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Seattle-ERA!
- Thread starter Trouble
- Start date
That is so depressing. I thought our place was pricey when we bought it for $440k back in 2007. But at the same time, most people don't do 20% down payments. I think we did 7% down and then had mortgage interest for a while until we got to a certain level with our payments.
Died a little inside when I read the tweet that said you would need to be making $207K a year to have your home expenses be 30% of your income.
And this is just for the cheapest house in that neighborhood.
I did a
Mrs Stinkles picked Wallingford from a huge range of poorly understood neighborhoods based on our amazing realtors (now real friend) advice, and what she described as "cuteness" in 2003. Market tanked in 2007 or so and we had a baby - so we saw the opportunity to get in a way bigger house that we otherwise could NEVER afford, on a sleepier corner near what was then a geographic school catchment. (John Stanford) right after we moved in of course they changed it to a lottery. We were enraged. However we either lucked our or they do consider how ridiculous it would be to send people that close, to Greenlake.
Wallingford back in 2003 was a transitioning neighborhood but had perfect freeway access for my Eastside job. Greenlake was fancier. I assume still is. Wallingford used to be the sort of blue collar middle class cops and plumbers and so on. Not sure where it sits now. Somewhere between South Center and Capitol Hill. But I don't think it's really clear.
It worked out really well and we also got a line on the house opposite for our besties - and they were able to lowball panicky owners and get a house they'd never be able to otherwise afford either.
If you need a realtor - ours was a master strategist. And she's lived in Wallingford for most of her life.
We got incredibly lucky with our house. The initial plan was "Well, we can't afford anywhere other than South Seattle" so we started looking in Columbia City, Beacon Hill, etc. but houses weren't any cheaper down there. One day I was heading from our rental place in Crown Hill to the Roosevelt Whole Foods and drove by this house for sale that was in our price range in Green Lake. My initial thought was "what is wrong with it?" so I contacted our realtor friends and oh boy was it interesting.
1. It was a married couple who bought it and started renovating.
2. The wife was mentally unstable according to her attorney.
3. They had attorneys because in the middle of working on the house they decide to get divorced.
4. The day before I found the house they took it off the market.
5. Our realtors persisted and discussions began.
6. The wife was seriously crazy.
7. Did I mention she didn't believe we were a newly married couple and thought we were really real estate developers?
8. Well she did. She tracked my wife down at work and tried to convince us to pay an extra $100k for the house.
9. This woman created fake people who were also interested in the house as leverage. I think she started getting confused because one of these groups sounded a lot like us (newlyweds with one just starting a job in education).
10. She threatened to back out of the deal, build a picket fence around the house and jack the price $100k. The $100k picket fence is a running joke now with our friends.
11. Her soon to be ex-husband wasn't having any of it and just wanted to be rid of her and the house. He walked away with nothing except his freedom. We still get his mail from time to time 12 years later.
12. As part of the closing she got to live in the house until we moved in. My wife was afraid the woman was going to poop everywhere in the house.
13. She took all the nice doorknobs except two.
14. Six months later they announced the Roosevelt Light Rail station a few blocks from our house and the construction insanity began. We're still here.
We really should've been on some home buying show. Our friends who are realtors are absolutely amazing and I would recommend them to anyone.
Green Lake Elementary is an amazing school, though.
lol that's amazing
Guy who lived in our house died and the house was empty for quite some time I guess before we bought it.
We found huge piles of used condoms in the back yard, neighboors told us the back yarrd was basically a brothel for the local street walking talent for a couple of months.
Guy who lived in our house died and the house was empty for quite some time I guess before we bought it.
We found huge piles of used condoms in the back yard, neighboors told us the back yarrd was basically a brothel for the local street walking talent for a couple of months.
I don't think it matters if we share any salacious details of our house when selling. It's gonna be leveled and condos/townhouses will be put in it's place.
Ha, I still get mail for the previous owner's deceased (before we bought the house) husband 9 years later. The mail doesn't give AF.
No brothel in my backyard, only broken glass in most places if you dig. We had a dead tree removed and the stump ground and someone in the last 76 years (1943 house) decided to bury their old windows or something in the back yard. They also buried plates or pots or something ceramic, essentially glass when broken up. Fuckers.
I tore out some shelving in the garage years ago and some of the support pieces along the wall were literally tree branches cut in half lengthwise, lol.
One of the nurses at my daughter's doctor actually lived in our house when she was a kid. She said a little Cessna plane crashed in the front yard when she was there.
We're right across the street from I-5, so our house survived the construction of it. There are some cool shots at the UW archives of the house across the way being demolished or hauled away to make way for the highway.
It worked out for you though! We heard great things about Greenlake Elementary - and we enjoyed our visit (except for the taped up trashbags temporary wall for the cafeteria/gym at the time) and would have been happy with our daughter going there, but we're literally four blocks from John Stanford AND it's a language immersion school for our now (weirdly fluent) Dora the Explorer and love rolling her out as our assistant in Mexico. Greenlake would have been about AT LEAST twenty more minutes each way, as opposed to (literally) two minutes walk. That's a lifestyle enhancement we're going to miss when she goes to middle School.
We also really lucked out on the house - not just the timing relative to the market - but it was a widow who lived there (she left her real teeth including gold fillings in soap dish in the basement and apparently that scared off the only people who looked at it before us) and her son was a drywall and plaster contractor who had continually taken care of the house systems and shortly before she passed, he'd redone ALL her walls and a lot of wiring. She'd aslo done the DREAM house buyer thing, which was to cover all her beuatiful tiger wood floors in wall to wall carpet, and it was all immaculate. It needed to be refinished just because of oxidation, but the entire house was barely $2 grand to go from gross but clean old lady carpet to wall to wall hardwoods in every room. It also had great windows thanks to the son.
