Spokane: Advice Request (South Hill, Cheney, Airway Heights: real estate, to rent, hotel)

[Spokane Soon]

Hi everyone. We have been reading the posts pretty voraciously for the last few months. This is a great source for us and we’ve learned a great deal. At this point, we are ready to visit Spokane, first this winter and again in the summertime next year. My husband and I took a trip to the Sand Point area several years ago in the summertime and fell in love with that area. He is an avid fisherman and would probably start hunting again too, something he was into as a young man.

We are not quite retirement age yet, so for job related reasons have been studying Spokane, and really like what we see on these posts, including the pictures! If he can secure a job, (and that’s a big IF in this economy) we think we may be taking the plunge into Spokane. For the last eight years he has been a Certified Wastewater Distribution Maintenance Mechanic and previous decades of experience also a state certified industrial plant maintenance mechanic, so he is an extremely valuable asset because of his extensive knowledge. The age issue (he’s 56) would be the only setback, although it really should be an advantage.

We will be relocating with my sister who is single. Having lived in Ohio, Michigan and Flagstaff AZ, we are all familiar with the winter life, so our eyes are wide open to that aspect of the area. I would be best-suited to office work, and my sister is considering becoming a phlebotomist, although she has experience in several other fields she would rather not return to, if possible.
We would like to rent for about a year to make sure it’s a good fit. During that time we’ll be scoping out the real estate based on our wants and needs. Our questions to you are about the areas of Spokane we should be looking at based on the following criteria:

1) Ideally we would like a 2 bedroom/2 bath smallish home with a granny flat (or another 2/2) on the same property for my sister. We want to stick together closely at this time in our lives to supply moral support for each other as well as to provide physical help when the time comes, hopefully way down the road. I would like no more than three acres on the outskirts of Spokane, or even just inside Spokane, in order to enjoy the city-supplied services. We all agree that it would be fabulous if we could have a water source (small lake or stream, even river front!) on the property. What areas of Spokane should we be looking at for this lifestyle?

2) My husband would like as much land as possible, but we have only so much money and my view is we are not getting any younger. It must take some effort to keep a sizeable property, also you’d need to be out in the boonies to have 10+ acres. We have never lived this lifestyle, but I would be willing to consider it. Can you give us your views of what life is like on a big piece of land? We like the trees, which are plentiful there, but would like to be positioned on a hill overlooking, rather than inside the trees, which may be gloomy in the winter. What area/direction outside of Spokane would be best for this type of lifestyle?


3) I’m pretty sure it’s more economical to buy something already built at this point in time. However, if we would decide to build on a piece of property that already has the utilities and water in place, what would the other obstacles be? First, what would the property cost (per acre or 3-acre plot) in the area that you would suggest? Second, is there an area around or inside Spokane with the utilities and water already provided? Third: What would be the cost of building the two small homes? I know this is a wide question because it would depend on the builder and materials we would use. Both materials and builders would be mid-cost. We don’t need the best; quality and value would be the main considerations. We have never built our own home and would love the chance to do so. We are looking for guesstimates and advice and we would value all aspects of input in this area, including the best locations for this in and around Spokane.

4) Are there areas of the city (or outlying areas) where the snow drift is not as bad as other areas of the city?

5) Where would you suggest we stay during our winter visit? We plan on checking out just the city of Spokane for a week. Our needs are nothing fancy, just clean and well maintained. Also, what are the sights we should not miss? Include problem areas we should avoid. Be specific enough so that I can plot these areas on a map. We will not avoid, but rather visit the problem areas too. We want to get a clear picture of the city without rose-colored glasses, since this is our potential new home. When we move, we’d like to rent inside Spokane to familiarize ourselves with the city during that first year, and again would like to rent a small home with a granny flat, so this question is particularly important to us.

6) Where would you suggest we stay during our summer visit? We plan on mainly checking out the Sand Point/CdA areas. When we visited the area the last time we were on the lake in a little cottage complex, but they were selling the property to Arnold Palmer (I believe) for the new golf course. We’d like to stay in a similar setting. Again, include any sights in the vicinity we should see that we may have missed on our last visit.

Thank you in advance for all your advice and knowledge of the area. I know this is a long post, but thought it all relevant to get the answers we need. We are excited to try this out.

