west central. (Spokane, Tacoma, Yakima: felony, house, unemployment)

[dusty082155]

My boyfriend and I are looking to buy a home in the west central area. I have lived in Washington my whole life, but on the western side of the mountains. Tacoma area. The home that we are looking to buy, is on west Spofford ave. Can anyone tell me about this area ? Maybe even anything about the house we are looking to buy ? Its 1224 west Spofford ave. We have heard good and bad about the area, but i believe there are good and bad in all areas, so i would rather hear from people that actually live or have lived in or around that area.

Like a general idea of what utilities run, close stores, etc. anything would be helpful. .......Thank you...........Deb and Eric

[WendyK]

were you really thinking of buying this house without seeing it or coming to look at the neighborhood? From the listing info, it looks like it's a major fixer upper HUD home. You can call Avista utilities to find out what the avg. costs have been at this address. I would also recommend that you have a contractor or home inspector look at the house before you think about doing anything - even at the price it's listed for. You could be looking at a money pit that's not worth putting the work that's needed back into it, unless you are qualified to do a lot of it yourselves. Good luck!

[fy10fyr]

As a Tacoma native, now living in Spokane, I'd say that part of West Central is comparable to the South End between 56th and 72nd, between Yakima Ave and Pacific.

It's nothing like the Hilltop, or East Side, but it's not a great area. If you have other options, I'd pass on living in "Felony Flats."

[redhead]

ya you have to consider when buying a fixerupper the increased cost of utilities, you could spend a "morgage" payment on heating it in the winter. and i lived in tacoma for a while too and agree that this house in in not as bad an area astacoma's hilltop but not a real safe area.

there's great bargins all over spokane; especially if you buy at an aution; so even for the going price of this home, you can find a home in spokane at auction in a better area. i'd suggest that you keep looking. that's a big old house and would be very expensive to heat unless you do lots of upgrades.

i've been watching the market here in spokane for almost a year and the prices are going even further down recently so no need to rush to buy thinking that they are on the way up. they're not; regardless of what agents may say to promt people to buy now. spokane has lagged the nation in how fast the local market has declined and is now recently taken a dip in prices. i think you'll see more of this in the next 6 months because unemployment has increased and things aren't getting better in no time soon. so good luck and if you have to buy that one, know that spokane is a great place to live and even though that's not a great neighborhood it's beats most big city "innercity" neighborhoods.