She had also, bafflingly, planted two pine trees right in the front yard, which were blocking a completely amazing view to cap hill and the Ship Cnaal bridge, which looks nicer than it sounds. Our realtor pointed out that the trees were still small enough diameter that we could take them out wihtout permits. SO when we moved in, the house was VASTLY better than when we viewed it and we barely spent anything to get it there. And iit took two days to do all the work.
Our sewers were a years long and very typical Seattle sadface tho.
We ALMOST bought a brick tudor on (85th?) on the east side of that huge cross street - but the inside was dead quiet and so was the yard. IT's one of those streets that LOOKS super arterial and busy, but really isn't
Does that mean they're moving HQ1 to some other sucker town? (I know the answer, but a guy can dream right?)
Wife and I are headed to Seattle next weekend for ECCC, and we want to end our Ketosis in a Ramen Bliss. So far, our gold standard is Marukin Ramen in PDX.
https://instagram.com/marukinramen?utm_source=ig_profile_share&igshid=esmxiooeapm3
So, what's the best Ramen in Seattle? Willing to travel a little bit if it's totally worth it, but obviously Downtown/Capitol Hill/International would be preferred.
My short bit of research suggests Danbo or Ooink.
https://instagram.com/marukinramen?utm_source=ig_profile_share&igshid=esmxiooeapm3
So, what's the best Ramen in Seattle? Willing to travel a little bit if it's totally worth it, but obviously Downtown/Capitol Hill/International would be preferred.
My short bit of research suggests Danbo or Ooink.
Ooink is the best ramen I've ever had, and the owners are awesome people (they take the staff to Japan for vacation/recipe research) and make their own noodles, potstickers, etc. Occasional specials that you'll only be able to get for a single afternoon (different noodles, fancy meats, unique broths).
Danbo was okay, not really my kind of ramen (all the varieties were spicy in one respect or another).
I normally eat at Kukai or Santouka since they're closer to me, but as hardcore "I eat ramen everyday whenever I'm in Japan" person, Ooink is the best ramen I've had in Seattle.
Hadn't heard of that place, but they have some interesting looking stuff! I gotta find time to make my way over there some time.
I'm really partial to Jinya in Crossroads, though.
I never had Jinya when we lived in Seattle, but there's one near us in LA and man, they have a brussel sprout ramen that's 😲😲
Wildly non-traditional but so awesome.
My buddy told me about a new place right off Mercer (on Republican) called Teinei. He says it's great, they also do something interesting that I guess comes from Japan.. "aged sushi."
https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/ed5dc8f2-346c-4566-bc80-c1bdb84c9599/downloads/1cbuvlt5i_296500.pdf
And don't let the location scare you off, it's actually incredibly convenient.. easy to get to, and has free parking as the apartment complex it's under has space for it I guess.
https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/ed5dc8f2-346c-4566-bc80-c1bdb84c9599/downloads/1cbuvlt5i_296500.pdf
And don't let the location scare you off, it's actually incredibly convenient.. easy to get to, and has free parking as the apartment complex it's under has space for it I guess.
That is bad ass.
I was driving home from downtown around 9 and saw a few photographers set up along the Aurora Bridge near Canlis. Heard some thunder, guessing they're waiting for lightning.
I was driving home from downtown around 9 and saw a few photographers set up along the Aurora Bridge near Canlis. Heard some thunder, guessing they're waiting for lightning.
First day since October I got to open the windows and sliding door to let fresh air blow through. Feels good, man, at 68 degrees.
Actually it looks nice outside but the air is bees so stay inside and close the curtains and the bees get THICKER and bluer and angrier all the way through October and if you do move here go south of Renton where the air is less bees.
I'm getting all my camping in at the start of the summer to avoid as much smoke as possible. Smoky hot is now my least favorite season in Seattle.
glad i moved somewhere with ac. I used to work nights in south/west facing windows. it was hell
It is absurd how beautiful this city can be sometimes. Just got back from a jog and Rainier looks amazing.
You guys depressed me reminding me of the smoke last summer.
I seriously was sitting in the sun the other day and couldn't quite recall why the hell I didn't get even remotely tan last summer, and it's because I spent so much time avoiding the damn smoke.
I seriously was sitting in the sun the other day and couldn't quite recall why the hell I didn't get even remotely tan last summer, and it's because I spent so much time avoiding the damn smoke.
I sat outside on my patio listening to Built to Spill, drank a beer and grilled burgers.
It was quite nice.
It was quite nice.
Choppers be out
https://komonews.com/search/police-respond-to-shooting-in-lake-city
RIP, crazy. We kept hearing sirens and then the constant chopper, thought it was a traffic collision or something early on.
http://mynorthwest.com/1326143/lake-city-shooting-seattle-police-respond/
https://komonews.com/search/police-respond-to-shooting-in-lake-city
RIP, crazy. We kept hearing sirens and then the constant chopper, thought it was a traffic collision or something early on.
http://mynorthwest.com/1326143/lake-city-shooting-seattle-police-respond/
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I just walked upstairs from playing Excitebike to listen to my wife say the shooter got black out drunk and played video games before going outside and starting the whole mess and how we need to reassess video games when the kids (5 & 2) get older. *huge eye roll* Keep in mind my kids don't even play video games now. So, I'm back downstairs playing Excitebike.