[Raelyn28]

Wow!!! That is a lot of information to ingest. If I were you I would do what you said in the beginning of your post...rent for awhile and then decide where you want to buy. One thing I have to say is the job situation in Spokane isn't very good right now. My husband who is almost the same age as your husband COULD NOT find work after losing two jobs and he has years of experience in management, administration, budgets and business. We had to leave Spokane because of the economy.

If I were you I would first take a week trip to Spokane and first decide if you like it well enough to move. Then I would secure a job before you do anything. It would be REALLY risky and expensive to move somewhere right now the way the economy is without a job.

Personally, the move away from Spokane was horrible for me. I would have rather never have lived there than went through what we went through. My husband lost two jobs in three years. It was awful and we lost a lost of money..... Beautiful place but horrible economy for some... And we have two teenage boys that had to move in the middle of high school... Not fun at all...

[Spokane Soon]

I feel for you. I’ve read several of your posts, and it must have been a hard time for your family with all that happened to you!

I know I’m getting ahead of myself here with all the requests for info. The first step of course is a visit to the city itself IN WINTER to see if we can hang with the cold again, to see how the roads are maintained in around Spokane, to partake in the food, and to see the sights inside Spokane proper. I should take one step at a time. It is overwhelming thinking of all that needs to happen before the move is actually made, so a lot of this stuff needs to be taken into consideration.

We like the idea that Spokane is in general made up of friendly people. The city itself is beautiful, from what I can see with a feel of history and oldness, but one which is generally well maintained and clean. There is theatre (we do love to see a play several times a year, that’s all), good restaurants, shopping, an international airport, a good hospital, and did I say it was beautiful to look at?

We have been searching for I’d say the last ten years for a potential place to relocate to, and I have to say I am very excited about Spokane. However, we are quite a ways away from retiring. Once we make the visit up there and decide it’s our new home, I’ll be searching for jobs. I know from reading the posts that this will not be easy.

So, with that in mind, I’m going to take one step at a time and visit. We’ll rent a car and just roam… Questions are:

What are the main sights we should not miss, including restaurants? Just names of restaurants would be great, but would love to get cross-street names for the sights of the city so I can mark a map. Remember we’ll be there in the winter, so looking at “The Falls from the footbridge” won’t be as amazing in the winter as it will in Spring time. We’ll visit there anyway, but where is it on a map? Stuff like that would be great to get a handle on.

Specifically, what areas are good for housing? From reading the posts I hear the following areas are great, but not being from the city and working from a map of Spokane I’d like to mark up, what streets envelope the following areas so that we can drive through them? It’s too soon for a realtor.

Good Areas:
North Spokane
South Hill
Comstock
Manito Park
Cannon Hill
Southgate
Moran Prairie
Browne Mountain
Cliff Park/Roosevelt
Rockwood/Hamblen
Shadle Park
Argonne Hill
Five Mile
Mead
Upriver
Spokane Valley
Garland
Audubon Park

Bad Areas:
Sprague – E of Downtown
Trent – E of Downtown
West Central
Hillyard

We’d welcome input from you and anyone else there that has knowledge of the area. We are grateful for your recommendations and warnings!

[David Aguilar]

Originally Posted by Spokane Soon

Good Areas:
North Spokane
South Hill
Comstock
Manito Park
Cannon Hill
Southgate
Moran Prairie
Browne Mountain
Cliff Park/Roosevelt
Rockwood/Hamblen
Shadle Park
Argonne Hill
Five Mile
Mead
Upriver
Spokane Valley
Garland
Audubon Park

You could probably add Sunset Hill (West Hills) and Latah Valley to this list. They pretty much correspond to zip 99224.

[Spokane Soon]

Thanks for your input! We're all so excited to make a change. Hopefully the jobs will all pan out... then we'll know we're supposed to be there, and go for it full on. I can't wait to get back into the trees and nature, and my husband loves the many fishing holes and rivers. My sister is excited about the city, how beautiful it seems from the pictures. She's really gotten the fishing bug from my husband too. I love to fish when they're biting, not a real fisherperson, I guess.

Your heart is in Spokane? Where are YOU, and why?

[David Aguilar]

Originally Posted by Spokane Soon

Your heart is in Spokane? Where are YOU, and why?

Yeah it is.

I'm in Denver, CO, because that's where my company is based, and where I had been living for two years prior to moving to Spokane. I relocated to Spokane this past May to open up an office for the company there, and it was supposed to be my permanent residence for the foreseeable future.

