Alaskan Rent (Anchorage, Fairbanks, Ketchikan: real estate, rentals, mortgage)

[lizmagee]

I've been looking to move to Alaska from Wisconsin. I haven't really pinpointed where yet though. I was wondering what the average rent is around Alaska? I just need a one bedroom/studio. Is there some web sites I can look around at? Also it has to have some kind of internet access for my job. Thanks!

[JavaPhil]

It depends on where you are. If I asked you for rental costs on the Eastern Seaboard, you'd ask what city. The state is kinda largish, and rents vary from city to city and from bush to village.

Need a little help from you here.

[DannyL]

well in Juneau it runs in this range:
1 bedroom, furnished, all utilities paid....900 to 1200 a month
1 bedroom, unfurnished, you pay evcerything....650 to 800 a month

[Sunset_Va]

For some reason, if you could swing the down payment, a mortgage monthly payment would probably be cheaper than renting anywhere in AK, and if you have pets, finding rentals is very difficult, gauging from advertisements.

[lizmagee]

Originally Posted by JavaPhil

It depends on where you are. If I asked you for rental costs on the Eastern Seaboard, you'd ask what city. The state is kinda largish, and rents vary from city to city and from bush to village.

Need a little help from you here.

Hahahaha! You're right, sorry! Basically I've lived in cities from 9,000 to 65,000 so any city about that size plus or minus 5-20,000. Cold doesn't bug me, 25 years in WI has made me pretty resistant to it (I know it's colder there though).
I just need some place where I can have access to the internet and preferably a garage for my car. Thanks!

[Metlakatla]

Well, you can have internet access all over the state, pretty much.

You might consider Palmer. I'm not sure about rents there.

[JavaPhil]

Still can be just about anywhere in the state. On the road system, large cities include Anchorage and Fairbanks and their associated "bed room" communities. Medium to small towns include Delta Junction, Glennallen, Valdez, Talkeetna, Seward, Kenai, Soldotna and Homer and a myriad of smaller communities between each of those. On the Marine Highway System (ferries) it includes Haines, Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, and others. Off both are Nome, Kotzebue, Bethel, etc.

Need a starting point here. Are we tallking moderate winters or severe? Are we talking on the water or inland? Need a starting point. It's 700 miles from Juneau to Anchorage by air, and its an hour by air from Anchorage to Fairbanks or 6 hours in a car doing well on the highway.

[lizmagee]

I have no cities in mind right now. Basically I'm moving to wherever I can afford the rent.
Where I live right now one bedrooms/studios run anywhere from about 400-650 depending on the place and whether utilies are included.
I know that rent in general is more expensive there so I'm trying to find some cities with cheaper rent, so probably the biggest cities are out. And if anyone has web sites that would be super helpful. I've been doing some research on my own, but people that are actually there right now are going to know some local sites that I don't.
Thanks again!

[Metlakatla]

Rentals don't work that way here, Liz. I wish I had a website for you. I'm sure there are some real estate companies in Anchorage that handle rentals and have web sites, but for the most part....

you might look on Craig's List to get a general idea. It seems like it mostly has Anchorage stuff, but it changes every day.

Or look at some of the online versions of the newspapers, like this:

Classifieds - News-Miner

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by DannyL

well in Juneau it runs in this range:
1 bedroom, furnished, all utilities paid....900 to 1200 a month
1 bedroom, unfurnished, you pay evcerything....650 to 800 a month

It's about the same in Fairbanks (very expensive). Also, if one pays the electric bill, don't forget that to keep the car plugged during the winter uses quite a lot of electricity.