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closeDo you want to be within walking distance of shops and restaurants or have wide-open fields outside your back door? Do you want to keep a few horses in a barn next to your home or is owning a mutt as close as you'll get to livestock?
Except for a few rural areas in the Lake Padden area, if you want to have livestock, including horses, country living is what's required.
Many people are also choosing to live closer to their jobs to avoid long commutes that skyrocketing gasoline prices have made even more costly, says Buyer Tours Realty agent Leah Bunger. For many people that means living in Bellingham, where most Whatcom County jobs are located.
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CITY
Pros
- Stores and restaurants nearby.
- City water and sewer.
- Smaller yards, less maintenance.
- Less commute times to most jobs.
Cons- Less privacy.
- Traffic congestion.
- More costly real estate.
- Noise pollution.
COUNTRY
Pros- Ability to have livestock.
- Less road traffic.
- More land, more privacy.
- Typically less costly per square foot of land.
- Unobstructed water or mountain views.
Cons- Travel long distances to conveniences.
- Well and septic system maintenance.
- More isolated; neighbors farther away if you need help.
While buying acreage in Whatcom County can be costly, depending on the location, Bunger says she sometimes refers buyers to some of Whatcom County's smaller towns like Ferndale, Lynden and Everson, where housing costs are more reasonable.
The cities offer many of the same conveniences of Bellingham, without the sticker shock.
Besides, Bellingham isn't far from most of Whatcom County. "For people who are relocating to this area, a 20-30 minute drive is nothing," Bunger says.
Choosing to live in the country might require a private septic system and water district, things some homebuyers just aren't willing to use. But you'll also likely get a lot more space between homes and even some stunning, unobstructed water and mountain views.
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