Retirees Relocating to Alaska - (Anchorage, Wasilla: real estate, rentals, appliances)

[trigirl58]

Hello, my husband and I retired last year and moved to WA state to help daughter and family get on their feet. Our plan was to stay here 2-3 years then move to Alaska. We've decided on Anchorage area and anticipate moving in 2016. I have a lot of questions and hope others who have made the move can assist. We plan on renting for at least a year.

1) How far in advance should we start looking for a place to rent? We have 2 dogs (55 lbs & 70 lbs) and we want something more rustic where the dogs can come in at night.

2) Is it necessary to visit first and look at places or is doing it long distance doable?

3) Should we sell our belongings and bring the necessities? We will probably drive both vehicles. I figure if we sell everything (furniture, appliances) we can always purchase what we need there.

Yes, I'm a planner and want to have some sort of timeline in my head.

[AKStafford]

I would strongly recommend coming for a least one, if not two, visits before making the move.
Have large pets will make rentals harder to find and more expensive.
Why Anchorage? Are you looking to be in the Anchorage Bowl, or would you be open to Eagle River, Chugiak or even the Palmer/Wasilla area?

[6.7traveler]

My friend rented a place in eagle river last year with 4 dogs. I believe the pet deposit at that place was 500 per dog for a total of 2k plus first, last and regular security deposit. He rented through a property management company sight unseen.

I don't think they were totally satisfied but it can be done long distance. He did this about a month in advance.

I second the recommendation of a visit first.

[trigirl58]

Yes, we would consider Eagle River, Chugiak, etc. We were there last year and my husband has been there one other time. His mother was born and raised in Cordova and my husband has always wanted to live in Alaska. We've been talking about moving there after we retired for several years and now it's just a matter of doing it.

[AKStafford]

Jack White Real Estate has a rental listing on their page: Search Rentals - Page 1
That'll get you started... you might even ask them how far out you should seriously start looking...

[rhiannon67]

We did ours long distance. We also have two cats, and initially the person we're renting from stated No Pets when I called to ask about the place. We got to chatting over the phone a bit and she ended up changing her mind because she liked us

We filled out an App, got it approved, then flew up to sign the lease. Of course for us, flying is less of an expense than it is for most.

We found the place initially through Zillow or it might have been O'Banion's relocation service. We drove here a few weeks later after packing everything up via the alcan and had our stuff shipped separate. The whole process of finalizing our decision to come up here to the point of making it actually happen took about 6 months.

Jack White Real Estate looks to me the biggest Real Estate outfit up here near as I can tell from what I've seen driving around town.

[alaskan adventurer]

Why not become a " Summer Bird" ?