Housing question - whats the secret to finding a good place to rent? How much do you pay for rent, and why do you think its worth it? (Include Per Rent, Parking, Utilities) I’m looking for a place that’s close to the Amazon offices, preferably Doppler, and also own a car, which I am also not sure if I should bring with me or get rid of. I will be joining in January. My goal in renting is to save as much TC as possible, but at the same time not sacrifice too much on commute, but I don’t know if its a possible optimization without roommates, e.g. $2,000 rent and 10 minute walk to office. Amazonians on Blind, please help a WA newbie out! (I’m relocating from IA) Thank you all!
Wow! How are you only paying less than $2,000?
If you apply filter of <$2000 you’ll see a lot of choices. Reiterating what the other guy said tho, living North of SLU is better. Seattle traffic is nothing compared to other cities so you can drive/take the bus and get to work pretty quickly. 10min drive or 20 min bus ride usually
Because they are living in insane shoeboxes. My 1 bed 560 was 2400 and now my upcoming 2bed 1100 is 3080.
Don't live in slu. Live up the hill or just north (greenlake, ravenna, wallingford).
Why is SLU not a good choice? SLU seems more affordable and more exciting at the same time
I live in Seattle. SLU is not exciting, everything is offices. The place shuts down at 5pm. Listen to Facebook. Or disregard our advice.. I don't have a horse in this race.
Why are you joining Amazon?
?
Have you heard about their culture?
Tc ?
TC or GTFO!
First of all congratulations for moving in January, the cheapest month for renting in Seattle. You'll probably get offers like "2 weeks off", "parking free" during that time of the year. Make sure you don't move that to February or March. Rents increase drastically with every month, as much as 200$ a month. So make sure you maintain the Jan-to-Jan leasing cycle. Prices January specific. Within 10 min walk, you can get studios at 1500-1800, 1 bed for 1800-2200. Other than that UW, Fremont, Ballard, West Seattle are easy to commute from SLU. Owning a car can cost $150-250 a month in parking if you live in downtown or close to work. I personally don't own a car, but your life would be a lot easier if you own a car in Seattle. Overall it looks like you could live in Fremont/Ballard, be within easy commute distance to SLU and pay lesser for parking. Look around/negotiate if any apartment is ready to offer free parking, they are usually ready to do that in December-January.
When would be the best time to ask about January availability? I was asking for the past two weeks and they told me to come back in November/December but would that be too late?
Yeah that's right. Usually start looking 15 days before you want to rent.
$3k+ is now becoming a norm... parking is $250+ a month, utilities $200+
at the ultra luxury end, yes. generally, no.
Anything downtown is “luxury” I pay 3080 for a 2 bed 1100 sq ft. 250 for parking
my rent is $1800 for 1 bed 1 bath with parking in cap hill near starbucks reserve. i walk 20 min to work. if you stay away from the luxury condos with fancy gyms, and stick with condo owners renting their place out, you’ll generally find better rates.
Where do u live? Whats the name of the community?
I got a spacious studio in a luxury apartment building 15 mins from work next to the WA convention center in downtown for <$1600 earlier this month. A 31st floor rooftop patio and gym with views of mt. rainier to boot. Ppl who started renting not very recently may be overestimating prices. The real estate prices have dropped ~7% YoY in Seattle and so have the rents I presume. You will be able to find something good close to work OP. Don't worry about it.
What is the name of the community you live in?
Cielo. The rents are typically not as low there. If you keep an eye out you can find similar "deals" as apartment managers try to let go of excess vacant apartments by lowering rent. My friend got a similar good deal in belltown near the waterfront. And rents in Jan will be systematically lower so you are in for an easy ride finding a good place.
....Just look on apartments.com? Plenty of places near offices for under 2k.
I have but I am not local so I was looking for local recommendations from people that have gone through relocation, but thanks for the tip!
Yep! Another thing I see in Seattle is just the vast number of choices, I would like to hear from the community of what people think have been good and affordable places to live in given my (admittedly vague) requirements