Relocating To Seattle

Speaker 1: [0:00] Hello, hello, and welcome to another episode of the Awesome in Seattle podcast. This is Christian Awesome, host of the Awesome in Seattle podcast and founder of the Awesome Awesome Group at Wilson Realty. Today's episode is designed for anyone thinking of moving to Seattle. We'll go over both the pros and cons of living here so you can make an informed decision. Now, Seattle's interesting. It's a city made up of over 100 neighborhoods, and finding the right one for you will undoubtedly make your transition to our amazing city that much smoother and more enjoyable. So as a local real estate agent, we are often a great resource for exploring a new city, and today you're gonna have four of Seattle's most awesome agents in your ear sharing our insider relocation info. So speaking of the team, let's meet them. First off, we have a fellow Seattle native just like myself, Ms. Reed Watson.

Speaker 2: [0:51] Hello.

Speaker 1: [0:52] We have the data guru, the one, the only, Jason Saldarriaga Hello. And the dog whisperer. Less cutting.

Speaker 3: [1:03] Hey, now.

Speaker 1: [1:06] All right. So what's the first thing you think of when you think of Seattle? For most people- Rain … it's often rain. Exactly. Rain. Yeah, it rains here, but it's not as much as most people think. It's a little secret that we like to pretend and tell everyone it rains all the time so they don't move here, because often when they do come, they realize it doesn't rain as much, and then they wanna live here. So it's a little way that we keep people out. But-

Speaker 3: [1:30] How's that worked out for us?

Speaker 1: [1:31] Yeah, not too well. Uh- Right … not too well at all. So-

Speaker 2: [1:35] Or they just, they think it rains the way it does in the Midwest, where you get- Yes … drenched, and really it's a much more manageable type of rain.

Speaker 1: [1:41] Yeah, exactly. We get around 37 and a half inches of rain per year on average, and that's actually less than cities like New York, Miami, Atlanta, Memphis, Houston, Boston, and many other major US cities. So we don't even get as much rain as a lot of these other cities. The thing is, like Reid said, we get more of, like, a sprinkle or a little mist of rain that happens on and off throughout the day, as opposed to those massive downpours that a lot of the country really does experience. The cool trade-off about having rain, or I guess consistent rain that we have here, is that our summers are honestly hard to beat. Uh, because we don't get much rain in the summer, it's not humid, and we really don't get super hot. I mean, we'll have a few little heat waves here and there where the temperatures can reach around 100 degrees or so, but between June and September, the average annual temperature in Seattle is in the 70s, and that's kind of ideal. You're not too hot, you're not too cold. Often I'd, I'd say it's more like in the 80s, uh, in- Yeah, I would too … August especially. But looking at the data from, uh, 2010 to 2019, it said 70s for all those months, although August was 79 degrees, so.

Speaker 2: [2:56] Yep, makes swimming in all those lakes real nice. Yes. Just the perfect temperature.

Speaker 1: [3:00] Exactly. Uh, the other great thing about having all that rain is everything is so green and lush throughout the summer. Um, the air is usually super clean, the trees are green, the water's clean, uh, it, it's blue. There's snow-capped mountains if you look both to the east and the west. The one con about summer is that we can get wildfire smoke that rolls in for a few days, and that's about the worst thing that can happen- During the summer for us. Uh, so although rain is a factor when thinking about relocating to Seattle, there's so many other wonderful things about the city that far outweigh adapting to our weather. One thing that's also cool is that our history, although we're not as old as other major metros in the US, our history's pretty cool. It's pretty interesting, and it actually helps explain how the city is laid out the way it is. Uh, when Seattle was first settled, there were a lot of smaller villages or towns on the outskirts of the city, and the city over time annexed each of these little areas, these little towns or villages, to expand the City of Seattle borders. And that's why the mayor of Seattle once proclaimed that Seattle is a city of neighborhoods, which each, with each neighborhood having its own vibe and feel.

Speaker 4: [4:16] Yeah. Very true, Christian. Um, it was interesting when I moved here about 12 years ago, every city in the country, especially cities, uh, that are l- as large as Seattle, have distinct neighborhoods. But coming from where I came from, which was, like, Texas and Florida, you do t- notice what you're saying, where you have, like, these main streets, hundreds of little main streets or, uh, central business districts in each of these neighborhoods, and they each have their own character, and the history of each is very interesting. Ballard, for example, has one of the most interesting, if you ask me. It was, like, one of the largest cities in the state 120 years ago, and they were very, uh, much against annexing them, or having Seattle annex them, but they were forced to eventually because they couldn't get clean water. Um, kind of important. Yeah. And so- Yeah … they grew up, you know, they were a huge mill town, a huge transportation hub, very much connected to Puget Sound and the shipping canal to the south. And so they built this kind of heritage that's still very strong today. It was nicknamed Shingle Town.

