Looking to move.

[Skip Enge]

I lived in a rental right on the Deschutes in that area for a year. Was fun catching fish in the back yard year-round, but that place was a little too far from civilization to be a great place for a retired couple in my mind. Nearest hospital would probably be Olympia, almost an hour away. As a young buck, even I got sick of being 30 minutes from even a convenience store.

I know from fishing that area quite a bit that, like most rural areas these days, there is more sketchy stuff going on in those woods than I care to think about. That said, I've never had any scary encounters/break-ins, etc. out there, so all things considered, it's probably safer (crime-wise) than Seattle.

You might check into North Olympia (out near Tolmie State Park). That area's growing really fast, but it's still much more relaxed than the Seattle area, and it's all middle-upper income housing. Close to all the shopping, health care, etc. you could ever want. If you sold a shack in Seattle, you could probably get a dream home in that area. That's probably true of almost any other place mentioned here, though.

everywhere is "sketchy" today...if you look for it...

 

[Shad]

Just occurred to me that, assuming you have a fair amount of equity in your current home, you could probably buy two nice homes in more rural areas. Make one of those areas a place you like around here (your summer home) and the other area something like Arizona (your winter home). While you're living in one house, rent out the other as a vacation rental. It will be low season rates in both locations, but whatever extra money you get out of that could come in handy, especially considering how expensive healthcare is for retirees these days. If you ever wanted to make some serious scratch, you could tough out a winter up here and rent out the Arizona home to people from the PNW trying to escape the rain and cold. Folks around here spend a lot of money vacationing in warmer climes... and you know why!

Eventually, when your time comes, you can pass both homes down to family, so they can enjoy them in a similar fashion.

 

[Shad]

everywhere is "sketchy" today...if you look for it...

Absolutely true.

 

[Old Man]

Before I moved to Montana I did a little research and came up with that Sheridan had a full service Hospital along with Dillon. So I headed to Twin Bridges to stay with one of the kids to find a place to live. The wife and I ended up in Silver Star. A wide spot on highway 41, north of Twin. Well we finally got to Dillon and lo and behold. If something is gravely wrong with you they will air lift you to Missoula or Bozeman.

One of her kids hit an ice patch and rolled her truck. Her spine was cracked in several places(broken back). She got to ride a helicopter to Missoula. Even in Butte we have to go to Billings for special things.

Small towns might have a hospital but do you have to travel far for treatment??

When I lived in Washington you had doctors that were qualified in damn near everything.

 

[Jim Wallace]

Just occurred to me that, assuming you have a fair amount of equity in your current home, you could probably buy two nice homes in more rural areas. Make one of those areas a place you like around here (your summer home) and the other area something like Arizona (your winter home). While you're living in one house, rent out the other as a vacation rental. It will be low season rates in both locations, but whatever extra money you get out of that could come in handy, especially considering how expensive healthcare is for retirees these days. If you ever wanted to make some serious scratch, you could tough out a winter up here and rent out the Arizona home to people from the PNW trying to escape the rain and cold. Folks around here spend a lot of money vacationing in warmer climes... and you know why!

Eventually, when your time comes, you can pass both homes down to family, so they can enjoy them in a similar fashion.

You'd probably want to look into how to operate short-term rentals yourself, or hire a local property manager. That might not be a good idea, though. I know folks here who rented their home while they were gone for several months, and ended up with lousy lying tenants that trashed the place, even though they had hired a property management firm. After that horrible experience, they decided to not rent out their place when they are gone.

 

[Shad]

You'd probably want to look into how to operate short-term rentals yourself, or hire a local property manager. That might not be a good idea, though. I know folks here who rented their home while they were gone for several months, and ended up with lousy lying tenants that trashed the place, even though they had hired a property management firm. After that horrible experience, they decided to not rent out their place when they are gone.

I was thinking vacation rental, which is generally managed and always short term (weeks, not months at a time). No way I'd want to mess with "tenants." Just paid guests. Probably wouldn't rent it every week, but if you owned both places outright, whatever bookings you did get would be at least helpful in paying taxes and maintenance. Just one of many options for someone looking to sell in Seattle and buy elsewhere.

 

[Jim Wallace]

A friend of mine owns a gift shop down by the marina, and its a two story building, with a 2-bdrm apt on the 2nd floor. She rents it out short-term as a vacation rental, and makes more that way than if she had a full time tenant. She cleans up with her gift shop, too. Much of that has to do with its location. She's a savvy business person.

 

[Chic Worthing]

I live in Wenatchee. Let me clarify that, I live there from April until November. I have a 42' Fifth wheel that we haul to Arizona (Sun City) for the winter. You don't want to come down here, you might not ever want to leave and if you find yourself here in July or August, you might melt.