Looking for good neighborhood between bellevue and lynnwood
My fiancé and I are renting a nice apartment in Kirkland, but we'd like to buy a house in the near future. How near depends on a few things, but signs are pointing to us waiting for what I feel are inflated prices. Having said that, we're looking for a taken-care-of town and neighborhood that strikes that balance between affordable (400k or less at time of purchase) and livable (commute and area). That's where I'd like your advice.
She works in Lynnwood and I work in Bellevue/Redmond. That makes Kirkland great for now because it's more or less equal commute time to our jobs, and it's a nice place to live. This also makes it a bit hard to look for a house, because we simply can't afford any single house around us to actually buy!
So, that's where I started looking at adjacent neighborhoods. We looked at Kenmore for two weekends, and it didn't turn out how I expected. Main pain points: We had a difficult time finding neighborhoods that weren't run down. Off main roads, there was graffiti. The house paint was peeling, yards were in a mess, chained dogs were barking and a disturbing amount of mistubiti's were to be found for sale on neighborhood streets. Plus it seemed to have the single thing we can't stand about Kirkland: visible power lines on every street.
Redmond is too far for an easy commute, as is Mill Creek. Bellevue is too, but also prohibitively expensive. Out of those, I would probably prefer Redmond the most, but I'm familiar with 520 traffic as it heads out to Avondale, and would rather avoid putting us through that. My philosophy? I don't want to spend my whole life in a car or a bus.
So, that leaves a lot that I haven't looked at. I want to give Juanita another chance. I have this idea that it is mostly 70's condos, but I may be wrong. Also, I'm thinking about Bothell and the Woodinville area just east of 405. But I don't know those places. What do you think?
Where do want to live?
Thanks in advance. And to those looking to move soon, best wishes to you!
She works in Lynnwood and I work in Bellevue/Redmond. That makes Kirkland great for now because it's more or less equal commute time to our jobs, and it's a nice place to live. This also makes it a bit hard to look for a house, because we simply can't afford any single house around us to actually buy!
So, that's where I started looking at adjacent neighborhoods. We looked at Kenmore for two weekends, and it didn't turn out how I expected. Main pain points: We had a difficult time finding neighborhoods that weren't run down. Off main roads, there was graffiti. The house paint was peeling, yards were in a mess, chained dogs were barking and a disturbing amount of mistubiti's were to be found for sale on neighborhood streets. Plus it seemed to have the single thing we can't stand about Kirkland: visible power lines on every street.
Redmond is too far for an easy commute, as is Mill Creek. Bellevue is too, but also prohibitively expensive. Out of those, I would probably prefer Redmond the most, but I'm familiar with 520 traffic as it heads out to Avondale, and would rather avoid putting us through that. My philosophy? I don't want to spend my whole life in a car or a bus.
So, that leaves a lot that I haven't looked at. I want to give Juanita another chance. I have this idea that it is mostly 70's condos, but I may be wrong. Also, I'm thinking about Bothell and the Woodinville area just east of 405. But I don't know those places. What do you think?
Where do want to live?
Thanks in advance. And to those looking to move soon, best wishes to you!
Comments
In no particular order of preference, here are a few areas :
Lake Forest Park : is closer to Lynnwood, and has a great bookstore/cafe.
Bothell: It's got a great old downtown with a great place for breakfast.
Juanita: yeah, right by the water does have it's share of 70's condos, but you don't have to go far east at all for single family homes.
Rose Hill: Fairly close to downtown Kirkland. Rose Hill has very few homes under 400k right now, but south and north Rose Hill do.
Kenmore: There's Kenmore and there's Kenmore. Some of it is very nice, and some of it is as you described. St, Edward State Park is really nice.
The Belmont (heights/crossing) developments offered option ARMS as the preferred financing, and I suspect that is driving the depreciation.
FYI, these are the places I could see dropping into the sub 400 range:
http://www.redfin.com/WA/Bothell/4008-2 ... e/11881348
http://www.redfin.com/WA/Bothell/3629-2 ... e/12419868
This one may already be there, just the seller doesn't know it yet.
http://www.redfin.com/WA/Bothell/21728- ... me/2911079
First, traffic is always the worst heading toward Bellevue & Seattle in the mornings, and away from the city centers in the evenings. I'd suggest looking for places closer to Bellevue/Redmond than Lynnwood, because if you pick a spot halfway between (distance-wise), the person driving to Bellevue will probably spend twice as long on the road than the person going to Lynnwood.
Regarding Kenmore, I have to agree with Ira. The part of Kenmore I live in (not far off SR522) is pretty dumpy, and I'd never buy a house here. However, just up the hill from us is quite pleasant, with some nice, well-kept-up houses and a quiet neighborhood. We go for walks in this area on occasion, and it seems like it wouldn't be a bad place to live at all.
Incidentally, I just spotted a bank-owned listing in that area at under $300k for 2,500 sqft on 0.3 acres. Might be worth checking out?
I don't have much experience with the bulk of Kenmore south of SR522, so I can't really speak to that.
Woodinville is great. We lived for a couple of years in an apartment complex (now condos) just behind the Target. If you live close enough to walk to the "downtown" area, there's a decent amount of things to do, and most of the neighborhoods seem to be well-kept and quiet. My eventual goal is to find a place out that way, just north of the county line with a few acres.