Washington State info...may be moving.

[Beckysc]

Hey.

There is a chance that my husband may be transferred to Washington State...the Bothell area.

We live in Texas now and Washington State would be such a change. We have three boys and right now they are in 8th, 6th and 1st grade.

For anyone from that area, can you tell me a little about it...

How are the schools? I know it really depends on the actual school district, but I'm just wondering how they are in general.

I know that housing will be more than I'm used to...we can deal with that.

The weather....I know it is rainy. How are the summers? We are used to the Texas heat, and my boys love to swim, so would they freeze? I know the houses don't have AC because it's not needed....that would be a change.

How are the winters?


If anyone lives in the Bothell area and would be able to give me details about the area, please send me a pm.

It is such a big decision.

 

[Beckysc]

 

[bumbershoot]

You should probably check the rain stats against your state. I know when I lived in DC and VA, after a stint in SC, everyone talked about "oh the rain", but those states got FAR more annual rain than WA does...it's just that in WA it does it bits at a time, while in the south it slams down for an hour and then it's done for the day.

If you're moving at this time of year, from my experience it is the WORST time of year to move here. You have to be strong! You have to know that you're coming at the time when it gets gray, it's dark (though the fact that it's "higher" on the planet means it's light later than the "lower" areas...it's a shocking difference for me, especially in summer, compared to my homestate of CA) early, it's drizzly, etc etc. I know more than once person who tried moving in Oct/Nov and they went home before spring truly sprung (sprang?).

I don't really know much about Bothell, but in general the whole of western WA is nice.

No state income tax, but sales tax (on everything except for food you use to prepare meals, if that makes sense) is over 9%.

If you're willing to get out and explore, there are lots of things to do. We don't do it often (only once or twice, actually) but it's fun to go get on a ferry and go to an island, or just over to the peninsula. There is hiking and biking and camping...

Transit is good in the main areas...if hubby's job is with a bigger company, they might provide transit passes for free, so if he's interested in that, choose your housing based on that! Live close-ish to a transit center, or walking distance from a bus stop, etc. We live in Tacoma, and my hubby walks to the downtown transit center, catches a bus to Seattle, walks to his office...on the way home he catches the Sounder train then the lightrail train through downtown Tacoma, and walks to our condo. Last year when it snowed, while all of Seattle was freaking out b/c everythign was iced and snowed (and even plowed) in, he got to work *every* day because of that...until the Seattle people could get in, and then we were iced in so bad he couldn't walk to the bus. Then he had a day off, LOL.

When it snows, things shut down for the most part, unless you're in a local, walkable, transitable, area. It's just too hilly (at least in Seattle and Tacoma...not sure about Bothell). It's not like if you were to move to Colorado, where everyone can drive well in the snow and has 4 wheel drives and knows how to use them! Although those CO transplants are helpful...I once came back from San Antonio in January (where it had been 80+) to a big snowstorm here, had to pay through the nose to find the one taxi taking people, then he wouldn't drive me up the hill to my house...as I was dragging my bags up a hill, a woman from CO stopped and drove me the rest of the way. Helpful! But for the most part, you won't be driving in the snow, b/c your business might very well be closed. In that case it's also nice to have a walkable neighborhood, b/c employees of stores and restaurants might walk to work, and then you can shop and go out to eat. That's what happened here last year, it was lovely.

You'd probably want to find a swim center with pool indoors for the first year or two; there aren't a lot of backyard pools that I've seen, and schools etc have them indoors here.

That's all I can think of right now.

 

[minkydog]

Ya'll are making me want to go back to Washington! My sister has lived in Poulsbo(across the Sound, near Bremerton) for about 8 years. We drove our camper out there two years ago and stayed 2 weeks. We are totally in love with Washington! Of course, we were there in the summer, but I have also been in early June(cold and rainy) and late September(also cold and rainy.) Laura says the worst part is from Thanksgiving to March, when it's cold, gray, and rainy and the sun doesn't come up until 10 and goes down at 4.

DH & I are hoping to be able to stay out there in the summers in a couple years. His health isn't good enough to live out there year-round, unless we move up to Sequim. He has severe lung disease and he just can't breathe when it gets too hot(*like a Georgia summer!) or cold & damp( PNW in the winter.) But it doesn't stop me from dreaming.

 

[monkeybug]

I can't say anything about that particular area, but I can say that Washington State is gorgeous!!! We lived in northern Oregon (Astoria) only a stones throw from Washington and went often. We loved just about everything about the Pacific Northwest, and feel homesick for it every time someone mentions it! Crab, Salmon, awesome people, mountains, sea, tall trees and mild weather! What's not to love?
We would move back in a heartbeat!
If you end up going you have to check out Leavenworth Washington for Christmas. It was like being on a Christmas movie set, crazy perfect!!!

