Landscape Gardener moving to WA needs advice! (Seattle, Vancouver: real estate, crime)

[woodsong]

I am planning on moving to WA in a few months. I am a professional gardener and am thinking of leaving Montana to extend my work season. Want to buy a small fixeruper farmhouse and little bit of land, have enough work options, make friends and play on the water! Can anyone help me? I am interested in Port Townsend (although it looks expensive) ... just want to be happy and not end up in financial distress. It is so beautiful out there, but also the map is so confusing. I don't even mind working in an orchard. Hard worker here! Thanks so much to anyone who can enlighten me!! gretchen

[StealthRabbit]

You'll definately extend your work season moving to the west side of WA state.
Port T is quite spendy, but you might find abundant work there, as some folks commute, and others have weekend homes, and neither have time to do the exhaustive work of keeping ahead of the vegitative growth. Lawns need to be mowed twice a week in the spring, to keep them nice. but there is nice landscape opportunities. I would suggest you do some other inquiring such as on landscaper forums (lawnsite). Get you growing season and planting info from the WSU county extention agent in your target destination. Might join up with 'Master Gardeners' as they do a 12 wk winter course that is zone specific, and was very helpful to me + I like the volunteer projects such as pruning historic orchards. You might have the right idea to target a 'vacation' / summer home destination. Maybe you can find a caretakers job with housing and latitude for other duties. I have met folks that have done that for residences in the San Juan and Gulf Islands (B.C.) Sometimes the owners are only there a couple weeks / year.

[woodsong]

Hello Jan! I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your advice. It is really nice of you to take the time to help me. Do You happen to know of any great gardener forums? I can search it out myself, just thought you might have a favorite. I am a flower gardener and don't do lawns. Seems always way more than enough to keep a girl busy. What do you do? Thanks again, gretchen

[StealthRabbit]

sorry this forum is not keen on posting referrals to other forums...

Do some searching, but don't discount landscaper forums, as there is a lot of info they can help you with. + I'm sure the Washington State U extension service has exhaustive web data.

I don't do flowers, but was a fruit farmer and orchardist in an eariler life. My other half likes flowers and we have a very large flower garden. I claim the tulips are on steroids as they are about 3-4'tall and have bloom clusters ~ 4" dia x 6" tall. Stuff grows really fast on the west side (~100" of rain at my location). Our corn and pole beans were taller than our 12' orchard ladder that I mounted the sprinkler on. (no rain in summer). Kids loved playing in the garden, and Corn Maize's are pretty popular around here.

[faulkton]

Have you thought about Port Angeles or Sequim (about 25 & 35 miles west of port townsend)?

Sequim has a lot of retirees who would need young strong workers to take care of their yards... and there is farm land. Also I'm pretty sure there are generally more people in the Sequim/PA area, and more people = more potential customers.

They dont have the same architectural charm that port Townsend has, but they are both nice communities and are closer to the national park, hot springs, ferries to BC, hurricane ridge ski area, rain forest, lake crescent..

Just a thought.

[BanteringBear]

Hi Woodsong. I am not sure how much money you have, but you better be prepared to pay dearly if you want an old fixer farmhouse on land in the Puget Sound area. As a professional gardener, I was looking for the same thing, but simply would not pay the prices that others were willing to. So I left the area entirely. I am not into being house poor, and working my entire life just to pay the bills. You can make some decent money in design, but not enough to compete with the stupid money around there. And, if money is of any consideration at all, then you cannot afford Port Townsend. You might luck into something in Mason, Kitsap, Jefferson or Clallum counties for under $400k, but any old farmhouse on acreage in King, Pierce, Snohomish, or Whatcom will cost you well over $500k. I am not sure if you know about the real estate bubble, but be prepared to meet it head on. Washington is hideously overpriced. And not only for real estate, but the cost of living in general. Think rent, not buy. As someone mentioned, maybe you can find a position as a caretaker/gardener. If you want to connect with other gardeners in the area, try DavesGarden on the web. Me, I worked at a world class nursery in WA for several years, grew and sold plants at local markets, worked in landscape design, and know the whole area very well. It's very beautiful, a gardeners paradise, but too expensive anymore. I am moving where land is reasonably priced, so I can have my farmhouse on 10 acres, with money left over for living. Let me know if you have any further questions, maybe I can help. Good luck!

[woodsong]

Thank you SO much Banteringbear. Your information is VERY helpful. I have been wavering the more and more I hear about how expensive it is. Where are you moving, if I might ask? You sound like a wonderful gardener. The last thing I need to do is ruin my peace of mind with a financial disaster. 500K - NO way!! Thanks so much and good luck to you! woodsong

[magrack]

You might want to look at the Chehalis or Centralia area.

Lewis and Cowlitz Counties are much less expensive than Thurston County and points north.

Once you get south of Olympia prices drop considerably and don't really start picking up until Kalama and further south towards Vancouver (WA) and Portland.

[BanteringBear]

Hi again Gretchen. I am going to have to disagree with the Lewis, Cowlitz, and Greys Harbor suggestions. I have looked in all of those areas, and the bubble might even be worse given the local economic conditions. These areas suffer from a lack of good paying jobs, if any, and are rife with abject poverty. The prices, while lower, are still way too high for what is offered. Lewis County has seen a huge run-up over the years based entirely upon speculation, not economic prosperity. To buy in any of those areas right now, unless you are wealthy, would be foolish to say the least. It can be argued that the correction will be much more severe there, than in places like King County where, at least, jobs are plentiful. Like I said, buying real estate in Washington right now makes no sense. Me, I had to expand my horizons, and, based on the plants I want to grow, have found nice land with old farmhouses outside large population centers in southern Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. Will be heading there soon to look around. There are still old fixer farmhouses on 40 acre parcels (sometimes larger) for around $100k. Much more realistic. And the people are much more friendly there. I was born in Seattle, but have to agree with a lot of the sentiment here, that the people are just not that warm. They tend to keep to themselves and are not quick to lend a helping hand. Crime is getting a lot worse, and there is a keeping up with the Joneses' mentality which I don't like. Hope this helps! I don't want to try and derail your plans, but I've been there done that.

[scirocco22]

Makes perfect sense to me, BanteringBear.


--'rocco