This one has been long overdue. We saw like almost 150 apartments in seattle including 5 or 6 in bellevue and redmond. So I am not going to call myself an expert but I kinda am. See when it comes to finding apartments, I can just look at zillow or apartments.com and tell you if its worth it or not. Now everyone needs a different set of attributes in house, some want north facing some want it on ground floor some want like a townhome some of them care about gym others couldn't give a damn. Our must haves were hardwood, well equipped gym, swimming pool and awesome view. You will realize they keep changing as you look at apartments, at some point you just want to give in and settle in any apartment. Hopefully this post will help you a bit. In the end, I will share my favorite ones or the ones that had something special even though they were not for us.
Lets start.
1) Budget restrictions : You are the one who has to decide. For seattle I would say to get a decent apartment you need at least 1800 by 2015 standards. I have seen apartments that even went upto 2400 because of their view. The newest apartments are going to be costly, something with a view will cost more too. You can get almost double the size for the same price in redmond. Bellevue downtown is like seattle in terms of prices, may be a little lower with a more sophisticated family crowd or even younger crowd near lunchbox circle. Also sometimes people get lucky, one of my friends grabbed a townhome in STACK House for 2000 bucks, its cheap being so close to SLU. Decide your price, everyone spends 100 or 200 over it. We got our apartment 1bhk for 1900 in bellevue downtown and end up paying 200 to 300 extra as parking trash electricity water bills come up.
Wherever you go to see apartments, they will give you a total of all extra expenses. There is another option, there are condos that are owned by people opposed to apartments owned by a business group that can freely increase rent in an year by whatever percentage. These condos ads come up in craigslist, most of the condos come up with free parking and free storage with ample space as someone actually designed these as their home not to just rent out. Condo owners might ask for more deposit and 4 months of rent in advance which is difficult to come up with if you are new to country.
Consider all factors, decide the budget and browse apartments.com or forrent.com or which ever platform you are comfortable with.
2) Location restrictions: If you work for amazon or somewhere in seattle, you would love to be in seattle. If you work for microsoft, redmond or bellevue will work for you. My husband works for amazon and still we took in bellevue. There is this awesome van pool facility so you can reach seattle in maximum 30 minutes, better if you have a car. Unless you are keen on staying close, all three areas can work for you. Most of the family people settle in redmond or sammamish which trust me is soo beautiful. There have been cases of power outage a few times in an year though in these far out areas. Young party goes prefer capitol hill.
3) House Appliances: Most of the apartments will come with washer dryer microwave oven and all the basic things like trash recycling chutes hmm concierge to pick up your amazon orders even curtains or blinds are all there. What differs is quality of appliances, kitchen granite, window sizes, ceiling height, pets policies on different sizes of dogs. Pay attention to what is important for you in apartment. Brand new apartments like stack house post walton lofts have the finest appliances. When it comes to using, its all your preference. Our dishwasher makes lot of noise, but there was no way to check before. Small problems will always creep up as long as it doesn't throw you off. New condos might have better ones.
4) Driving range: I like to walk so I wanted a place where there were supermarkets in a mile radius. If you prefer to drive to everything, then its no issue. QFC Safeway Whole Food kind of supermarkets are scattered all around the area. Some areas are a little scary to walk around in seattle like Downtown in night as there is loads of homeless people and Queen anne as you almost see no one after 7. If you have a car, it doesn't really matter. SLU is dead in terms of restaurants and pubs.
Redmond is also called Dead-mond as it gets super cold and everything is blocks away. See the apartment, if it suits you and you have a car, nothing should really bother you.
5) Carpet or Hardwood : Trends keep changing, I would say as long as kitchen has no carpet the apartment is acceptable. Yes, its easier to clean hardwood, for carpet we feel guilty if we don't clean up once in at least 2 weeks. When you buy a vaccum cleaner for carpet, make sure its strong and picks up deep gone food too. We tried to find apartments with hard wood too, they are less in number but they exist. In redmond, most of the apartments are carpeted. Carpet definitely helps with cold weather apart from being super comfy.
