After a little more than a decade in Seattle, I have lived in three distinct neighborhoods and probably visited another 20 local communities across the city. While it’s true that each area has its own character and utility, in my experience neighborhoods are changing their personalities as the city grows.
There are many quiet, leafy neighborhoods such as Magnolia, Madison Park and Madrona. We all know of the active business zones such as downtown, Northgate and the University District. And mixed residential-commercial zones can be found in Ballard, Wallingford, Capitol Hill among others. Fremont – Center of the Universe – is in a classification all its own!
The home search should go beyond app searches for bed & bath counts and building style. It should factor in the local vibe and allow your lifestyle to grow with it – now and 5-10 years out.
Here’s a chance for you to take a part-analytical, part-subjective examination in choosing the right neighborhood. Part one of the process asks buyers to spend time visiting neighborhoods and looking at their characteristics. Part two allows buyers to quantify each of those characteristics to develop their own neighborhood score. First, let’s tour some neighborhoods and examine these 10 characteristics (alphabetically):
Affordability – What is affordable to some may not be for others. When looking at real estate sites/apps, search on recent sales from up to a year ago. Then compare those sales – price per square foot is generally a good metric – with current homes on the market. With a few exceptions, the price of homes in Seattle appreciated from December 2018 to December 2019 by anywhere from a fraction to 7% (and 3% countywide). Those exceptions included Magnolia/Queen Anne (-6.8%), downtown/Belltown (-3.3%) and West Seattle (-2.8%), which all saw median price drops year over year. Your real estate professional can perform deeper comparisons for you. An analytical broker (like me) can evaluate home sale prices by ZIP codes, streets or against different condo buildings. Compare those figures to your maximum loan amount (assuming you’re taking out a mortgage) to find a good price fit for you.
Community Conveniences – What makes a neighborhood special for you? Is it quality restaurants, access to entertainment venues, your house of worship or an active shopping district? Life is too short to drive to all of the businesses and community conveniences that are important to you. List your top three must-haves and top three like-to-haves near home. Then use apps/sites such as Yelp and Nextdoor to crowd-source the cream of the crop. Also seek out locals you can trust – at work, the gym or from your go-to friend – to shape which conveniences are near to your heart and to your future home.
Commute/Transit – Let’s be honest, if there was a way to travel around our city without much sweat and anxiety, we would be a happier bunch. Sadly, with a population rise comes growing pains. And with those pains can come longer commute times, missed appointments and an increased use of headache relievers. After all, Seattle is among the 10 worst commuting cities in the nation – more congested than New York City and Los Angeles in most studies. Access to public transportation and keeping commute times within reason are likely high priorities in your home search. Use the Transit Score algorithm to see how your neighborhood options stack up. Even take a test run or two with your car or on public transit (depending on which you plan to use most often) from neighborhoods to the office or school on a typical weekday and get a feel for what could be your future commute. Also, using INRIX DriveTime technology, I can conduct home searches that meet your maximum commute times.
Investment Value – Many buyers attending my open house events ask about the investment opportunity of a certain home – especially condos. Future owners want to know what the chances of renting the property in the future. Condo buildings have rules on renting your home that can vary widely from building to building. Many Homeowners Associations establish criteria that permits renters after a time period and when other conditions are met. With any home purchase, the investment opportunity depends on many other factors – location, tax burden, rental rates, condition of home, proximity to transit and freeways, and much more. (Talk to a financial advisor if you are serious about buying a home as a future revenue driver.)
Noise Factor – Buyers should visit neighborhoods at different times of day and on various days of the week. This will allow potential homeowners to better capture the buzz – good or bad. I once lived in a Capitol Hill condo. I thought I would love it until I heard sirens most nights because of my proximity to a police precinct, firehouse and hospital. It was like “Grey’s Anatomy” times ten! You will be better off to find a home a few blocks away from the main thoroughfares.
Pet & Park Score – We love our pets and many buyers factor in Spot and (probably to a lesser degree) Tabby when looking for a home. Is the area – particularly a condo community – pet friendly? Can you walk to one of Seattle’s 450-plus parks? Your real estate pro can share pet policies when condo CC&Rs are at play and buyers can use a map app to see where green spaces are near to your desired neighborhoods.
Safety – Bundle all of the categories here to develop your own safety score. Is there ample street lighting when walking Spot at night? Will you want your children to go to/from school or trick-or-treating with friends on Halloween? Unsure whether your future neighborhood is safe, do a little research. Pore over helpful sites that share crime data (City of Seattle 9-1-1 crime map and sortable crime dashboard). Ask questions of neighbors, locals working at coffee shops, hair stylists/barbers or other places where small business owners and their customers are willing to stop and chat.
Schools – This category is either very important to buyers or not at all but, either way, it should be factored in to help shape the quality of a neighborhood. Fortunately, there is a website that offers a score on all certified schools. Search on specific schools or a district if you don’t know the individual school names. Read the reviews and jot down the rating of the school(s), 1-10. (You will need to include a figure later.)
Walk Score and Bike Score – Seattle has a 73 Walk Score, which the site claims is a “very walkable” area, and a 70 Bike Score, making the city “very bikeable.” Use the Walk Score site to sharpen the two scores for your neighborhood or address.
Now, the fun part. I have developed a worksheet to help you see which neighborhoods closely match your wants, needs and likes. Let’s call it your neighborhood compatibility score. (Downloading this helpful guide first asks for some info about you.) Print the worksheet and put a score, from 1 to 10, next to each category listed above, with 10 being a perfect score. Convert Walk, Bike and Transit scores from the Walk Score site into decimals (for example, 73 = 7.3).
You will need to be objective on some categories to produce a fair score. The commute/transit score is one number and can be a blend of your modes of transportation (personal vehicle, walk or public transit) or one.
Tally the numbers to develop your score, with 100 being the ultimate result. Compare your totals across all neighborhoods visited to get a feel for which area of the city is a better fit for you and anyone living with you.
To be sure, this is not a scientific survey and it should not act as the final arbiter when choosing a place to live. But by completing this exercise buyers see where they stand on each place checked out and help justify why one neighborhood stands out from the rest.
At the very least, it’s fun to do. Send me a note to share your neighborhood scores and offer how you think the exercise could be improved.