Land in Washington State

[Anataq]

Parents are retired and considering moving to Washington, looking for land to purchase at a reasonable price, anyone have any suggestions?

-Anataq

[jassytoo]

What kind of place do your folks want? How much land? What kind of amenaties? Do they wish to be by the water? Would they prefer rain and moderate climate or sun and cold winters? Lots of different types of places here and different climates. Do they need health care facilities nearby? Lots of folks here from Wa. I'm sure you'll get lots of suggestions if you could give us a bit more info.

[limhyl]

Good luck to them. Land on the western side of the mountains is exceedingly expensive almost in every county. But it really depends on what they want and what they are willing to pay for it. If a manufactured or older, smaller home is ok for them they might be able to find something on five acres or so for around 200K. I would suggest www.windermere.com as you can search by price as well as acreage. You can search in any county of WA as well as ID and OR. It's a wonderful place to live and as I have just moved away for four years I am feeling a little homesick especially since we've had nothing but hurricanes here since I arrived. No hurricanes in Washington but they do get the occasional earthquake. No place is perfect I guess. Theresa.

[Jo]

Yes need more infor........we live in a college town and irrigated land is high here, central part of the state. There are peices on the side of the hills with great views but no irrigation, you can dig a well. We get lots of sun even in the winter with snow. But there are other parts of the state with cheaper land prices.

[deberosa]

The place next to me outside of Shelton is for sale. Beautiful 2000 sq ft home (1999) 3.5 fenced acres, garage, shop fantastic garden area, the rest in trees. Above ground pool and pickle ball court - low maintenance for $250,000. Even free eggs from friendly neighbor with chickens. :haha:

Seriously, the Olympic Peninsual is beautiful. But the typical retirement area - near Sequim in the rain shadow is getting all built up and expenxive.

[jerneeon]

The Walla Walla area is nice. A little hot during the summer, cold in the winter, but not bad over all. Close to Oregon so you can go over there and make purchases with no sales tax. There is no income tax in Washington. Land is a lot less than over in western WA. Numerous nice small towns nearby. Not too far from the Columbia River for fishing, camping, etc.

[YuccaFlatsRanch]

I have 10 gorgeous acres just outside of Tonasket, WA that I will sell for $35K. The views are tremendous - you can see 7 large mountains. Large trees, some Aspen trees, good roads. PM me if interested.

[Jen H]

I love the area just east of Bellingham, but it's gotten awfully expensive the last few years. Expensive is a relative term, though. This area is cheap compared to land near Seattle, and dirt cheap to folks who own homes in Seattle proper.

Also, what do your folks plan to do with their land? For farming tree crops they'll have an easier time in eastern Wa because of the fungal problems we have on the west (wet) side. For berries, the western Wa is a natural choice.

[kabri]

This is the web page for the agent we used when we purchased our land in Quilcene.... Click on "view my listings". Since winter seems to be arriving early here this year, I bet some of the prices will drop (just as they rose for the summer) and there are some really nice pieces of land available. We are thrilled with ours, can't wait until we can start developing it and move!!!!!

John L Scott, Pt Townsend office, Terry McHugh

[zel]

Check out the website for Sequim, WA. I wouldn't live anywhere else.

[snoozy]

First tell us: what do you consider "reasonable"? When I hear of some of the prices in MO or upstate NY or AR or various places, I know that land in western WA sounds really high.
What amenities do they want?

How much do they love rain? Would they like to mentor 4H kids in Agricultural Slug Production? Is moss their favourite colour on a pickup truck? And did you know that the people who live in Sequim are called Sqeamish?....I'm sorry. I'm just rambling, not being helpful...

[limhyl]

Now.......all of us Washingtonians know that Sequim is the banana belt of the state. If they can afford the outragious land costs that would be the best of both worlds. :haha: Theresa.

[Christiaan]

Puget Sound to the Cascades, Olympia to Bellingham no reasonable land prices and development everywhere.
Olympia to Vancouver, Cascades to the Coast, prices a bit better as you move away from the cities and the I-5 corridor.
Southwest coast, fishing and logging are dying industries, properties cheaper but employment and services getting worse. Same for the far Northeast corner of the state.
Sequim, prices sky high as lots of development. Still some good areas west of Port Angeles, but you run into service issues.
Eastern Washington, some lovely small towns skattered around the area with reasonable prices but some service issues. Cities on the east side are high: Spokane, Tri-Cities, Yakima.
Washington is filling up with people but employment is being concentrated to the major cities. Try Idaho.

[YuccaFlatsRanch]

And the politics are the pits unless you are a bleeding heart Liberal. Even the baseball team has gone to (pre-edited by mods).

[snoozy]

Nonsense, Yucca! We don't require that you bleed, merely that you have a heart.

Now, Anataq, bear in mind that the eastern half of the state is dry and bony. Really good for raising rocks, if you're into that.

[Jen H]

Come on! Yucca's right on both points.

[deberosa]

Originally Posted by snoozy

Nonsense, Yucca! We don't require that you bleed, merely that you have a heart.

Now, Anataq, bear in mind that the eastern half of the state is dry and bony. Really good for raising rocks, if you're into that.

You get my vote, Snoozy. :haha:

But come to think of it, it's NASTY over here - expensive, wet, moldly, slugs the size of volks wagons. Try CALIFORNIA. :haha:

[3girls]

You need to understand something: People who live in WA state absolutely love it, but they had to take an oath at the border that they would only badmouth it to their friends back east. Back east starts with the Idaho border. I'm still in shock that I had to leave it four years ago.

Sandi

[bergere]

Where in WA are they interested in living.. on the Wet side.....And do they need jobs??

Sadly,, prices are going up leaps and bounds in Kitsap county. Land is getting almost as spendy as the Seattle side.
Good thing if you are selling,, but not so good if you are buying.
Taxes are very high here. We are paying $2,500.. for yearly taxes on 2.30 acres.
House is 1500sq ft.. so not so big by todays standards.
They are putting in a new bridge,, And,, once that is done they are going to charge a Toll. :P

The Olympic Penninsula,, prices are a little better,, ,
Some parts of Mason county is not too bad... if you head southwest from there,, land is fairly cheap,, but becareful of low lands,, they tend to flood every winter.
Same with even sort'a steep hills,,, stay away from those too. In this area, your house is quite likely to slide down the hill in heavy rain.

Other than that.. just do your homework,, ask a lot of questions and happy hunting.