Seattle is a great place to raise little ones and there is tons of mommy groups and support. Just like the other person said you can blow 4-5K very fast. There are not any apartments that work with that situations. Almost all require you have an income 2.5X the rent. You would have to call and work something out. It s basically pay the rent on time and if you don t expect to get evicted. However you can find some apartment complexs that have free rent for a month or more and only require a deposit to move in. For our first apartment in Kent, WA we had 3 month free rent and after that is was $880 for a 2-Bedroom. Our current apartments was a $200 deposit plus move in rent of $725 for a 2-Bedroom. Check out Craig s list to get an idea. I would also try to live outside of Seattle being that rent is around $1,000 for a 2-Bedroom. However West Seattle is a bit cheaper and Beacon Hill sometimes has place to rent for around $800. I live in Kent in the norm for a 2-Bedroom is $750. With the economy it s more difficult to find a job unless you want to work as a cashier or something. Craig s list and Work Source are good places to find jobs. I would start apply for jobs a couple of day prior to moving here or maybe have on on lock before you get here.
housing is expensive here- epecially if you live In the city. first/last/deposit on a One bedroom apt will run you over $2,000 at the very least. expect average rent for 1br at least $800 a monthMost apts willl ask for a credit check. With a new baby you would be lucky to last 2 months without jobs. sorry to tell you this but it s better to know the truth before you get yourselves into a bad situationGood luck
I would not advise moving there without a job waiting for you, not in this economy. I left the Northwest over a year ago because of the high unemployment rate and high cost of living. You could blow threw that 5K pretty fast without money coming in. Check the unemployment rate for Washington and maybe the apartment situation on different web sites before heading out. I wish you luck.
1. Pray for help! :)
Sorry, but I d suggest that under the circumstances you describe, the move won t work out for you. Seattle remains one of the most expensive places to live, and 4-5k won t go far. The job market is very tight here, too. You might consider starting to apply for jobs here, and be willing to do some phone interviewing, and/or even travel for a set of interviews.(Landlords are going to want to see your ability to pay for rent for a year s lease, and without the bank account or the job, you don t have a way to prove that.)www.NWJobs.com
I understand you miss washington, I would too if I moved, but that amount of money would last 2, maybe 3 months if you are lucky or a good budgeter. You can get apartments with little down, we have lived in some that required only $99 down to move in, but have never gotten one without income proof. If you don t have anyone to stay with while you look for work, I suggest waiting til you find a job FIRST! If he truely has good references, he should be able to apply for work while outside the state. However, I am not sure how the prospective companies would handle interviews. I would certainly line something up first, even if it is less than ideal.
I wouldn t move up here unless you had a job waiting. Even a minimum wage job would be good. You can apply for state aid but there is a long waiting list for section 8 and help with rent. You could get WIC and food stamps but you would have to figure out rent. A one bedroom in most places is somewhere around $1,000 a month. So 5k is going to be gone probably within two months because you will have to put down a deposit plus first and last. You could move to a cheaper area like Tacoma or Bremerton or Port Orchard but they aren t the NICEST areas and unemployment is pretty high there also.