Wanting to retire in WA, but not sure where (Seattle: low income, insurance)

[Carlene]

Well, we are now Ocean Park Washington home owners, closed escrow yesterday.
Kidblue, we have 11 months until we move out of El Dorado county, after 26 years I really won't miss this place. California isn't what it's cracked up to be and it's not the best place to retire.
We will split our time between Ocean Park and Waianae Hi, so when the cold rainy weather hits the Long Beach *****ula we will be in sunny Hi, and when the trade winds stop blowing on the rock we'll be on the southwest coast of Washington.
We had made 3 trips up there, looking from central Oregon to Washington and just went with cost.

Everyone one else out there looking at the Pacific Northwest to move to, there are some great places, enjoy your search.

Carlene

[KidBlue]

Congratulations on becoming a WA homeowner. Sounds like you have your retirement plans really in order with HI in the winter and WA in the summer. And you still get to spend time in NorCal too. Hopefully, we will break 100 degrees soon so you'll feel lucky to be getting out!

I will probably overlap with home ownership too between Shingle Springs and WA. We'll see what I find in August when I get to come up to WA for a visit. I'll be meeting with a real estate agent who moved up to WA five years ago from Sacramento. Small world.

[timetogo]

Hi,

I live in the central foothills of the Sierraa Nevada , and like others I am looking to move to Washington.

I narrowed my search to Aberdeen, Olympia, or Port Angeles.

Port Angeles only gets 20 inches of rain per year whereas Aberdeen gets 70 inches per year. Olympia rainfall seems similar to Aberdeen.

How does Port Angeles activities compare to Aberdeen? With all the rain in winter, I need alot of things to do . I am single so I have no family to keep me busy.

[Ryan]

In all honesty, PA is not a pretty town. Very old school industrial. There also isn't much to do in town. What's cool though is that the ferry to Victoria (Canada) departs from PA. Olympia is nice, especially westside, and there is a lot to do. I've always liked Aberdeen because it's got the best mix of everything. The most inexpensive of teh places you mentioned, it's close the the beach, close the forests, lots to do in town and good retail shopping, all while still retaining an obvious small town feel. Amazing victorian homes as well. Olympia does get a little less rain, but 90% of W. WA rain comes from Nov. through April, so it doesn't make much of a difference either way, imo. This year we had a little longer of a rainy season. Last year it was a little shorter. The Aberdeen and Olympia RE markets are appreciating between 30-40% anually, with Aberdeen at the top end of that range. A lot of people are looking to get out of Seattle/Tacoma/Lakewood (CA as well) and that's fueling the market. The PA market is stale, most likely because it's inconvenient being located so far away from everything. Hope this helps. Any more questions, let me know.

[KidBlue]

Does anyone know a good real estate agent in the Elma/Montesano area who would be good to talk to when we come up for our first visit in August? It won't be a quick sale because we are looking to move in a couple of years. Unless it stays 106 degrees like it is today in the foothills of NoCA--we might not want to ever leave once we get there!

[timetogo]

Originally Posted by Ryan

In all honesty, PA is not a pretty town. Very old school industrial. There also isn't much to do in town. What's cool though is that the ferry to Victoria (Canada) departs from PA. Olympia is nice, especially westside, and there is a lot to do. I've always liked Aberdeen because it's got the best mix of everything. The most inexpensive of teh places you mentioned, it's close the the beach, close the forests, lots to do in town and good retail shopping, all while still retaining an obvious small town feel. Amazing victorian homes as well. Olympia does get a little less rain, but 90% of W. WA rain comes from Nov. through April, so it doesn't make much of a difference either way, imo. This year we had a little longer of a rainy season. Last year it was a little shorter. The Aberdeen and Olympia RE markets are appreciating between 30-40% anually, with Aberdeen at the top end of that range. A lot of people are looking to get out of Seattle/Tacoma/Lakewood (CA as well) and that's fueling the market. The PA market is stale, most likely because it's inconvenient being located so far away from everything. Hope this helps. Any more questions, let me know.

Is it true that most of the rain is a constant drizzle in aberdeen??

Aberdeen has been my first choice, but the prospect of 80 inches of rain scares me a little . Then again, I sick of 105 degree heat in california where the summers make you homebound anyway.

[heatstroke]

I just signed up with city-data forum after seeing so many people from Ca. wanting to move to Wa. My husband will be retiring by March 2007 so I have been researching where to move. I HATE the heat here in Ca. We live in Sun City, Lincoln near Roseville and absolutely hate the weather here. We are originally from Mich. but want to stay west because our daughter is in Ca. We love the seasonal changes but not a lot of snow and long winters. I want green, mountains, lakes with lots of outdoor activities like hiking and biking and I would love to be near water. How overcast is it in the Aberdeen area? Is it for long periods of time? The area sounds wonderful. We plan on getting a van camper and checking out several areas, but that won't happen until 2007. I would like to have a set plan on where I want to look. This forum seems to be very helpful. Wish I could get out there sooner. Maybe we could plan a trip around Thanksgiving time. Any advice would be appreciated.

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by KidBlue

Does anyone know a good real estate agent in the Elma/Montesano area who would be good to talk to when we come up for our first visit in August?

Hey Kid, I sent you a PM.

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by timetogo

Is it true that most of the rain is a constant drizzle in aberdeen??

Between Jan.-through April most of what we get is drizzle and light rain. Between Oct. through Feb, it's straight up storming. Feb. is our coldest time of the year and when we get most of our snow.

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by heatstroke

How overcast is it in the Aberdeen area? Is it for long periods of time? The area sounds wonderful. Maybe we could plan a trip around Thanksgiving time. Any advice would be appreciated.

From mid Oct. through April, it's overcast and wet with maybe 2 or 3 days of "clear sky" a month. From mid May through mid Sep. we have the most amazing summer ever. Sunny and 80-85 degrees throughout. And the sky is amazing. It's not "blue" like you know (I lived in Folsom up until a couple years ago). Here it's flourescent blue; pure, clean blue. And none of the brown everywhere during the summer; just lots of green. Can't beat it. As far as recreation we've got everything and are surrounded by national and state parks, a few wildlife refuges, and seemingly infinite rivers lakes and beaches.

And a nice house on the hill will set you back less than 200k. That's not going to last forever though. It seems like home prices are going up $1k a week as people are discovering and migrating here.

Where in CA can you get all of this (plus no income tax, no smog checks (no smog for that matter), clean air/no allergens, the best seafood, great parks, great views, great shopping, small town atmosphere blah, blah, blah) at any price let alone sub-200k?


... and that's why we left CA