Old Town · Buying a Home
Buying a Home in Old Town, Anacortes
A real consultation before the first showing, a search tuned to what you actually want, and a steady hand from offer to keys.
Buying a home in Old Town buys you the walk
Buying a home in Old Town is a decision to live on the original Anacortes street grid: the lettered avenues and numbered streets the county still records as the Map of the City of Anacortes, laid out between Guemes Channel and the hill. The homes here were built when fishing and lumber were king. Some have been carefully restored, some are waiting for the next person to do it, and the difference between those two is worth a great deal of money.
What you are buying, besides the house, is the shortest list of car trips of any neighborhood in town. The Saturday farmers market at the Depot on R Avenue, Causland Memorial Park, the waterfront parks, the museum, the library, the coffee, and the Guemes Island ferry are all inside this neighborhood rather than a drive from it. That is the trade people make here, and they make it on purpose.
The other half of the trade is upkeep. Older homes on smaller lots, in salt air, cost more to keep than newer ones. That is not a reason to walk away. It is a reason to know the number before you sign, which is exactly what the inspection and the repair budget are for, and why I plan for both before we write anything.
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Why Old Town buyers choose DiAnn Sager
I am DiAnn Sager, a Real Estate Broker with RE/MAX Gateway, working out of 914 15th Street in Anacortes, and I hold the ABR designation along with CRS, MCNE, SRES, e-PRO, and AHWD. I represented the buyers of a 1920 home on D Avenue here, on lots from the original plat, so the questions I ask about an Old Town house are the questions I have already had to answer for my own clients.
Which blocks get the afternoon light. What a hundred-year-old foundation in this soil usually looks like and what it costs to address. Where the lot lines really are when the plat predates the modern survey. Whether the roof and the wiring have been touched in this century, and what the seller can prove about it. Those are not questions a listing site answers, and they are the ones that decide whether a house is a good idea.
The way I work starts with a free consultation of about an hour before any showings, so you know your real monthly number, what it buys on this grid right now, and the whole path from today to keys. Craig Wells, a client of mine, wrote: "We had not bought real estate in the last 27 years and she walked us through every step of the way." Nobody should have to already know how this works. Read the full approach on the buying a home page.
What we check before you write an offer in Old Town
The due diligence is the same for every client of mine. The order changes here, because an older home on the original plat brings a particular set of questions to the front.
A thorough inspection, and a real repair budget. I do not treat the inspection as a formality on a house this age. We read the report together, and each finding lands in one of three places: a repair request, a price conversation, or the honest cost of owning an older home. Panic is not one of the three.
What has already been done, with proof. Roof, foundation, wiring, plumbing, heat, windows, and drainage. A seller's word is a starting point. Permits, invoices, and dates are the evidence, and I ask for them.
The lot and the plat. Old Town lots are small and often assembled from several original plat lots, which is why a fence is not a property line. We confirm what you are actually buying.
The walk itself. I will walk the block with you at the hour you would actually be home, because afternoon light, street parking, and how the neighborhood feels on foot are the reasons to live here and none of them show up in a photograph.
The schools, from the district. The Anacortes School District runs Fidalgo, Island View, and Mount Erie elementary schools, the Whitney Early Childhood Education Center, Anacortes Middle School, Anacortes High School, and Cap Sante High School, and it sets attendance areas. I get the district's current answer for the address rather than guessing.
Local context and proof for Old Town
One thing to get straight before you start searching: the Historic Downtown arch over Commercial Avenue is the boundary, not the neighborhood. Old Town is the part toward the water, north of the arch. Downtown is everything up Commercial from there. Knowing which side of the arch a listing sits on changes what you are looking at.
What is inside the neighborhood, by name: Causland Memorial Park at 710 N Avenue, two acres of 1920s mosaic stone walls, terraces, a bandstand, and an amphitheater on the National Register of Historic Places. Kiwanis Waterfront Park at 1708 6th Street, with Guemes Channel, Guemes Island, and the boat traffic in front of it. The Depot Arts and Community Center at 611 R Avenue, the old Great Northern depot, which hosts the farmers market on Saturdays from May through October. The Anacortes Museum in the historic Carnegie Library building at 1305 8th Street, the W.T. Preston and the Maritime Heritage Center at 703 R Avenue, and the public library at 1220 10th Street. The Tommy Thompson Parkway leaves from 11th Street and runs 3.3 paved miles down Fidalgo Bay and across the old railroad trestle to March Point Road.
Getting out of town is simple. Commercial Avenue runs south as the state highway spur to Highway 20, and 12th Street and Oakes Avenue run west along the channel to the Washington State Ferries terminal for Lopez, Shaw, Orcas, and San Juan islands. The Guemes Island ferry leaves from 500 I Avenue. If you want more ground and a quieter road instead, Stittwood and Whistle Lake are the other direction, and the whole island is on the Anacortes page. The neighborhood itself, block by block, is on the Old Town page. Current homes are on my listings page. Book your free consultation and we will start where you are.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Old Town homes expensive to maintain?
Older homes cost more to keep than newer ones, and salt air is hard on everything here. That is a budget question rather than a reason to avoid the neighborhood, so a thorough inspection and an honest repair budget are part of every Old Town purchase I handle.
Can I walk to the ferry from Old Town?
You can walk to the Guemes Island ferry at 500 I Avenue, which is a few blocks from most of the neighborhood. The Washington State Ferries terminal for the San Juans is west along 12th Street and Oakes Avenue, which is a drive.
What is the best thing about buying in Old Town?
The walk. Commercial Avenue, the Saturday market at the Depot on R Avenue, Causland Park, the waterfront parks, the museum, and the library are all inside the neighborhood. No other part of Anacortes puts that many destinations on foot.
How do I know if an older home is a good buy or a money pit?
By looking at the evidence before the emotion. Permits, invoices, and dates for the roof, foundation, wiring, plumbing, and heat, plus a thorough inspection read together. Some houses here are a good idea and some are not, and sorting that out before you fall for one is my job.
Old Town
What buying a home looks like in Old Town
The historic core of Anacortes, close to downtown and the waterfront.
The full picture of the place, the homes, and the trade-offs is in the Old Town area guide.
Buying a Home: keep exploring
Ready to make your move with DiAnn Sager?