Seattle sucks really bad. It rains 150% of the time. Stay where you are, there are too many Kalifornians up here already driving the price of houses through the roof.
Ok, not really...
Actually, it's a pretty nice place to live. Houses are kinda expensive, but it all depends on what you think expensive is. In my home town, you can get a really nice big house with garage and land for under $100k. Up here (in Seattle), it's tough to find anything decent for under $225k. $225k will get you probably a 1950s 1 story house with a 2 car that has had some remodeling and updates. You want something newer in a nicer neighborhood, be prepared to spend $300k or more.
As far as neighborhoods go, it all depends where you will be working. Are you talking Seattle as in Seattle (Downtown, Capitol Hill etc), or a suburb. If you both work either North, South or East of Seattle, it makes house selection easier. If you work in Downtown, it makes it a bit more tough.
I commute everyday from Kirkland (160th & I-405) to Capitol Hill (12th & Madison). The morning commute takes me about 1/2 hour, it's 15 miles at around 7:15am. At night 5:00pm, it can take up to an hour, all depends. When it rains, it's bad, sunny, not so bad.
Right now I'm looking to buy a house in Burien. It's not a bad commute into Seattle from there. However, Burien (and most of West Seattle) has decent parts, and bad parts. I don't know if I've ever seen a Burien neighborhood that is your typical crisp, clean suburbia with well groomed lawns with Sallie and Suzy playing hop-scotch in the street.
If that's what you are looking for, you need to look on the East side (NE Renton/Newcastle, Factoria, Bellevue, Redmond, Kirkland/Juanita/Kingsgate). You will pay more for a home in most of those neighborhoods.
Here's how the traffic scene looks (rush hours):
From Seattle to Everett on I-5, it sucks both directions morning and night. I wouldn't live North of HWY 520. There is a 3 lane 'Express lanes' in between north and south I-5 in this section. It switches directions, Southbound (into Seattle) in AM, Northbound (out of Seattle) in evening if I am not mistaken. If you can carpool, living up north wouldn't be so bad.
From Seattle down to Renton on I-5, it's not bad, I'd say traffic is moderate and sometimes light, both directions. Getting on I-5 is another story. It's pain to get on I-5 in Seattle during rush hour.
I-90 is not so bad either direction. It is 3 lanes both directions with 3 'Express Lanes' in the middle that change directions morning and night. In the morning it's 6 lanes Westbound (into Seattle), in the Evening it's 6 lanes Eastbound (out of Seattle). Again, car poolers are the only ones allowed in the express lanes.
520 is not too bad Westbound in the AM and Eastbound in the PM. It really sucks Eastbound in the AM and Westbound in the PM. It's only 2 lanes either direction and if there is an accident, you're screwed. 520 Eastbound ends into Avondale RD. It gets very congested in that area in the Evening. I wouldn't live very far East of I-405.
I-405 has bad parts. In the AM, Southbound from Bothell into Kirkland is pretty bad, and Northbound from Renton into Bellevue is pretty bad. In the PM, from 520 and North (to about 522) sucks (that's what I sit in every day). Southbound is pretty bad from 520 into Renton.
You can call my Real Estate Agent. Her name is Tamila Timm. She works for John L Scott and can give you a good idea of the neighborhoods. Visit her website at
www.tamilatimm.com. Go there and chose 'home search'. It's a pretty good function. It'll give you an idea of the homes in the area.
Steve
P.S. Avoid Whitecenter like your life depends on it (think South-Central LA).