Ricardo Sanchez

We signed a new lease. This lease represents our commitment to staying in Seattle for a few more years. We wanted to buy a home this year. That was the original plan before coming to the Pacific Northwest. The idea was to go to Seattle, rent for a few years, and then buy a home once we knew the area more. That would help us make an educated decision about the neighborhood for a house.

We moved to Seattle from Austin, TX, in January of 2019, and right after our first year in Seattle, COVID happened. At first, I thought that because of COVID, the housing market was going to crash, and perhaps, we would have an excellent opportunity to buy. But that didn’t happen. Instead, the housing market went a bit out of control, prices have gone up a lot. So for us, the wisest decision right now is to wait more, avoid buying now, and hope that prices come down or the housing inventory increases, so at least there are more choices available.

Renting isn’t too bad, but I dislike the idea of looking at places, applying for a lease, and then moving… knowing that you won’t be there for long. In addition, just like buying a house, renting in the Seattle area is also a bit out of control. Prices are high, and there is a lot of competition. For example, the other day, Felly and I went to see a condo, and once we arrived there, there were 3-4 other couples to see the same place. At the end of that day, there were more than 10 applications in addition to ours. So we didn’t get it. But it’s OK, we got a different condo in the same building at the same price, so it’s okay.

We will try to stay put as much as we can unless the market changes and it becomes friendlier to homebuyers instead of sellers. In the meantime, I a happy to have a place to live and work. We are very fortunate, and we recognize that. This area is expensive, but it is also gorgeous. The Pacific Northwest is unique. There are mountains, the ocean, ferries, islands, cities like Seattle, Bellevue, Vancouver, and all within driving distance. It’s quite a change from Texas.

The plan might change in the future, but for now, we are going to stay here for at least a few more years. After that, we might buy a home here, or we might not. Hopefully, things work out for us and for everyone else out there. There are a lot of crises in the world right now, but I am optimistic, and I think that while things aren’t good at all for a lot of people right now, everything will improve, and as they say, there will be calm after the storm.

The plan after Seattle might be moving to another country, Italy is a place that we have talked about in the past, and it might happen. Felly and I both like that country quite a bit. The people, the food, the wine, and the countryside are beautiful. Also, living in Italy will make it possible to visit other countries nearby by train. It would be amazing.

I think moving to different places is overall good for the soul. I know many people disagree, but in my opinion, humans are much happier when they don’t stay in the same place forever. I have written about this before; all humans were nomads, often looking for shelter and food. Unfortunately, today, many people are still moving and migrating for these very reasons, and that’s heartbreaking, and we all should be empathetic to this reality and help in any way we can.

I am grateful for having the ability to move by choice and not a necessity. This is an opportunity available to more people in this country due to the increase of remote work. It’s incredible how things have changed because of COVID and the need to work from home. Not everyone benefits from working from home, but those who do, should take advantage of it by traveling more and looking to finally move to those states and cities you’ve always wanted to move to but couldn’t because of your job.

Often I think about how lucky we are. I am grateful for having my family, our health, a place to live, and a job I enjoy doing. Then I look at Twitter or other news sources and see all the human loss and material devastation in places like the Middle East and Ukraine due to stupid wars. Thousands of young lives are wasted in senseless wars that are almost always the result of greed and power from the people in power. Young people go to War, giving their lives for a cause they probably don’t understand. It’s sad. Everyone is talking about Ukraine now, but this same human loss and material devastation has been happening in the Middle East for decades. I hope that I experience world peace lasting for decades in my lifetime, the world needs it, and most people want it.

War is never OK.