All of our moves have been long distance move and most of them were before the advent of the internet. You have it so much easier now with the internet.

First -- look at the city forums for the area you're looking at. Lots of knowledgeable people that will tell you why a specific area may appear to be a good buy but in actuallity sits on top of a land fill etc. Research the schools. Even though you may not be interested in the schools because of your use of the home as a second residence, the schools will matter for resale and desirability of the community.

Once you've narrowed it down to a few areas you're considering, talk to a few realtors that specialize in those areas.You can also find them online. Establish a raport and communication with them. If they're slow to respond to your questions or needs then don't be slow to switch up to another realtor. Ask for any and all relocation information that they have available which might help in making your decision.

Do all your footwork from afar so that when you actually step foot in the Seattle area you can maximize your time spent house hunting in the areas you've selected.

oooops, forgot to post a link to the city forum

Here is a link that might be useful: Seattle City Forum

When we started looking into our move to Louisville, I popped on the Louisville forum through Trip Advisor and really got a lot of great information (post a thread with a title like "Moving to Seattle"). I grew up in Edmonds (just outside of Seattle) and it's a beautiful little community. I still have friends and relatives there as well. You may also want to check in Lynnwood, Alderwood Manor and Bothell.

Here is a link that might be useful: another Seattle forum

When we were moving to Bainbridge Island-just off the coast of Seattle-I looked at lots of houses on the internet. I contacted (by email)3 realtors who had houses listed that looked promising. Two sent back automatic replies and one sent back several personal responses and followed with a phone call. She sent me lots of information in the mail. We flew in to look at the area. Even though she knew we wouldn't be buying that trip as we wanted to sell our house first,she showed us homes in several price ranges so we could get a good feel for what our dollars could buy. Of course when we were ready to purchase she was our agent! If you consider Bainbridge let me know I'll be happy to preview homes for you (I love to look)!

We bought our Maui condo sight-unseen, but...we'd vacationed there the year before and knew we were buying the complex as much as the individual unit.

It worked well, mainly because our seller was a longtime Maui resident who was willing to gut the place and refurbish it to our order. When we came to close on it and stay the month we had little to do to make it habitable.

Personally, I would not want to own two 'homes'. My aunt and uncle owned three homes: two in New England and one in Florida. Not only was there a lot of expense in taxes, maintenance, and travel to and fro, but they had to constantly keep up on what was where despite having a houseman at one home. I know I could only manage this if I had help.

Friends have two homes: a house in the Chicago area and a condo in Florida. They are gradually spending more time in Florida than here. He is a big golfer. She has found it challenging to find things to do outside of the condo community in Florida. They have enjoyed owning a dog, but now have only a cat that can travel back and forth. Their two grandchildren are here, but their DIL's mother also has a Florida home, so while the children are pre-school the family can visit.

We use our condo for a month each winter. The rest of the time it's a vacation rental. We employ a rental management agency to look after it, and the condo association looks after the property in general.

Do you want to live in the city, the burbs or rural? I know the eastside pretty well, and some of the island and peninsula communities. I think Bothell is great and you can still get a nice home here for 500k. We have the best senior citizen program in the country for trips, organized exercise etc. IF you want to live near salt water for 500k you will probably have to go to the west side of Puget Sound. Olympia, at the southern tip of Puget Sound is a lovely area. It is my favorite city. You can be in the country in under 10 minutes. There are great parks on the water and all the amentities are there as well.

I bought our 2nd house in AZ on a whirlwind weekend trip. It is rented out until we reach retirement age.

You folks are awesome!!! Wow! We did not expect receiving so many valuable responses this soon. Thank you so much.

Cordovamom, fairygirl, I book marked the Seattle forums that you suggested. We will follow the steps of searching for a new home outlined in your and Nan's postings.

Nan, Thank you for the offer of previewing homes for us. Be careful, we may take that offer. ;-)

Devorah, is it amazing? We are travelling in opposite direction, since our home is in AZ. How do you like living in these two almost entirely different climates? Do you mind to share comparisons of the two cities?

Chisue, your advice on owning two homes reminded us to evaluate if "living in Seattle in summer and Phoenix in winter" is really a good long term plan or just an unrealistic messy dream.

We are considering Bellevue, Redmond, or Kirkland for the location. Having been leading a workaholic lifestyle for decades, we are not totally convinced that we can really "retire". A central location will give us the flexibility in getting a part time employment or participating in many activities. Any suggestions about the neighborhoods in these three cities? any pros and cons?

I live in Mount Vernon, which is about an hour north of Seattle. I love it here, but I'm not much of a city person! However, I do feel like I'm close enough to Seattle to get there when I want to.

If you like outdoor activities, I'd strongly consider looking up this way...it's closer to most of the really neat parks and natural areas! If you want water views, definitely check out Anacortes.

Anyway, if you have questions about Skagit county, let me know. I've only lived here a year and a half, but I know some things!

We just moved from Tucson to Louisville and I guarantee the change from Phoenix to Seattle is going to be drastic.

Make sure you're ready for the gray days. Although when the sun comes out, no one celebrates them better than Seattle!

If I recall, Bellevue can be pricey (although that's true of many places in and around Seattle).

Do you have a realtor there yet?

I fee about this the way I feel about buying land way ahead of planning to build on it -- what's the hurry? There will still be property there for you once you actually retire and are ready to move. I'd probably retire; rent in the new area; buy after getting a real feel for living there.

In the meantime, you can rent a vacation spot (or spots all over the world) for a tiny fraction of what owning something in one location will cost you. We never planned to buy anything in Hawaii -- only did so because we had a rental property in Illinois sell and we wanted to avoid taxes with a 1031

We haven't spent enough time in Arizona to make a comparison. The house we bought is rented out to college students. So far we haven't had a problem. Our house is just a couple of blocks from the U of A. We like to be near the kind of amenities that universities offer. Of course that also means we are near a frat house and all the noise that is likely to entail.

I have lived in Kirkland and loved it. The waterfront is delightful. Unfortunately, we sold to move to Olympia and couldn't afford Kirkland when it was time to move back. The house we bought for $57k is now more than a million. My daughter lives in Bellevue in a close-in location with a view of Lake Washington and the Seattle skyline. It's great, but it too would cost well over a million today. Bellevue traffic can be really horrid and it can be tough to get around - same with Kirkland. Think about Woodinville or Bothell. They are bargains by comparison. Downtown Bothell is a bus hub that will take you in any direction. If you decide you want to be further out, then I would consider the Sammamish plateau. There are lovely planned communities up there. It is no good for finding work though and the infrastructure to move a lot of traffic just isn't there yet.

I have a brother in Sun City Grand. He has a lovely home, but it is all a bit too quiet and conservative for our taste. We have friends living on Dove Mountain in a retirement community and that seems a bit too quiet for our taste as well. I like that it is gated though because I just don't see how we are going to walk away from a house in the U District for the summer. We have 5 years yet before we retire, so who knows what we will be up for then. We bought the house in 2004 at the height of the buying frenzy, so we were just trying to preserve our ability to have a house in AZ.

Sorry I cannot help about location etc, but you do need to check out medical, transportation etc. Also medical insurance. As we get older this becomes very important, and without any relatives etc it also becomes a problem if one or the other person has a very serious medical problem. We were in great health until we moved and now in our mid 70's have to depend on one of our kids to help if needed.