First time home buyer in Seattle

[Amit Yadav]

Hello everyone on this forum,

I have been living in Seattle for 5 years (renting) and I know I missed the opportunity to invest at the right time :(. However now I plan to buy a property (basically to save on my rent and hopefully appreciation).

I work in SLU and I have been looking properties in Queen Anne , Greenwood , Green lake , Ballard area. My budget is 650-700k max(20% down).

Now I am confused between two options:

1. Buy a townhouse/condo in Greenwood area and live there to enjoy shorter commute to SLU. But I am not sure about the appreciation of this area. Everyone says that the growth (> 10%) is not in these areas but in suburbs like Lynwood, Sammamish etc. 

2. Buy a house in far off places like Sammamish, Lynnwood etc. and rent those properties to break even with my rent. 

My end goal is to save on my rent and make investment in an area with good appreciation. 

Any suggestions on good locations?

[Ryan Evans]

The market there is cooling off quick. Not that it will go in the other direction, but you might want to wait and see how the rest of the year shakes out. You'd be buying at the peak of the market, which is still fine, until it's not. There's a slight dip in competition in the winter for residential property anyhow so take that into mind.