The Top 6 Best Places to Retire in Washington

are you thinking about retiring to Washington State then stick around because today we're unveiling the top six cities to retire to in Washington state from Serene coastal towns to vibrant cities will give you all the information you need to know so you can make the best decision for your platinum years and stick around because once we count down to number one there's going to be a big bonus at the end we're Joe and charity we're local realators and we help clients every week just like you who are considering moving into the Washington area so if

you're looking to retire we've got some great news for you would love to help you so go ahead and just text or calls on the number below so number six on the list is wachi and it is the Apple capital of the world little fun fact that you probably don't know is that there is enough apples produced in the wachi region to give every person on the planet 10 lbs of apples quote me on that look that up it is a crazy statistic and it's true everybody needs eat 10 lb of apples per year keeps

the doctor keeps your wife whatever is necessary gives you a little bit of space maybe not you know what you need to grow all those apples is you need a lot of sunshine and there is a lot of sunshine there and a lot of times when people are thinking about moving to Washington State they only think about the western side of state which has a lot of rain but once you get over the mountains there is a lot of sunshine it's a lot drier over there and Wii has a ton of sunshine it's great weather

in the summer and then you do get some really snowy great cold Winters as well along with that wonderful weather in the sun is you're going to have some outdoor activities that you're want to engage in I think the burning question that we're all trying to ask ourselves is how do we connect the outdoors and apples with something to do besides picking apples besides picking apples besides picking apples you can go on the Apple Capital loop trail it's a 10m loop trail that connects a series of parks and so obviously you've got the opportunity to

walk and bike then you can also get on the water and you can do some paddle boarding and swimming and fishing and just enjoying all the parks on the Apple Capital loop trail not only that you're close to all the hiking that you'd find in the Cascade mountain range which is stunning and amazing and gorgeous and view Galore so you're going to want to check that out for sure and besides for being close to all those outdoor activities well there's a really fun little town that's South far away called leanor and it is the Christmas

Town uh pretty much everywhere I think it you know I think it's the Christmas Talent of the United States I think it is I think it is Santa may or may not live there probably not but he should because it's more adorable than the North Pole that's all I'm going to say so if you haven't gone there you should and it's not only Christmas time it is all the time they have all kinds of festivals there roller coaster right down the side of a hill you've never had a you know roller coaster experienced on the

side of a hill we got one for you so good there it what it is is it's a little B variant town so all the buildings look like you are in the Alps and they have so many things that go along with that shops and great food food and all the activities like as you mentioned so it is basically a couple miles away from wachi so super fun and then if you just pass through that you'll be up there to the hyps and the Cascades which amazing you're thinking to yourself you know I'm not necessarily

just going up for all kind of crazy activities I'm trying to retire without we keeping that in mind one of the things if you're into wine and that's part of your relaxation and retirement there's 11 million Acres of Vineyards in that area which is amazing and 99% of Washington wine grapes come from that area seems like we're moving more from the outdoor to the more refined parts of retirement so we've got our Wineries and we also have a lot of Arts that happen in this area so if you are interested in the Arts then this

is a great place for you there's a lot of great local artists as well as Performing Arts Center so you'll easily have your time filled with things having to do with the Arts another wonderful thing about retiring wachi is you have great places to just casually stroll around besides the Apple Capital loop trail you can also stroll downtown on Main Street with quaint shops and then you'll want to check out the public market which has artists and vendors and over 150 local farmers have their food represented there as they bring their produce for you to

taste and enjoy so so many wonderful things to do as you're retired in wachi and I believe you will definitely enjoy it let's talk about what you could afford what do you what are you wanting to spend on that home well you're going to have option shows and it's going to be quite a big range here's the great thing about wachi as well it is one of the most affordable places to retire on our list bottom of that going to be around 300,000 but if you have a lot more you want to spend you can

go for 3 million and find anything and everything you'd want in a luxury living as well so it's got the wide range for anybody and everybody wonderful place to retire for sure that's why it made our list at number six so let's jump to number five and number five on our list then is Bellingham and this is going to be an interesting one for you it's going to have a lot to offer wide variety and let's jump in so Bellingham is nestled between Bellingham Bay Mount Baker and only 20 minutes from Canada so just starting

there you know that there's going to be a lot to offer so Bellingham Bay as we discussed is one of the top features and it's beautiful in fact there is a 24 Mile Drive called Chuck Nut Drive and that word is kind of fun to say just chut chut chut I mean it sounds like somebody is actually chucking chut or something so as I mentioned Chuck dri is a 24m scenic drive along the water and it is stunning there's really nothing else I can say except go drive it and then you'll know and if you

