We all know the Seattle/Eastside market is and continues to be a very expensive place to live, however, it is all relative. I met my client today who is moving back to London for a good-bye lunch. We had lunch at Yarrow Bay Cafe on Lake Washington for her "last meal" in The States. She picked a fabulous day for it. The weather was absolutely perfect. We were able to get a table outside and had a wonderful time. Seaplanes were flying by. The Argosy ship was doing its afternoon cruise. The Olympic Mountains were out. It could not have been a better day.
I wanted to learn a bit about the London area real estate market. Sue is moving back to Horsham, where she grew up. Horsham is 20-30 miles outside of London in West Sussex. Sue estimates the size of the town to be similar to Redmond, WA. There is a train that goes directly from Horsham to London and is about an 1 1/2 hour commute.
Housing prices are quite high in Horsham, about double the home prices here. An expected home purchase for Jac
k and Sue will be an end unit row house from the Victorian era, possibly similar to these row houses pictured to the right. The new home will have three second floor bedrooms with a first floor bath and be about 1200 square feet. Their home in Redmond was a 2200 square foot, four bedroom home with 2 1/2 baths.
The financing in England is handled very differently from here. According to Sue, all mortgages are variable rates and can be held for as long as 60 years. She's not quite sure what current interest rates are in the UK, but the interest rate for savings accounts is higher than here. Typically, if the interest rate on savings is higher, mortgage rates are higher.
Why is she moving back? So many people move to the Eastside for a high tech position, often at Microsoft, but decide to go back "home" to be close to family.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
It's very expensive to live in Seattle or on The Eastside, But It's Really Expensive to Live in the Suburbs of London.
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