6) Kitchen : There are kitchens with black granite black appliances, there are kitchen with white applicances too and white board. Also look for minute details like cupboard space in kitchen, in some of the apartments they have extra space for stocking up costco. Redmond has bigger kitchens with more space. For a family of four , I would say its preferable. For two, seattle has enough apartments. Some apartments come with two sinks, others come with one. For some washer dryer comes in kitchen which is weird. For some its in washroom and then there are some that have it right on door. Condos have amazing kitchens as people designed it to use themselves.
7)View or not: We were looking for majestic views and we saw so many with it. The only downside sometimes was they lacked some other property or they were just too costly. There are condos with amazing views too. Since seattle is surrounded by mountains and water, you never know which apartment will be a gem. Queen anne area has nice view apartments, then Bellevue has promising views too. Downtown has a few that are right on water, ohhh there is so much to see. You do pay more for the view though.
One of our friends actually lives in a cabin in jungle where he has seen bears coming by. Phew, other one owns a farm and drives all the way from mt rainier. Then there is this guy who uses water taxi from alki beach. Yeah there is a beach where you can live in seattle. Seattle is the kind of place where you can have a mountain view on one side and water city view on other side.
There are apartments where you can tie boats, go kayaking and play cricket basketball, go on miles and miles of nature trails. Rains are overrated, I have lived here six months and its just pleasant. We moved in from a super hot place and this weather here is so surreal, its almost spiritual.
I can see full range of cascade and olympic mountains from my house and on the other side I see space needle with partial water view and amazing city view. My friends in redmond have their private lawns overlooking trees and parks which is soothing too. Its all your choice.
8)Homeless or not : Seattle is homeless friendly city. So every nook and corner you see them. Most of the times they don't cause nuisance but sometimes they do, in SLU there is a rehab centre where almost every midnight some homeless guy would abruptly swear and shout. Capitol Hill has reported a few shootings in QFC and downtown every signal you hear care for a dollar. Its not that bad, just when I saw bellevue and redmond , it was better. You can always smell weed on them which is totally cool as long as it gives a little high. There is no homeless here in bellevue and redmond.
9) AC or not : Do we need air conditioning in seattle? If I came here in november, I would have probably taken house without AC but we saw how it was in march , june and september. It was hot hot, some people can but it was difficult for us to cope with it. Then there is no balcony and windows in houses, there is mosquitoes outside too and it rains. I would suggest, one with AC or the option of having it when you need it is not a bad deal.
10) Townhome or Apartment : This one is purely individualistic. We prefer apartment, we saw so many townhomes in redmond but it just didn't appeal to us. One of the reasons was redmond communities do not offer classy fitness centers or swimming pools. If you can join a club, its cool but we are lazy and we wanted everything in one place. New apartments have a shine to them, some of the townhomes and their carpet looked like you could imagine kids walking over without diapers with choclates. They even smelled funny like old and rustic. Seattle is more crowded since it is a city where amazon is turning streets to offices hiring minions day and night.
11) Swiming pool and Gym : This was one of the major reasons why most of the apartments failed. Most of the apartments do not have a swimming pool. If they do, its outdoor. In redmond, all the apartments except one or two have an indoor heated pool . But then the gym that comes with it is sad with two treadmills. Also , some of the apartments claim to have a gym but its nothing more than a few terrible excuses for not working out. Seattle has a few and bellevue too, I am making a list down in this post. The scene is not soo devastating, a few of them have yoga studios dance lessons personal trainers. Its all there, we just have to find.
14) Parking : Now parking is a big issue in seattle. Every apartment requires a parking fee. Its free in redmond if you don't go for closed parking. Its charged like 40 bucks if you take closed one. In seattle, it goes to 200 dollars a month for parking in downtown. In bellevue, its 100 dollars a month. It might increase so the stats are valid till jan 2016 only. Condos offer free parking
15) Closet space: Seattle has tiniest apartments possible for a price that is too much. We saw an apartment that was like 500 sqft for 2400. Just no reason, they charge because they simply can. A few societies actually planned better and offered so many closets. Some of them were just disappointing, a coat closet and a bedroom closet. There are walkin closets in apartments too. The ones that are not so new are going to have more wardrobes. Redmond obviously wins here. Bellevue pretty much has a mix, so if you move a little away from bellevue you will find more space. Condos can offer more space too, just be on the lookout.
