Seattle Washington Real Estate Welcomes You

Seattle Washington real estate has much to offer, whether you're looking for your first home or hoping to relocate to a thriving city with steady job and housing value increases. Seattle is the sort of place where LEED-certified "green" buildings abound, couriers ride bicycles rather than trucks, and the local government puts cultural preservation above profit. Fishermen on Puget Sound reel in the catch of the day, while engineers work on giant Boeing jet planes. It's a hotbed of music (most notably the 1990s grunge movement) and the home of Starbucks and Seattle's Best coffee. You can pick up homemade cheese and fresh grown vegetables from the Pike Place Farmer's Market or check out the futuristic Space Needle on Broad Street. Traveling by ferry will give you a breathtaking view of the Olympia and Cascade mountain ranges or you may want to cruise in style aboard the Victoria Clipper. History buffs will enjoy a tour of Tillicum Native American Village or one of Bill Speidel's underground boat tours, which shows the Seattle storefronts of 1889 before the great fire. From trendy villages to distinguished symphonies, it seems Seattle real estate has it all. Yet there are a number of suburbs to accommodate the growing number of people looking to move here.

East Side Seattle real estate encompasses all the cities between Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish: Bellevue, Issaquah, Kirkland, Newcastle, Mercer Island, Redmond and Sammamish itself. These cities were once the home of the local logging and mining industry, due to their close proximity to the water, but expanded to farm berries and dairy cows just before World War II. Once the post-war housing boom hit, these communities housed many of the new residents. The growth of East Side Seattle Washington real estate has been propelled forward by the growing number of high-tech companies roosting here. For instance, Microsoft, T-Mobile, Nintendo, AT&T Mobility, InfoSpace and Expedia all have centers locally. Additionally, the major regional offices of Boeing, Verizon Wireless, Google, Yahoo, Walt Disney and Fox Sports are situated in East Side communities. Biotech and medical companies like Amgen, Icos and Merck offer numerous jobs to area residents. Video game and media companies are plentiful too – like Warner Brothers, Sony Online, Monolith Productions, Sucker Punch, Valve Corporation and Bungie. It's no wonder that many successful business moguls – Bill Gates (Microsoft founder), Paul Allen (Microsoft co-founder), John Stanton (Western Wireless), Craig McCaw (AT&T) and Steve Ballmer (Microsoft CEO) – made their homes in some of the more prestigious East Side neighborhoods.

Just off the coast of Seattle Washington real estate are a number of wondrous islands that offer a vacation atmosphere. For instance, Bainbridge Island has grown from a farming community to a high-class suburb. If you dream of driving down country roads past gardens, strolling through historic towns full of quaint cafes and one-of-a-kind retail shops, then Bainbridge is the place for you. While there are many country things to do – hiking through Bloedel Reserve, biking, horseback riding and golfing – you can also enjoy big city arts at the Performing Arts Center and the Arts & Crafts Gallery. Vashon Island also offers shops, art galleries, cottages and beautiful views of Puget Sound. Langley Island and Whidbey Island are two other options for enjoying the Seattle vibe, while partaking in both nature and artistic revelries. For the adventurers, the San Juan Islands are just a hop, skip and a jump away, where you can watch the amazing Orca whale migration, explore your surroundings via sea-kayak and comb the sandy beaches.

Lastly, the Queen Anne Seattle real estate region boasts some of the most affluent homes on the market. Queen Anne Hill offers stunning views of downtown, Mount Rainier, Puget Sound, the Olympic Mountains, Lake Union and the Cascade Mountains. The homes of upper Queen Anne are traditional Victorians, while lower Queen Anne Seattle real estate overlooks the lovely Lake Union. This self-contained suburb just five minutes North of Seattle Washington real estate seemingly has it all: the Space Needle, the Pacific Science Center, the Experience Music Project, the Science Fiction Museum and the Key Arena, where the Seattle Storm and the Seattle Thunderbirds play.

Whether you're new to town or unsure where you'd like to relocate, ask your local Seattle Washington real estate agent to show you around.