Washington ascends to 3rd most expensive state to buy homes (Seattle: transplants, house)

[pnwguy2]

As the map clearly shows, this generally is a Seattle and suburbs issue. Washington State still has mostly affordable areas. Yakima and TriCities come to mind.

[Gabor25]

Yes, if one desires to live in Yakima.Homes are affordable there for a reason...

to RKCARGUY

Another negative regarding the real estate market is that Washington state is a :"buyer beware" state.

We found that out the hard way....

[pnwguy2]

Buyer beware? My home in TriCities has appreciated double from 2016. Main reason: Those wanting out of Seattle and Portland.

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

Buyer beware? My home in TriCities has appreciated double from 2016. Main reason: Those wanting out of Seattle and Portland.

Funny, my house in suburban Portland (Camas area) has appreciated double from 2016 too.

As has real estate in the Seattle area as well.

The main reason? A LOT more people would rather live there than in the Tri Cities and other similar places.

[pnwguy2]

Well that is a bold statement. There is a population that prefers smaller metros. Less traffic, lower home prices. As I have posted before I lived in Seattle from birth to 30. Won’t go back.

[StealthRabbit]

My home valuation has increased 10x (according to assessor)

Is that of any value to me? no... I'd have to replace it since I still need a place to lay my pillow. It's just an increased liability and expense (Taxes, insurance, maintenance) . But hey... the schools and public infrastructure is rolling in new dough (higher valuations, higher income from same levy) Magic! more slop in the public feed trough. And observe the vast improvements in those services (especially EDU). They outta be really proud, just ask them... they ARE! Busting out PROUD all over !

[texasdiver]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

Well that is a bold statement. There is a population that prefers smaller metros. Less traffic, lower home prices. As I have posted before I lived in Seattle from birth to 30. Won’t go back.

It is an accurate statement. We don't live in a slave society. People are free to move where they want. And there is far more demand for people wanting to live in the greater Seattle metro than the Tri Cities or anywhere else in WA.

You are the exception not the rule. Otherwise the Tri Cities metro area would have 4 million people and Seattle would have 300,000. Be happy that is not the case.

[04kL4nD]

Originally Posted by pnwguy2

As the map clearly shows, this generally is a Seattle and suburbs issue. Washington State still has mostly affordable areas. Yakima and TriCities come to mind.

It's all pretty relative, I suppose. A home similar to the one we bought would likely cost $1.5M+ in a moderately priced part of the Bay Area, while it would be far more expensive than in other low COL states with no state income tax. We didn't even bother looking in Seattle proper or Snohomish county county because we knew it was out of our price range just by browsing Redfin. There are definitely some "bargains" to be found in Tacoma and Pierce County, but we didn't feel familiar enough with the area to know where to look. I suppose we just got lucky.

[pnwguy2]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

It is an accurate statement. We don't live in a slave society. People are free to move where they want. And there is far more demand for people wanting to live in the greater Seattle metro than the Tri Cities or anywhere else in WA.

You are the exception not the rule. Otherwise the Tri Cities metro area would have 4 million people and Seattle would have 300,000. Be happy that is not the case.

Your logic doesn’t make sense to me. I never said Seattle wasn’t a great city with lots of job opportunities. My hometown will always be my origin and special. I was just saying TriCities is perfect for me at this stage of life. Are you not ok with that? Chill.

[rkcarguy]

Originally Posted by mayfair

The truth is, when you go to look at most of these "affordable" properties, many have some kind of huge dealbreaker that makes them undesirable to the average person. If they'd been both good and cheap, they'd have been snatched up by some flipper looking for a deal.

The real estate photos/descriptions can hide some horrors.

There are so many people watching the listings in the lower price range that if the house weren't a money pit, in a flood zone, next to a quarry, on reservation leased land, with a weird easement etc. someone would have bid it up and bought it the first weekend it listed.

I'm not arguing, just adding that are even fewer affordable houses than it looks like.

This is true. I still have a newspaper with "Ferndale Flooding" on the front page showing a row of older/smaller houses well underwater. The real estate add on the next page, is one of the homes in that row with the pictures taken from the exact same perspective from BEFORE the flood for a "quaint-fixer-upper" lol.