If you’re from Silicon Valley, then you can get the same pay in Seattle.
“Silicon Valley, by contrast, loses approximately 832 residents to other cities within the U.S. but gains an average of 2,793 immigrants from other countries, bringing the average number of residents gained to 1,962 per month.”
Is population growth sustainable with limits on visa and green cards? Also, Seattle actually builds housing for the population growth. The bulk is apartments, so I think SFH appreciation will still be good.
Right… Without the state income tax. Up to $10K-$30K just right back into your pocket if you’re in Tech eh?
How’s the weather though? That’s what scares me a bit. Need the sun for my sanity.
I took a look at Seatle houses on Redfin. Seems that their housing price is pretty high, but rent is low. If you buy a house or duplex and rent in Seallte, your rent yield would be lower than SF.
Is it possible that Seattle is more inflated than SF?
There’s at least some sun each day. We had one week with more sunny than rainy days. This winter is worse than average too.
The rent/buy for condos is heavily in the rent direction. HOA fees here are insane. I haven’t looked into why. It wouldn’t surprise me if you don’t own parking spaces and rent them as part of the HOA fee. All the apartments are priced without parking and charge $175-285 per parking space.
I’m surprised SFH is cheaper to rent. I think you have to compare homes in comparable condition. From what I’ve seen, the ones for sale are usually much more updated than the rentals. I’ve seen homes in areas that are $600-800k rent for $3-$3.5k. If you buy the non-updated home, then you should be close to break even.
Rule of thumb
Prime properties are rarely available for rent…People will settle for a lesser home while renting…So comparing houses for sale to those for rent is misleading…The rentals are usally like the flips before they are renovated…
True. Somehow Seattle rent feels low. Is home maintenance cost higher in Seattle due to weather and a smaller share of illegal immigrants? Does this explain the higher Hoa?
If you have a crew, flipping could be more profitable in Seattle. Too many flippers in BA.
Also Seatle does not have many ghettos to gentrify, most neighborhoods are safe to live. That might explain its relatively low rent
There is a limit to what people will pay for rent…In SF we hit the limit @$5500 for a 2 bedroom, now $5000…in Tahoe it is very hard to get more than $3000/m for a house no matter how nice or how big…What is the limit in Seattle?..Renters willing to pay more than the limit becomes buyers sooner than later…
Roughly the area between Lake City and Rainier Beach.
As far as ‘safe’ goes, other than the violent street thugs who occasionally flip out and kill people (although the City leadership insists they aren’t dangerous); and the gangs (who the City leadership say don’t exist) and the monthly or so violent riot (which the media calls ‘peaceful protests’ or, in the case of the post-Super Bowl, a ‘celebration’ in spite of the numerous assaults, robberies, vandalism and arsons that usually go on); overall according to the city leadership (but not the FBI crime statistics) Seattle is very ‘safe’.
The fact that Seattle has the highest number of people per capita on prescription psychiatric drugs and the highest per capita number of registered sex offenders speaks more about the safety here than anything else.
Rents feel low compared to what? They are lower than Bay Area. Are you comparing to purchase price?