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Bellingham is more of small city, but with "small town" areas - Fairhaven, especially. Closer to Vancouver BC than Seattle. Edmonds is cool, but very much in the Seattle orbit. Bothell and Port Orchard, no.
Here's a cute house with a fenced backyard in the Happy Valley area of Bellingham, near Fairhaven, WWU, Sehome Hill Arboretum, Lake Padden:
That's a scary price on a little 2 br/1 ba 920 sq. ft. house in B'ham, Donkey! It's a wild price, compared to when I was looking in B'ham, which wasn't that long ago! I hadn't realized how really insane the prices had gotten! And what's the draw? What does B'ham have to offer? It's not like it's a tech center w/tons of jobs, or anything.
Supposedly it's retirees responding to "best place to retire" articles causing much of the influx? I'm not buying that. There's something else going on here....RE speculation? REIT's "discovering" Bellingham, maybe? IDK. This pricing doesn't make sense. Why is this priced the same as your third link in your earlier post? That one's a 3 br/2 ba for the same price as this little one. The 3 br one is a more realistic price (though still high compared to a few yrs. ago).
That's a scary price on a little 2 br/1 ba 920 sq. ft. house in B'ham, Donkey! It's a wild price, compared to when I was looking in B'ham, which wasn't that long ago! I hadn't realized how really insane the prices had gotten! And what's the draw? What does B'ham have to offer? It's not like it's a tech center w/tons of jobs, or anything.
Supposedly it's retirees responding to "best place to retire" articles causing much of the influx? I'm not buying that. There's something else going on here....RE speculation? REIT's "discovering" Bellingham, maybe? IDK. This pricing doesn't make sense. Why is this priced the same as your third link in your earlier post? That one's a 3 br/2 ba for the same price as this little one. The 3 br one is a more realistic price (though still high compared to a few yrs. ago).
That is a really good question Ruth, once I've asked myself. I moved to B'ham in '95 and was shocked to find Whatcom county had the 2nd highest housing costs in the state. Really, the job market was very limited back then too.
What I did find was that many folks simply don't move away and many WWU students elect to stay.
I also remember it's a gorgeous area, lot's of outdoor activities supported by the community. It's sad to read many of the recent B'ham post.
That's a scary price on a little 2 br/1 ba 920 sq. ft. house in B'ham, Donkey! It's a wild price, compared to when I was looking in B'ham, which wasn't that long ago! I hadn't realized how really insane the prices had gotten! And what's the draw? What does B'ham have to offer? It's not like it's a tech center w/tons of jobs, or anything.
Supposedly it's retirees responding to "best place to retire" articles causing much of the influx? I'm not buying that. There's something else going on here....RE speculation? REIT's "discovering" Bellingham, maybe? IDK. This pricing doesn't make sense. Why is this priced the same as your third link in your earlier post? That one's a 3 br/2 ba for the same price as this little one. The 3 br one is a more realistic price (though still high compared to a few yrs. ago).
Bellingham doesn't have a lot to offer for it's housing costs and population if you want quiet and birds. Your budget will get you a decent house here, but a lot of the offerings that bait people into moving here are just over-stuffed with people and aren't enjoyable due to that. I'm not the typical implant that wants to be the last one in, and trust me we have plenty of those. I'm leaving due to reasons below and don't want anyone else to move here and wind up not liking it. Two of our neighbors that moved here from Seattle and California, didn't like it here and just sold their homes and are moving back. So, plenty of research is needed to see if Bellingham is really a fit for you.
My pet peeves:
-We have a wonderful Puget Sound and islands to explore by boat. The scenery is amazing, but at the boat launches, you'll wait for hours to launch or retrieve, as we haven't built any new ones since the 1980's. Worse yet, the two overflow lots for trucks/trailers were developed so there is even less parking than a decade ago. Campsites and Ferry's went to an online reservation system and now get booked out months/years in advance.
-We have a few places offering what used to be great trails for mountain biking and hiking. The cars now back up along the road at the trail heads up to a mile. The trails are a muddy mess as there is simply too many people using them. The hikers, mountain bikers, and horse riders are all at each others throats and we've had fights and all kinds of problems from fights to stabbings and so on. Same goes for skiing up at Mt. baker, when we actually have snow. The trail heads are also hotbeds of car prowl as Bellingham scores an 8/100 (very bad) for crime due to high property crime and it's revolving door justice system.
-Bellingham is right on the heals of Seattle for cost of living, yet only has slightly above HALF the average family income. Less than 10% of the working class can afford the average listed home price here. Not a problem in your case with your remote working though. A lot of new implants have moved here from all over under the work from home becoming the new normal. Plus, they say that 19% of the home sales are purchased by investment firms and foreign investor groups which certainly doesn't help.
A sub-note on housing. We have a large college student presence, with almost 30% of the population being students (pre-Covid-19). WWU only has dorms for less than 1,000 students yet has 18,000+ enrolled, so this has multiplied the already strained housing issues. Out of state owners buy up family homes, gravel the whole front yard, convert the dining rooms, basements, walk in closets, rec rooms, any space they can, into flophouse rooms rented to students @ $500+/head. Many neighborhoods have regulations against this, yet they aren't well enforced and have loopholes (one of the students can be a "relative" of the owner for example). What was a nice family next door is now a loud house with 14 cars coming and going at all hours, taking up the whole yard and street parking, with trash and recycling piled high. Many don't want to live next door to that, so they sell their home too...and this cycle repeats.