Speaker 1: [5:24] Mm-hmm.

Speaker 4: [5:24] Um, the majority of, like, the world's shingles came from there. We have a podcast about this. Feel free to listen to it. Um, but yeah, Ballard has a certain vibe, and it has kind of a main street, even if it's not called Main Street. It's Ballard Ave. And then, you know, you just head south, for example, south of the shipping canal is Magnolia. Very different vibe. That neighborhood has a much stronger history tied to, like, Fort Lawton- Mm-hmm which was an Army post. It also has a main street, quote, unquote. And so exploring Seattle's neighborhoods, it's very important for somebody new to Seattle, especially if you're thinking of buying a house. You wanna know W- what neighborhood you wanna live in because they're all very different. Um, but with so many, uh, neighborhoods, there is definitely something for everyone. I definitely think it's one of the more exciting parts of moving here. I remember when I did so 12 years ago. Uh, I moved around a lot. I, I was like, "Well, you know, I'm a renter. I'm gonna take advantage of one of the benefits of renting, which is the flexibility of moving every 12 months." And I pretty much did that from Montlake to Bellevue to South Lake Union to Fremont. I was all over. Capitol Hill, but we won't talk about that era of my life. Um,

Speaker 1: [6:44] the good old days.

Speaker 4: [6:44] But yeah, so definitely moving here, exploring Seattle's neighborhoods, that's kind of the first thing that you wanna do. We at the Awesome & Awesome Group, we, we realize this, because of a lot, a lot of our clients are new to the city, and so we have something we call- Um, neighborhood tours, which we offer to anyone really, but especially people who are m- new to the city. And this is basically when we explore neighborhoods. This can look very different depending on the situation, and what you're looking for, and what you need, um, as a, as a buyer. But a lot of times it's getting in our car and driving between neighborhoods, exploring those main streets that I mentioned, and seeing some houses along the way. Because while each neighborhood has a c- certain vibe and an industry, um, they also have different real estate, uh, different types of houses. Some of them are very Boeing focused, where, you know, in the '40s and '50s these neighborhoods came out of nowhere because Boeing basically built them. Um, uh, and they're very different in vibe than Capitol Hill, for example. So I can spend hours on this, but, uh, neighborhood tours are a great thing to pursue if you're getting your feet wet. And, uh, you can set up a time to meet with us on our website. So just go to awesomeandawesome.com and you'll see an option to schedule a time with us, and we can hit the ground running.

Speaker 2: [8:07] Yeah, and finding a real estate group or agent that you trust is really important because obviously moving to a wholly different area requires a couple of mindset changes, um, adjustments. And one of the things that I think you can start doing before you actually move is becoming familiar with the market where you're moving to, here we're talking about Seattle, and really getting what you paid in your current city out of your head. Gosh, if I had a nickel for every time, every day that I said, "This is a competitive market." And really, it's whether you're renting or you're buying, Seattle is an expensive city to live in, so it's good to kind of set those expectations up front for what you're gonna be able to get for your money. We're well above the nation's average. And so if you could start looking into what homes are going for, again, whether it's, uh, sales or rentals, I think that's smart to do before you get here. And we at the Awesome & Awesome group are more than happy to help you figure out how to do that.

Speaker 1: [9:12] Yeah, exactly. That is kind of what we do. And you actually, you touched on something really important. I mean, considering the logistics of your day-to-day life before actually buying a home in a new city can prevent some of that unforeseen stress. Factoring in the route of your commute from a potential new home may also help narrow down some properties. I mean, Seattle's interesting how it's laid out. North to south travel is actually pretty easy and much quicker compared to going east and west. Although we're not super wide east and west because we got water on each side of the city of Seattle. What is that

Speaker 4: [9:47] called?

Speaker 1: [9:47] If you-

Speaker 4: [9:47] What is

Speaker 1: [9:48] that called? Oh, it's your favorite word. It, it's- It's my- … Speaker 3: isthmus. Is that right? Isthmus. Yes. Yes, I got it right. Mm-hmm. Woo-hoo. Yes. Yes. Jason loves to say this at our home buyer classes, and I love to hear him say it every single time. Yeah, Jason, why don't you explain what an isthmus is?

