Info on Kitsap Peninsula needed (Bremerton, Silverdale: rent, new home, construction)

[pinkdaisy21]

We are considering a move to WA within the next 2 years and are interested in the Kitsap Peninsula. We are a residential construction contractor in AZ and work here is touch and go (like most everywhere right now). We are most interested in the Port Orchard/Gig Harbor areas but would consider Bremerton/Poulsbo area. Questions:

1. What are the best and worst school districts?

2. Are folks remodeling or adding on to homes in those areas?

3. Can you give me the names of apt. property management companies in that area? Are there more apts. in one area vs. another? (We have been doing a lot of work for apt. complexes here in AZ as we wait for the market to level out)

We would rent a home for a year or so after arriving to make sure the move is right for us. Thanks for any help!

[cabocurtis]

For school districts your best bets are Gig Harbor(Peninsula) and Silverdale(Central Kitsap) where I went many years back. Mthomsen will let you know about building in the area but I think new housing starts have basically frozen in all areas. Silverdale/bremerton have some stability from the military(keyport and shipyard) and Gig Harbor is a bit more affluent. The housing market here lagged into the recession later than Arizona and probably did not get hit as hard here however based on past history we recover a bit slower here. You should do a thorough due diligence before making the move as the construction trade up here is struggling and there are many fine contractors here already that you would be competing with.

[pinkdaisy21]

Thanks Cabocurtis. We are only exploring the possibilities and plan to do complete due diligence. This is a first step. We are more interested in remodeling/additions than new home builds. We have had our own company here for 7 years and it was hard starting out, so I'm expecting the same up there. We want to move due to the HOT climate here and just need to find a way to support ourselves while we build a reputation. It may not be in the construction field, but it's what we do best so we are trying to get a feel for the demand. We also have many years experience in property management, so that could be a possible job avenue for us as well.

Thanks for the info on the school districts. I will check them out. I have seen on this board where people talk about the awful school districts, but honestly it can't be worse than So. AZ.

[mthomson]

Like Curtis said, Peninsula and Central Kitsap are better school districts for the most part than South K. South K isn't terrible, but their high school is way over populated.
Remodels are becoming a much more popular option as folks are realizing they may not be able to sell their homes for what they wanted, so they remodel and stay. It's not what I'd call a thriving business, though, and there's certainly no shortage of contractors.
It probably wouldn't hurt to check with a few to see if they're hiring.
You can see a list of the biggest prop managment companies in Gig Harbor here. Not sure about Poulsbo area.