Living in Medina, WA is a privilege many Bellevue, Washington workers would like to enjoy. Along the East shores of Lake Washington, just south of the 520 floating bridge to Seattle, WA and just north of downtown Bellevue, sits Medina, WA one of the area’s most esteemed addresses.
Medina, WA is A Luxury Neighborhood Near Bellevue, WA on The East Side Of Lake Washington
Medina features a mix of older and newer homes as well as luxury waterfront property and a lovely golf course. When I think about luxury real estate in Bellevue, on the east side of Lake Washington, waterfront homes, high prices, Medina is the neighborhood that comes to mind. Medina is a Washington neighborhood, just right there next to downtown Bellevue, WA, Bellevue Square and the Overlake Country Club & Golf Club, and it is the crème de la crème, due to several factors.
Medina, WA Features Luxury Real Estate and Famous Neighbors
Number one, I’ll be sure to tell you, Bill Gates, the billionaire from Microsoft, built his waterfront property in Medina. He was commuting to Redmond, that’s where the Microsoft campus is, at the time. And the Medina area, in Bellevue, is just one of the top addresses, one of the most elite zip codes, one of the if-you-say-it-people-know-it type of neighborhoods in Seattle.
But it’s not all gilded with gold and silver, and it’s not all as fancy as you would think. So, realistically – what kinds of homes are you going to find in Medina – and what kind of home do you actually WANT? The price of entry is high, but not all the homes reflect the luxury that many associate with this prestigious neighborhood.
Where Is Medina, WA Located?
Medina is waterfront property on the east shore of Lake Washington. So, a little further east, we have Bellevue, downtown Bellevue, and then to the west, across the lake, is Seattle, WA.
Now, we have two bridges. The 520 Floating Bridge is right by Medina. And then the I-90 bridge is south, and that one goes from kind of downtown Bellevue to downtown Seattle, on the south side of those, sort of, skyscraper areas. So, from a commuting perspective, you have great access to both Bellevue and Seattle, and you can go north or south. North is going to get you to Everett, Washington, and south is going to take you to the airport, and SeaTac. And you just, you can get anywhere very quickly. You’re right in the middle.
Seattle is known for having horrible traffic, so the shorter you can make your commute times, the better, and Medina has great access to all of the major freeways. And you’re close enough to the downtown cores that you’re not going to have to spend a lot of time driving. So, that’s one thing. You could say, maybe, living next to Bill Gates would be another cool thing about it.
A lot of the homes in Medina are waterfront homes along the lake, but not all of them. It goes back a couple blocks. There’s the Overlake Golf & Country Club, there. And it’s just, it’s interesting, because you’d think you’d be driving down a fancy boulevard, with amazing homes, and just awe inspiring catch-your-breath, left and right, and that’s not really the case.
This was an area that was built and established a long time ago, fairly early in the history of Bellevue, and its expansion. Because, obviously, it was desirable, being close to the city, and close to the water. So, a lot of the homes are older, and they’re reaching their economic obsolescence, which means that…
I saw a house that was a mustard yellow house in Medina. It looked like it was about 1500 square feet, and it was going for $2.2 million. Why? Because it was a lakefront lot, so it was really just the value’s in the land type of situation. So, in order to get onto that lot, in order to build a nice home there, it’s probably going to be a $5 million home. It just takes money to get in the front door. So, when you’ve got $5 or $10 million homes on one block, you’re going to also tend to have nice homes on the rest of the blocks. And they may not be as nice, or as fancy, but they kind of benefit from being in a good neighborhood.
So what I’ve found, as I drove around Medina recently to kind of get some shots for this video, is that there are a lot of older homes. And then interspersed, here and there, are the newer construction homes. And, obviously, the priority for those new construction homes are along the lake. And those lots tend to be skinny, so you get a long, narrow lot, with waterfront access, and road access, but not very much space, side-to-side, from your neighbors, because they want to stack in as many of those waterfront lots as possible. But they are fairly set back from the road, and fairly private.
Deeper into Medina, on the land side, you’re just going to get more of a nice, friendly, residential area, but it’s going to still be in the $2 to $3 million range, just to get into that neighborhood, get into the easy commute access, and that type of a thing.
Great schools in the area. The country club is good. It’s mostly a residential area. Going to the south, you’ll come to Bellevue. You’ll come to Bellevue Square, which is kind of a shopping center area. So it’s easy access to restaurants, and shopping, and things to do, but the area itself feels very quiet, very residential, fairly old, but nice, and certainly a lot of newer construction coming in.
So, if you’d like me to check out any addresses for you, get you some more information on Medina, what there is to do there, and that type of a thing, let me know. I’m always happy to kind of dig in. I view these videos as a first taste, or a first exposure, but, obviously, if you’re shopping in this neighborhood, you’re going to need a lot more information before you make a decision of where to buy, whether you want to build something, whether you want to remodel something, whether you want to tear something down, or just buy something as-is.
So I hope you enjoy this little tour of Medina, and if I can get you more information on it, you know where to find me. Just hit me up in the comments, private message me, or send me an email. This is Emily Cressey with HomeProAssociates.com. My broker is HomeSmart Real Estate, in Seattle, and as always, I am here to serve.
