sound became our top choice. This was considering the quality of life, and balancing all other factors, including the weather. Places that offer better lifestyle options as well as decent jobs will always cost more. The bay area was our second choice, but way too expensive for what you get and too cramped. We are still considering a more rural
area, and Kary I’m with you on the humidity thing, no way!
Lived Here All My Life
But the Paine Field wooded area [used to be Standard Oil property, 2500 acres] I grew up on is ruined…..they just mowed the trees down and replaced it with houses. I did live in Kansas as a kid for about a year and a half….yes its hot there, but real estate comes with land and its cheaper and the people were friendlier.
I think there is a conundrum with the question though….the economy is changing fast lately [44% drop in world yearly oil use since 2006] and to assume we’ll return to the same old same old job market and salaries in Seattle takes way too much faith than I have…..and if you believe in global warming, why would you ever want to return back to high world energy use anyway?
By Willy Nilly @ 12:
Quality is always better than quantity, so money takes a back seat to what an individual, couple, or family would prefer.
Rural is not so good w/young children or teens. Retirees, another story. I love being a “townie” after many years of a very rural lifestyle before we had kids. I loved living in the “puckerbrush”, as we called it in northern New England, before we spawned. But in town is the place to be till the teens (spawn) bail. But get ready to drive, drive, drive if you move to the puckerbrush.
RE: meadows @ 14 – Why do you think rural is not so good for kids? I spent all my summers after about age 7 out in the country, and moved out there full time at about age 15. I’ve always felt sorry for people who grew up in the city.
RE: Kary L. Krismer @ 15 –
Agreed- i think there’s much more to do in the country if you can get interested in the outdoor lifestyle, and while you may have to travel a bit to meet friends the sense of community is much stronger. And remember, the idea of riding dirt bikes, or gardening, boating, whatever is easier when it’s not gray and raining.
Why does it have to be city v. rural. I know tons of great people who grew up in cities, all around the world. And I know tons of total a-holes who grew up in rural areas.
And frankly, vice-versa.
City-living has a lot to offer kids, as does rural living. Although judging by the statistics (75% of Americans live in or around a major city) I don’t think rural living is on the upswing. And don’t kid yourselves, “ex-urban” living is not rural.
At any rate – to the question, I don’t think I’d move. Wife likes it here, we have friends, lots of job possibilities and I like the culture (lots of things I like to do). I don’t like the weather, but there are places where the weather is nice but a lot of other things suck. House prices have relatively little to do with my decision. If you hate the weather, the culture, don’t have a lot of friends and think it’s too expensive, then fine, obviously you should leave.
This is something we are currently considering. We are from the NW but not Seattle though I’ve lived hear the majority of my adult life. We were out of state for 3 years and have had sticker shock since returning (everything from car insurance, utilities to home prices). We both love Seattle but wonder if it is truly worth the prices that homes cost. I am passionate about food and Seattle is a great place to be for this interest. My job is technical and there are few places where I could get a job appropriate for my training. Husband’s job is very transferrable. When we think that we may be able to retire several years earlier if we lived in a smaller town (eugene or corvallis) where home prices were significantly less, we wonder if Seattle is really worth the price. In the end, it will probably come down to whether I get a job in my field. If so, my income would probably make up the difference in home prices we’d pay. If not, I’d probably use some transferrable skills in a smaller town and get paid less. Its true Seattle is less expensive than a lot of other big cities but I agree that it is a very expensive place in general — hard to know if ‘its worth it’.
Rational or not, I think most people look at the question in reverse:
“How much more money would have have to make to move to XXXXXXX”
I know several people that took job offers in Seattle, then came to look for a house and were shocked at how expensive it was.
I already left Seattle, primarily due to how expensive it was. Seattle was nice, but not a place I can afford raise a family without wasting my life commuting from a distant suburb. I had two job offers in Seattle and one job offer on the east coast. I also have family on the east coast. Factoring in the expenses of living in Seattle and of traveling back east for holidays, I decided it wasn’t worth staying.
I miss the Thai food in Seattle. The drivers are also more considerate there than they are on the east coast.
In 5 or 6 years, Case-Shiller in Seattle will be back near 100. I would have considered returning at that point, since I really did enjoy my time there, but after two cross-country moves, my wife has declared “never again.”
I’m 30 and am starting a family.
By Kary L. Krismer @ 15:
Sure, me too. Summers were great. My point is that my friends with youngsters who live out “in the county” as they say here in Bellingham, drive, drive, drive. Different story for the non-spawned. They can sit tight.
As a young twenty something recently out of college I lived in the burbs, and had cousins who lived out in the country, and I can say I was a bit jealous of them. Yes I was near a green belt and could go trekking in the woods and couldn’t rid motorbikes, go blasting, and do many other outdoor activities that my cousins go to do on a daily basis. Though my cousins often complained about not being near the big city attractions, so the grass is greener I guess. I’d have to say though that given today’s information technology living in a rural area is the ‘cultural death’ that it used to be, and while I was in college my friends from the ‘country’ often showed more initiative and know how than those from the city,.
Where’s the option for moving to a more economically viable area where home prices are higher?
Not only would I leave Seattle, I did almost 1 year ago to the day. I just bought a house in a very nice suburb of Phoenix for what would be considered an unbelievable bargain anywhere within 45 minutes one way commuting distance of Seattle. I got tired of waiting around (and even posted a forum thread along those lines here quite some time ago), had a great opportunity for a job down here, and took it. I have never looked back and it is looking like one of the better decisions I have ever made. As someone said above, there is much more to life than Seattle. Good luck to everyone here. This site has always been very informative for me, and I still come back every few weeks to keep tabs on the market up there.
I did move to another cheaper area-Austin and I love it. Goodbye ugly split levels, hello gorgeous houses for much cheaper and warmer weather. Even after prices declined we left Seattle after 2 1/2 years of trying and renting. It seemed impossible to find something beautiful in our price range. We looked at one house in Issaquah that was $535, down from $660k at the peak, and I still wouldn’t have paid $350k. We could never settle in and I’m so glad we never bought. We arrived during the peak in June of 2007 and left in Oct. 2009. Our new house is 3800 sq feet, views of Lake Travis, almost 1/2 acre corner lot, and was in tip top shape when we moved in, plus 25% off peak prices from 2007. Plus, gas is cheap and so are utilities and groceries. Property tax is high, but sales tax is lower and they actually build roads and schools here instead of just talking about it. No state income tax, just like WA so overall our quality of life is so much better for so much less money. Sorry Seattle, but you aren’t the only place on earth.
RE: Amy @ 25 – We moved to here from Dallas about a year and a half ago (still renting, whew) but your comments are very spot on. We’re both on the fence whether we like Texas or Seattle better. Big suburban sprawls are not our thing, but we love the weather being much more affordable, and the southern hospitality really does exist.