Well, at the end of August, we lost our major account (by no fault of mine, or the company's). The other account that we had there wouldn't have warranted me staying there, as the company wouldn't have been able to pay my salary based on revenue from it.

So I was given the choice, either make a go of it on my own in Spokane without my job, or come back to Denver and keep my job. I chose to keep my job, but I regret leaving Spokane quite a bit, and I hope to be back there someday. It would have been extremely difficult for me to duplicate my current income in Spokane, so I think I at least made the right move financially, but I can say with all certainty that I made the wrong move emotionally, hence "my heart being in Spokane". It just sucks that my money is here in Denver.

[Clark Fork Fantast]

Originally Posted by Spokane Soon

5) Where would you suggest we stay during our winter visit? We plan on checking out just the city of Spokane for a week. Our needs are nothing fancy, just clean and well maintained. Also, what are the sights we should not miss? Include problem areas we should avoid. Be specific enough so that I can plot these areas on a map. We will not avoid, but rather visit the problem areas too. We want to get a clear picture of the city without rose-colored glasses, since this is our potential new home. When we move, we’d like to rent inside Spokane to familiarize ourselves with the city during that first year, and again would like to rent a small home with a granny flat, so this question is particularly important to us.

6) Where would you suggest we stay during our summer visit? We plan on mainly checking out the Sand Point/CdA areas. When we visited the area the last time we were on the lake in a little cottage complex, but they were selling the property to Arnold Palmer (I believe) for the new golf course. We’d like to stay in a similar setting. Again, include any sights in the vicinity we should see that we may have missed on our last visit.

We have property in Clark Fork, ID, so we come through Spokane on a regular basis. We like to stay at the Red Lion River Inn--Downtown Spokane is within walking distance across the river, and it is a fairly quiet, reasonable hotel. We stayed one night at the old restored Davenport Hotel years ago, and you may want to treat yourselves to that experience--just because it is so wonderfully stylish and opulent! The greatest beds in the world! But pricey, of course. Our favorite restaurant is Anthony's by the Spokane Falls. That may not be as spectacular in winter, but the food is good!

Our favorite hotel in Sandpoint has to be the Edgewater, on the lake. They're building the new Bypass there, but the construction wasn't really a problem, at least not last summer. Come over and visit the Idaho Forum, and you'll get some good ideas of what not to miss in North Idaho. We all have our favorite places!

[Spokane Soon]

Awesome advice! Thanks so much.

[skinem]

Second the Red Lion recommendation.

As to the larger piece of property...if you're looking for 10 acres or so, you will have more choices outside of Spokane proper. A couple of places to look at would be the Mead area, Deer Park area, and West Plains area (Cheney, Medical Lake, Indian Canyon, Airway Heights, etc.).

A couple of things just off the top of my head to consider about larger property living (besides taxes) is if you are going to be buying bare property is the issue of water...and how deep you may have to drill to get it.
Another is that you'll probably have fencing to either install or maintain.
Depending on the layout of your property, you could have a sizable plowing job in the winter. Also, some places in the country either don't get plowed, or are pretty much last on the priority list. (We, or neighboring ranchers usually plowed to the nearest paved road.)
Also, determine what you fire district is. I don't know if this is still the case, but not so long ago, there were areas of the county that were kind of "no man's land" when it came to fire response if you had a house fire. We used to live in one...fortunately never had a problem, but it isn't ideal.

Be sure if you're looking at property that says it has utilities in, that usually means it's at the road and you'll need to factor costs to actually bring it into your place.

As far as snow drift goes, to the west and south of Spokane, the country opens up pretty dramatically...from trees, to fewer trees, and then in places, it's like God drew a line...lots of trees and then with a sudden clear demarcation...no trees. In these areas, the snow drift can be pretty marked. Lots of trees helps cut down on that. If you want property with trees, most of it to the north side will have trees.

You should be able to find water-front property as there are literally hundreds of bodies of water, small and large in the Spokane area. However, some if it can be pretty spendy.

[WendyK]

Good advice Skinem. I meet a lot of people who think they want land without considering all the other factors that go along with being "out in the country". Water is a biggie -- you have to pay the driller even if you don't hit water. It's a good idea to check the well logs in the area to see if other property owners have fairly consistent well depths and production.
Trees are a mixed blessing -- they're great for shade & protection from the wind, but they also drop needles in the fall - LOTS of them!! If you like to rake, the pine trees are great. Oh and you need to clean them off your roof & gutters, too.