don't want to just drive along the water then you're luck because the South Bay Trail goes all along the water from downtown Bellingham to Fair Haven Village and it is a beautiful 2 and a half mile walk and last time we were there there were people out everywhere even though the weather was cold it's it was cold but people were in shorts Meandering around enjoying the beauty that is all there on the water right and Fair Haven Village is definitely one of the highlights of Bellingham especially if you're looking for a great place to eat

grab a burger grab a brew or just want to go through little art galleries that are there as well it is really Qui and adorable and something you're going to want to experience it's going to probably take you a couple days to just go for it and if you're thinking to yourself I would still want to make sure that I'm going to kind of stay young at heart while Western Washington University is there and that is kind of creates a fun atmosphere uh for retirement if you really love and appreciate learning this is a great

Community for you because they're going to keep you young at heart so if you're into the Arts then this is also a great place for you there's art galleries in the Fair Haven area there is also a downtown Art District including the watka museum which has over 30,000 pieces of Art and history also while you're down there you're going to want to check out The Spark Museum of electrical invention this is a place where you can literally get your buzz on in this you're going to find the mega zapper and what's the mega zapper you

ask I know it's the largest in the country Tesla coil lightning machine so this is one of those things like if you're a kid or not you need to just go check it out like you can bring your grandkids to this in your retirement and they're going to be amazed and you might be as well and you'll all be Mega Zapped you're going to be Mega Zapped so beyond the city there are a lot of Adventures that await for you uh one big one looming over Bellingham is Mount Baker so if you're into winter sports

or hiking in the summer that's a great place to explore and if you know you're thinking I would like to do some international travel well you're Lu 20 mil away is Canada might not be as International as fancy as other places but it is amazing and that couver is just across the borders it's a really really beautiful area for sure as you mentioned before we do know that Healthcare is important in retirement so don't worry here in Bellingham you have fantastic health care options so if this is crossing all of your boxes and you're thinking

ah man what would it cost to buy a home in there well on the condo end you're going to find things in the $300,000 range but because it is a destination city things are going to be a little bit more expensive for your single family and those are going to range from basically 5 600,000 all the way up into the millions and those million doll properties you might just have on Chuck Nut Drive and have an amazingly beautiful view yeah absolutely so coming in at number four is Spokan now this is the largest city in

Eastern Washington and it's going to have the big city fuel for you if that's what you're looking for in your retirement experience one of the reasons why people love retiring here is because of all the outdoor activities and most of the outdoor activities are related to the two seasons that Spokane has winter and summer don't you agree no I don't agree it has it has four seasons you're going to have a really lovely fall and you're going to have a little bit colder spring as it turns into summer just to be aware of that sometimes

it snows spr spring it does it occasionally does that but you're going to be looking into these really nice warm hot summers so if that's important to you then this is the place because it's got it all four seasons two seasons so in the summer these are some of the the things that you'll want to do Riverfront Park is fantastic it's actually the original site of the 1974 Expo and they just had their 50th anniversary and it's a beautiful site they've also recently basically redone it remodeled it yeah so Riverfront Park you're going to have

a gondola rides over the Spokan Falls you've got a carousel down there it's got a little water park it's also got ice rink it's got a lot of just casual type of activities to just Meander and enjoy that's right and great for if you do have grandchildren that come to visit you there's a lot of fun things to do down there then of course we have Riverside state park now Riverside state park is wonderful for hiking and mountain biking to getting out there just to explore the Spokan River area the Riverside state park is over

9,000 Acres with over 200,000 ft of Waterfront so you're walking along the river along wetlands and Joe is mentioning the trails and he has spent a lot of time conversing yeah if you're a mountain biker this is genius or just want to get out of and walks cuz I spent literally hours The Longest Ride I went in there just non-stop on one Trail I think was like 6 hours I went forever and uh you could do that as well thoroughly enjoyable and besides that there are great little trails along the little Spokane River and all

throughout Spokane there is fantastic ways to get outside and enjoy the outdoors and besides the trails that are really close right into Spokane you have Mount Spokane which is not very far it's I'd say about 20 minutes from downtown 25 minutes from downtown I would say if you want to get to the Top If you want go ski it's going to be about 45 minutes from from the downtown area it's really nice convenient location so the great thing is if you're into outdoor winter sports well you've got five major ski resorts within 2 hours of