16) Gas Range : Sadly, its all coils . There is only one apartment called axis that had an actual gas range. Coils aren't so bad, just when something boils down you have to take out and clean up. If you can find an apartment with glass surface, its better, just spray and clean. Again, condos might have gas range as its personalised. Its difficult to cook some indian dishes on coils. You have to work with what you are given.
17)Grocery Stores : There is grocery stores near Queen anne. If you can drive, its not a problem. Then there is instacart and safeway that do home delivery. Bellevue downtown as QFC Safeway Uwajimaya Wholefooods all in one mile radius. It helps as there is no single store I can pick everything from. Costco walmart are in different directions. Redmond has Sears walmart Indian grocery stores all in the same hood. Come to think of it, redmond is not so dead but you have to have a car to be there. Uwajimaya is best for vegetables, safeway for delivery. Then there is different people, different priorities. I didn't choose to be in vicinity, its after moving in I realized these things were there. Capitol hill has everything too except good gyms and swimming pools.
18) Things to do : For someone who loves nature, redmond sammamish is the best. Take out your bikes or go for walks. For someone who wants to be in city, seattle westlake avenue area, capitol hill is probably better. Then for families , redmond of course rules the scene. There are all kinds of pubs restaurants in bellevue too. There is lincoln movie theatre. Then redmond has crossroad mall which isn't that great. There is outlet mall which is out somewhere. Any place is just 20 minutes more if you start from seattle so again not a big big deciding factor.
19) Balcony : This is such a rare luxury. Seattle has a few apartments with balcony. Redmond has most of them with balconies but they are dirty sometimes. Then there is bellevue downtown with rare small balconies. Balcony was a must in our list but we gave it up eventually over pool gym AC.
20) Pets : Pets are welcome everywhere in all the apartments. There might be a few breed restrictions so check with your leasing agent when you go. They charge you some monthly expense and there is a refundable fee too.
21) Maintenance : Most of the communities boast of a proper maintenance but if its too shady, you might have to bear the cost. Condos are a problem in this scene as for every problem you have to contact owner. If its a self maintained society, then there is no problem. There are portals to pay rent, pay water bills, lodge complaints. Its all sorted.
22) Guest suites : I love love this option. There is a an option of booking guest suite so if someone comes, you can book a suite for them in your own apartment. Its not cheap but its worth the price if you want 4 people to stay in 600 sqft. Its a blessing when parents come.
Other things that apartments offer are media rooms, pool tables, your own party halls. I would recommend seeing some apartments for sheer luxury. By swimming pool I mean indoor heated ones By AC air conditioning.
Here goes the list of my favorites and worth mentioning ones:
1) HARBOR STEPS, Downtown : This one had everything, indoor swimming pool , spacious rooms, big closets, balcony, views of water or wheel and their floor plans are so different. The only downside was parking fees and homeless downtown area. This one is worth looking for. Its a bit old so appliances will not be so new. Its almost perfect.
2) Amli Bellevue Downtown : Amli's property in SLU was a bit on higher end but their quality and construction is modern. This one in bellevue downtown has a professional gym with indoor heated swimming pool. The only downside for us was it didn't have any views. For families, its the best facing bellevue downtown park where you can see fireworks play holi or just play with kids. Its closer to shops and their parking charges were minimal. Their apartments were nice too.
3) CIrrus : This one was beyond our budget. You have to see this one to witness luxury at its best. Their rooftop deck is to die for. When you workout you see water and sunset. They have the best hangout areas with tvs personal couches. No swimming pool though but still its one of a kind. Air conditioning obviously comes.
4) Olympus : Olympus can offer amazing views with great space. Like serious space. Their apartments had almost a mini bar space. No good gym for us so rejected. In fact all the apartments in elliott have olympic park view and water. Sunset view and ships passing by, its pretty spectacular.
5) Fountain Court : Okay no view but a good gym and swimming pool. Its surrounded by lots of restaurants and its pretty affordable.
