Bellingham & Whatcom -- Buy Before It's Too Late?

What's Whatcom? It's a county in the northwest corner of Washington that you should know about if you love being near both ocean and mountains. Bellingham is the center and has a lovely small-city feel about it. In a story I did for AARP Magazine in 2003, Bellingham was rated second among "places to reinvent your life" for the boomer generation.

There's a lot of second-home looking, building and buying in the region, although the Bellingham Herald can't say exactly how much. According to a recent article, many visitors now are "buying land and homes years before they plan to stop working."

Newcomers "visit and decide to buy before prices rise even higher than they are now," said one real estate agent. He sold nine homes last year to future retirees, including people from Chicago, Maryland and California.

Many visitors "worry about being priced out of the market if they wait," said another agent. Click here for the full story.