 

[Suzann]

Beckysc~ Did you get the PM I sent?

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I know nothing about the area or Washington state. I do know that housing is very expensive. You are probably looking at half a million for a home.

With anyone moving out of state right now, what is your plan if your house is on the market for a LONG time?

I recommend renting first. When we moved from TX back to MO last yr. we rented and looked for a house for 8 months. It is tough out there.

We sold our house and then moved into an apartment. While that sucked, I preferred to go thru that pain than have my house on the market and in limbo.

 

[Beckysc]

Yes Suzann, thanks so much for your e-mail, and thanks for the other one's I received.

If we do move, it won't be for a while, till after school lets out here. That will give us plenty of time to get the house ready. I think our housing market has been pretty steady here so I don't think we will have any problems selling.

 

[monkeybug]

Yes Suzann, thanks so much for your e-mail, and thanks for the other one's I received.

If we do move, it won't be for a while, till after school lets out here. That will give us plenty of time to get the house ready. I think our housing market has been pretty steady here so I don't think we will have any problems selling.

I'm sure that you have already looked into the real estate market in the area where you are moving, but just wanted to let you know that there are a lot of areas in Washington that are very affordable. We have money from when we sold our house and plan on re-investing it by purchasing a home somewhere in the Oregon/Washington area, and there are lot's of areas with homes under 200,000 (or a little over). The homes that are 500,000 or more are the ones in or right near Seattle. We have friends selling a home in Bremerton for around 240,000, and it's redone and has a large yard.

 

[bekkiz]

Yes, here in the Bothell area, there seems to be a surplus of new construction and very good deals to be had.

It's so funny b/c we moved here from the San Francisco area because we were looking for lower housing costs. When we would tell people that here, we got wide-eyed expressions! To us, it was very affordable, but to many, I suppose, it's still expensive.

 

[jenlynn0808]

I know how you feel. We moved from MI to Maple Valley, WA in 2008. Big change-but I have to say, we can't image moving back to MI. I'm a teacher (at least in MI I was, SAHM right now since we have no family here and our kids are DD1 and DS4) so good schools were a must for me/us. I believe one of the sites we used when researching schools was http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/summary.aspx?year=2008-09 . It is put out by the Office of the Superintendent of Instruction for Washington State. It gives a breakdown of the test results and demographics of the districts, and if I remember correctly once you are looking at a particular district you can narrow it down even further to look at individual schools. Our school search is what narrowed down what city we wanted to live in. We wanted this school district, so this was our city choice.

You might want to prepare yourself for sticker shock too. If watching House Hunters from TX is worth anything (new construction monster house for 200K), equivalant houses are going to cost a bit more.

 

[manning]

I have a relative who lives in WA and likes it.

However when they travel to MI to see his mother he keeps looking up into the sky and asking what that bright round spot is.

 

[marydmjj]

Most of Bothell is in the Northshore School District which is one of the best in the state. There are lots of affordable, nice homes in that area and it is close to everything. Everyone else pretty much described the weather here. Just remember, the drizzle makes everything green year round!

 

[monkeybug]

Most of Bothell is in the Northshore School District which is one of the best in the state. There are lots of affordable, nice homes in that area and it is close to everything. Everyone else pretty much described the weather here. Just remember, the drizzle makes everything green year round!

We always referred to that drizzle as liquid sunshine

 

[bumbershoot]

However when they travel to MI to see his mother he keeps looking up into the sky and asking what that bright round spot is.

That's the sort of thing we say so that no one else moves here.

 

[barkley]

given, we live on the eastern side of the state but it's still within the state so i'll suggest as a fairly recent transplant (2 1/2 years) to look at all the expenses associated with living here because you may find that things are very different from where you are (and i'm not familiar with texas costs).

we found-

higher sales tax, higher prices for some food items, but it is offset by-

zero state tax
MUCH lower vehical registration/lic. fees
MUCH lower property taxes (i pay over 75% less than i paid in my home state)
lower car insurance/homeowner's insurance premiums.

i think that's one of the reasons the state is very popular with retirees-the dollars can go allot further.

just remember to take into consideration your 'start up expenses' to move here-that means getting clothing condusive to the weather for us it meant snow gear, for our family that is on the western part of the state it meant rain gear. but i have to agree with a previous poster-the trade off for the rain and the snow is the gorgeous green year round, green that is currently mingled with crimson, gold, and a variety of other fall colors (i did'nt know what 'changing of the seasons' meant until i moved here).

 

[Beckysc]

Thanks for all the replies....the info is really helpful.