6) Stack House : Their appliances are really the best since they are new and there is AC. Their 2bhk is so posh looking, you will sign lease there. You can get lake's view there along with fireworks that happen like twice in an year. Townhomes offer a great deal.
7) Tower 801 : One word, balcony not just one there's two to them and air conditioning. The view could be great, gym swimming pool were not good. The apartment space was good and well planned.
8) Metropolitan : This one is the best. They have view, gym, swimming pool, blacony , spacious apartments, almost acceptable rent rates and parking charges. This one is a catch. We wanted to book this but we had already booked our bellevue apartment which is way better for us.
9) Neptune : This one too was on top. There is no AC, but there is well thought space closets view, there is this small yet all machine gym, a media room you can book for free, a games room. Its almost like a perfect one. There is no swimming pool but prices are way better. Their is balcony too facing lake.
10) Alto : I like alto apartments, they have utilized space wisely. Gym was okk, apartments were considerably smaller and prices were more. The whole finishing of the apartments was nice.
11) Post : Ohh this was perfect too, they didn't have swimming pool but the views ohh you will faint when you see their water facing apartments with glass windows. I would say check it out for experience and if it fits your budget, this one is a royal one.
12) Via 6 : So this one has a really good gym. If you are not a swimming pool frantic, go check this one out too. Its new, its got restaurants with breakfast events going on. Who doesn't want a bar downstairs. Their apartments come with balcony, yeah they do.
13) Sidney Moda : These two are for simple people with basic needs. They have ample space and sunshine coming through.
14) Aspira : Ohh aspira offers relatively better prices for the views n all amenities it offers. Their rooftop deck is nice and gym worked for us. They had one apartment on 31st floor going for 1600 bucks.
15) Elements bellevue downtown : This one had it all, swimming pool gym with trainers but their appliances are too noisy. They have AC option but it takes a little while to heat up. They do offer amazing views but it is mostly filled with students. This one is not a bad option though. There is lunchbox, french bakery, tokyo steak all nearby. If you are not into swimming pool, you can remove this from list.
16) Dimension: I liked this one, views AC apartment space but the prices were a little too much. Their rooftop deck offers 360 degree view of seattle. Its pretty cool. Gym was okkish. No pool of course. Their kitchen and appliances were top notch like alto and cirrus.
17) Centennial : Its right above petra. They have gym pool view nice apartments with space, everything. It looks a bit old but this one is really nice. We didn't like the concierge with glasses as she was a bit too full of herself, same for alto leasing agent who acted like a movie start. Come on, we are looking for houses so doesn't matter. Parking charges were more too. It was 3rd on my fav list.
18) Cielo : This one was a charmer. It had the best gym in all of seattle bellevue downtown, not kidding. Best rooftop, best space management and so went up prices. They have nice city views. Do check this one, I recommend it. If you can find a deal on lower floor, its worth it. All of the apartments like metropolitan centennial cielo have less prices for first 8 floors. Prices increase as floors go up . Also, if a friend already stays in an apartments refers you, it gives you and him few bucks.
19) Harrison square : The apartment that he showed us blew us. A full bedroom size patio imagine with whole water line mountain line view of sunset and to top it you can see it from all of the house. The space was a little less for us but if we were bachelors with less baggage, we would have signed lease then and there. There was no pool but gym was nice.
20) Elliott 2300 : Elliott has one of the coolest apartments with mind blowing views. Prices are less, you compromise on something but you should check out if you are a view person or you like to run as there is olympic sculpture park. Audrey in belltown has swimming pool too.
21) Riverpark in bellevue redmond : Balcony, Gym, Spacious apartments, affordable prices, trail that goes right from back of building. Their modern finishes appliances its all worth paying for. No swimming pool.
22) Vista and redmond hill : They have view, an indoor small pool, an okk gym and big houses. Not bad for a family. Actually these were the only ones I liked in redmond. Then there is redmond park apartments where all of my friends moved. There is Lakes apartments which I was about to move in, there is no indoor pool but other amenities are nice. Redmond comes with balcony lawn. Redmond court and Eaves are nice too. Eaves has indoor pool with not so good gym. All of them have coils in kitchen.
