clover wrote:Equity apartments are nice because it's sort of like saving for a house.
The Chelsea and the other Kirkland ones are just up the road from us :)
Do you mean that the rent you pay on an Equity apartment goes toward owning it if you choose to buy later?
Sounds like we'll be in good company in Kirkland! Park Highlands is very tempting because it's walking distance to my office and there's a very close botanical garden my wife and son will enjoy.
Yeah, I'm wondering about this too. We used to live in a place run by Equity, and the only things I noticed was that rent was about $250 higher (stupid monthly pet rent), they had nicer amenities, and supposedly the entire complex was bond-owned so the chances that we'd be bought and chased out of the third apartment in a row by the local big-wig real-estate developer were nil.
clover wrote:Equity apartments are nice because it's sort of like saving for a house.
The Chelsea and the other Kirkland ones are just up the road from us :)
Do you mean that the rent you pay on an Equity apartment goes toward owning it if you choose to buy later?
Sounds like we'll be in good company in Kirkland! Park Highlands is very tempting because it's walking distance to my office and there's a very close botanical garden my wife and son will enjoy.
The company that owns Equity Apartments partners with some homebuilders too; you get credit toward new construction when you live in one of their buildings. Not many people use it, but it's a nice bonus if you know you're going to rent for a while and then buy a new house in a certain area.
Well we've decided on Park Highland and should have a leasing agreement signed (perhaps e-signed?) by Tuesday, largely for the botanical garden, as our unit will be very close to the private entrance, and for its proximity to my workplace. The equity thing sounds nice, but I can't say for sure we'll be staying long term in the area just yet.
So, with that in mind, we're going to be in the market for furniture, appliances and what not. So A, if you guys have anything you're looking to part with let me know, and B, what 2nd hand shops are not too far away that offer a decent selection? We don't need fancy stuff but don't want super cheap bargain basement either. One place recommended to us is Value Village. We're also totally fine with the IKEA aesthetic, and will probably hit that up for anything we can't get used.
Clover, btw, when I mentioned to my wife that I saw you were Cordon-Bleu trained in your GWJer profile, she wanted to know if you teach classes. She looooves cooking, if you didn't already guess.
I can't speak for Seattle from direct experience but if you want to save money and buy used then craigslist is the way to go. I've never seen a secondhand store that didn't overvalue its inventory, or at least value it significantly above what you can find it for on craigslist.
If you don't want to deal with buying things piecemeal and bargain hunting, then Ikea is a good option.
For non-furniture items (appliances, cookware, plates, place settings, etc...) a place like Costco (membership required) or Fred Meyer can serve as a good one stop-shop.
Ah yes, a Costco membership is a cultural requirement. Thanks for reminding!
FTFY
Looks like I checked back on this thread a little too late. The Tera apartments are pretty close to me, and right by the Kirkland Transit Center, so it would be easy to get around. I usually use metro.kingcounty.gov for planning bus trips around the area. Especially for anywhere I'm not terribly familiar with. And OneBusAway gives great realtime updates for the bus system - if they're running late (and how late).
Most likely your auto insurance company offers it. Probably be best to ask there first.
Capitalism!
http://www.birthandbeyond.com/ and http://www.menmoms.com/ are the two recommendations I got from locals.
For baby clothes, a lot of the bigger grocery stores* will also have kids clothes. Given that most outfits last about a month or two before they grow out of them, the clothes you find at grocery stores is usually at the perfect intersection of cheap and indestructible.
*At least, up here in Canada they do.
If you're looking for cute baby clothes, Gymboree and Crazy 8 are decently priced. You should also check out Bellevue Square, if only to go see the Lego outlet which is totally awesome. Fred Meyer and Costco both have good prices on baby formula, diapers, etc.
Looking forward to meeting you in person Mao.
Really late to this but +1 to Me n Moms. Great store. Got a few things from there in my nursery right now.
Bootyland is a small local baby goods store with some consignment. Also a misleading URL.
Micro-brew?
Tomorrow if you can, go here for the best we have to offer.
If there's a S&T brewing, count me in! Can't do this weekend, though, as I've got family visiting from out of state.
Micro-brew?
Tomorrow if you can, go here for the best we have to offer.
Intriguing. I may have to go to this.
Now that you're here, as you're looking for stuff, I've found Yahoo's Yellow Pages to be very useful in the past. I tend to use Google Maps more these days, but I think Yahoo's service might be better if you're just starting to learn the city. It's better categorized, where Google tends to give you lots of junk responses.
edit: nevermind. I just went and looked, and the Yahoo service has turned to unusable crap.
No wonder they're failing.
Google Maps isn't too far off from what yp.yahoo.com used to offer.
If you guys do end up going to Black Raven for the best beer in the world, let me know as I am just down the road. If you want, there is a theater nearby for Iron Man 3 and a new burger/pinall barcade that opened up nearby too.
Also this weekend:
Mobile Food Truck Rodeo
Craft Beer Tour
Man I wish I could do this weekend but we're still going crazy getting stuff for our apartment and getting a car. Probably any other weekend this month I'll be free though.
I'll drink your share for you.
Chairman_Mao wrote:Man I wish I could do this weekend but we're still going crazy getting stuff for our apartment and getting a car. Probably any other weekend this month I'll be free though.
I'll drink your share for you.
So far this festival thing is pretty awesome. I love beer and brauts.
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