Looking For Nice Lake Town In Oregon (Portland, Eugene: property taxes, homes)

[nanannie]

Originally Posted by DavePautsch

Check our Sweet Home.
Great location with regard to recreational activities; lakes, rivers, and mountains all close.

Real estate prices are still pretty reasonable (although there is some development going on that is pushing to make it a resort area in the long term)...

Dave

Dave,whats the word on schools in Sweet Home.I was surprised to read how expensive housing and cost of living is in Corvallis--this sounds nice

[joeblow]

Kbbhere, I'm not really looking for a private lake, but just curous, do you have any pics of the property and how much are you asking?
Joe

[joeblow]

Anymore suggestions?

[chrisruns2far]

Wallowa Lake in NE Oregon....far and away the most beautiful place in all of Oregon. There are only a handful of homes on the lake itself, but you can live in Joseph or Enterprise and be on the lake in 5-10 minutes. People call this part of the state the Oregon Alps and it does resemble the Alps of Austria and Germany, especially how the mountians shoot almost straight up 5,000 feet or more from the valley floor. Winters can be cold out here, but we have many clear and sunny winter days. Summers are dry, clear and never too hot except for maybe 5-10 days when it goes above 90 degrees. As with most of Oregon, land and home values have doubled out here within the last 5-7 years, so its now or never if you want to buy anything in Wallowa County as real estate is still appreciating at a rate of 10-15% a year here in spite of the statewide and national slowdown. The sad thing is that local people, in particular young people, cannot afford to buy anything here (even a small 2-3 bedroom home goes for nearly $200K), so the population has been stagnant for two decades as young people leave and retirees take their place. But, the landscape is magnificent.....the grandest in all of Oregon and that saying something.

[tiffela74]

I just saw on our local real estate channel several homes for sale that are on lakes w/boat docks...one in paticular w/a 3tiered deck going down to the water, ohhhhh my!!! Course, they wanted about 500thous for it, but still, for a nice house on a lake w/private boat deck, not so bad...anyhow, between NorthBend, Lakeside, and TenMile Lake, I think there were about a dozen for sale.
theres still the 3bdrm houseboat w/ 0.64acre I THINK on Lakeside, and its going for 130thous.
Call the local real estate places and have em send you some booklets, I know theyve got some lakeside houses in them from the area.
best of luck
Tiffany

[Bay Birder]

Hi Joe,
I saw that you are looking for a waterfront home in Oregon. We have a very nice home on the water with a dock. We plant to sell it in early '08.
We are by the town of Waldport on the central coast. It's a nice town having all services with larger towns close by.
Our home is on the Alsea River where the river turns into the bay. The "forever" view is expansive across the bay and wetlands. Bird and wildlife viewing is fabulous. The quiet location is very unusual in a great micro climate with good sun. We have extensive flower and vegitable gardens with producing fruit trees. The dock is of good quality for boating, fishing, or catching crabs.
Our home is 2200sq.ft. 3br./2ba. an in excellent condition.

If you might be interested, we could communicate further.

[ldm883]

You should try checking into the central Oregon area. Bend, the largest city, has movies, malls, neat little chic districts, up and coming tech bizes and great high energy lifestyle. The whole central oregon area from the foot of the Cascade Mountains to the edges of the high desert are filled with lakes. Paulina Lake, East Lake, Twin Lakes, Odel Lake (big), diamond Lake (big), suttle Lake and lots more. Fishing is great...some lakes allow motor boats and some don't...there's just everything. I live here and love it! You can live in the huge ponderosa pine forest around Sisters and Bend, or in the jack pines of LaPine and Crescent. Two hours to Eugene and Salem, and about 3 hours to Portland. La Pine is half hour from Bend, Sisters is about 20 minutes. The lakes are all over in between.

[ldm883]

Odel Lake on Hwy 58 on the way to Eugene from Hwy 97 has cabins for sale right on the lake. These are located on Forest Service property so you lease the land and own the buildings....but you can get 3 bed 2 bath for about $110,000. Great fishing lake.

[hometowngirl]

Central Oregon has a LOT of Lakes and beautiful country. Bend, LaPine area ...... Klamath County has some nice lakes with homes on them.

[FoxyKnox]

Originally Posted by GueroLoco

You also might want to look into the community of Dorena, not too far west of Cottage Grove. Triangle Lake (about 30 minutes from Eugene, in the Coast Range) might be a good choice too (there are many houses right on the lakeshore); although I cant say for sure if there are any properties for sale there, and it is 30 minutes from the closest cities in the valley and the coast (dont know if this is too out of the way for you). Hope this helps.

Triangle Lake is probably not the best option for what you are looking for. My family has owned a lakeside slice of heaven there for over 50 years and in the summer the lake is like a private utopia to those who know about it. In the winter it is a very desolate place (I think about 3 homes are occupied year-round). Triangle is a wonderful place if you want a summer home, but if you actually want to LIVE there, be prepared for annual flooding, no police presence (the police consider the communities between Florence and Triangle Lake to be "lawless"), and a one hour commute into the city of Eugene. Junction City is about 30 min east and offers Safeway and Bi-Mart. 45 minutes to the west, Florence is one of the highest rated retirement communities on the Oregon Coast.

If you like the Eugene area, Fern Ridge Resevoir is a nice area. I don't think there are many lake front homes, though, so availability could be an issue.

Sounds to me like Central Oregon (Bend/Redmond/Sisters) or Lake Oswego (just south of Portland) are going to be your best bets, but be prepared to open your wallet.

One other idea, if you're having a hard time finding what you want in Oregon, expand your search to SW Washington. Battle Ground, Camas, Washougal and the like are extremely beautiful areas and I'm sure there are a few lakes that may meet your criteria. You'd be paying sales tax, but your property taxes would be a lot lower...

I hope I was of some help...and not too much of a "Mama Bear" about Triangle Lake...we don't want our little summertime secret getting spread around too much! ;-)