23) Axis seattle : It surprised us. A gas burner, amazing view from deck, balcony, better gym than redmond combined except riverpark. You might love it. Also joules in capitol hill is liked by my friends. Windsor heights near redmond trail is super spacious and nice.
24) Insignia and olive 8 are the coolest condos ever : GRab them if you get them. Seriously.
I am done for like a week now. Do move in inspection before you move into an apartment. Take photos. There is tons of houses out there. I know its frustrating looking for house. Go on weekends, make prior appointments, carry something to eat and drink, make videos and discuss when you come back. Be nice and open to leasing agents. And yeah enjoy. If you really like an apartment, book it as the good ones are gone in a day.
Lets start.
1) Budget restrictions : You are the one who has to decide. For seattle I would say to get a decent apartment you need at least 1800 by 2015 standards. I have seen apartments that even went upto 2400 because of their view. The newest apartments are going to be costly, something with a view will cost more too. You can get almost double the size for the same price in redmond. Bellevue downtown is like seattle in terms of prices, may be a little lower with a more sophisticated family crowd or even younger crowd near lunchbox circle. Also sometimes people get lucky, one of my friends grabbed a townhome in STACK House for 2000 bucks, its cheap being so close to SLU. Decide your price, everyone spends 100 or 200 over it. We got our apartment 1bhk for 1900 in bellevue downtown and end up paying 200 to 300 extra as parking trash electricity water bills come up.
Wherever you go to see apartments, they will give you a total of all extra expenses. There is another option, there are condos that are owned by people opposed to apartments owned by a business group that can freely increase rent in an year by whatever percentage. These condos ads come up in craigslist, most of the condos come up with free parking and free storage with ample space as someone actually designed these as their home not to just rent out. Condo owners might ask for more deposit and 4 months of rent in advance which is difficult to come up with if you are new to country.
Consider all factors, decide the budget and browse apartments.com or forrent.com or which ever platform you are comfortable with.
2) Location restrictions: If you work for amazon or somewhere in seattle, you would love to be in seattle. If you work for microsoft, redmond or bellevue will work for you. My husband works for amazon and still we took in bellevue. There is this awesome van pool facility so you can reach seattle in maximum 30 minutes, better if you have a car. Unless you are keen on staying close, all three areas can work for you. Most of the family people settle in redmond or sammamish which trust me is soo beautiful. There have been cases of power outage a few times in an year though in these far out areas. Young party goes prefer capitol hill.
3) House Appliances: Most of the apartments will come with washer dryer microwave oven and all the basic things like trash recycling chutes hmm concierge to pick up your amazon orders even curtains or blinds are all there. What differs is quality of appliances, kitchen granite, window sizes, ceiling height, pets policies on different sizes of dogs. Pay attention to what is important for you in apartment. Brand new apartments like stack house post walton lofts have the finest appliances. When it comes to using, its all your preference. Our dishwasher makes lot of noise, but there was no way to check before. Small problems will always creep up as long as it doesn't throw you off. New condos might have better ones.
4) Driving range: I like to walk so I wanted a place where there were supermarkets in a mile radius. If you prefer to drive to everything, then its no issue. QFC Safeway Whole Food kind of supermarkets are scattered all around the area. Some areas are a little scary to walk around in seattle like Downtown in night as there is loads of homeless people and Queen anne as you almost see no one after 7. If you have a car, it doesn't really matter. SLU is dead in terms of restaurants and pubs.
Redmond is also called Dead-mond as it gets super cold and everything is blocks away. See the apartment, if it suits you and you have a car, nothing should really bother you.
5) Carpet or Hardwood : Trends keep changing, I would say as long as kitchen has no carpet the apartment is acceptable. Yes, its easier to clean hardwood, for carpet we feel guilty if we don't clean up once in at least 2 weeks. When you buy a vaccum cleaner for carpet, make sure its strong and picks up deep gone food too. We tried to find apartments with hard wood too, they are less in number but they exist. In redmond, most of the apartments are carpeted. Carpet definitely helps with cold weather apart from being super comfy.
