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I've been lurking for the past six or eight months. I've been researching where to move in Washington state.
I'm retired and financially secure. I'm considering something with at least ten acres, rural yet within reasonable driving distance for city goods and services.
I've checked real estate from Carnation up to the San Juan's and Blaine.
The problem is there is so much potential.
Right now I'm considering Arlington, Granite Falls, Carnation, Sequim, Blaine, Bellingham, and the various island including Orcas.
I lived in Everett and Bellingham in the early 80's.
I'm undecided on waterfront. Strikes me as colder and damper in winter.
I'm beyond the partying phase into the relaxed quite rural life. I garden and consider Chickens and maybe a Goat. But I'm not a farmer.
I'm trying to get away from Northeastern winters and the oppressive humidity of summer.
I do consider renting a house while house hunting, but I have a large contingent of pets. Will money offset a landlords fears regarding so many pets? I'm not a hoarder, just have some aging rescue guys I'm not willing to part with. I won't live in a house smelling of animal waste.
Broadband would be nice if possible. No HOA.
To sum it up rural area, close to medical services and veterinarian, but near enough to drive to specialist doctors for example. Ten or more acres no problem with well or septic. Not worried about cost of living all that much.
Any suggestions on places I've overlooked? I do check various real estate sites regularly to see what comes on the market. Right now my potential list is kind of long and covers a variety of areas.
I'll narrow that down.
Thank You
If being within "reasonable driving distance" for city goods and services, medical services and even specialists is important and you want a decent sized piece of land for a relaxed quiet rural life then you might want to also consider around McMurray and Big Lake in Skagit County. Looks like Big Lake gets significantly less rain. I guess it might be in the extended tail of the Olympic rain shadow. Don't know about the broadband availability.
Carnation could be a good choice if it is not too pricey or not too close to the metro for your tastes.
If you end up wanting to closer to the water, then outside Stanwood in north Snohomish might be another option.
If you have a large contingent of pets, you will probably have many owners and property managers turn you down, especially places in or near town or upscale to any degree and perhaps especially short-term. Extra rent money or a big deposit may or may not change their mind, but you can try it and then maybe try it again offering even more. There are rural houses with rural owners perhaps more comfortable with animals where it probably can work but the search will be harder. You might find something advertised directly by the owner in a local paper or maybe on Craigslist or elsewhere. Checking a bunch of property management companies might find ones helpful in finding a match. In picking a realtor to help you with the later purchase, you might make helping you address the rental stage first a criteria of picking them. I assume there will be some with the knowledge and the motivation to help you with the two-step rent / purchase process that is probably pretty common. If you are flexible on location and look many places I assume the rental can eventually work out.
Thank you.
I have two problems, the first is I have no idea of the merits and detriments of each area let alone the communities in them. Second is realtors tend to limit themselves to certain small areas, say I start checking out homes in Arlington but later want to head to Orcas it is unlikely the same realtor will cover that territory.
My initial plan is to property search online and head out for a couple weeks of boots on the ground house hunting. No hassle with renting while hunting. But it limits just how long I can spend.
I also have the option of buying land and building a house. I don't need the gaudy or fancy, just functional. That allows me to have the advantage of the latest energy efficient technology and a design of my choosing. Also may be beneficial in limiting property taxes.
Luckily I have some time to spare while deciding on the best strategy.
With a couple weeks on the ground after net research you should be able to narrow the general place down and maybe even find the property.
To try to narrow it down some beforehand, knowing realistically how far you are willing to drive for various city services and how big a town or city you want as your nearest neighbor could really help. That distance and size of city may be flexible but if you know your preference you can look at places that match-up well with that first, then move on to other places that vary from that if you want or need to. Maybe think about what you did last month and how much driving it would take to do the same exact set of activities in the various western Washington places or how much you would be willing to change your schedule and consolidate trips if you had to in order to live in a quiet rural spot.
Being within 15-20 miles of certain larger city stuff is different than being within 30-45 miles or even further out and that difference can mean more to some people than others. Being 15-20 or 30-45 miles outside of Bellingham or Everett could be significantly different than being the same distance from Seattle for some people, not much different for others. At the moment what would you say your preference is on these things?
Unless the islands are a really strong desire, I'd stick to the mainland. If you wanted an island (but with a road out) you could also look at being outside Oak Harbor.
Waterfront probably isn't going to be too different than inland on general dampness and cold though it might get more fog and maybe more wind and that might be significant to some people.
Arlington looked interesting due the various facilities medical/airport/local main street. Granite Falls being a short hop from Arlington puts the same places at relatively close range. And Granite Falls has a Shinto shrine and nearby ice caves. Both worth checking out.
I think there is a Safeway near Arlington and if I understand correctly Safeway delivers within an hours radius from the store. Of course I may be wrong and it is only in the Seattle suburbs they deliver. It would be nice to have the items not found at Schwans or Amazon delivered.
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At the moment what would you say your preference is on these things?
Getting older I find medical facilities for myself and the pets of major interest. Say higher than karaoke and overpriced coffee. Getting older means you have greater potential need of quality specialists. Doesn't matter if you are a Cat or a person.
I watch the island real estate prices drop and foreclosures rise. I can sit and wait a few years to pick vacation property up dirt cheap.
But I enjoy the idea of seclusion the islands hold.
Really I'm pretty much a homebody. But I may get the bug to spend a weekend in Vancouver, or take the ferry to Alaska.
In all honesty a couple of hours drive is no big hassle. Less of a hassle with restrooms along the way.
Sure, Arlington - Granite Falls could work, as could a number of areas.