Spokan so you're going to have your snow Shee you're going to have your CrossCountry skiing you're going to have your downhill ski snowboarding if you're still into it you just got all of those things covered for sure really really beautiful ski resorts yeah so if you already feeling like me this is the place for me because I want to be active in All Seasons then Spokan probably is the place for you so you're going to want to know about Healthcare Healthcare and Spokane is one of the major industries there are award-winning hospitals there and so

if you are need of Specialized Care then this could be a city that really you could thrive in because there are so many highly skilled doctors and wonderful medical facilities so of course the healthcare is important we also want to let you know there is great restaurants and places to eat throughout the community let's talk about a couple of those mhm we used to live in smokane so we do have the inside scoop on some great restaurants one of our player places is bordies it's a sish Juan restaurant not a Chinese restaurant it's very unique

it's fresh food fresh vegetables really amazing flavor profile very amazing flavors in fact one of the dishes makes your tongue tangle it's delightful you have to try it it's delightful there's great restaurants in the downtown Corridor there's also in the Kendall Yards area if you're a foodie then this is definitely a location for you because you will have plenty of opportunities to live out your retirement years eating fantastic food absolutely so let's talk about houses what's going to set you back to live there well on the low end is going to be around $300 to

$400,000 occasionally you find fix or upper lower than that but mostly if that's your starting point and then it's going to go up because it's a large area into the your Millions it just really depends on how close you want to be downtown what type of style of living or if you want a little bit more of the rural country area all of those are available in spok on yeah so if you want to live on acreage in your retirement there's great opportunities for that and like Joe said all the way down to a condo

well and that leads us to number three on the list which is Gig Harbor and we're going to give you the little Insider tip here it's the habba if you're in the Haba that's have to pronounce it that way though you do you have to say it like that har G Harbor is a great location because it is so close to Tacoma and Seattle and although it's a small little coastal town you do have the amenities of the larger city of Tacoma and it it is also the gateway to the kitat peninsula so you have

such great areas to explore matter of fact we've done an entire video on Gig Harbor so you want to check out that video to give you more Insider insight into the area so Gig Harbor being a harbor is most known for the Waterfront area and it is a quaint area with shops and restaurants and still a whole n yards yeah it's so great and they have festivals that happen down there so you can be right on the water where where the marina is and listening to live music and then stroll around through the shops sip

some wine do a little more strolling it is a really nice way to spend a day or two just hanging out yeah Gig Harbor for sure is the laidback quiet type of Lifestyle with activity sprinkled into it that is really quintessential and perfect if that's what you're looking for little Marina and you've got it to throw your boat in the water throw around teach sound and come back and more up at Thea in fact when Joe is talking about all the activity that you can do on the water there are quite a few obviously you

can own your own boat and have it right there in the marina but you have opportunities to rent um Charters you can also rent Kayaks you can also rent paddle Wards and I don't know if anywhere else offers this besides Denis but a gondola ride right I'm sure other places do Vegas do oh yeah that doesn't count at all but it is really amazing and I'm sure other places have it but it's it's really beautiful Community if that's important to you this probably place for you and of course coming along with that type of quaintness

on a coastal town close to larger cities for all of the healthcare needs that you might have you're going to come with a little bit heftier price take to live in this community so not only do you have all the water activities there is over 20 Parts surrounding that Community as well for walking and hiking and Meandering it's got you covered couple of our favorites are poak State Park which has great trails and beaches and then you've got Narrows Park which if you don't know narrow bridge is the big bridge that crosses from Tacoma gig

haror so you've got a park down on the beach with 1300 ft of Shoreline so you just get down on their Beach and which is really fun because if you go down there at the right time of year and if you're into fishing you can catch salmon from the shoreline and I know that to be true because I've done that on more than one occasion and it is really a lot of fun so catch your release or throw it on the grill another Park which is really unique is Cuts Island State Park and it is

an island that you can only get to by boat you can go out there with your kayak or pick your boat or your sailboat over there but pretty cool that it's just only you and the other people that got there by boat and because it's a really wonderful Community that's tighten it and close to large amenities it is also desirable yeah it's a very safe area too so if you're looking for a coastal Retreat for your retirement that is safe and close to some larger amenities like healthcare and some really great hospitals cuz B's not

