Bellevue Is About to Become Seattle 2.0 (And No One’s Ready)

Everyone is busy celebrating Bellevue’s boom. New towers, tech campuses, light rail, record job growth.

But under the surface, the same forces that flipped Seattle over the last decade are quietly lining up on the Eastside:

a collapse in homeownership opportunities

a surge in high-income renters

and a city that stops working for people who actually want to put down roots

In this video, I break down three forces that could turn Bellevue into “Seattle 2.0” if nothing changes – and what homeowners, buyers, investors, and long-time residents can do about it right now.

🧩 What you’ll learn in this video

Why the median first-time homebuyer age hitting 40 is a huge red flag

How Bellevue 2044 plans for 70,000+ new jobs but only ~35,000 homes

Why most of the new units in Downtown, BelRed, Wilburton & East Main are rentals

How cities change once renters become the majority

The role light rail plays as a supercharger for growth, speculation, and demographic shifts

Concrete strategies if you’re trying to buy, sell, or invest on the Eastside

What Bellevue residents can do to shape policy instead of just reacting to it

This isn’t an anti-growth or anti-renter rant.
It’s a cautionary story about what happens when a region stops creating new homeowners – and an entire generation gets stuck renting into their 30s and 40s.

⏱️ Timestamps (adjust after upload)

00:00 – Bellevue has no idea what’s coming
01:02 – The real risk: when cities stop creating homeowners
03:45 – Force #1: Jobs explode, ownership doesn’t
07:05 – Force #2: The renter majority tipping point
10:05 – Force #3: Light rail as a supercharger
13:05 – How Bellevue quietly becomes “Seattle 2.0”
15:10 – What to do if you live, buy, or invest on the Eastside
16:45 – How to work with me + what to watch next

📞 Want to talk about your situation?

If you:

own in Bellevue or on the Eastside and want to understand how this affects your equity

rent here and are trying to figure out how to actually become a homeowner

or you’re an investor wondering where the smart long-term bets are

…I set aside time each week for 1:1 strategy calls with Eastside owners, buyers, and investors.

👉 Book a call here: https://markleingang.bhhsnwreconnect....

No pressure. No hard sell. Just straight talk about what’s possible with your property or your next move.

▶️ Watch this next

If you want to see how all of this connects back to Seattle, watch my deep dive:
👉 “Seattle’s Hidden Housing Tsunami” – the 3 forces that could flood the market with inventory.

🔔 Stay in the loop

If you want more deep dives on:

Bellevue & Seattle housing

zoning and development

middle housing and HB 1110

and real strategies for buyers, sellers & landowners

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