Relocating to WA- $ of Living Q's (Seattle, Olympia: insurance, mortgage, loan)

[stacymae3]

My husband and I would love to move to Washington in the next year or so. We're military background so would probably end up in the McChord-ish area for work's sake. Any suggestions for neighborhoods based on my inputs below?

Based on our experience a move to Washington would also mean a significant decrease in pay for us. Basically, half of what we make now. Has anyone else made a similar move, if so how are you coping/adjusting.

We have 2 small children and are planning on trying for #3 later this year. We'd like to buy a home with at least 2K sq ft but haven't found anything desirable in our price range (less than 200K).

Anyone have any experience building a home in this area? What approx cost per sq ft did you end up with?

We are seriously considering a manufactured home but my husband worries about the resale. Does anyone have any experience selling a manufactured home? Did you do OK? He mentioned we would have to live there for 20+ years since the resale might be low. The thought of committing to a manufactured home for 20+ year is what is scaring me away.

Sorry for the long post and tons of Q's

Ultimately, we are looking for the standard...
- small town community (or at least a small town feel)
- nice lot where we can have a garden
- good schools
- safe & friendly neighborhood
- lots of recreation/entertainment options
- with gas prices these days, the less i have to drive the kids the better so areas near grocery stores and parks/trails/lakes would be nice

Any suggestions?

[stacymae3]

Oops, just read this post again (sorry its 3am in Germany) and realized I forgot the cost of living Q's.

My biggest question is , as a family of 4 will I be able to live comfortable on 50-70K a year? By comfortable, I mean not living paycheck to paycheck. Bieng able to take my kids ot the movies and cook steaks if I want to. I am not an extravagant person. My biggest $$ vice is the kids, I am constantly buying them new clothes and thinking of things we can do together (camp, zoo, aquarium) As long as I can afford these things I will be comfortable.

Anyone in the 50-100K income bracket, IYO what is a comfortable mortgage payment?

Thank you

[Sandy Nelson]

Stacy,

On 50-70K a year you should be able to live comfortably. The average household income in Washington is below 50K. A comfortable mortgage payment should not exceed 1/3 of your monthly income. If your monthly income is $5,000, then your mortgage should be$1,650 or less. If you get a VA loan with a zero percent down payment, you can probably afford a $250,000 home. If you have enough money for a 20% down payment, you should be able to go even higher because you'll have no mortgage insurance and less principal.

The average home price for the Lacey/Olympia area is around $260,000. You can get a nice home in the Yelm area for about an average of $20,000 less, but the commute is much longer and with the high fuel costs there is no advantage.

It would be difficult to find a 2000 sq. ft. home under $200,000. Your husband is right to be concerned about the resale value of a manufactured home.
If you absolutely need to stay under $200,000, then building a home might be your best option. Hi-line Homes will build a home for under $100,000 and you should be able to find a nice parcel of land for under $100,000 as well.

I hope this information will help you define your options.

Best of luck!

Sandy

[GameHog9]

I live in a n area of WA known as Tri Cities.

Average cost of a house here is around 200k, which is cheap considering that in other ares the price would be 400k easy.
Living off 50/70k here = youre one happy camper.

However there is no zoo/aquarium here. Thats the bad news. The good news is that Seattle is 3 hours away

About 200,000 live in the area, which basically means suburban entertainment, at the best. Well, the Broadway show Chicago will be playing here in September, so yippie.

Other wise, it meets 99.9% of your criteria. Ring the bell if you wish to learn more!