Researching Oregon towns for relocation (Portland, Salem: real estate, houses, to buy)

[RCDF]

We're mulling over a move to OR and I have gone through multiple real estate listings for homes in the PDX area. My problem is there is nothing I can find in our price range ($450K max) that suits our needs (2 adults, 3 dogs, 2 cats). Most of the yards are tiny compared to our VA home and the bedrooms are not big enough for our furniture. We plan to downsize from 4,000 SF but don't want to feel claustrophobic.

Portland seems to be out of the picture for now, so am exploring other towns. Would like good hospital, culture, fairly liberal, with Episcopal community nearby. Ashland looked wonderful, but home prices are high for now.

Has Oregon become too expensive? Should we move to WA instead? Am I asking too much for a nice 1/4 acre yard and large rooms (not a lot of rooms) in a home that doesn't cost half a million? Appreciate any advice.

[hamellr]

Do you need jobs, and if so, what industries? That is going to really affect where you can realistically live.

Part of what you're seeing is Oregon's land use laws make it hard to find homes with property larger then 1/4 acre. It skips from there to 5 and 10 acre parcels.

For instance, Beaverton, a suburb of Portland, has plenty of lots in the 1/4 acre total range. But those are being bought up and converted into high density residential. If you want to live rural though, 5 acres for under your price is easy.

[Silverfall]

Originally Posted by RCDF

We're mulling over a move to OR and I have gone through multiple real estate listings for homes in the PDX area. My problem is there is nothing I can find in our price range ($450K max) that suits our needs (2 adults, 3 dogs, 2 cats). Most of the yards are tiny compared to our VA home and the bedrooms are not big enough for our furniture. We plan to downsize from 4,000 SF but don't want to feel claustrophobic.

Portland seems to be out of the picture for now, so am exploring other towns. Would like good hospital, culture, fairly liberal, with Episcopal community nearby. Ashland looked wonderful, but home prices are high for now.

Has Oregon become too expensive? Should we move to WA instead? Am I asking too much for a nice 1/4 acre yard and large rooms (not a lot of rooms) in a home that doesn't cost half a million? Appreciate any advice.

Yes you are asking too much. All Oregon cities have urban growth boundaries. This is an artificial line created that limits how far growth can occur. What this does is create small lots within the city boundaries. Older homes that were there before zoning laws that have larger lots tend to go for a premium because they are hard to come by. Older homes don't typically have huge bedrooms because people didn't live that way when they were built. Since our lots are smaller, our houses are smaller too. A 3,000 sq foot house in Oregon is a large house for the average family.

WA builds in the same way that Oregon does, so if you really want to head out to the PNW then you need to learn to live with less or not live near a city that has culture. You can get what you want in a smaller, more rural city.

I have no idea about where there is an Episcopal "community." Oregon has very low church attendance in general and we have an incredible diverse group of religions here with no real community dominating. All of the major cities have Episcopal churches but if you are looking for a dominant group out here, Oregon doesn't have that...for any religion.

[Silverfall]

Oh and before you consider moving to Ashland with dogs you need to read about their city codes. It might be a deal breaker for you.

[kapetrich]

Check out Bend. You'll easily find what you need in that price range in one of the better parts of town. It also fits most all of your criteria (not sure if you need a job).

As for your home requirements, as others have already mentioned, homes and property sizes in Oregon (and the PNW in general) are significantly smaller than back east (I moved here last year from Baltimore). There are several reasons for this including, but not limited to, having the strongest Urban Growth Boundaries in the country, a strong value of modesty throughout the state, much less established wealth here compared to back east, etc. If you do end up moving to Oregon you may want to buy into these factors or you'll run the risk of ostracize-ion.


The houses you are finding in your price range....what is their sq ft'dges you'v seen? I'm curious how close you'd want to be to your original 4,000 sq.

[RCDF]

Didn't know about Urban Growth Boundaries but now it makes sense. And is disappointing. It just seems it should be the opposite - back East is super populated with little room and out West is where the land should be.

