work as fence installer (Seattle, Tacoma: rentals, house, college)

[kagicre]

Hi, my husband is a fence installer and welder and we are living together with our labrador-mix in Portland, OR. I would love to live in a smaller town, so we went to see what's up in Washington. We went first to Olympia (it was early morning) and we saw 2 deers crossing the street and walking into a parking lot of an appartment or office complex. It was magic. We also loved downtown and the Heritage Park. We also went up north to Port Orchard and Bremerton, than over with the ferry to Seattle (beautiful from the water and than get the hell out of it) and back to Tacoma and at the end of the day heading home. We got a speeding ticket in Bremerton (we really didn't see the restriction of 30 mi) so we couldn't spent the night in a motelroom and pay over 100 bucks for it). Anyway, now we would love to relocate to Olympia or Port Orchard or so, but we wonder about how the work situation is in his line of work. Can anybody help us with that question?
I am early retired due to fibromyalgia (I am German), since 3 years married to my wonderful husband and I get a small pension from Germany and are only allowed to work 10-15 hours a week, so it is very difficult to find work for me (I am a office clerk) and we have to rely on my husbands pay check.
We don't want to live in a big city anymore, we love nature/wildlife and walks with our dog. For the time being we are looking for a rental house around 700 Dollars.
If anybody can help us finding the perfect spot we would be very grateful. Thank you for reading.

[Ira500]

I don't know much about what's going on economically in Port Orchard, but Olympia is the state capitol, with a lot of state employees living there, and has the Evergreen state College, also with a lot of employees, and Thurston County ( where Olympia is) home prices have held up pretty well and the economy is pretty strong.

[vette-dude]

Fence installer is one of your hubby's job skills...that's a growing business in many places and in Tricities as well. With all the newer homes going in, fencing is a demand. I know of Freedom Fencing in Richland as one very good company. I must say though, the weather in Eastern Washington is much different than that on the West side of the Mountains...

In the Tricities, 100 is not unusual for the summer days, for instance today it was 98 degrees...so central air in your house is mandatory...this is the hottest place to live in the state, but also this area is growing even with a not so good economy nation wide... Just an idea for you to think over...You can pm if I can give any other points.

I lived many years in Port Orchard , and rentals there are very hard to come by , primarily due to all the Navy in the area, and the prices range in the $700-$1,200 range..more so to the higher end...Our family still lives in the Kitsap County....

Good Luck..

[kagicre]

Thank you so much for your reply. My husband don't want to live around Tri-City, because we love the woods and to a point the rain, too. We are still looking into the Olympia area.