6) Kitchen : There are kitchens with black granite black appliances, there are kitchen with white applicances too and white board. Also look for minute details like cupboard space in kitchen, in some of the apartments they have extra space for stocking up costco. Redmond has bigger kitchens with more space. For a family of four , I would say its preferable. For two, seattle has enough apartments. Some apartments come with two sinks, others come with one. For some washer dryer comes in kitchen which is weird. For some its in washroom and then there are some that have it right on door. Condos have amazing kitchens as people designed it to use themselves.
7)View or not: We were looking for majestic views and we saw so many with it. The only downside sometimes was they lacked some other property or they were just too costly. There are condos with amazing views too. Since seattle is surrounded by mountains and water, you never know which apartment will be a gem. Queen anne area has nice view apartments, then Bellevue has promising views too. Downtown has a few that are right on water, ohhh there is so much to see. You do pay more for the view though.
One of our friends actually lives in a cabin in jungle where he has seen bears coming by. Phew, other one owns a farm and drives all the way from mt rainier. Then there is this guy who uses water taxi from alki beach. Yeah there is a beach where you can live in seattle. Seattle is the kind of place where you can have a mountain view on one side and water city view on other side.
There are apartments where you can tie boats, go kayaking and play cricket basketball, go on miles and miles of nature trails. Rains are overrated, I have lived here six months and its just pleasant. We moved in from a super hot place and this weather here is so surreal, its almost spiritual.
I can see full range of cascade and olympic mountains from my house and on the other side I see space needle with partial water view and amazing city view. My friends in redmond have their private lawns overlooking trees and parks which is soothing too. Its all your choice.
9) AC or not : Do we need air conditioning in seattle? If I came here in november, I would have probably taken house without AC but we saw how it was in march , june and september. It was hot hot, some people can but it was difficult for us to cope with it. Then there is no balcony and windows in houses, there is mosquitoes outside too and it rains. I would suggest, one with AC or the option of having it when you need it is not a bad deal.
10) Townhome or Apartment : This one is purely individualistic. We prefer apartment, we saw so many townhomes in redmond but it just didn't appeal to us. One of the reasons was redmond communities do not offer classy fitness centers or swimming pools. If you can join a club, its cool but we are lazy and we wanted everything in one place. New apartments have a shine to them, some of the townhomes and their carpet looked like you could imagine kids walking over without diapers with choclates. They even smelled funny like old and rustic. Seattle is more crowded since it is a city where amazon is turning streets to offices hiring minions day and night.
11) Swiming pool and Gym : This was one of the major reasons why most of the apartments failed. Most of the apartments do not have a swimming pool. If they do, its outdoor. In redmond, all the apartments except one or two have an indoor heated pool . But then the gym that comes with it is sad with two treadmills. Also , some of the apartments claim to have a gym but its nothing more than a few terrible excuses for not working out. Seattle has a few and bellevue too, I am making a list down in this post. The scene is not soo devastating, a few of them have yoga studios dance lessons personal trainers. Its all there, we just have to find.
14) Parking : Now parking is a big issue in seattle. Every apartment requires a parking fee. Its free in redmond if you don't go for closed parking. Its charged like 40 bucks if you take closed one. In seattle, it goes to 200 dollars a month for parking in downtown. In bellevue, its 100 dollars a month. It might increase so the stats are valid till jan 2016 only. Condos offer free parking
15) Closet space: Seattle has tiniest apartments possible for a price that is too much. We saw an apartment that was like 500 sqft for 2400. Just no reason, they charge because they simply can. A few societies actually planned better and offered so many closets. Some of them were just disappointing, a coat closet and a bedroom closet. There are walkin closets in apartments too. The ones that are not so new are going to have more wardrobes. Redmond obviously wins here. Bellevue pretty much has a mix, so if you move a little away from bellevue you will find more space. Condos can offer more space too, just be on the lookout.
16) Gas Range : Sadly, its all coils . There is only one apartment called axis that had an actual gas range. Coils aren't so bad, just when something boils down you have to take out and clean up. If you can find an apartment with glass surface, its better, just spray and clean. Again, condos might have gas range as its personalised. Its difficult to cook some indian dishes on coils. You have to work with what you are given.