Unfortunately, we do not want rural. Would love to pick up our house and lot and plop it down in the middle of a wonderful OR n'hood. And know I'm asking a lot re Episcopal community since I'm coming from the Episcopalian ghetto.

May have to rethink this whole thing - location doesn't matter that much in relation to jobs as we view this as retirement relocation. Family is out here as well as our summer home so that's our reason for moving.

Will look at Bend. Thanks for all the help!

[kapetrich]

Originally Posted by RCDF

Didn't know about Urban Growth Boundaries but now it makes sense. And is disappointing. It just seems it should be the opposite - back East is super populated with little room and out West is where the land should be.

That's interesting because to me the UGB were one of my main draws. There is a strong sense of conservation on both sides of the political isle here, comparably.

Also, these UGB laws were born out of the rural farming communities insistence. They were frightful (rightfully so after seeing what happened back east) of their land being gobbled up by suburban sprawl.

Stupid example of PNW 'culture' as it relates to UGB's: You wonder why farm-to-table food is such a 'thing' in Oregon, well, besides it being the 'cool' thing to do now-a-days, a byproduct of these strong UGB laws is the passive support this type of behavior due to the proximity of farming to our 'urban' communities. When I travel back home, there is hardly a possibility of locally sourced food due to unsustainable land use laws.

In Oregon, once you leave most cities metro's you will find pristine and mostly untouched land between em (much like western Europe). To me, it is nirvana, but to each their own.....

Originally Posted by RCDF

Unfortunately, we do not want rural. Would love to pick up our house and lot and plop it down in the middle of a wonderful OR n'hood. And know I'm asking a lot re Episcopal community since I'm coming from the Episcopalian ghetto.

Just as a fair warning, you may run into some problems with this type of attitude in the PNW.

[Silverfall]

Originally Posted by RCDF

Didn't know about Urban Growth Boundaries but now it makes sense. And is disappointing. It just seems it should be the opposite - back East is super populated with little room and out West is where the land should be.

Unfortunately, we do not want rural. Would love to pick up our house and lot and plop it down in the middle of a wonderful OR n'hood. And know I'm asking a lot re Episcopal community since I'm coming from the Episcopalian ghetto.

May have to rethink this whole thing - location doesn't matter that much in relation to jobs as we view this as retirement relocation. Family is out here as well as our summer home so that's our reason for moving.

Will look at Bend. Thanks for all the help!

Usually people move to Oregon because they want the nice scenery. In order to have that, growth needs to be restricted, otherwise we'd look like Chicago. It doesn't sound like the culture of Oregon is quite what you are ready for. It is VERY different than east coast culture and sometimes people don't adjust well.

[Dry Side]

Fortunately, there is a nice big loop hole in the UGB, it's called destination resorts. A developer can build a subdivision with mcmansions on 1/3rd to 1 acre lots outside the UGB and far from centralized infrastructure (shopping, health care). The developer only needs to promise to build some over night lodging. Not actually build any of it or ever make it available to the general public. Often a recreation component (more often then not a golf course) is built as a loss leader that eventually ends up being a money pit for those who bought lots in the resort. So this might be an option to find a larger lot and a bigger home.

[Bendite]

Originally Posted by Dry Side

Fortunately, there is a nice big loop hole in the UGB, it's called destination resorts. A developer can build a subdivision with mcmansions on 1/3rd to 1 acre lots outside the UGB and far from centralized infrastructure (shopping, health care). The developer only needs to promise to build some over night lodging. Not actually build any of it or ever make it available to the general public. Often a recreation component (more often then not a golf course) is built as a loss leader that eventually ends up being a money pit for those who bought lots in the resort. So this might be an option to find a larger lot and a bigger home.

Larger lots and homes, true, but not at the price sought. Those destination resort homes are in the upper hundreds to easily over $1 million.

What about the west side of Salem? I found a 3,728 sq ft home on a 27,000 acre lot for $350k without hardly looking. I am sure there are a number of Episcopalians in Salem. There are two churches (St Paul's used to be the second largest Episcopal church in the PNW - not sure of status now)