Thinking of relocating to Washington state. lots of questions! (house, neighborhood)

[Hemlock140]

Please share, someone please tell us where you can find a house in western WA for $100,000. I was just noticing a nasty looking old damaged flat top 3BR 2BA foreclosure in Bellevue that sold for $279,000 at auction. I haven't seen anything except a mobile in a park in a remote area for under $100,000.

[Foreverking]

Originally Posted by Hemlock140

Please share, someone please tell us where you can find a house in western WA for $100,000. I was just noticing a nasty looking old damaged flat top 3BR 2BA foreclosure in Bellevue that sold for $279,000 at auction. I haven't seen anything except a mobile in a park in a remote area for under $100,000.

I go to remax.com and put in max price 100 dollars. I was looking myself in the Puyallup and olympia area. There are quite a few.

[Inkpoe]

Originally Posted by Hemlock140

Please share, someone please tell us where you can find a house in western WA for $100,000. I was just noticing a nasty looking old damaged flat top 3BR 2BA foreclosure in Bellevue that sold for $279,000 at auction. I haven't seen anything except a mobile in a park in a remote area for under $100,000.

Actually, there's lots of houses in and near Tacoma for under 100K. A good number in Federal Way, Auburn, even in Renton (on the Seattle side) and in Seattle itself. You can go on Search Washington Homes For Sale, Search Oregon Homes For Sale, or www.johlnscott.com and set the definition as 100K and move the map around. They are there in the Greater Seattle area. Granted, you're not guaranteed beautiful and perfect conditioned home in a crime-free area-- but a home at least.

Of course, Bellevue has such a stronger desirability and lots of people do try to look for the cheapest Bellevue address for their children to go to the Bellevue schools. There was an article last year about how some people were being reported to Bellevue SD for actually not living at the (Bellevue) addresses. You'll notice there's hardly any home available in the excellent school district/areas for 100K.

[CarlB328]

You're not going to find a house for 100k in W Washington unless it's on a superfund site or something. It's not going to happen.

[Inkpoe]

Originally Posted by CarlB328

You're not going to find a house for 100k in W Washington unless it's on a superfund site or something. It's not going to happen.

Then do what I just suggested in the previous post... its there, even in the Greater Seattle area. Just set @ 100K and remove the condo/townhome option. There's more of these homes than everyone's giving credit.

[David Aguilar]

Inkpoe is right y'all!

[spotlesseden]

Originally Posted by Hemlock140

Please share, someone please tell us where you can find a house in western WA for $100,000. I was just noticing a nasty looking old damaged flat top 3BR 2BA foreclosure in Bellevue that sold for $279,000 at auction. I haven't seen anything except a mobile in a park in a remote area for under $100,000.

thanks to Microsoft and Nintendo, i think you should forget about finding a good house at Bellevue and Redmond for 100k. You may get lucky and find some ghetto/beat down house for 100k, but you will probably have spend alot of money to fix stuffs.

[jaja111]

From someone in Rochester, NY trying very hard to get the ball rolling on a move to the Bellingham / Mount Vernon-ish area (family reasons for that area), here some priorities:

1)Jobs. Where will they likely be? pin down a general area you'd most likely move to in Washington.

2)Rent. Rent for as long as you would need to save and qualify for as much home as you can get with a decent down payment (at least 10%) for mortgage qualification. I know the dogs are an issue, but your time is better spent looking for a Boxer loving land lord than a $100k home.

3)Home prices. Look at the price as a function of what the monthly payment would be. We are getting killed in Western NY on property taxes. While WA is still considered high, its still far cheaper than what drives our mortgage payments up. You can buy more house with the lower taxes - if approved for it.

4)Cars. No salt - no rust. No extreme need to be buried under car payments when cars last 15 years there.

5)Save. Start now saving $$$. For what I have figured for my family (3 of us with limited possessions - no significant furniture worth taking aside from a bed) the move itself alone will cost a minimum of $5000 uhauling it - u drive, u pack, u lift, u do it. If you can reduce everything to two cars by selling it you're down to gas and lodging which is still over $1000.

Jobs is by far the most important, and it looks like you have a definitive edge on that so a chunk of the battle is win-able. Take a trip out there after you've figured out a general idea of where you want; west (wet) side of Cascades, east (dry) side of cascades, northwest areas Seattle, Everett, up to Bellingham area), southern coastal areas (Tacoma, Olympia, and down). Once you pick at least one of the four, a short week trip could have you exploring the general area you chose, narrowing it down further.

Take my advice with a grain of salt..... I'm not actually out there yet....... YET!

[yanet2006]

check trullia for home values and too get an idea of the homes being sell for in this current market. Maybe youll get an idea of what to expect in the future when buying your own home in the wa area

[StealthRabbit]

This yr I bought a wonderful country home in W Washington for under $100k, w/ acreage, shop / barn, / orchard / gardens / HUGE rhodies and $30k worth of old growth timber.

Its even in the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area, (very desirable) and within 20 minutes of PDX (VERY nice International Airport). I have 3 more similar properties in my scope.

5 minutes from here cape horn washington - Google Search

(which I will GLADLY take over the traffic / noise of Bellevue or SEA.)

If you are age 55 and still want Bellevue... downsize to a 1 bdrm and go here for a NICE abode and amenities ~ $105k
Available Membership (I highly recommend the joint... of course )
http://silverglen.org/index.htm