Speaker 4: [10:02] Yeah, it's, uh, another famous one is Madison Wisconsin, and it's an awesome looking- Okay … little town. Anyways, an isthmus is a plot of land separated by… I'm sorry. Isthmus is a plot of land with water on two sides. A peninsula has water on three sides. Um, and I guess an island would have it on four s- four sides or many other things, but- Yeah. Yeah, isthmus. Uh, you're probably wondering why the hell I even care or know about that. I, uh, did study geography in college, and at the time I was like, "Where the… What am I gonna do with this degree?" And it actually flowed very naturally into real estate- … looking back, which, uh, we didn't expect to go to this place in this podcast. But kids, look, you never know how life is going to work itself out. Just, just do what you enjoy and don't burn bridges, move forward. Maybe sideways, but don't step backwards in time. Don't,

Speaker 1: [11:01] don't go backward.

Speaker 4: [11:01] Anyways, but yeah. Uh, just to expand a bit on what Christian was saying about north-south travel being easier and all the ridges, you know, hills being oriented in a north-south, um, line, that's because of glacial retreat and expansion over time. We had glaciers for millions of years expand and contract over our land and, uh, basically scour the landscape. And, uh, you know, when they're moving up and down, north and south, because that's how, you know, heat and the e- equator and the sun works, um, you see these ridges north-south. You'll see it in, in a lot of different areas now. Yeah, it's definitely a, an interesting obstacle for city planners because east-west travel is not the easiest to plan. A lot of our lakes are very deep, for example, as a result. So, uh, we also, by the way, have a lot of glacial erratics throughout the city, which-

Speaker 1: [11:57] Mm-hmm … Speaker 4: if you're ever bored, you can go on, like, a, an erratic search. There's a really cool one in, like, Ravenna. There's a huge one. Yeah. Wedgwood, Ravenna. Yeah. It's really cool. I used to always drive my son past it on his way to school, and we'd always look at it, and he would, you know… I'd talk about it, explain it, and then he'd always, he'd always wanna get out and take a picture with it every morning, even if it was raining. So- And

Speaker 4: [12:19] we at the Awes- … it was just totally random. We at the Awesome & Awesome Group realize that a lot of people are interested in glacial erratics. So we offer an erratic neighborhood tour. Led by Jason. You can go- Led by Jason … you can go to awesomeawesome.com- /erratic … /schedule- … and, uh, schedule a erratic tour- and we'll see all the rocks.

Speaker 1: [12:39] Yes. Led by Jason Sardarraga. Yes, that was great. Great job, Jason. So getting back to logistics, let's discuss the options and costs around moving from, uh, a different state or even across the country to Seattle.

Speaker 3: [12:54] Well, I did my best imitation of the data guru and I did some research- Woo! Nice … what it would cost to relocate to Seattle right now.

Speaker 4: [13:02] Now I gotta step it up

Speaker 3: [13:04] Yeah, you, yeah, you do. Yeah, you do. Huh? Anyway, but so obviously the cost of moving depends on where you're moving from and how much stuff you need to move. So when I first moved here, I didn't have much. I just literally had a box of clothes, a pillow, a blanket, and that was it. And I accumulated stuff over time. That cost me absolutely nothing. Just free. Free. But if you're moving from a different city, it may cost you a little bit more. So you should create a budget for relocating. It's important you not only include the cost of moving your stuff, but also include your personal transportation, any hotel or Airbnb expenses, uh, that may be necessary. Yeah. So let's say you're moving from Seattle from a one-bedroom house in LA or San Francisco. It's gonna cost you about 1,000 bucks to 3,000 bucks, depending if you rent a truck or do it yourself You can utilize a freight or a shipping container service, or even hire professional movers to pack and unload. If you're moving cross country, like from New York, for example, moving costs will range between 2,000 and 4,000 bucks for a one bedroom. Also, if you're moving across the country, you may have to have other factors such as shipping your car. The average cost of shipping a car cross country is around 1,300 bucks.

Speaker 2: [14:15] Wow, that's, I guess if you were gonna drive it and have to stay places along the way, that's actually not a bad deal to just ship it.

Speaker 3: [14:22] Yeah, I s- I was surprised when I researched that. It's much cheaper than I originally thought. I thought it was, like, a couple hu- a couple, uh, grand for it, but yeah. Mm-hmm. 1,300 bucks isn't bad cross country. Sending a freight or a shipping container service is also an awesome way to go. It's more expensive than using a truck, but you can avoid feeling rushed during the loading and unloading process. Basically, you're paying for the convenience, uh, and storage. The average cost of moving a home/apartment, depending on the size, by shipping container, is around average of 2,000 to 4,500 bucks. For most shipping and freight services, the timeline for delivery is around seven to nine business days, but there are many factors that can slow down the process. All that said, your best bet is to shop around and select a moving or shipping company with fair pricing and a good reputation. Do some research. Here's a tip. Start plotting your move as soon as you make the decision to relocate.

