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I do not recommend the maple falls area, it is far from everything and there are alot of.....we'll leave it at.....people of different nationalities that have their own ideas about the law. To give you an idea there was an article in our local paper stating that in a month, the sherriffs office responded to 58 incidents of which 47 were in the Maple Falls/Paradise area. My wife and I are still saving and hoping to find a home(see my post "Bellingham, the Ugly truth"). The problem still remains that there is no affordable housing, only rich retirees keep moving here from out of state. The builders cater only to them, no one even wants to deal with you if you don't have at least $300K to spend. On top of that the growth is placing more demand on everything, and our council is constantly increasing taxes on everything. One lot we looked at was $109,000, was going to cost $9000 for water rights, $2500 for building permit, and now they are looking to add another ~$1000 to the permit cost. They have already added more taxes to our water/sewer. Makes me really happy that I'm paying for everyone else's growth and I can't afford a home here. When you're only approved for $225K even with the cheapest house it's not going to be enough. Most of the lots for sale all have CC&R's so you can't have a new modular home, several of the local modular home places have closed up. Plus, last time I checked, the permit applications were backed up almost 6 months. Everywhere prices are going down on real estate, except here because there is such a anti-growth, over regulate attitude.
That is why there are so many jobs here, people are leaving left and right for greener pastures. We may join these people, because I am tired of having no home after 4 years of spining my wheels. I only have one friend left here from college who bought his house before it got stupid, the rest all moved away.
We also pay the highest prices in the state for gas, while I'm bitching might as well mention that too........
So, Linson, think about your move cafefully. Working for the CBP you do have an ace in the hole however, as most commute to Bellingham so homes in Lynden, Blaine, and Birch Bay will be a short commute for you and are more affordable. If you are the only worker in your family, that is going to put you in the $200-$225K range which is only going to get you a new "cracker box" home on a tiny lot or a old pos. If you're the type of guy who wants some land to wander on, a shop or barn, I'd keep on lookin elsewhere.
Thanks for depressing me LOL I live in Texas and I too want to move to Washington. Im getting killed on the lite bill. I pay 700-900 a month, yes you read that correct, almost 1000K a month for electricty due to my heat intolerance and the 15.4 cents per KW we are being charged here in Texas. I remember back in the 80's when they built a nuclear plant down in Glen Rose and then told us we would get cheap electricty if we put up with the risk of radiation ( which they say dosent exist) and so here we are now with huge light bills. I am so mad I could bite nails into. After we took a trip to washington and found out Wenatchee has 3.5 cents I was sold on moving there. Even if the rates were the same the beauty is worth every penny to me after living in Texas all my life.
If you want a house come on down, I got a 2000 Sq ft brick home i'll sell you for 140K. It sits on a 1/2 acre and is in a great town for raising kids. The schools are wonderful and if you keep your thermostat at 78 like they recommend then your bill will be less than mine. I have mine at 68 LOL I cant take the heat. There are good jobs here that pay at least 65 if you have any puter skills at all.
If any of you have any suggestion where I can buy a home at around 120-140 I would love to hear about them. I have a 12 year old who is bucking this idea as any teenager would and he dosent want to move. Im hoping we will find a town like ours here so he will feel comfortable.
It is a big problem when you sell your house in Texas and buy in Washington where the property values are so much higher. I hear you loud and clear RK GUY! Im saying a prayer every night that I can find something in our price range with good neighbors.
What else goes on in Maple falls? I picked that area cause it seemed to be less in price than other areas especially Wenatchee where you cant touch any thing for less than 200.
Thanks for depressing me LOL I live in Texas and I too want to move to Washington. Im getting killed on the lite bill. I pay 700-900 a month, yes you read that correct, almost 1000K a month for electricty due to my heat intolerance and the 15.4 cents per KW we are being charged here in Texas. I remember back in the 80's when they built a nuclear plant down in Glen Rose and then told us we would get cheap electricty if we put up with the risk of radiation ( which they say dosent exist) and so here we are now with huge light bills. I am so mad I could bite nails into. After we took a trip to washington and found out Wenatchee has 3.5 cents I was sold on moving there. Even if the rates were the same the beauty is worth every penny to me after living in Texas all my life.
If you want a house come on down, I got a 2000 Sq ft brick home i'll sell you for 140K. It sits on a 1/2 acre and is in a great town for raising kids. The schools are wonderful and if you keep your thermostat at 78 like they recommend then your bill will be less than mine. I have mine at 68 LOL I cant take the heat. There are good jobs here that pay at least 65 if you have any puter skills at all.
