My coworker has been saying that I should move near his neighborhood due to affordable pricing. 850k for 3500 sqft south of Seattle. He says it takes him 45 minutes one way as he does off hours commute. Schools are rated 8/5/7. Would I regret this move? Town does not have a large Indian population and my coworker is White American and his kids would be unlikely to face discrimination. I have three kids and wife is sahm Area is Northeast Tacoma https://redf.in/VeDH2G https://redf.in/5c6NoJ https://redf.in/YgNKhx
> Town does not have a large Indian population Why bother living in America? > his kids would be unlikely to face discrimination And your kids wouldn’t either. It’s Washington FFS, not Alabama.
op don’t listen to this guy and instead follow your gut
Some of my coworkers live as far South as Puyallup and moved back due to commute by car or train was miserable and they were treated as 2nd class citizens due to being Indian.
I heard there's a lot of Indians in India if you're afraid to be around other cultures 🙄 And living far away just to save money sounds awful.
My thoughts on the 2nd point. However, 1000 sqft condo in Bellevue costs the same as 3500 sqft detached SFH so you save A LOT of money.
You can't buy back time. Plus if there's a lot of things around your condo, you'll rely on driving less and that saves money.
I can’t speak to the discrimination aspects, but I know from experience that a 45 minute commute (each way) is not unusual in a lot of places. But 45 minutes off-hours could be an hour or more at peak rush hour. So it depends on what you’re giving up for the extra time in the car. If it’s time with family, or for other things you care about, then you need to think carefully about that. If it’s just the boredom and hassle of the drive, there are audiobooks and podcasts that can make the time productive (or at least not boring). You also have to do the math on the cost of gas and wear and tear on the car.
Amazon for now is open at the time of day we come in. I travel off hours like my coworker but Bellevue to Seattle is around 20 minutes each way. The area is getting a rail line too but I googled and this would be about 50 minutes (peak or off peak) when it opens. My current commute is manageable that I feel extending to 40 minutes isn’t bad but I’ve also never actually lived that far from work or school.
It’s going to be different for everyone, but I found a 45-minute commute to be doable. I got through a lot of audiobooks in the car. My personal upper limit would be an hour. Years ago, I did 90 minutes each way in SoCal, and I would never do that again. If the light rail comes in, don’t count on it being faster than driving. I had one job where the local light rail (in San Diego) took twice as long as driving. But if it’s a short walk from the station to the office, then it might be worth it to have the time to read or work or whatever.
Move to Tacoma
The low Indian population a good selling point though
Would you also be able to commute off hours? If so, that doesn't sound terrible
Currently Amazon is only 3 days a week and you can come to office any time. Some people game the system where they badge midnight T/W (2 days) and again midnight Sat/Sun (1day,1day) but that is too ballsy for me. We have a badge tracker to show our compliance 😂
They are now tracking hours and only count if you stay more than 2hrs
8 5 7 schools are terrible for our educational standards, factor in private school price. Very difficult to go Ivy League from that
45 mins is not bad, home ownership is going to be a great asset the way federal debt is growing. Buy now it will be worth 2M in next 10 years.
I'm curious to learn more about the correlation between real estate assets and federal debt. Could you explain a bit more?
The commute only seems to work because he does off hours (10 to 6). Google maps says peak time of day is closer to 1hr. Amazon is flexible now especially with 3 days a week but next year they could be 9-5 5 days a week