Lived in the Bay Area for 5 years. Thinking about moving to Kirkland, WA for housing. It is still worth it in term of job opportunities, affordability, lifestyle, school district, weather, etc? Family of 3, with 2 yo, enjoy safe suburb life
No. Seattle has a hellish weather raining 9 months a year. Stay away even if you would save a penny or two on taxes. Reno or anywhere in Nevada will be a much better choice.
lol you clearly haven’t spent a winter in Seattle
Was going to say, this person has obviously never lived in the Seattle area
Never was. Schools are fine. Everything else is a downgrade even if you can survive the seasonal depression. Common misconception as well but you will pay more taxes on a house in Kirkland long term than you would on a house in ca.
I saw Kirkland property tax is 0.8% lower than Bay Area
Haha no, wa property tax is infinitely higher because the tax is based on the market value of the property. Ca taxes based on the sales price plus a max increase of 2% a year :). Assuming you will own a home for more than a couple of years you will be way more in wa.
You have to be okay with lots of days without blue skies. The rain isn't as much of an issue as gray day count. If you love the outdoors and want to save a few bucks over the Bay Area, then go for it.
"Don't think, just do" - star wars
There is income tax in washington. It is called long term care tax. It is 0.58% for now. You basically pay for long term care of old population.
So where’s the best place to move if you want tech opportunities, low tax, and ideally a bit more centrist politics? I’d say Austin but it’s too f’ing hot.
I've been thinking about this since WA seems to be running to CA style policies. WA was more centrist. I think all the big hubs are getting very blue. Agree Austin is very hot, possibly smaller tech hubs like Nashville, Miami, Boulder? You'll never be perfectly Center but those places seem closer to purple states.
The weather is depressing in Seattle. Stay at least a year there on rent before you decide to buy a house.
I did the math and it made sense. I think with a much lower state income tax (currently) and housing seemed 20% less, and other things also drew me in. Job market seemed comparable so I moved. I will warn that they now have capital gains tax and are pushing income taxes from every angle so you should assume a 10% income tax like CA by 2030
And infinitely higher taxes on real estate in wa
Capital gains tax only if you have more than 250k capital gains in a given year. Real estate sales excluded. So this doesn't really affect people that much.