Speaker 2: [15:11] Yes, on the topic of plotting your move, I like that phrasing. Um, another really important part of that with that timeline of moving items is the timeline for finding a new home. Obviously, we're real estate agents, so we're gonna talk a little bit about buying a new home. It's important to understand in Seattle that it takes approximately a month from when your offer is accepted to when you can move in, so you probably need to start looking three to four months before your desired move-in date. There's, you know, a lot that kind of could get in your way. It's a competitive market, so you might not get your first offer accepted, and you might have to make a few offers before you find a home. So another good tip is that a lot of people take weekend trips out here to come and view some homes or do a neighborhood tour with us, so that can be kind of a good option just to start the process.

Speaker 1: [16:09] Yeah, we've had numerous clients that, you know, they'll come visit the city To kind of scout it out and see what neighborhood feels right, you know, even if they like the city, if they really wanna move up here. And then once they decide, yes, I wanna move up here, then they start to figure out, you know, which neighborhoods they like. So yeah, we've had a lot of clients over the years do this and take advantage of us and our ability and willingness to do neighborhood tours and educate you on those neighborhoods. So please take, take advantage of that. That's why we do it. A lot of people that are relocating, you know, they're doing so for a job, and a lot of times your job will pay for some short-term housing and stuff. So take advantage of that if that's an option for you, and use some of that time to, once you're in town and you have, you know, a place to stay for a little while, use that time to then go out and explore. Being flexible on your move date is really great if you have the luxury, but sometimes you don't because of that new job start date. So yeah, if you do have to move now, what's a good strategy for relocating before buying a house in Seattle?

Speaker 4: [17:12] Yeah, I think a lot of people wonder should they rent initially or is it more common to just buy something sight unseen? And quite frankly, uh, you see both of these ways of moving occur. I think it really depends on you as a person, like, um, if you wanna buy something sight unseen. So

Speaker 1: [17:32] let- let's dig in a little deeper between those two options.

Speaker 4: [17:35] I think a lot of people listening are probably wondering, okay, so should I move to Seattle and rent initially, or should I just jump in and buy a house sight unseen and that way when I, when my, uh, container, house container shows up, I can just unload it in my new house. And honestly, uh, kinda like what Christian was saying, you see both of these approaches-

Speaker 1: [17:57] Mm-hmm … Speaker 4: all the time. Yep. I think it really depends on you as a person and your situation. Um, so let's dig in a little deeper, uh, between the two options. I will say this, first off, it is definitely not uncommon for people to move to Seattle and rent for six months or so. That gives them time to explore the city, get a good sense of the different areas and neighborhoods, and the real estate as well. Realize that, yeah, we're, we're talking a lot about neighborhoods, but the real estate itself is also different than what you see in different cities in the country. Um, and that can take some time to get used to and learn about. Personally speaking, I wouldn't rush to make a decision sight unseen if I didn't need to. I would take advantage of, you know, let me connect with an agent before I move. They can help me find a place to rent and settle down initially and then we can hit the ground running looking at neighborhoods and figuring out the city, and that way I, I can just be the most informed buyer. Like I said before, I moved here about 12 years ago, and I took advantage of renting maybe longer than I should you know, and, uh, moved around the city and got to know it very well, and now I'm a real estate agent, so that was helpful. But it also helped make sure that I knew the neighborhoods when I was ready to buy. I knew where I would wanna live. Renting initially can be a great option, especially if it's, uh, at certain times of year when there's rental, a lot of rentals available. So that said, though, many people do buy s- homes sight unseen, especially these days. Something to Also know about this, sellers generally don't care. It, it doesn't necessarily look bad if, if there's two offers on the table, you haven't seen it and somebody else has. The seller doesn't necessarily care that much because it's so common, and they realize, especially with COVID and just how the job market works, there's a lot of tools at our disposal. We can FaceTime, we can videotape a tour. We can do a lot of things to get you a very good sense of the property. And so the market's kinda shifted and accepted virtual walkthroughs as a very viable alternative to, to in-person showings. Yeah. So I'd- And I'd say, I'd say to be clear too, like we're not saying you're buying a house sight unseen, like you've never seen it even in photos or anything crazy like that. We're just saying you haven't actually set foot in it yet, but we've definitely set foot in it for you and taken video calls with you, or you've looked at the Matterport or whatever. Like, you've seen it just only online. Now that might weigh against

Speaker 4: [20:30] you. Yeah. Yeah. That might weigh against you. Uh, my clients haven't seen this house. They don't know what it looks like. Yeah. They know that it has 1,264 square feet.

