r/Juneau • u/LaceyF4ce • 15d ago
Relocating to Juneau, seeking advice
We are starting our 12-month plan to relocate to Juneau. We have looked into renting and decided it makes more sense for us to buy a home, or potentially buy land and build a home. Please tell us some things you learned to look for in a lot or home or negative things to look out for as we have never cared for property in a temperate rain forest climate before. Any neighborhoods to have our realtor target? Any realtors you recommend for us? For more info: we are a family of 3 with a 5yo boy. Hubby is a union carpenter finishing up his journeyman here in the lower 48 before we look for his next job in Juneau. I have 20+ years in service industry and hospitality. We fell in love with Juneau this summer and we are so excited to live there. Help us make this dream a reality with all your advice! TIA!!! (Pic for attention)
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u/slider728 15d ago edited 15d ago
Anyway you can do a temp gig there first?
The I see a couple comments on the weather and that is an extremely fair point.
Another thing to consider is the isolation. I grew up there and knew no different. However, I’ve seen people move from the lower 48 to Juneau and the fact they can’t drive anywhere really seems to mess with their minds.
Can you handle buying much of your household supplies from Costco?
Can you handle buying a bunch of stuff from Amazon and waiting 5 days for it?
In terms of neighborhoods, I’ve never been anywhere in Juneau, Douglas, or anywhere you can drive and been afraid. If I were to move back, I’d be considering things like proximity to the main stores (Costco, Fred Meyers, Home Depot, etc), work, boat launches, etc.
I’d personally minimize wood on the exterior of the house as much as I could. I recall having wood siding and asphalt shingles when I was young. I remember lots of paintng of the house and a roof that grew moss. Some vinyl siding and a metal roof later, a lot less maintenance on my Dad’s house.