Another post, another apartment hunt

Another post, another apartment hunt Relocating to

Hi all,

I am moving to Bellevue from Boston (on a very short notice!) early September and I was hoping to get some tips from those who have lived here for a while. I am looking for a 2br/2ba preferably in downtown area since I prefer being a short walk away from work, but I noticed there are only a few options and some of them are too pricey. I have a budget up to $4,000 if need be, but preferably it would be closer to $3.5-3.7k, given that none of utilities/parking are usually included in rent. I am a big fan of the Bravern and Ashton's layouts but those are 4.2-4.3k at the very least. Venn is at $3.9k but they are an Equity Apartments building which I personally don't rate highly (from experience with their apartments in Boston).

I was wondering if it gets better the longer I wait? Do more options show up around end of the month? Do apartments go down in price if they haven't been rented for a while (Ashton's 4.3k option has been available for a week now)? I have been using apartments.com, craigslist, and facebook marketplace to look for apartments, are there any other platforms to utilize?

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u/machonm 26d ago

Prices dont really go down much, they've actually been "stable" because of the pandemic. This was the first year we havent had a rent increase in the decade we've been in the PNW. You may be able to find some private condo rentals that match your budget given those are selling somewhat slower. One88 is a brand new building on Bellevue Way and 2nd which has a large amount of foreign owners. Bellevue Towers has a lot of construction near it, so maybe the pricing has gone down there for units as well.

FWIW, I live in Soma Towers downtown. We have a 2x2 thats 900sf at pay just under 3k/mo. The building is not as nice as the Bravern or One88 but we like the location. Walls are super thin and sound proofing in the building in general isnt great. But we have good amenities (pool, two gyms, golf simulator, etc) so it all depends on how much you care about noise levels. You can easily walk to anywhere from here as well. Management in general is fine and we havent had any huge maintenance issues to deal with. I'd rate it a 3.5/5 but I'd imagine they have units that fit your budget. Just be aware that there are some super funky layouts in the building with structural poles in the most inconvenient of places depending on the unit.

If you have any other questions about the building, I'm happy to answer them.

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u/SchmuckyDeKlaun 26d ago

I love the name: Soma Towers …!
Because the prices are so damned high, your gonna need a lotta Soma to feel OK about it.
(Proposed name for sister complex: “Vaseline Arms”.)

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u/machonm 25d ago

LOL, that's a great way to think about it :)

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u/SchmuckyDeKlaun 25d ago

Just to be clear, I’m not saying the prices are any worse there than anywhere else in town, just that someone had the subversive wit to comment on it in the name.

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u/machonm 25d ago

No problem, thats exactly how I took your comment.

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u/WhyBee92 26d ago

I have actually been looking at Soma and had a video tour with them yesterday. The leasing agent showed us a massive construction that is being built right across the street and said you could hear some noise but it usually dies down by 3pm. I wasn't too keen on that. That was for a 3.8k 2x2 1050sh sqft apt. They have another 2x2 900sqft with poles in the bedroom for 3.5k which i thought was was overpriced given the layout. But I like Soma's location and amenities and I keep refreshing their page if they have any new available units.

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u/rcc737 25d ago

Little fyi regarding construction; there is a lot going on now and will continue for the next few years. If construction noise really bothers you I'd recommend looking out of the downtown core. There are currently 35 major building projects in downtown proper either under construction or due to start soon.

https://buildingbellevue.bellevuewa.gov/

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u/machonm 26d ago

Yeah, the cheaper 2x2 is the one we live in. The pole in the bedroom really makes the room unusable as a bedroom. I have a desk, PC and chair in there and thats about it. The other 2x2 faces the construction site but all in all, our side is louder because its on the alley and we have a hotel next door. Drunk fun is definitely a thing on the weekends :).

I will call out that downtown is a literal construction zone almost everywhere right now with even more planned along a few of the main streets. The Bravern were built as condos and are literally the quietest building I have ever been in, very nice for a 10yr old building. I dont find that location as convenient myself and they have new construction up across the street as well with the interstate on the other side. However if noise were a concern, I'd definitely say the Bravern would be quieter than here. I can tell you I wouldnt pay 3.5k for our unit, so if it gets to that price on my renewal we'd leave and we've been in our unit since it was built ~5yrs ago.