If any of you have any suggestion where I can buy a home at around 120-140 I would love to hear about them. I have a 12 year old who is bucking this idea as any teenager would and he dosent want to move. Im hoping we will find a town like ours here so he will feel comfortable.
It is a big problem when you sell your house in Texas and buy in Washington where the property values are so much higher. I hear you loud and clear RK GUY! Im saying a prayer every night that I can find something in our price range with good neighbors.
What else goes on in Maple falls? I picked that area cause it seemed to be less in price than other areas especially Wenatchee where you cant touch any thing for less than 200.
charlee
My brother almost moved to Texas because you could get brand new homes in the $200,000 range. Like yourself I cannot take heat and my confort zone is in the 55 to 65 degree range. From what I hear about Washington state is that the real estate property taxes will kill you and there is no cap. They can raise the taxes however high and whenever from what I understand. At least here in California we have a cap on property taxes that they can only go up so much in such a time. It was Prop. 13 that gave us this protection but the people who bought recently will suffer even higher taxes because they bought homes at the most highest inflated price.
Also I don't like paying for other people's kids going to school.
Washington sounds like a great place at least certain areas and it is green there as they get more rain. I'm looking for the rural areas with less traffic and population unlike here where you have someone breathing down your neck at 5 AM in the morning.
You can't even fart in private down here without someone around. now that's pretty bad.
I hope they have a Costco near Custer. I know they are headquarted in Washington.
My hubby wants to move back to California. He was raised in LA and I told him he needs to take another look. That was in the 70's and LA was different then. But nothing hurts more than to see 700 bucks go out the door for your lite bill. Im hoping if we get a house in the 120 range and since my hubby is now disabled they will cap our taxes, at least until he dies and then Ill probably move anyway. But yeah that stinks. My hubby said some politican wants to stop property taxes cause he says we really dont own our homes if we have to pay taxes on them for eternity. You know in Dallas County after age 65 and/or if you are disabled you have NO TAXES! Too bad we cant live in the county, but the schools are terrible and crime is really bad. We live 30 miles outside dallas county.
Thanks for depressing me LOL I live in Texas and I too want to move to Washington. Im getting killed on the lite bill. I pay 700-900 a month, yes you read that correct, almost 1000K a month for electricty due to my heat intolerance and the 15.4 cents per KW we are being charged here in Texas. I remember back in the 80's when they built a nuclear plant down in Glen Rose and then told us we would get cheap electricty if we put up with the risk of radiation ( which they say dosent exist) and so here we are now with huge light bills. I am so mad I could bite nails into. After we took a trip to washington and found out Wenatchee has 3.5 cents I was sold on moving there. Even if the rates were the same the beauty is worth every penny to me after living in Texas all my life.
If you want a house come on down, I got a 2000 Sq ft brick home i'll sell you for 140K. It sits on a 1/2 acre and is in a great town for raising kids. The schools are wonderful and if you keep your thermostat at 78 like they recommend then your bill will be less than mine. I have mine at 68 LOL I cant take the heat. There are good jobs here that pay at least 65 if you have any puter skills at all.
If any of you have any suggestion where I can buy a home at around 120-140 I would love to hear about them. I have a 12 year old who is bucking this idea as any teenager would and he dosent want to move. Im hoping we will find a town like ours here so he will feel comfortable.
It is a big problem when you sell your house in Texas and buy in Washington where the property values are so much higher. I hear you loud and clear RK GUY! Im saying a prayer every night that I can find something in our price range with good neighbors.
What else goes on in Maple falls? I picked that area cause it seemed to be less in price than other areas especially Wenatchee where you cant touch any thing for less than 200.
charlee
Maple Falls has.. no jobs, long windy roads going up the mountain, lots of russian imigrants ( high crime rate w/their gangs) who bought up all the tiny lots intended for winter ski tourists,(Canadian) lots more snow, log trucks.. wait, maybe some logging jobs? Some areas are fine as far as crime goes, but still have those bad roads, really bad when icy. Long drive to town for groceries & shopping..(Bellingham)
My hubby wants to move back to California. He was raised in LA and I told him he needs to take another look. That was in the 70's and LA was different then. But nothing hurts more than to see 700 bucks go out the door for your lite bill. Im hoping if we get a house in the 120 range and since my hubby is now disabled they will cap our taxes, at least until he dies and then Ill probably move anyway. But yeah that stinks. My hubby said some politican wants to stop property taxes cause he says we really dont own our homes if we have to pay taxes on them for eternity. You know in Dallas County after age 65 and/or if you are disabled you have NO TAXES! Too bad we cant live in the county, but the schools are terrible and crime is really bad. We live 30 miles outside dallas county.
charlee
Southern CA. Los Angeles? All they have down there are natural diasters, earthquakes, fires and lots of crime. Traffic and congestion included for free.