Speaker 1: [20:41] Um-

Speaker 4: [20:41] That, that's

Speaker 1: [20:42] good enough for them. They'll buy it.

Speaker 4: [20:43] Yeah. I don't know if they even exist. I've never met them. Yeah, exactly. Never spoken to them. I just put these random people's names on this contract. I'm kidding. We don't do that. That would be-

Speaker 1: [20:51] No, that

Speaker 4: [20:52] would be bad. That would not work. How would your pre-underwriting letter work? That would- Yeah, no … that wouldn't work. But yeah, as a company, uh, we are more than willing and very equipped to help, uh, buyers, whether, you know, you're moving and renting for a few months, or if you kinda wanna hit the ground running now, when you're not in town, and start looking at houses, we have options. Mm-hmm. Um, we can, like I say, said, do video chats, FaceTime, Zoom calls. We can make videos and send you videos. We can, uh Use the tools that a lot of houses have these days, something like Matterport, which is a 3D home tour. Really helpful, um, way to give you a very good sense of the house. In fact, in many ways you get a better sense of the house than if you see it in person. Um, you can take very specific measurements. A, a lot of people don't realize this, Matterport has a measuring ability. Really helpful in basements to see how tall the ceilings are. These are, by the way, Matterport's that, like, 3D home tour when you see kind of the, the doll house version of- Yeah … of the home. That, that's what Matterport is. Yeah. Really, really powerful system. And then- Kind of

Speaker 1: [22:05] looks like a, a Google Street View, but inside the house. Mm-hmm.

Speaker 4: [22:08] Exactly, which brings me to the next thing. Uh, even s- Google Street View is really helpful.

Speaker 1: [22:13] Yeah, and then I feel like a broken record, 'cause we've been saying this over and over, but utilize the available resources that are out there. There's a lot of them. We've touched on them a bunch. I mean, you can use us. Uh, I'll make it clear right now, we don't charge anything for these neighborhood tours. Um, when you're a buyer, you actually don't even pay your real estate agent. Your agent is paid by the seller. So although we represent you and your best interest, as a real estate agent, when we're helping you buy, you don't pay us anything out of your pocket. So, and we don't charge for these neighborhood tours or anything like that. So don't take this as we're trying to sell you on some sort of tour or something weird like that. That's not what, at all what we're trying to say. We're just putting out, we have resources, we understand that you may not know the city. We do. Utilize us as a resource, and use a lot of other resources out there.

Speaker 3: [23:03] Yes, and a good resource, for example, is seattle.gov. They have a page called Seattle's Newcomer Guide that lists a bunch of different information. So for example, you can get information about obtaining permits and placing portable storage containers, or parking and moving trucks in no park zones. That's gonna be very useful, because if you've ever been to Seattle, you know our streets are narrow and we are limited on parking. A list of utility companies with all their contact information, how to become a Washington state resident, how to get a driver's license and register to vote, very important things. Um, information about other community resources and projects that is going on in the city. There's a lot happening in this city. There's so many websites that can give you a quick overview of things to know about moving to Seattle, and honestly, the best way that I find is make a connection with the people that already know the city to help you navigate your move. When I first moved here about 15 years ago, I just talked to everybody. Like, you guys know me, I just talked to everybody, and that's how I got my, uh, feel for the city, just going different places and- I've been all along the Puget Sound, so

Speaker 1: [24:09] Yeah, another great relocation resource is, you know, this podcast right here. We have numerous episodes that really help you understand what's going on in this area and what to expect. And one of those episodes, episode 49, What To Expect In A Seattle Home, is a great one. Another one, episode 21, Virtual Home Buying. Uh, and lastly, one that we just did, uh, what, a month ago, episode 54, Schools And A Home Buy. That's it for today's episode. Thank you so much for listening. And team, thank you all for sharing your expertise and, and insight, like always. If you are considering moving to Seattle and you'd like more insider info like you heard today, just reach out to us. We're not gonna bite. We're very laid back, very helpful, um, and we want to share and give you the info that you need. So you can always find our contact info on awesomeinossum.com. Uh, and you can schedule times to chat with us for free right there on our website, super easy. So that's it for this episode of Awesome in Seattle. We'll see you next time.

Speaker 3: [25:12] Bye. Bye-bye.