too far away and then you have to comeb even a little bit closer then probably G Harbor is a place for you but what comes with all those conveniences is a lot of other people are thinking the same things as you are and the cost of living here is going to be a little higher on buying your home that's right so you can get a condo in the $400 to $500,000 range it's going to be a very small one but the price of properties go up significantly so you can have some gorgeous view properties that

are definitely into the millions so there's options for everything as long as you can start with a small condo and that leads us to the number two spot on the list which is is Olympia obviously we're familiar with this because we love it and we live here but we're going to go into some details of why it's a great place to retire people love retiring here for the same reason they love living here it is a beautiful area with a lot of Waterfront access wonderful outdoor activities great services and it being the state capital and

also highly interested in environmental matters this is a place for you if that all sounds right yeah and it's located between Seattle and Portland it's kind of right dab in the middle between the two so you can have day trips uh down to Portland and it's been the afternoon to cat a train on down to Portland and have a wonderful day there as well as go up to Seattle have your Mariners you have your football you've got your other sporting events soccer whatever you're into you can get to it pretty conveniently within a couple hours

which we absolutely love so as Joe was saying get to Seattle and Portland quickly so think about um if you're the type of retiree who wants to just have kind of an easygoing relaxed life but then you still want to occasionally go out to the theater or go to a large event and Olympia is really the place for you because that's the feel you're going to get here and as Joe said you're close to se Portland you can get out to the the big art museums and the big shows and the big concerts and those

kind of things great thing is about the size of our town is you have great restaurants here locally as well that are very convenient to get to some of our favorites with we've mentioned the past there's Brick's Tap House there's Cascadia there's well 80 there's lots of great restaurants to be able to have whatever your flavor profile you're looking for we've got them here because we're big enough yeah and the downtown Olympia is quite quaint there's a lot of shops there a lot of old buildings and stuff to just poke around a lot of unique

things here Olympia is a unique Place y so the vibe very quirky the vibe is definitely quirky and artsy in fact we have an Arts Festival in the spring called the procession of the species where people for weeks make costumes and it's all about Earth and it's all about art and they parade through town and they have a luminary procession as well so it's really fun that is really the vibe of Olympia and if it feels like you know you're kind of in that versy artsy sort of vibe relaxed Vibe then then this is a

good place for you another reason why people enjoy retiring here is because of this close proximity to activities obviously you have Mount rineer that is so close to you but you also have the Olympic Peninsula so you have wonderful hikes all around that you have the ho National rainforest within a couple hours it really is perfectly located on the south end of pwn and we love it we love it if you love to hike uh there's endless hikes in fact we were at Mount St Helens just a couple hours away last weekend there is so

much to do but besides that there's a ton of water activities Olympia is dotted with Lakes there are lakes everywhere so if you want to retire on a lake this is a place for you if you want to retire on the water we are the most affordable waterfront city on the western side of Washington so if you would love to have a view of the pet sound then this is also a great location for you to land in it's just stunning yeah and then some of our favorite Parks so if you're looking for something just

kind of close to kind of hook your head out for nice little afternoon stroll for an hour or two well we've got those as well burett Park is one of our favorites it's a just a short little walk through the woods and then it opens up to the beach which is fantastic this qually Wildlife Refuge it's really great what's great about that is this wonderful little Boardwalk very easy to stroll along there's really no pressure you're just kind of Meandering you're watching birds and sometimes you'll see the fish that are coming through it is so

stemmy and beautiful and easy and relaxing so if you're into that that's a great place to go cuz we love it as well yeah and then besides that you're going to have parks that are all along the water in Olympia where you can just get access get on a kayak or throw some pebbles in the water but we love it that's why there number two on the list that's right and we know that Health Care considerations are important as you're thinking about retirement so don't worry Olia has a lot great health care options and you

are Clos to Coma so even more in that direction as well so if you're thinking to yourself I can see myself maybe a retiring Olympia what's it going to cost me well the condos are going to be in that3 to $400,000 range and then it's going to go up from there you can still find great properties on the water whether it's going to be fresh water or Puget Sound and that's going to obviously go well up into the millions depending on how Grand you want to live and one other thing that's great to note here

in Olia is we have a couple retirement communities that are specifically for those over 55 plus we have a couple videos about them if you want to find out all the details but they offer a ton of amenities so you'll definitely want to check those out and if you are thinking about buying a house here in Olympia then we would love to help you we've made it easy for you just give us a call or text us on that number below and we will get going on your retirement dreams that leads us to the number

