Never been to Bend but moving there in 2 months!! (La Pine: apartments, rentals)

[oregonwoodsmoke]

OP, I had thought that coca cola was by the post office, but google maps says it is east of town. The area called Alfalfa is east of town and there is some less expensive housing in that area.

Another area out there is called (I think) Cascade View, and that is a less expensive area.

My best guess is that you will be hoping to find a place with no irrigation and probably a manufactured home. Even out in that area, the places with irrigation are pretty expensive.

You might want to find out exactly where your husband will be working. That will have a big influence on where you will want to live.

Real estate in Bend is less expensive east of the highway (generalization), so if the plant is where google is showing it, that will help your budget.

[Paulinaplv]

I'm thinking about getting up and moving there myself. How is it?

[Steve Pickering]

Having lived in the area the OP is currently in, I can tell you the only difference you are going to see is more snow (a lot more) and less traffic. The terrain will be the same or even more desolate if you are on the east side of town, and I don't know that a broke young family can afford the west side. I think you will feel right at home. The schools may disappoint you. Welcome to Bend.

[redguard57]

Originally Posted by Steve Pickering

Having lived in the area the OP is currently in, I can tell you the only difference you are going to see is more snow (a lot more) and less traffic. The terrain will be the same or even more desolate if you are on the east side of town, and I don't know that a broke young family can afford the west side. I think you will feel right at home. The schools may disappoint you. Welcome to Bend.

Coming from Texas, the schools seem quite good to me.

The lack of a university is a little disappointing, but if OSU ever gets running the way it's supposed to, it may help with that.

[Snownut]

Hope the OP checks in a lets us know where (if) they found housing for that budget and how things a going?

Can't not imagine, wrap my head around moving somewhere sight unseen.

From the original post day just 1 month until your husband's job starts.

Good luck, hope it all works out, what an adventure!

[Steve Pickering]

Originally Posted by Snownut

Hope the OP checks in a lets us know where (if) they found housing for that budget and how things a going?

Can't not imagine, wrap my head around moving somewhere sight unseen.

From the original post day just 1 month until your husband's job starts.

Good luck, hope it all works out, what an adventure!

It must be a move or no job situation. They should be fine as except for the snow and not having several million people living within 50 miles, it will look pretty much the same.

[Sharp926]

Hi all,

I thought I would just check in and let you know we will be there in two weeks. We are very excited and very anxious at the same time! We were able to find a house within our budget and it is on the southeast side of town just like some of you had suggested.

It seems like you were kind of wondering about why we are moving. We are not moving as part of a requirement for my husband's job but because we want to. It been on her hearts for several years to move to Oregon. We did research on all the cities where Coca-Cola was and we decided on Bend because it was the best. We prayed about it and now we are going in May 2014 and we hope it will be great!!

[Steve Pickering]

Originally Posted by Sharp926

Hi all,

I thought I would just check in and let you know we will be there in two weeks. We are very excited and very anxious at the same time! We were able to find a house within our budget and it is on the southeast side of town just like some of you had suggested.

It seems like you were kind of wondering about why we are moving. We are not moving as part of a requirement for my husband's job but because we want to. It been on her hearts for several years to move to Oregon. We did research on all the cities where Coca-Cola was and we decided on Bend because it was the best. We prayed about it and now we are going in May 2014 and we hope it will be great!!

Well Congratulations. You did everything right. Job First, Find a home within your budget, and Pray for guidance.

Good luck with your move and Welcome.

[ddhibb]

We moved here recently, and settled on the NE part of town just north of Pilot Butte. We did NOT rent first, bought from afar, and now we are moving a 1/2 mile south (closer to PB) in a couple months to our dream home. Houses in certain areas of town are getting multiple offers and selling in 1-2 days. Other areas, they sit for months. There are so many "pockets" of good and not-so-good in Bend, that buying from afar is risky. Nothing is terrible though, except I've heard Deschutes River Woods and LaPine (no first hand experience though).

I would highly recommend renting before you buy, but you will NOT find anything for $900/mo., but you might be able to find an smallish apartment on the east side for close to $1000. Waiting lists can be long, so get on them now. The Rainbow Motel rents rooms by the month. They have kitchenettes in some rooms, and although you'd pay more, you have the flexibility of leaving if you find a house to buy quickly. Rental vacancy in Bend is less than 1%. Very tight, and getting tighter.

If I "googled" it correctly, Coca-Cola is in the NE section of town in the Boyd Acres area. If you can find something in that area, I think you will be happy. Lava Ridge and Ponderosa Elem are both good schools. The latter is practically brand new, and Pine Nursery Park next door is fabulous! Sky View Middle is also considered good, which is adjacent to Lava Ridge Elem. You may even find something with a view of the Sisters or other absolutely gorgeous snow capped peak(s). Prices on the east side are a fraction of the cost off the west side, but there are pros and cons to both sides (that discussion deserves a whole other thread). I've been to Redmond a few times, and it doesn't impress me, but it'd be less expensive, and since it's north of Bend, it wouldn't be much of a commute to CC. Traffic in Bend is miserable considering how small of a town it is. The idiotic traffic signals and lack of right turn lanes make for long waits (coming from a wife of a traffic engineer, there is much cursing in our car when we drive through town). The roundabouts are awesome, but there are not enough of them.

We have not made it through all the seasons yet, but we love it so far. The sun shines most days (albeit for 5-10 mins sometimes), nights are cool, summer days will be longer (winter days noticeably shorter). It was snowing last weekend, and 86 this past Thursday. People are super friendly here too.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Originally Posted by ddhibb

........... except I've heard Deschutes River Woods and LaPine (no first hand experience though)...............

There are some very nice areas in Deschutes River Woods. Large lots, nice big trees, decent neighbors. It's a good area if you'd like to have an acre and still be in close to town.

There are couple of streets in DRW I would avoid, mostly because they aren't paved or maintained. I would avoid the area immediately next to the highway, because of train and traffic noise. It's easy to tell whether the street is good or not. All you have to do is look at the neighbors close by and see what their properties look like.

There are some very expensive properties in Deschutes River Woods.

The only thing wrong with La Pine is the amount of snow they get. It's not an area with a lot of businesses which means not too many jobs, and the roads and highway can be really bad in the winter if you need to go back and forth to Bend for work or shopping. Weather related traffic accidents are common on the highway close to La Pine.