17)Grocery Stores : There is grocery stores near Queen anne. If you can drive, its not a problem. Then there is instacart and safeway that do home delivery. Bellevue downtown as QFC Safeway Uwajimaya Wholefooods all in one mile radius. It helps as there is no single store I can pick everything from. Costco walmart are in different directions. Redmond has Sears walmart Indian grocery stores all in the same hood. Come to think of it, redmond is not so dead but you have to have a car to be there. Uwajimaya is best for vegetables, safeway for delivery. Then there is different people, different priorities. I didn't choose to be in vicinity, its after moving in I realized these things were there. Capitol hill has everything too except good gyms and swimming pools.
18) Things to do : For someone who loves nature, redmond sammamish is the best. Take out your bikes or go for walks. For someone who wants to be in city, seattle westlake avenue area, capitol hill is probably better. Then for families , redmond of course rules the scene. There are all kinds of pubs restaurants in bellevue too. There is lincoln movie theatre. Then redmond has crossroad mall which isn't that great. There is outlet mall which is out somewhere. Any place is just 20 minutes more if you start from seattle so again not a big big deciding factor.
19) Balcony : This is such a rare luxury. Seattle has a few apartments with balcony. Redmond has most of them with balconies but they are dirty sometimes. Then there is bellevue downtown with rare small balconies. Balcony was a must in our list but we gave it up eventually over pool gym AC.
20) Pets : Pets are welcome everywhere in all the apartments. There might be a few breed restrictions so check with your leasing agent when you go. They charge you some monthly expense and there is a refundable fee too.
21) Maintenance : Most of the communities boast of a proper maintenance but if its too shady, you might have to bear the cost. Condos are a problem in this scene as for every problem you have to contact owner. If its a self maintained society, then there is no problem. There are portals to pay rent, pay water bills, lodge complaints. Its all sorted.
22) Guest suites : I love love this option. There is a an option of booking guest suite so if someone comes, you can book a suite for them in your own apartment. Its not cheap but its worth the price if you want 4 people to stay in 600 sqft. Its a blessing when parents come.
Other things that apartments offer are media rooms, pool tables, your own party halls. I would recommend seeing some apartments for sheer luxury. By swimming pool I mean indoor heated ones By AC air conditioning.
Here goes the list of my favorites and worth mentioning ones:
1) HARBOR STEPS, Downtown : This one had everything, indoor swimming pool , spacious rooms, big closets, balcony, views of water or wheel and their floor plans are so different. The only downside was parking fees and homeless downtown area. This one is worth looking for. Its a bit old so appliances will not be so new. Its almost perfect.
2) Amli Bellevue Downtown : Amli's property in SLU was a bit on higher end but their quality and construction is modern. This one in bellevue downtown has a professional gym with indoor heated swimming pool. The only downside for us was it didn't have any views. For families, its the best facing bellevue downtown park where you can see fireworks play holi or just play with kids. Its closer to shops and their parking charges were minimal. Their apartments were nice too.
3) CIrrus : This one was beyond our budget. You have to see this one to witness luxury at its best. Their rooftop deck is to die for. When you workout you see water and sunset. They have the best hangout areas with tvs personal couches. No swimming pool though but still its one of a kind. Air conditioning obviously comes.
4) Olympus : Olympus can offer amazing views with great space. Like serious space. Their apartments had almost a mini bar space. No good gym for us so rejected. In fact all the apartments in elliott have olympic park view and water. Sunset view and ships passing by, its pretty spectacular.
5) Fountain Court : Okay no view but a good gym and swimming pool. Its surrounded by lots of restaurants and its pretty affordable.
6) Stack House : Their appliances are really the best since they are new and there is AC. Their 2bhk is so posh looking, you will sign lease there. You can get lake's view there along with fireworks that happen like twice in an year. Townhomes offer a great deal.
7) Tower 801 : One word, balcony not just one there's two to them and air conditioning. The view could be great, gym swimming pool were not good. The apartment space was good and well planned.
8) Metropolitan : This one is the best. They have view, gym, swimming pool, blacony , spacious apartments, almost acceptable rent rates and parking charges. This one is a catch. We wanted to book this but we had already booked our bellevue apartment which is way better for us.
