Is Aberdeen Washington, a lost cause? (Seattle, SeaTac: RV park, hotel, luxury)

[Diana Holbrook]

Originally Posted by clegersky

We've been in Chehalis now since September... We're still looking for the right home. I feel like we missed the mark on buying anything because we keep getting blown out of the water by cash offers or people willing to over pay by 60k. We're buying on a VA loan, have some money saved, we've been through underwriting, we're good and set. But when we *bid* 20k over, and someone comes in with cash in hand for 10k less than us, they get the house.

FWIW, I do think the heat of this market will be settling down soon. I just think it has to, eventually. The number of people with cash from higher priced areas who think they can move anywhere because of covid and working from home... have either moved by now, or will soon be called back to work where they came from.

Then maybe some of the locals will be able to afford to buy here again! A more balanced market will be better for everyone.

[happygrrrl]

What about Montesano? When we first moved up here and went exploring everywhere,Montesano stood out...really pleasant town.

[Diana Holbrook]

Yes... Montesano and Elma are both nice little towns.... but are still not commute I would want to Chehalis.


Better towns closer.

[CrazyDonkey]

Maybe something with 1) a price cut and 2) needs some work:

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/9.../55052152_zpid

[pnwguy2]

At the risk of being repetitive here, the WA coast pales to the OR coast. A lot of it is geological but a lot of it is Native American land along the WA coast that can’t be developed. Ocean Shores is fine but never became a huge draw because it is so flat.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

At the risk of being repetitive here, the WA coast pales to the OR coast. A lot of it is geological but a lot of it is Native American land along the WA coast that can’t be developed. Ocean Shores is fine but never became a huge draw because it is so flat.

Yes, there are a lot of differences.

1. The OR coast has a LOT of natural harbors. The WA coast has very few. On the WA coast you have Grays Harbor and Willapa Bay on the far south next to OR and then basically nothing until you get all the way around Cape Flattery to Neah Bay in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. This means the whole northern coast is fairly dangerous for mariners and WA never developed any sort of maritime-based industries like fishing, logging, sawmills, etc. on that portion of the coast. By contrast, the entire OR coast has lots of natural harbors where fishing industries and logging industries developed. In the early days, logging along the coast required harbors because that is how logs and lumber were shipped out to market. That is probably the main reason why there are so many small towns along the OR coast and very few on the WA coast north of Grays Harbor. All of the older towns along the OR coast developed around natural harbors like Newport, Bandon, Tillamook, Florence, Coos Bay, etc. And then pure beach towns like Cannon Beach and Seaside with no natural industries came much later after the highway was built and tourism became a thing.

2. Yes, there are large Indian reservations along the WA coast but that is probably more a consequence of the land being less conducive to development in the first place. The entire OR coast has large Indian populations as well, but they were more frequently displaced due to the desire of white settlers to develop that land and industries. The fact that there remain larger Indian reservations along the WA coast is probably mostly because settlers didn't want that land as badly. It was much less accessible due to the lack of natural harbors and white settlers were just less interested in stealing Indian lands in coastal WA than they were in coastal OR.

3. The OR coast is close to the Willamette Valley which is the most populous part of OR and the natural markets for all products produced on the OR coast from timber to seafood to dairy products in those river valleys like Tillamook that are large enough to support a dairy industry. But contrast, the WA coast isn't close to any natural markets. It is a LONG ways by land or sea from the outer coast of WA to the Puget Sound towns like Seattle and Tacoma. And the lack of natural harbors make that unviable anyway.

4. There are also no coastal highways along large stretches of the WA cost as 101 runs inland for much of the distance. But this is probably also a consequence of there not being towns there anyway. 101 was built along the coast in OR because there were lots of towns to connect. Even though it was extraordinarily difficult and expensive to do so, especially along the central coast which is most rugged. That wasn't the case in WA. Absent towns to connect to there wasn't much reason to go to extraordinary lengths and costs to build the highway along the coast in much of WA. Also the geography forced the highway closer to the coast in much of OR because otherwise you'd be cutting through the coast range.

[CrazyDonkey]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

At the risk of being repetitive here, the WA coast pales to the OR coast. A lot of it is geological but a lot of it is Native American land along the WA coast that can’t be developed. Ocean Shores is fine but never became a huge draw because it is so flat.

More developed but also much more expensive. Ocean Shores is a whole separate issue - probably never should have been built there in the first place. Development is more a matter of distance/proximity of major population centers.

[pnwguy2]

I think I have shared this before, but in the late 60's my parents almost bought land in Ocean Shores. It was a big real estate scam as it turned out. Today, this plot of land is nothing like was promised back then. In fact, it is borderline poverty real estate, with some exceptions. The hype never happened, but it is still a nice wide/long beach that can be attractive for weekend visits.

[grega94]

Well north of Grays harbor there is the mouth of the Quillayute River, and on it sits the Native American village La Push, and it’s large enough to fit a marina, so it theoretically could’ve developed into a town, especially since it’s down river from Forks. In fact I think the Native Americans were supposed to be relocated to another reservation, but because it was so remote, it was never enforced and so they remain there to this day and have their own reservation. I personally think it’s nice that the Quillayute and Makha nations were able to hold on to their coastal villages at La Push and Neah Bay. They are very remote and undeveloped, but with some proper marketing they could easily create a tourism industry as these locations are very beautiful and rugged and rival the majesty of the Oregon coast, plus they also have their unique Native cultures and I’m sure souvenir shops and restaurants could do well promoting their culture, that is if they’re even interested in that. Although Neah Bay does have a tourism industry of sorts since it’s very popular with fishermen and they also have a museum.

[rkcarguy]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

At the risk of being repetitive here, the WA coast pales to the OR coast. A lot of it is geological but a lot of it is Native American land along the WA coast that can’t be developed. Ocean Shores is fine but never became a huge draw because it is so flat.

Ocean shores is, at best, 28' above Sea Level? One *small* Tsunami and the whole thing will be gone. If you can somehow ignore that, I think the place has some merit for its beach/tourism and seasonal visits.