Looking for a specific home type and not sure how to search online nor what area of Olympia to look in? Learn how to find your perfect home type in the Olympia area!
In this video, I cover the most common home types buyers ask me to help them find, show maps of the areas, and how to use the filters on my website to search for each home type.
Ramblers a.k.a Single-Story Home
The first home type that is a very popular choice with my buyers is the rambler, also known as the single-story home. The Olympia area has lots of ramblers in all shapes and sizes throughout the county.
When you search online for homes, you can use the filter to select the one-level or rambler home type, or another tip is to search for homes with main floor master bedrooms. This would bring up ramblers with basements or two-story homes with the master bedroom on the main floor. Some buyers only need a bedroom on the main level and this opens up the search parameters to not just ramblers.
Vintage Homes with Character
My second most common request from buyers is they are looking for vintage homes with character. They do not want a cookie cutter home in a typical subdivision.
The top neighborhood to focus on this would be the South Capitol neighborhood. This neighborhood is the most concentrated area for homes with distinct architecture. Be sure to check out my walking tour.
The downside for buyers is this neighborhood is pricey and not a lot of homes come up for sale. But buyers can also look just west and east of downtown Olympia for more vintage homes that don’t have the South Capitol price tag.
Online search tips: Search by area or by the year the home was built. I’d suggest putting in 1950 or earlier.
55+ Neighborhoods
55+ neighborhoods are also a highly requested home type from my buyers.
The top 55+ neighborhood would be Jubilee located in North Lacey. This is a huge neighborhood with hundreds of single-family ramblers and they are still building, so new construction options are available. They have a fantastic clubhouse, lots of amenities including tennis courts and an indoor pool, plenty of activities, and access to their own beach.
If Jubilee isn’t your place, you may want to check out Ovation at Oak Tree. This is a brand new 55+ community in southeast Lacey with more affordable prices as compared to Jubilee. The one downside is the location and that is the very active train line that runs along the southern border of this neighborhood.
Finally, we have lots of 55+ manufactured home parks throughout Olympia. One of the higher-end parks is also in Lacey in between Jubilee and Ovation and that is Laurel Oaks. This is a gated community that is very well kept, and much more affordable.
Online search tip: To find 55+ neighborhoods on my site, to go More, Advanced Search, and under Step 1, select Community Features and in Step 2, select Age Restriction.
Waterfront Properties
With Thurston County’s four main inlets from the Puget Sound, there are miles of waterfront.
Waterfront homes range from tiny weekend cabins that were built over 70 years ago to larger custom homes over a million dollars. Click here to search waterfront homes.
Thurston County also has many lakes that can offer less expensive waterfront options but some of the best waterfront deals can be found in the northwest part of the county in Carlyon Beach. This is a neighborhood with a mix of cabins, single-family homes, and manufactured homes. It’s about a 10 to 15-minute freeway drive to downtown Olympia.
New Construction
New construction is a draw for many buyers. For 2021, Thurston County has pockets of new construction throughout the county and there are several larger new construction neighborhoods in Tumwater.
Buyers can search for the category of new construction or search by year built and search for homes built in 2021.
Thurston County has not only the larger, national builders like Lennar, DR Horton, and Richmond American Homes but buyers will also find homes and communities by the premier local builders like Rob Rice Homes and Mance and Son.
On July 24-25th this year, Olympia Master Builders will have their tour of homes where you can see the area’s top builders and remodelers.
Homes with ADUs
Homes with ADUs or additional dwelling units are becoming increasingly popular but how do you find them? My tip to find these properties is to search for homes with a 2nd kitchen. This can bring up homes with mother-in-law units in a basement, for example, separate units on the property or other secondary living configurations. Or buyers will search for homes on larger lots where they could build a separate ADU on the property.
Affordable Homes
Where are the cheap, affordable homes? Olympia doesn’t have many condos or townhomes like other cities but for the more affordable single-family homes, I’d suggest looking in the areas of Lacey, Yelm, Rochester, and Tenino where your dollar will go further.
When looking closer to a town center, the affordable housing options may be a much smaller home (under 1,000 square feet) and may also be in disrepair.
Other options for cheaper housing are fixer uppers, manufactured homes on their own land, manufactured homes in parks and foreclosures. To find fixer-uppers, you can go to my website and under the advanced search go to property condition and then select Fixer. And you may want to check out this post on how to find foreclosures for sale.
Million Dollar Homes
Where are the million-dollar homes? In the Olympia area, there isn’t a section of town where all the big fancy homes are but instead, you’ll find several neighborhoods that are worth checking out.
- McAllister Park near Lacey with custom homes built on ½ acre to a full acre.
- Indian Summer with homes along the Indian Summer golf course.
- The Reserve in northwest Olympia with newer, million-dollar homes on acre lots.
What Kind of Home are You Looking For?
The Olympia area has lots of housing types for buyers. Let me know what you are looking for and I can help set up a search for you.