Anyone in northern Idaho?

sisterpine · #1 10/20/10, 06:10 PM

Working through this divorce scenario I finally decided that we should sell the homestead and both begin anew. I always kind of thought it would be nice to live at a lower elevation but stay in the north. I love the area around CDA Idaho and the small towns out there as well. Anyone live in that area- between there and Spokane?

I really just want to know about sales taxes? property taxes? climate for gardening etc. thanks in advance, sisterpine

Molly Mckee · #2 10/20/10, 09:27 PM

I don't remember what Id. sales tax is--less than ours here in WA which is over 8%. There is no income tax in WA. I think property taxes are higher in WA than Id, but to some degree it varies from county to county. Climate for gardening varies widely-- there are micro climates, probably similar to MT. We live N of Spokane at 3000 feet and have 3-6 weeks longer growing season than friends that live 3miles down the road but 1000 feet lower. Just the opposite of what you'd expect.
The CDA area has grown rapidly in the last few yrs, mostly with high income people from CA. This has really increased the price of everything, but the current economic conditions have changed it some.

InHisName · #3 10/20/10, 10:33 PM

We are in NE Wa as well, you might take a trip this way and check it out. What size of town are you looking for? I do know our properties are much lower priced than the CDA area. Colville, Chewelah, Addy Wa have nice gardening climates, and beautiful. 1-2 hours N of Spokane

Lizza · #4 10/20/10, 10:47 PM

Sisterpine, just wanted to give you a really good relocation site: http://www.city-data.com/forum/

duckidaho · #5 10/21/10, 03:48 AM

I live in Genesee, Idaho. Sort of near Lewiston. I like it. 100 miles south of CDA.

wrightnidaho · #6 10/21/10, 08:00 AM

We are up in Bonners Ferry,ID. Love it....great people, homesteading mentality, and beautiful. I still can't believe this is home, even after 13 yrs. here. So BLESSED!!!

Deb862 · #7 10/21/10, 06:24 PM

Wrightnidaho, we used to be in BF too!! Our 22-acre off-grid homestead was North of 3-mile up near Camp Nine but the opposite side of the road. Absolutely beautiful, and we miss it every single day since we've been gone. Our hearts will always be in those mountains. Have to say though we really preferred being closer to Sandpoint as that town suited us more than BF. We really liked the area between Sandpoint proper to about Samuels/Elmira area. I agree also, great people, open-minded, homesteading mentality (altho a lot of meth-heads and criminals also), etc. It took us many years to get used to the short growing season and we always had to buy special tomatoes that would ripen early (Kootenai's). Property taxes were awesome! We had sticker shock when we moved back to NY state to the whopping tax bills in the $4000 per year range! I have to say tho, that we really did'nt like the CDA area. It was great to travel there for better medical care and shopping but to touristy and "citified" for us. Unfortunately, as someone else said, real estate prices all over North ID have gone astronomical since we left and we couldn't afford to buy there now.

Trisha in WA · #8 10/21/10, 06:40 PM

NE WA is much more reasonably priced. The growing climate varies widely though. I live just 20 miles west of InHisName and I bet her growing climate/season is much better than mine. I love it here!
I do know that Stevens county (just a hair north of Spokane) has some GREAT building codes for people wanting to build their own home. Check it out...and the prices are not too bad either. And the climate is fairly good for growing too.

LisaInN.Idaho · #9 10/26/10, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sisterpine

Working through this divorce scenario I finally decided that we should sell the homestead and both begin anew. I always kind of thought it would be nice to live at a lower elevation but stay in the north. I love the area around CDA Idaho and the small towns out there as well. Anyone live in that area- between there and Spokane?

I really just want to know about sales taxes? property taxes? climate for gardening etc. thanks in advance, sisterpine

CDA is in Kootenai County which is much more restrictive than Bonner County to it's immediate north (where I live). Check out the Spirit Lake, Blanchard, Priest River, and Athol areas.