relocating (Marysville, Oak Harbor, Anacortes: for sale by owner, rentals, crime)

[kinmokusei]

My husband is in the navy and we are going to washington, hopefully whidby island(oak harbor) for his next duty station. He is retireing in 5 years and wants to work at the correction facility after that. As a military family, we have moved a lot but finally this will be our last move so I want to make sure to find a place that makes us family happy. we have three kids.(8/6/3) I thought that sudden valley has some nice homes(affordable) and good schools. But my husband has to commute....oak harbor seems nice but lots of military so it seems unstable for our kids to make long term friends....mt.vernon....ok but crime and low level school...honestly, i don't know where is a good place to raise a family. what i like is,safe and some seclution.good school.close to the store doesn't really matter. sorry for the long and confused post but i appreciate any honest opinion on where you recommened and not recommend. Thank you.

[sean98125]

There are plenty of nice communities around Whidbey. There are a lot of Navy folks in Oak Harbor, but there are a lot of non-Navy folks there, too.

Anacortes is a very nice place to live, but a bit on the pricier side.

[Baldy]

Kinmo,

Your assessment is correct on all counts. Don't commute. Civvies stay away from Oak Harbor.

Washington is mostly rural, okay? You aren't going to get the same standard of living like in CT or San Diego, but there are tiny townships shotgunned between the bigger towns that are just fine. You can get a fixer (you didn't mention the retirement grade) or whatever well outside of town and the influence of the service.

These homes are for people who have a life because there is little work for the untrained and uneducated.

[kinmokusei]

Thank you, sean98125 and Baldy! We have lived in Marysville for one year so I have an idea a little bit. My husband will be retireing hopefully as E7. SO we can count on BAH for at least 5 years for the house mortgage. I don't want him to suffer in commute but I also worrie if he can find a job outside of oak harbor such as correction officer. Therefore, I am thinking it will be better for us to stay on the mainland side. He just have to deal with the commute for 5 years which will be sea duty anyway. I like rural. Don't like city. We like nature. More advice will be greatly appreciated!!!

[bellabella2]

Hi there!
We are a military family too..
I would love to return to Wa! Actually we are planning on that..

Make sure you visit the relocation office before deciding on a place.
Check also the AHRN site (AHRN.com )( Automated Housing Referral Network) A site for the Department of Defense. It is for us military folks... There are rentals and For sale by Owner listed..
Check it out!

Additionally, I read there are currently 137 new construction homes in Whidbey and only three offers on them... It may be a good time to buy there a new construction. I don't know specifics but you should be able to find out.


Hey shoot me an email at darythompson@hotmail.com
Good luck with your move!

Dary