one number one place to retire in Washington according to Joe and charity an a Cordis an aoris an aoris is on an island go Island and it's actually one that you don't have to take a fairy to it's a dri to Island but it is the launching point for you to get to all the other San Juan Islands people love retiring here not only because it's the gateway to the San Islands but because anac Cordis is a quaint City with lots of outdoor opportunities so some of those outdoor activities include 2800 Acres of Forest Meadows

and lakes with over 50 mies of trails for your hiking and walking Adventures that is a lot of space a lot into a small town it's that's amazing it really is amazing here's the cool part so you might be thinking yourself I'm not really into the wetlands and walking around on Hikes I want to just get to the number one whale watching location in the world you're here you've landed you've landed but probably on a boat uh cuz you're going going to one out and this is where you can see orcas and you can see

dolphins and you can see it all because right out your window and if you're on a boat on the boat you can see them it's really amazing area for that so if that's what's into it really is qu to cenal pits out out and that's the most quintessential spot to watch them besides going whale watching there are so many other opportunities to get on the water you can Charter a yacht you can Charter a sailboat you can get a kayak you can get a paddle board there are so many things that you can do on

the water and you don't have to own all those different kind of boats because there are so many opportunities that people have for you to just rent them and of course also has a Charming downtown with great little restaurants Meander around some shopping all of those things just kind of the relaxed retirement type of feel you've got it covered so if you're done with having a whale of a good time or had too much of a whale of a good time and you need some Health Care well you're in luck they do have good health

care opportunities here so you're covered so you're thinking to yourself what's it going to cost me to retire in the number one place in Washington state well the good news is it's not that bad your condos are going to be in the $300,000 range and obviously because of the Waterfront and really large homes in the area it's going to go well into the millions if that's what you're looking for both are there for you so one of the main reasons we named Anna quter as the number one spot to retire is because you're not confined

to just one city it's the jump off point to get to all the San Juan Island so the bonus for this video is San Juan Island so let's jump in and give you a little bit more information about those so there are 172 named Islands in sanan county and some other unnamed ones which you can call when you're out there by yourself there's mob Island if it's a little thing that just sck up out of the water it's your choice you can name it but out of all those 172 there are a few that you're

going to want to visit and that the fairies will actually take you to and they are San Juan Island orcus Island and Lopez Island and we are going to share some great information about sanan Island and also orcus Island most of orcus Island's 57 square miles are Rural and hilly and great places to go on long drives or long bike rides one of the highlights is Moran state park with over 5,000 Acres of lakes and 38 miles of hiking trails south of Moran Park you're going to have a little Hamlet of Olga which is known

for it's artist community so there's a great Co-op there oras Island artwork and it has local paintings and pottery and jewelry and there are over 50 Island artists displaying all of their craftsmanship and artwork so if you are an artist you'll probably be drawn to retire here where you'll be among a community of other artists and the farthest point on this island is Deer Harbor and in that area you could rent Kaya you could be hike you could do whale watching all of the outdoor activities if you want to kind of get away from everybody

and just explore the beauty that is there for you and another main island is sanan Island that has great communities for retiring and Friday Harbor is home to a large Marina you can spend time walking on the docks buying fresh seafood taking a tour or renting a kayak and getting on the water so if you're ready to explore more than just Friday Harbor you're going to take this Scenic byway and that's going to get you to Rolling Countryside really beautiful Coastline views just wonderful amazing drive it's also going to lead you past some of the

main attractions so those attractions would include paddle Point Lighthouse American Camp lime Kil Point Lighthouse and San Juan Vineyard just to name a few one of the best destination points on S Juan Island is historic Ro Harbor where you will find Waterfront eateries beautiful yachts in the marina and Artisan booths in the summer of course in that area as well is the San Juan Island Sculpture Park with over 125 sculptures in a 19 acre Napal setting each Island's unique offerings make them adventures all their own so if you retire here you're going to have so

much to do and so much enjoyment but what's it going to cause you to retire at the S Islands it's not going to be cheap uh the the least expensive 300t condo is $350,000 and it goes up quickly from there however what you're getting is some of the most scenic quintessential Northwest properties in Washington state so this is why it's number one and this is the bonus area that you'll want to check out if you want to retire in Washington state retiring in Washington state is a big decision you have so many options as we've

shown you from the Eastern Washington Central and Western Washington and we are here to help guide you along in that process so if you have questions or if you're thinking about buying a home here in retirement then go ahead and call us or text us on the number below and if you've enjoyed this video then like and subscribe and keep watching our next video