Moving here
I came to Arlington from British Columbia in December 2003, and I spent the next two decades driving freight through Snohomish, Skagit, Whatcom and Island counties. If you are buying here from another state, or from the other side of Washington, you are choosing a place you cannot just drive around on a Saturday. That is the part I can help with.
Get pre-approved by a lender who writes loans in Washington before we look at anything seriously. It tells you what you can carry here, where taxes and insurance are not what they were back home. I work with Michelle Schmidt at Movement Mortgage, and you are welcome to use your own.
Photos hide the road in, the grade, the drainage and what is next door. I will walk a property on a live video call and point the camera at the things a listing never shows, so you can rule places out before you book a flight.
Offers and agreements are signed electronically, so being out of town does not slow an offer down. One rule that matters more from a distance: never wire earnest money or closing funds from instructions in an email. Call escrow at a number you looked up yourself first.
Inspection, appraisal, title and escrow. Closing papers can often be signed where you live with a notary, depending on your lender and escrow. You will hear from me at each step, not only when something is wrong.
The lay of the land
Where I work, from someone who has driven all of it.
North Snohomish County along I-5 and Highway 9. Newer neighborhoods around Smokey Point, older town streets, and acreage and farmland running east toward the foothills.
East of Everett. Lake Stevens is built around its lake. Granite Falls is the start of the Mountain Loop Highway, with more land and more trees per house the farther out you go.
West of I-5 on the water. Stanwood is in Snohomish County and Camano Island, across the bridge, is in Island County, which means a different county for permits and taxes.
Up Highway 530 into the mountains. Big lots, timber country, and a longer drive to everything, which is exactly the point for some buyers and a deal breaker for others.
Everett is the Snohomish County seat and the biggest city in the county, with passenger flights out of Paine Field. Mukilteo sits next door on the water, with the ferry to Whidbey Island.
The city of Snohomish keeps its historic downtown on the river. Monroe hosts the Evergreen State Fair, and Highway 2 carries on through Sultan and Gold Bar toward Stevens Pass.
South Snohomish County along I-5 at the King County line. Lynnwood and Mountlake Terrace have light rail stations into Seattle, and Edmonds has its waterfront and the ferry to Kingston.
The southeast corner near I-405. Bothell straddles the King County line, so check which county an address is in, because taxes and rules follow the county.
Skagit County. Mount Vernon is the county seat, the valley around it is working farmland, and the tulip fields draw crowds every April.
Town photos via Wikimedia Commons, cropped. Arlington: SounderBruce, CC BY-SA 4.0; Lake Stevens: Ron Clausen, CC BY-SA 4.0; Stanwood: SounderBruce, CC BY-SA 2.0; Darrington: Ron Clausen, CC BY-SA 4.0; Everett: Cindy Shebley, CC BY 2.0; Snohomish: Joe Mabel, CC BY-SA 3.0; Edmonds: SounderBruce, CC BY-SA 4.0; Mill Creek: SounderBruce, CC BY-SA 4.0; Mount Vernon: Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0.
New to the area
Outside the cities a lot of homes run on a septic system and many on a well. From November 1, 2026 every sale of a Snohomish County property with septic needs an inspection first. Read the septic rule.
Washington has no state income tax on wages, which surprises people, but property and sales taxes make up a lot of the difference. Read what a Snohomish County tax bill actually says.
River valleys here flood, and some driveways do too. Before you fall for a property in the Skagit or Stillaguamish valleys, check whether it sits in a mapped flood zone, because that changes insurance and what you can build.
Acreage does not automatically mean a second house, a shop or a split. Zoning, critical areas and access rules decide that, and they differ between Snohomish, Skagit and Island counties. I would rather you hear it before you write an offer. Read the acreage and land guide.
Start here
Where you are now, roughly when you want to be here, and what you are hoping to find. I will reply myself, and there is no obligation attached to any of it.
New listings
Pick a town, a price and bedrooms. My home search opens with those homes, and every new one can be emailed to you each morning.
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