the draw of eastern Washington

We were drawn toward eastern Washington because of the landscape and weather. We looked into land around Cle Elum and the Methow Valley, and to get a better read on both, we talked to friends, real estate agents, bankers, and architects. 

Initial information from local banks proved very helpful. Not only did they provide options for financing the land, but local banks had information on available properties, loans being written, and market conditions. Of particular interest, we learned that Kittitas County (i.e., the county Cle Elum is located) had banned new wells in the upper portion of the county, unless water rights were clearly defined. As a result, many of the banks were not underwriting loans for vacant land because wells could not be dug. This was a huge factor for us because obviously, we'd need water.

When researching the Methow Valley, we discovered a number of vacant lots that looked promising. Banks were writing loans and deals were being closed on vacant land even in a down market. Without many contacts in the Methow, we reached out to an architect who had designed a number of beautiful homes in that area. The architect put us in contact with a real estate agent that would turn out to be our most important resource for the Valley, Sheila Coe.

After a video conference with Sheila where we discussed price, size, use, etc., we were on our way to setting up a trip to the Valley. In the meantime, Sheila began identifying properties from Twisp to Mazama for us to visit.