relocating to WA (Olympia, Lacey, Yelm: real estate, rentals, new home)

[hooahwife]

Hi everyone,

We are relocating from the Bay area in CA to WA in the next 2 months and looking to buy a house. My hubby and I like Dupont, but it really seems like our Real Estate Agent is trying to push us into buying in the Olympia or Lacey area instead. Though we like both Lacey and Olympia, we really wanted to live in a smaller town, since the hustle and bustle of a larger town is something we were looking forward to moving away from. Does anyone know why she might be pushing us to buy in Olympia or Lacey instead of Dupont? We are a military family, my husband is an officer in the Army, so shopping for us is not an issue, since we can shop on post. My concern is that I have read several posts regarding several areas in both Lacey and Olympia that aren't military friendly, which was another reason we were not considering there, but they are nice towns.

Thank you in advance and please no anit-military replies or military hate mail. I have seen this on several other threads, so please not here.
Take care

[poogie777]

Hi Hooawife! I can't honestly advice about Lacey or Olympia, but I did want to welcome you up here to Wa, and suggest that you do some research on places YOU would like to live up here. Maybe even get on a military forum and get other military wives advice on places to live up here.

Don't let a realtor push you into an area you don't want to live. If it were me, I would find a realtor who would have ME in mind and MY needs and desires for a city to live in.

No, I'm not a realtor...just one who has great respect for our military hero's and their families!
Best to you in finding your spot up here!
Bev

[mthomson]

Dupont's a great area, and there are several military families there. When you say "our realtor," let me remind you of something. As real estate agents, we are nothing more than hired service providers. If you're not happy with the service being provided, you can easily fire your current agent and hire a new one.
Dupont/Lacey/Olympia are not areas that I service, but I'd be happy to refer you to someone who does. There's an agent who posts frequently on this site who works those areas.

[Ira500]

Maybe your realtor isn't familiar with Dupont. But you should move to where you think you'll be happy, and you know that a lot more than your realtor.
That said, there really isn't that strong of an anti military presence in Lacey and Olympia, and many military families live there.
...Also, Olympia and Lacey are a little more expensive than Dupont. Why would a realtor want someone to move somewhere more expensive?
If you know you want to live in Dupont, stick to your guns ( no military pun intended), and if your realtor doesn't get it, find another one.

[Sandy Nelson]

Hooahwife,

Choose your new home according to your wishes and needs. Your Realtor should not push, steer or pressure you. Maybe your Realtor hasn't clearly understood that you're heart is set on Dupont, or he/she is unfamiliar with the community of Dupont, the housing market and home values and feels more comfortable with the Olympia / Lacey area. Dupont is a great place to live and is very popular with military families. We're a retired military family and we have also bought a home in Dupont. Your Realtor works for you. Insist that he/she stick to your preferred location.
Good luck with your home search and welcome to the area.

Sandy

[anotherarmywife]

Hooahwife,
Greetings from another army wife who will also be relocating to Ft Lewis in a few short months. I have already gone through 2 real estate agents in the past 2 weeks, one wouldn't even look into a home I had inquired about and the other keeps stearing us towards homes that are not at all what we are looking for. We would like some acres and a stick built home, but the areas we have looked in that have acres (Yelm, Rochester, Roy) have MFD homes on the lots. I am not opposed to them, but VA wont touch them and resale stinks. So, she keeps pushing me towards brand new ( we like fixers/ old farmhouses) and not much land for way above what we said we could afford. She wont even look at the houses I have asked her to check out. So, on to the next agent!
Good luck in your move and time in Washington state!

[hooahwife]

Hi Poogie,

Thank for your reply and for your welcome to WA. I love it there and it is a beautiful place I have been there a few times for work when I was a DOD civilian. I did tons of research for all the areas around Ft Lewis, which was a big help and you were right stick to my guns and I did. I had found one other real estate agent the night before our house scouting trip and the day we arrived in WA for the scouting trip we let go of our old Realtor, she completely disregard what we needed or wanted in a house and it turned out she was trying to sell old rentals of friends of hers that were in bad shape, needed a lot of updating and repairs and were nothing at all what we wanted or in areas we herd were good or safe places to live. Anyway, sorry to rattle on, we found an awesome Realtor, her hubby is retired military, she was very knowledgeable and really worked for us and it truly shows. We were never ever treated as simply a "sale" if you know what I mean. We did find a very nice home and we close on Aug 8th and we will arrive on the 9th! Yippee!!!!

Thanks again for your post.

Take care,

Erika

Originally Posted by poogie777

Hi Hooawife! I can't honestly advice about Lacey or Olympia, but I did want to welcome you up here to Wa, and suggest that you do some research on places YOU would like to live up here. Maybe even get on a military forum and get other military wives advice on places to live up here.

Don't let a realtor push you into an area you don't want to live. If it were me, I would find a realtor who would have ME in mind and MY needs and desires for a city to live in.

No, I'm not a realtor...just one who has great respect for our military hero's and their families!
Best to you in finding your spot up here!
Bev

[hooahwife]

Hi,
I thank all 3 of your for your posts. I did stick to our guns and I am so glad we did. The night before our house scouting trip were found another Realtor that we ended up working with, because we let go of the other one we had. It turns out that our other Realtor was just trying to sell previous rentals for her friends, that were all in very bad disrepair, no updates to them and most were fairly trashed inside and out as well by the tenants, so we fired her, then we met with the other Realtor and she has been a dream to work with, so thanks for all the great advice. We will be in WA in about 3 weeks, yeah!

Take care,

Erika

Originally Posted by mthomson

Dupont's a great area, and there are several military families there. When you say "our realtor," let me remind you of something. As real estate agents, we are nothing more than hired service providers. If you're not happy with the service being provided, you can easily fire your current agent and hire a new one.
Dupont/Lacey/Olympia are not areas that I service, but I'd be happy to refer you to someone who does. There's an agent who posts frequently on this site who works those areas.

[hooahwife]

anotherarmywife,

Hey military sister, hon I am going to send you a private message.

Take care,

Erika

[poogie777]

Hi again, Hooahwife! I'm so glad you found a realtor who would "work for YOU!" That's great. I'm glad you found a home. That was quick! Let us know when you get all settled in...