Yes! Another moving question! (Seattle, Spokane: for sale, real estate, leases)

[raechul]

My fiance and I will moving to Washington! We've heard so many great things from friends and strangers alike, and we must ask a few things to help us settle on an area:

1. We would like to be near some liveliness and community, a large enough city center that we (29 and 35) can find stuff to keep us entertained. We don't really go for loud party scenes, but do enjoy a good bar, good food, arts, basically a community that supports growth and creation and is welcoming to newcomers. Somewhere we can make friends and not worry about any sort of drama that tends to arise. We're coming from Portland, ME, which we absolutely loathed; it was a total letdown. We're originally from Austin, TX (before it became a sellout city) if that gives anyone an idea.
2. We also need job security, obviously! We're both in the restaurant industry (I bake, he manages/"fixes"/does consulting), but I'm open to other areas and have experience in social marketing.
3. Our 5-year plan involves buying a house with land (this will be our biggest requirement) so we can farm. Again, keeping community in mind where this is a welcomed endeavor with good farmers markets and the possibility to distribute goods to local businesses. BUT, we have price limits. Nothing more than $150k, which I know is doable after some real estate browsing I've been doing. Just a matter of putting all the pieces together.
4. We'll only have one car between the both of us, so something we'd be able to commute to easily together, or make it around by bike/walk/public transit if we stay closer to the area if it's a suburb-ish place.
5. Nice weather.

I think that sums it up? Like I said, everyone we've spoken to has been very welcoming and encouraging to our decision to make Washington home, so I look forward to reading your responses!

[Sabinerose]

Wherever you have found a home with land for $150k or less, is where you HAVE to look at settling. Look around these places and see what there is for larger towns near them, and then see if those towns provide the amenities you are looking for. Asking for the idealistic location with everything you want and then throwing out a super low price tag, isn't going to get you much realistic advice.

I would have said Bellevue or Seattle when I first read your post, but the farming, land and price point you spoke of puts those areas out of the running.

What areas are the properties in that you have looked at? Maybe a better way to go will be to ask is specific cities have the activities you want...

Oh, and please define #5...what do you consider "nice weather"?

[WendyK]

I'm definitely thinking they need Eastern WA for the price and even that might be difficult. Do you mean $150K including the house? If you're looking for a place with acreage for a farm, you might be limited to a manufactured home at that price. Weather here is 4-season, so sometimes it's nice and other times it's not. Plenty of restaurants, bars, activities, music, etc. in the Spokane area. Also there's good public transportation here for when you're living in town. As soon as you get out to the more rural areas, though, you're not going to be able to jump on a bus. Hopefully by then, you'll have another vehicle.

Where have you been considering? It's a big state.

[perigee]

It's been said before, but it's worth repeating, line up jobs before making the move. I love the state, but it's spendy living here and the COL is high.

[Virginia17]

As perigee stated - I agree with lining up a job first and determine after that where and what to buy. Even consider renting first (most places offer leases on a monthly basis and you won't have to commit to a 1-year contract). Property is very expensive anywhere near Seattle - for $150K with acreage - forget King County... Maybe look into far north or south, maybe even Eastern or Central WA... Good luck

[CrazyDonkey]

Closest I could find to your requirements:

115LOT 1 Meridian Meadows Ln, Lynden, WA 98264 is For Sale - Zillow

Close to Bellingham, which has farmers markets, restaurants, etc.

Here's another one in the same area (this just shy of 5 acres, with fruit trees):

https://bellingham.craigslist.org/reb/4824341139.html

[Indy1982]

It's hard to have all that one one area... enough urban environment for public transit, short commute distances and a good variety of stores and restaurants, along with the possibility of rural or semi-rural acreage. As was mentioned before, somewhere around Bellingham or Spokane would be your best bets.

Spokane on the eastern side probably has better home prices with nice weather, warm and dry in the summer, cold and snowy/rainy in the winter. Western washington is extremely beautiful in the summer, but the winters are very drab.

Another possibility would be Snohomish county. That would get you good home prices with property if you concentrate on areas just off the I5 corridor, while still leaving you within reach of some major urban areas with a large amount of life and activity options. Snohomish county is somewhat of a border county, with mostly rural to the north and pretty much all urban to the south. Nice thing is that the organic movement is pretty well established on the western side, with farmers markets in pretty much every major city and town all year with the exception of a few months in the winter. My parents owned an organic farm in Lake Stevens for many years before they retired.

[MarciaMarshaMarcia]

Did you say you're looking for a place that is welcoming to newcomers? Uh-oh...

[littlekaty]

Southeast Pierce County: Graham, Kapowsin, Eatonville all are fairly rural. Might be a manufactured home and land at 150k or less but not a long drive to Tacoma/I-5

Thurston County: Yelm has a lot of housing developments but outside it there are some more rural area. Rainier, Tenino, Rochester, Centralia, Chehalis. Not a long drive to Olympia.

Snohomish County possibly but I don't know that area as well.

[CrazyDonkey]

Okay, I'm assuming the land+farming aspect is more of a long-range plan thing, so I'm just going to ignore that, since areas with a house+land for $150,000 or under tend to conflict with the short-term "job security" thing. Once you've saved some money and got yourself more established...

Most jobs are in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue-Everett area. The further from there, the higher the unemployment rate tends to be and the less likely you're going to find the "city-centre" ambience you're also looking for. The exceptions to that would be Olympia and Bellingham.

Personally, I think you should also look at the Portland-Salem-Corvallis-Eugene area. Rents and land values are less expensive than in the Puget Sound area.