9) Neptune : This one too was on top. There is no AC, but there is well thought space closets view, there is this small yet all machine gym, a media room you can book for free, a games room. Its almost like a perfect one. There is no swimming pool but prices are way better. Their is balcony too facing lake.
10) Alto : I like alto apartments, they have utilized space wisely. Gym was okk, apartments were considerably smaller and prices were more. The whole finishing of the apartments was nice.
11) Post : Ohh this was perfect too, they didn't have swimming pool but the views ohh you will faint when you see their water facing apartments with glass windows. I would say check it out for experience and if it fits your budget, this one is a royal one.
12) Via 6 : So this one has a really good gym. If you are not a swimming pool frantic, go check this one out too. Its new, its got restaurants with breakfast events going on. Who doesn't want a bar downstairs. Their apartments come with balcony, yeah they do.
13) Sidney Moda : These two are for simple people with basic needs. They have ample space and sunshine coming through.
14) Aspira : Ohh aspira offers relatively better prices for the views n all amenities it offers. Their rooftop deck is nice and gym worked for us. They had one apartment on 31st floor going for 1600 bucks.
15) Elements bellevue downtown : This one had it all, swimming pool gym with trainers but their appliances are too noisy. They have AC option but it takes a little while to heat up. They do offer amazing views but it is mostly filled with students. This one is not a bad option though. There is lunchbox, french bakery, tokyo steak all nearby. If you are not into swimming pool, you can remove this from list.
16) Dimension: I liked this one, views AC apartment space but the prices were a little too much. Their rooftop deck offers 360 degree view of seattle. Its pretty cool. Gym was okkish. No pool of course. Their kitchen and appliances were top notch like alto and cirrus.
17) Centennial : Its right above petra. They have gym pool view nice apartments with space, everything. It looks a bit old but this one is really nice. We didn't like the concierge with glasses as she was a bit too full of herself, same for alto leasing agent who acted like a movie start. Come on, we are looking for houses so doesn't matter. Parking charges were more too. It was 3rd on my fav list.
18) Cielo : This one was a charmer. It had the best gym in all of seattle bellevue downtown, not kidding. Best rooftop, best space management and so went up prices. They have nice city views. Do check this one, I recommend it. If you can find a deal on lower floor, its worth it. All of the apartments like metropolitan centennial cielo have less prices for first 8 floors. Prices increase as floors go up . Also, if a friend already stays in an apartments refers you, it gives you and him few bucks.
19) Harrison square : The apartment that he showed us blew us. A full bedroom size patio imagine with whole water line mountain line view of sunset and to top it you can see it from all of the house. The space was a little less for us but if we were bachelors with less baggage, we would have signed lease then and there. There was no pool but gym was nice.
20) Elliott 2300 : Elliott has one of the coolest apartments with mind blowing views. Prices are less, you compromise on something but you should check out if you are a view person or you like to run as there is olympic sculpture park. Audrey in belltown has swimming pool too.
21) Riverpark in bellevue redmond : Balcony, Gym, Spacious apartments, affordable prices, trail that goes right from back of building. Their modern finishes appliances its all worth paying for. No swimming pool.
22) Vista and redmond hill : They have view, an indoor small pool, an okk gym and big houses. Not bad for a family. Actually these were the only ones I liked in redmond. Then there is redmond park apartments where all of my friends moved. There is Lakes apartments which I was about to move in, there is no indoor pool but other amenities are nice. Redmond comes with balcony lawn. Redmond court and Eaves are nice too. Eaves has indoor pool with not so good gym. All of them have coils in kitchen.
23) Axis seattle : It surprised us. A gas burner, amazing view from deck, balcony, better gym than redmond combined except riverpark. You might love it. Also joules in capitol hill is liked by my friends. Windsor heights near redmond trail is super spacious and nice.
24) Insignia and olive 8 are the coolest condos ever : GRab them if you get them. Seriously.
I am done for like a week now. Do move in inspection before you move into an apartment. Take photos. There is tons of houses out there. I know its frustrating looking for house. Go on weekends, make prior appointments, carry something to eat and drink, make videos and discuss when you come back. Be nice and open to leasing agents. And yeah enjoy. If you really like an apartment, book it as the good ones are gone in a day.
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