Seattle has buses. So does Redmond. Use them In which case you might as well find a place to live along a line. One line at a time. Here's the next one, selected at random for the fun of it.
Live by Microsoft, Marymoor Park, and Redmond Town Center but work in downtown Seattle? There's a bus for that. The Route 268 bus does the entire trip in less than a hour, traffic permitting of course.
↑ Meet the Brazilian Tiger Wood, oh, the flooring is Brazilian tigerwood. Well, that also seems like an appropriate thing to find in a $1,375,000 house that has 4 bedrooms, 4 baths, and 5,010 square feet. Buy an estate for more than a million and of course you get a circular drive with bricks and 2.31 acres. Acreage is easy in the country, but Redmond is no longer country, and less suburban every day. Live luxuriously as the county grows around you. Land is in limited supply and great demand. Get your piece of it, with a marvelous house as well. Check out that bonus room. The house is listed as a 2 story, but the bonus room is on the third floor. How'd they do that?
↑ Families care about bedrooms and schools. This house has 5 bedrooms and Redmond has good schools. Is that all you need to know? There are a few other details: 3.5 baths, 4,090 square feet; and, oh yes, the price of $960,000. The main rooms are open and appealing. Amenities are upgraded, with a particularly nice kitchen from which you can watch the kids in the adjoining room. And, there's a view. Step out on the balcony and look out over fields instead of asphalt. If the kids are creative, they'll find some game to play with that spiral staircase out back.
↑ Redmond has nature, and the trails are easy to get to from this house. Spend $439,000 on a 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath, 1.743 square foot townhouse and you won't have to worry much about landscaping, managing an estate, or vacuuming a house that's twice the size you need. Wait for winter and get a view of Lake Sammamish. The rest of the year, enjoy the fact that you'll have enough time to enjoy Marymoor Park. If this is all you need, why buy more?
↑ Another townhouse and another 3 bedrooms and 2.5 baths, but this one is only $418,888. Maybe it costs less because it isn't an end unit and only has 1,392 square feet. That's okay. It still has granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. Vaulted ceilings make small spaces feel bigger. Walk-in closets and storage in a 2-car garage keep the clutter out of sight. Any place is an opportunity for style, though, regardless of size. Look at how they painted those walls. Express yourself! Which may mean repainting before you move in, or finding art to match those colors.
↑ Does the word townhouse sound too large? How about condo? Here's one for $330,000. Maybe what you call it saves you money. It still has 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, a 2 car garage, 2 sinks in a bathroom, and a double shower. Sounds like just the right place for 2. The floor space is 1,299 square feet, which isn't much smaller than the townhouse just described. Tile countertops work well enough, and there's a bit of steel in those appliances. The food will probably taste just as good, or maybe better if you're less intimidated by the surroundings. Speaking of surroundings, the condo may be surrounded by other condos, but you'll be above most of them. That's a view that's almost as good as from places that cost almost three times as much.
· Route 268 [Metro]
· Marymoor Park [KCPR]
· All Bus Tours coverage [CS]
Written by Tom Trimbath