Lot's of homes for sale in Applegate - why? (Medford: how much, houses)

[frederick blauch]

Is there something going on in the Applegate area (besides the obvious slow economy) that so many homes would be for sale?

[hamellr]

Originally Posted by frederick blauch

Is there something going on in the Applegate area (besides the obvious slow economy) that so many homes would be for sale?

Just the repeated hits to the economy.

[Larry Caldwell]

No mining, no logging, no ranching, that pretty much wipes out the local economy. It's a great place to live if you are independently wealthy, but all the resources belong to the feds, and they are shutting them down.

[Smiled]

The end of discount ranching? Seriously? Wait until the Bureau of Livestock and Mining hears about this!

[Smiled]

Specuvestors. Also, only about 30% of folks really want to live in the country, but more than that think they do.
I live in the country - by choice. We have folks move out our way for a while, miss the city, and put their place up for sale to move back. What they find, though, is that it's much easier to buy than it is to resell.

Also, folks in South Oregon refuse to tax themselves for services, preferring that the Feds pay everything for them. There's plenty of ranching, and private land for logging... but at the moment, in case you haven't noticed, there are several million empty houses in the country - which kinda dampens the demand for new ones, and consequently causes log owners to sit on their trees.

Curry County is where you wanna go if you want low taxes - $69.00 property tax on a $100,000 house. But all we hear is constant whining about the Feds and logging. So much for self-sufficiency and all those Tea Party ideals.

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by Smiled

Curry County is where you wanna go if you want low taxes - $69.00 property tax on a $100,000 house. But all we hear is constant whining about the Feds and logging. So much for self-sufficiency and all those Tea Party ideals.

You need to quit posting crap like that. The actual property tax assessments can be found at http://gis.co.curry.or.us/gis/reports/Assmt.pdf. If you look at the column headings and find the value of improvements, you will see that property tax on a 100,000 house is about $1200 a year, higher in a city. It's easy to have lower taxes on a $100,000 property because of timber deferral. That doesn't mean the property owner doesn't pay taxes, they are just deferred until the timber is harvested, when the landowner pays timber severance and privilege taxes on the proceeds.

If someone is paying $69 a year on a $100,000 property, it's worthless wasteland, and the house, if any, is a 50 year old single wide mobile.

Curry County is in a world of hurt because 59% of the land in the county is tax exempt, and the feds decided to turn all the forests into tree museums.

[JuniperRidge1]

Originally Posted by Larry Caldwell

Curry County is in a world of hurt because 59% of the land in the county is tax exempt, and the feds decided to turn all the forests into tree museums.

Sorry to hear about the FEDS going too far with their Restrictions in Curry, Siskiyou, and other counties.

However, how much of these restrictions (on timber and mining) - if any - are from the State of Oregon?

As for the OP commenting on Applegate Valley homes for sale ... is this also occurring in nearby communities, such as Grants Pass, Medford, Talent, and Ashland ???

[JasonF]

Blaming the feds for all of southern Oregon's problems is a bit of a stretch. They certainly haven't made it better, but tens of millions of board feet are still being churned out every year. They've been living off the federal government teat for over a decade. At some point, they have to take responsibility and decide that they're actually going to pay for the services they want and make some serious attempts at attracting new industry. So far in Curry, they've tried to build a couple of golf courses in an attempt to copy Coos county, but the state hasn't played along. Meanwhile, they continue to vote down measures that would keep the county solvent. They're making their own situation worse by aiding in turning the area into a place no one wants to set up shop.

[JuniperRidge1]

Originally Posted by JasonF

Blaming the feds for all of southern Oregon's problems is a bit of a stretch. They certainly haven't made it better, but tens of millions of board feet are still being churned out every year. They've been living off the federal government teat for over a decade. At some point, they have to take responsibility and decide that they're actually going to pay for the services they want and make some serious attempts at attracting new industry. So far in Curry, they've tried to build a couple of golf courses in an attempt to copy Coos county, but the state hasn't played along. Meanwhile, they continue to vote down measures that would keep the county solvent. They're making their own situation worse by aiding in turning the area into a place no one wants to set up shop.

Thank you for the info on the Southern and SW Oregon economy . . . Agree with the golf proposal ... sorry to hear that the state doesn't agree (is this DLCD?). Perhaps the Applegate Valley with its great climate could also build a Destination Resort with golf (like Sunriver), and then people wouldn't be selling their homes ??? Well, actually, golf in the Medford / Applegate area would be nearly four seasons, wouldn't it - that would bring more money than Sunriver since they're covered with snow ....but on the other hand, Sunriver gets snow sports in the winter (yet there's also Mt. Ashland).

Anyway I see potential for the Applegate Valley. Sorry to hear that folks are selling their homes. I hope the State of Oregon will change its mind on the golf courses in Curry Co. and then perhaps the Applegate Valley could build them.

[JasonF]

Thank you for the info on the Southern and SW Oregon economy . . . Agree with the golf proposal ... sorry to hear that the state doesn't agree (is this DLCD?).

In one case, they needed to do a land swap that the state wasn't interested in. In the other, they failed to properly do things like geological hazard assessments, saying it would eventually be done, in an effort to avoid public hearings. That ended up at the land use board of appeals, which sided with the people who were complaining.

Perhaps the Applegate Valley with its great climate could also build a Destination Resort with golf (like Sunriver), and then people wouldn't be selling their homes ???

Maybe. It has to be done carefully and with some serious consideration of what can actually be financially viable, lest southern Oregon find itself with a bunch of failed, bankrupt resorts, like central Oregon. That's not to say it can't work, but we shouldn't just assume that if you build it, people will come. I would tend to think that AV, being more accessible, would have an easier go of it than the resorts in central Oregon or along the coast.