affordable houses in White Center? (Seattle, Tacoma: condo, crime, mortgage)

[siragwatkins]

We are thinking about moving out of our semi-rural Olympia home & into somewhere like White Center--not too big, multi-ethnic, close to Seattle.
However, haven't been able to find ANY listings for that area, let alone any in our price range ($200,000 or under). Any leads, ideas, etc.? Thanks. Leslie Sirag

[CityGirl72]

Have you been to White Center??

And you will not find a house under 200K in the city "proper" - you will be hard pressed finding a good one under 300K

[toughguy]

Alot of sheltered people think of White Center as the ghetto.....It can be a little rough but it's a joke compared to east coast ghettos.

[allforcats]

Yes, White Center is rough... It's not an incorporated city as such, I think, which is why you can't find listings. It's part of West Seattle, which is also not incorporated as such so it's all listed under Seattle.

I Googled for the zip code for White Center WA and got 98146. You might want to check MLSonline.com or Realtor.com and use that zip code.

[allforcats]

$230k for a fixer-upper in White Center??!!! Holy malloly!!!

[siragwatkins]

Thanks all.
Yes, we have been in White Center, & liked it a lot. Would have to spend more time there before moving, but our impressions were very positive.
But then we've lived in some of the worst areas of Oakland, CA & NYC, so anything around here looks pretty tame. (Although working in some of the worst areas of Tacoma/Pierce Co. could occasionally get a little hairy.)

Housing prices do seem out of line, but we're guessing they may come down. We'd prefer an older ranch-style (one-story) house, not a mobile, not a condo (have a large loud 16-yr-old son), & not a fixer-upper, since we are both in our 60s & have some mobility issues.

Any other suggestions? Thanks. Lesile

[ysabella]

I have a friend who has lived in White Center for a long time. She has a small 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom house with a basement and detached garage. Listings in her neighborhood, just north of Roxbury and west of 16th, are all closer to $300k. But I will say, she has not had problems living there at all. Her neighborhood is generally nice and quiet.

[St.Croix to Seattle]

Find a home in a nice neighborhood that you can afford ,deal with it & be happy someone living in a 500k home near by might look down on you,but you won't have their mountain of a mortgage to look up at every month
I for one like White Center because of the proximity to everything else,and considering the current mortgage mess anything above 417k takes great credit and actual cash to own,not just a signature and a promise to repay,and at the end of the day if you come home to White Center or Queen Anne as long as you are happy with what you have it is the right choice for you...
My only advise don't buy a fixer for 230k if you can get it move in ready for 300k.

[olynative]

My wife and I will be moving to Seattle(from Lynnwood, so not that big of a change) and White Center, Burien area is an area we are considering. I have been in the area several times and I still can't understand why people call it "guetto". The only conclusion I can come to is that people should make up their own opinions........I have talked to many people(Seattle area natives, lived here most of their life) about this area and most of them will say that it is guetto. Then when you ask the people who say it's guetto if they've ever been to the area, nine out of ten will say "no" and usually proceed to tell you that the entire south end of seattle is guetto and never go there......This seems to be the general consensus of most people living on the north end of seattle, not everyone, but a good portion. Here's an example of how ignorant some people can be:
I told one person that I grew up in Olympia and I really like it because it's a nice place etc. etc. and the very first thing out of his mouth was "Olympia, isn't it a little dark down there for you?" I had no Idea what the hell he was talking about(turns out, he was refering to the amount of ethnic people in the area) and that he thought it was guetto because he assumed that Olympia was a suburb of Tacoma and it must be crime ridden hahahahha.(for people unfamiliar with WA, Olympia is unfortunately very un-diverse and is seperated from Tacoma by a 20mi stretch of Military base) I'm rambling, but my point is that people should do more research and actually know what they are talking about before they open their mouths. So, if you are considering an area, then go there and see how YOU like it.

[mayfair]

I don't know how White Center is now, but twenty years ago it was a pretty rough area. Maybe people giving you the advice to avoid the south end remember how it was? Prostitutes used to be out around the southend in the middle of the day. Like I said, I haven't lived in that part of town in about 20 years but many parts were pretty scuzzy.