Liveaboard finds a solution to living in expensive Seattle

Tom Hanny lives on a boat. By choice.

Why? Seattle housing prices drove Hanny to purchase a $90,000 tugboat, which he named “Why Knot” and moved to the marina in Ballard.

Hanny, a surfer and paddleboarder, told KIRO Radio’s Jason Rantz he makes a reasonable salary, but he wanted to live on the water in Seattle where he works. Sitting in traffic to get to the suburbs every day doesn’t interest him.

Related: Seattle expected to be hotter than Miami, Honolulu 

“I drew a circle around my job and where I wanted to live and it wasn’t a very big circle,” Hanny said. “I started to focus first on houses, which were immediately out of the question for me. Then I started looking at condos or apartments.  You’re looking at $400K to $500K as a list price for a one bedroom, one bathroom apartment and then there would be a bidding war … that was just something I wasn’t able to stomach.”

“Personally I have heard many stories of heart break when it comes to people buying a home here in Seattle,” wrote Beau Sylte, the filmmaker documenting Hanny’s journey. “Those that can afford to, often get out-bid on their first, second, third, fourth offers. By the time their offer gets accepted they’re just settling. And this is for bids over asking price. Many homes sell for hundreds of thousands over asking price.”

After an extensive search, Hanny returned to the idea of living on a boat. He began searching for something in his price range and researching moorage rates and wait lists, maintenance, and marina rules.

“Maintenance, they say, is about 10 percent of the cost of your boat per year, but I would argue that any three bedroom, two bathroom house that’s older than 10 years old is at least that,” Hanny said.

The liveaboard and his dog, Chopper, had to eliminate some personal belongings, but the trade-off is worth it. He’s able to travel his home to beautiful Northwest destinations, he’s within walking distance to some great restaurants, he drinks his morning coffee on the dock, and he’s meeting lifelong friends.

If you’re interested in the liveaboard lifestyle, Hanny’s advice: Do your research and get a good boat.

Listen to his interview:

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