Opininions from road trip/Housing (Mount Vernon, Oak Harbor: real estate, property taxes, trip)

[yakker]

My wife and I just got back from a trip to the Puget Sound, staying in Port Townsend and Anacortes while concentrating on fact finding for housing affordability and life style in a wide range of towns in each area. We brought about 75 real estate fliers with us and did the hated "drive bys" at ninety percent of those we brought, as well as cruising neighborhoods and talking to locals and agents. This was only our initial trip so first impressions being what they are, take this with a liberal grain of salt.

There are very few places that we visited that I would not consider living, and conversely very few my wife would consider living in. Go figure. My priority is affordable housing with a view, and the hills of Sequim or Mount Vernon probably fit the bill best. I would love to live in Port Townsend or Anacortes because of the architecture and history but, especially in Anacortes, anything with a view starts at $425,000 and quickly escalates to the heavens. There are areas close to the eastern shore of Whibley Island above Oak Harbor that are more affordable, around Duglalla Bay(sp?) that are also a short distance from town. Property taxes are also the sleeping tiger in these considerations as some or most of the Puget Sound counties have special tax levies of varying percentages which are multipliers and are added to your property tax base.

It was also surprisingly affordable in La Conner at Shelter Bay east of Anacortes and in Port Ludlow on the west side of the sound below Port Townsend, although Port Ludlow had almost no grocery or any other type of shopping that we could find.

We measured affordability by a quality view and neighborhood, with actual listed houses.

If we had an unlimited supply of money I would buy a house overlooking Guemes and Saddleback Islands on the hills above the marina by the ferry on Fidalgo Island, and actually the prices there are about half of what they are here in California (Monterey). I apologize if I get the names wrong. The best fit for us is probably Mount Vernon around Big Lake or in the hills above the city.

I was disappointed to read the crime statistics for Mount Vernon though and was wondering how accurate that information was. It seemed like such a friendly and clean town to us. If anyone has any personal knowledge of that area I would appreciate the info. We plan to rent for awhile before we buy to hopefully avoid any pitfalls.

[SeattlitefromNC]

Originally Posted by yakker

I was disappointed to read the crime statistics for Mount Vernon though and was wondering how accurate that information was. It seemed like such a friendly and clean town to us. If anyone has any personal knowledge of that area I would appreciate the info. We plan to rent for awhile before we buy to hopefully avoid any pitfalls.

The crime statistics can be summed up in one word: meth. And it's all over the Northwest; even the nicer areas get targeted.

[chris]

I wouldn't worry about the crime aspect, since it's mostly property crime, and it exists everywhere in western Washington (meth/drug use is probably the biggest reason). If you keep a low profile and have good security (especially auto), there's not a lot to worry about, since there is very little violent crime.