Love Skyscrapers? Check Seattle MLS For Bellevue Housing

As you may have heard, Bellevue is growing rampantly, as more and more people head into the city to live, work and play. In the 1990s, the downtown lifestyle didn’t appeal to people. Home buyers scoured Seattle MLS for suburban escapes where they could get as far from the work environment as possible. The idea was that they could live in larger homes for less money. However, the cost of suburban housing often exceeds downtown living and trading some space in exchange for a maintenance-free lifestyle and shorter commute is a trade-off many young professionals and aging boomers alike are willing to make.

To give you an idea of the projected growth, downtown Bellevue has 5,000 residents now but is expected to grow to 14,000 by 2020. There are 3,750 housing units that will nearly quadruple over the next decade. There are 8 million square feet of office space, 3.9 million square feet of retail space and 38,100 jobs – all which signal a healthy local economy.

The type of person that scours Seattle MLS looking for Bellevue housing is someone who yearns for city living, without the agitation, the traffic or the crime. You may work in the high-tech industry, since Symetra Financial, Microsoft, Yahoo, Google and Expedia are all headquartered in Bellevue. You may have kids that need a strong Eastside school. Perhaps you’re looking for sophisticated and classy nightlife, rather than Downtown Seattle’s alternative and edgy. You might want to ask your Seattle realtor for a high-rise condo or a loft.

Looking For Luxury: Echo Lake on Seattle MLS

If you miss the Street of Dreams Tour each year, there’s still good news: 1) They’re publishing a magazine that’ll be out each July and January, featuring some of the most luxurious properties from Seattle MLS. And 2) You can still ask your Seattle realtor about properties in Snohomish County, King’s County and Echo Lake, where many of these mega-mansions sit in all their splendor.

You can sometimes find homes with three and four car garages, home theaters and backyard spa oases, but you might need to find a knowledgeable Seattle realtor to find the two-story indoor waterfalls, home theaters and eco-friendly housing.

What kind of trends should you ask your Seattle realtor about? Well, energy efficient homes have reclaimed and sustainable materials, harness natural lighting, incorporate organic landscaping, install Energy Star appliances and avoid things like chemically dyed carpeting, wasteful architecture and pesticides.

“People want to live simpler,” said Seattle developer Curt Pryde, “but they want high-quality materials and they want their homes to very cost efficient, to be healthy.”

After all, if you’re paying close to $2 million for an opulent palatial estate, it’s all about the lifestyle. Another thing you may want to consider is asking your Seattle realtor if there are smaller luxury homes in urban settings, which will cut down your commute and conserve more materials – homes like Ashworth Cottages in Green Lake.

Seattle realtor Heidi Bright explains, “Building smaller luxury homes, particularly in urban areas, is definitely a trend that we see very high demand for.”