If he wants CA real bad you can get homes here for $150,000 or less in certain areas of Northern CA. say 35 miles from San Francisco.
Maple Falls has.. no jobs, long windy roads going up the mountain, lots of russian imigrants ( high crime rate w/their gangs) who bought up all the tiny lots intended for winter ski tourists,(Canadian) lots more snow, log trucks.. wait, maybe some logging jobs? Some areas are fine as far as crime goes, but still have those bad roads, really bad when icy. Long drive to town for groceries & shopping..(Bellingham)
Russian mafiaI am very surprised to hear this.
They also bought up alot of the farming agriculture in Northern CA where they sell lots of fruits and vegetables. Before it was primarily Spanish selling this. What a change.
I will have to look up where Maple Falls is located in conjuction to Custer, Birch Bay and Blaine areas. Curious to know now what the prices are in Maple Falls in comparison to the above areas like Custer, Birch Bay, Whibley Island etc.
There MUST be some truth to the "Russian Mafia" thing around the Maple Falls/Kendall area (25 miles EAST of little 'ol Custer). I've heard this as well from many different people and have personally met Russian immigrants in that area when I was looking for a possible place there myself, once. So, there ARE immigrants to be found in the area, but I like to believe that most are law-abiding, LEGAL folks.
Maple Falls IS VERY remote and a long drive into Bellingham (45+ minutes depending on roads/traffic/weather).. More houses here rely on propane for heat and water supply may be an issue sometimes??
It IS a VERY beautiful area and VERY wooded! But, you can get the feel that there may be some criminal activity prevalent in the area and I have heard it does have issues with theft/burglary......maybe an occasional meth lab? Don't know if this is still the case.....but it WAS an area KNOWN for such.....not too long ago.
Home prices ARE definitely a bit less here though......but there's ALWAYS a good reason why, isn't there?
There MUST be some truth to the "Russian Mafia" thing around the Maple Falls/Kendall area (25 miles EAST of little 'ol Custer). I've heard this as well from many different people and have personally met Russian immigrants in that area when I was looking for a possible place there myself, once. So, there ARE immigrants to be found in the area, but I like to believe that most are law-abiding, LEGAL folks.
Maple Falls IS VERY remote and a long drive into Bellingham (45+ minutes depending on roads/traffic/weather).. More houses here rely on propane for heat and water supply may be an issue sometimes??
It IS a VERY beautiful area and VERY wooded! But, you can get the feel that there may be some criminal activity prevalent in the area and I have heard it does have issues with theft/burglary......maybe an occasional meth lab? Don't know if this is still the case.....but it WAS an area KNOWN for such.....not too long ago.
Home prices ARE definitely a bit less here though......but there's ALWAYS a good reason why, isn't there?
Well it guess it a good idea that I bring my ADT plan with me as it follows whatever residence I move to according to ADT. Nothing a 30.06 can't stop which also goes with the territory. But I guess it is to be expected in rural areas as here in CA in Mendocino Co. which is beautiful territory but lots of marijuana farms. There are also methlabs too.
Oddly San Francisco is also coming up with a lot of rented homes that are being used to grow marijuana and in that city there is always a witness with no privacy expected just because of the population density that many homes are attached together lots of people live on top or next to each other. San Francisco is so expensive people got to make a living somehow so lots of this stuff going on
Strange thing about the Russian Immigrants in that I get lots of e-mail of girls claiming to be of Russian descent and they send their pics to me (at least they claim it is a pic of them for all I know it could be a guy) that they are in love with you, want to meet you, have told their mother about you etc. How can a person fall in love with someone they don't even know in such a short time? Someone was born yesterday or there are alot of these scams going on in the net. Also the question of $$$$ will always come up
Anyway I will have to get a look see of this entire area via satellite. I have seen what Custer looks like and it's appealing to me. I have lived here all my life and have seen the changes and the population just continues to get bigger and bigger so now I want peace n quiet, no traffic, no congestion, no nosy neighbors, Don't want neighbors because the only time I hear from them is when there is a problem like a fence coming down they won't pay half on or they don't cut their tree that hangs over my house or maintain their property. I don't want kids running up and down the street shouting or racing their cars and playing their boom box stereos that shake the house off it's foundation.. Less people= less problems = less crime. Sounds almost like that movie that came out in 1987 if memory recalls? "Falling down" with Michael Douglas which was portraying the LA area.