-Canadians....we've been deprived of our consumptive friends from the north for ~18 months now, but the border is supposed to open next week. They come down here and at times, absolutely GUT our stores, and cause prices to rise on fuel, dairy products, cheese, clothing, and more. They seem to either drive slow or way too fast, perform illegal U-turns all over (it's legal up there in most places), park in the handicap spots, and often leave big bags and boxes of trash and packaging in the parking lots (they unpackage everything and put it in a duffle bag or carry-on to avoid paying duty when they go back). The mall, Costco, Winco, Fred Meyer, will easily have 1 in 3 cars with CDN plates on weekends and Canadian holidays, and you'll see plenty of them as you take laps through the lot trying to find a parking spot unless you go during odd times like early in the morning or right before closing. Look at the reviews with pictures of our Costco if you doubt what I'm saying.
-Weather, our weather is mild temperature-wise, but Bellingham is 2nd only to Everett for the least sunny days in the nation. Its green here for a reason. Many people who stay year round have vitamin D insufficiencies. I used to just put on rain gear and go do what I want to do, but as I get older I'd really like somewhere warmer and not so wet and muddy all the time.
-Homelessness: Lately is seems we are on the mend, finally. But for the past year we had a bad rash of homeless camps, crime, drugs, civil unrest, protests, and the like. Our city hall and library looked like a dump and campsite mixed, tent cities with a giant pile of partially disassembled stolen bicycles, trash, needles, feces, and so on. After several assaults and attacks (one with a hatchet to face and head several times), campsite fires, vandalism to the city hall, and one of the homeless groping a young girl coming out of ballet lessons, the city finally got tough and dispersed the camps. There are still smaller pockets of them around, and lots of them, but it does seem to have calmed down a little.
-The middle class has been cashing in on escalated home prices and leaving the area. Of all my friends, only one couple has remained locally. This has generally resulted in large labor shortages in the trades, it seems like EVERYBODY is hiring and is short handed, booked out, with prices going through the roof for plumbing, electrical, roofing, handyman, landscaping, tree service, auto and boat repair, and so on. One of the guys I've had do some tile work has increased his rates to $140/hour and wants to retire, but says his work backlog is STILL growing! If you get a place that needs a remodel or some work done, keep this in mind, costs will be much higher than expected along with a lengthy wait.
That's a scary price on a little 2 br/1 ba 920 sq. ft. house in B'ham, Donkey! It's a wild price, compared to when I was looking in B'ham, which wasn't that long ago! I hadn't realized how really insane the prices had gotten! And what's the draw? What does B'ham have to offer? It's not like it's a tech center w/tons of jobs, or anything.
Supposedly it's retirees responding to "best place to retire" articles causing much of the influx? I'm not buying that. There's something else going on here....RE speculation? REIT's "discovering" Bellingham, maybe? IDK. This pricing doesn't make sense. Why is this priced the same as your third link in your earlier post? That one's a 3 br/2 ba for the same price as this little one. The 3 br one is a more realistic price (though still high compared to a few yrs. ago).
Yes, the asking price could be a bit "speculative" - we'll see if they get it. The same is happening in Aberdeen-Hoquiam, which recently ranked as the 9th hottest RE market in the country, and that is definitely not due to outside "zombie" investors buying up properties, driving up prices. More likely, what is happening in both places is that increased demand from WFHers is soaking up a relatively "thin" supply of local properties for sale, driving prices up to levels that are "high" relative to local historical prices, but still "affordable" relative to Seattle. Some supply might be holding back to see if prices will go even higher.
Ruth, the difference between the two properties is primarily location (south is better than north, west is better than east - being close to Fairhaven is a definite selling point). This one has the smaller house, but the lot is larger (4,800sf vs 4,400sf), with a fenced backyard, but no garage. The yard, however, is a negative for the OP.
If you've never lived in Bellingham, you'll never know. It's a bit like the "Shire"...
That is a really good question Ruth, once I've asked myself. I moved to B'ham in '95 and was shocked to find Whatcom county had the 2nd highest housing costs in the state. Really, the job market was very limited back then too.
What I did find was that many folks simply don't move away and many WWU students elect to stay.
I also remember it's a gorgeous area, lot's of outdoor activities supported by the community. It's sad to read many of the recent B'ham post.
I should note that I moved back to Seattle in '98.
$392 a month in HOA fee's, no wonder it hasn't sold!
That area of Blaine/Birch Bay is very nice, near the beach, but it's also SOLID TRAFFIC often, this time of year.
Bellingham is more of small city, but with "small town" areas - Fairhaven, especially. Closer to Vancouver BC than Seattle. Edmonds is cool, but very much in the Seattle orbit. Bothell and Port Orchard, no.
Here's a cute house with a fenced backyard in the Happy Valley area of Bellingham, near Fairhaven, WWU, Sehome Hill Arboretum, Lake Padden:
Right in the middle of WWU student-ville. And $120K price jump from what it sold for last year, interesting.
$480K range is cheap for Bellingham, and this listing is only 20 hours old. It will be interesting to see if it's bid up. Other house listings in the area are all north of $700K.
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While I will pass on the other festivals mentioned...