It appears Arlington has 2 Safeways. It is not clear if they deliver from Arlington. As you suggested, there is an open question of whether they just deliver in Seattle city or in the region. You could put zipcode 98223 in this form Safeway - store locator and get a phone number to call and find out for sure and hear the details.
The Arlington airport has no scheduled commercial passenger service. Perhaps private charter option.
The Arlington airport has no scheduled commercial passenger service. Perhaps private charter option.
Orcas has the private charter daily runs to Seattle and you can fly to Portland. I read at one of the blogs that some residents have a monthly charter to Bellingham Costco. They pool their orders and someone is flown to fill them.
For the past year I have been doing a lot of research.
Seattle Residents Exposed to 10 Radioactive "Hot Particles" Per Day
As I understand it the problem involves the entire Northern hemisphere. Fukushima daily becomes an ever growing risk due to the lies and lack of a real containment strategy.
An escalation of the problem would be my only hindrance in moving.
As I understand it the problem involves the entire Northern hemisphere. Fukushima daily becomes an ever growing risk due to the lies and lack of a real containment strategy.
An escalation of the problem would be my only hindrance in moving.
But I'm not overly paranoid just cautious.
Honestly, most Seattleites are not even concerned about the whole Japanese nuke issue. There was another thread that did specifically talk about radiation: Radiation Detected in Cows Milk In Washington where you'll see the general consensus from other Washingtonians is... mostly indifference. There was mention that California received more radiation than WA due to wind patterns, so... we're probably in a better position than those people in California.
Honestly, most Seattleites are not even concerned about the whole Japanese nuke issue. There was another thread that did specifically talk about radiation: Radiation Detected in Cows Milk In Washington where you'll see the general consensus from other Washingtonians is... mostly indifference. There was mention that California received more radiation than WA due to wind patterns, so... we're probably in a better position than those people in California.
From what I could find it looks as if the entire Northern hemisphere is affected to various degrees. The two main problems are the build up in food supplies and the potential for particles to enter the body.
Unfortunately the MSM doesn't seem to be interested in the issue anymore despite TEPCO's recent statement regarding a "melt through" in three of the four reactors. That the MOX rods from the pool at reactor three looks to have been blown not only on land but in the ocean as well.
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The report takes some time to make its way into the literature. The average human being breathes about 10 meters a day of air, cubic meters of air. And the air out in the Seattle area are detecting, when they pull 10 cubic meters through them, this is in April now, so we are in the end of May so it is a better situation now. That air filter will have 10 hot particles on it. And that was before the Unit Four issue. Clearly we all can’t run south of the equator to our second homes in Rio or something like that. But it will stay north of the equator for anyone who has a Leer jet and can get out. But I guess what I am advising at that point is keep your windows closed. I would definitely wear some sort of a filter if I was outside. I certainly wouldn’t run and exercise until I was sure the plume had dissipated. This isn’t now. This is, as you were saying, this is worst case. If Unit Four were to topple, I would close my windows, turn the air conditioner on, replace the filters frequently, damp mop, put a HEPA filter in the house and try to avoid as much of the hot particles as possible. You are not going to walk out with a Geiger counter and be in a plume that is going to tell you the meter. The issue will be on the West Coast, hot particles. And the solution there is HEPA filters and avoiding them.
...
So eventually though we are going to see top of the food chain animals like tuna and salmon and things like that that have this process bio accumulates. The bigger fish gradually get higher and higher concentrations. And I am concerned that the FDA is not monitoring fish entering the United States because sooner or later a tuna is going to set off a radiation alarm at some part and people are going to think it’s a dirty bomb or something like that. So that’s not here yet because the tuna haven’t migrated across the Pacific. But I am thinking by 2013 we might see contamination of the water and of the top of the food chain fishes on the West Coas
In Bavaria there are still Boar which can not be eaten due to radiation from Chernobyl. Radioactive elements became concentrated in them because of foraging for Mushrooms.
And there is this from Wales http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wa...1466-26411200/
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Farms still suffering Chernobyl restrictions
May 10 2010 by Peter Collins, Western Mail
HUNDREDS of Welsh farms continue to bear the brunt of UK sheep movement restrictions – 24 years after they were imposed following the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
Latest figures show 369 UK farms continue to be restricted in the way they can use land and rear sheep because of fallout from the world’s worst nuclear power accident. But the vast majority of the restricted farms – 355 – are in Snowdonia, involving 180,000 of the 190,000 affected sheep.
I keep an eye on every story I can find, even if it is rumor. A lot of people disregarded Gunderson when he claimed there was a meltdown way back when this first happened.
Now TEPCO has confirmed the worst.
And the truth dribbles out a little at a time.
From what I have read there is very little hope for any type of containment for years. It's just too radioactive and unstable and a very large area.
I doubt it would be unreasonable to claim this as the greatest catastrophe in human History. Then again at the rate of information release we will not come to that conclusion for decades.
Sometime after the first wave of Cancers and deformities appear.
Gully, we retired folks are of an age where the potential cancers and other health problems predicted by "reading between the lines" of Arnie Gundersen's measured and calm reports on Fukushima won't evidence themselves until we're too old and feeble to care any more. At least, that's what I tell myself when confronted with such an excruciatingly scary scenario coming true...
Don't let POTENTIAL problems scare you away from pursuing your dream to retire here in Washington.
As to narrowing down your choices and finding your dream property, the best strategy in this buyer's market filled with desperate sellers might be to make up an ad very similar to your original post and put it on Craigslist for the different metro areas in the state where both sellers and real estate agents will see it.
Kind of like, throw your baited hook in the water and let them swim to YOU. Good luck!
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Good luck!