Totally agree with the 30.06 rifle protection, 2nd Amendment thing!
I WOULD want something like that as an "alternative" to the ADT company if I lived in such a remote area.
Besides, there ARE bears and cougars in the area, as well as an occasional sasquatch, depending on who you may talk to.
Marijuana grow ops CAN be ANYWHERE and they aren't such a problem or threat like the meth labs are!
But, if some grower decides to steal YOUR electricity somehow........to keep their bill as low as possible.....well, NOW we have a problem!
The thing is......the MORE REMOTE an area.....the more likely you may have neighbors who ARE "up to something" or in hiding for whatever reason. Also, this entire area IS right on the Canadian border, so drug smuggling IS a reality for sure!
Custer FEELS almost as remote as MF.....but it's NOT and doesn't have the same rep. as Paradise Valley/Maple Falls.
BEAUTIFUL county though (Whatcom).....from sea level, all the way to the top of Mt. Baker and everything in between!
Totally agree with the 30.06 rifle protection, 2nd Amendment thing!
I WOULD want something like that as an "alternative" to the ADT company if I lived in such a remote area.
Besides, there ARE bears and cougars in the area, as well as an occasional sasquatch, depending on who you may talk to.
Marijuana grow ops CAN be ANYWHERE and they aren't such a problem or threat like the meth labs are!
But, if some grower decides to steal YOUR electricity somehow........to keep their bill as low as possible.....well, NOW we have a problem!
The thing is......the MORE REMOTE an area.....the more likely you may have neighbors who ARE "up to something" or in hiding for whatever reason. Also, this entire area IS right on the Canadian border, so drug smuggling IS a reality for sure!
Custer FEELS almost as remote as MF.....but it's NOT and doesn't have the same rep. as Paradise Valley/Maple Falls.
BEAUTIFUL county though (Whatcom).....from sea level, all the way to the top of Mt. Baker and everything in between!
I'm not sure what kind of reputation Custer has unlike Maple Falls.
I do agree with you in that area with lots of rural land a 30.06 does go with the territory and will cover long distances that one will encounter and will stop anything that gets in its way. I would hate to have to deal with marijuana growers or meth labs which can explode but at least they are far away because you have lots of distance between neighbors and that's if you have a neighbor. In such a rural area if you see someone on your property I'm sure it will get attention real quick. In these areas if you see someone doesnt' that kind of attract suspicious behavior? because one expects alot of privacy and seclusion in this type of lifestyle and area. I don't know if they have a transient problem like some places do.
I do agree with you on the 2nd amendment thing especially in this kind of terrain where self-reliance is a must compared to living in a city. You have to take care of yourself and can't depend on law enforcement showing up in time to save you if you run into some kind of trouble as they are just there to do the paper work and report after everything is done and that's pretty much like this everywhere nowadays. Just call 911 and you will get put on hold.
As far a my electricity bills go I pay on the average of $70.00 a month for gas and electric. My water bill will vary from $70 to $100 as it has gone up since water rationing here. Garbage bill is $95.00 every 3 months. Landline phone is $55. per month if I don't make long distance calls. Cellphone is $55.00 a month but is pretty much useless alot because even though I may have a strong signal it is not clear. The cable TV with high definition and digital along with the computer (package deal) is around $130 a month. I have no idea what my car insurance would be up there in Custer but I would expect it to be lower since there are less people and traffic.
Like I said I am going to have to survey the prices up there in that county and see if I can find the latest demographics of Whatcom Co. As the last one was done in the year 2000 which is outdated now. I do notice that there are lots of low income people living in Custer.
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I know they are headquarted in Washington.
Southern CA. Los Angeles?
Russian mafia
Well it guess it a good idea that I bring my ADT plan with me as it follows whatever residence I move to according to ADT.
which also goes with the territory. But I guess it is to be expected in rural areas as here in CA in Mendocino Co. which is beautiful territory but lots of marijuana farms. There are also methlabs too.
