Searching for property (Salem, Dallas, Falls City: crime, how much, big house)

[hopscotch]

My husband, son, and I currently live in West Salem, Oregon which we love. However, we want to find some property so we don't feel so crowded in the typical subdivision. We realize that we need to branch out if we want to find property we like and can afford. We are looking in Yamhill county and Polk county. Of course, we'd love to stay in West Salem if only property prices were reasonable for lots 5 acres or more! Anyway, we have found some fantastic property in the Dallas area. Some of the properties are literally around the corner from Falls City. I've heard lots of folks say that Falls City is not good but no one has given me details on the negative aspects of that area. Is purchasing acreage (to build our dream home) around that Dallas/Falls City border dangerous? I'd really like some feedback on what that area is like. Falls City doesn't seem like much and some folks we talked with said that parents tend to send their kids to school in Dallas. It seemed like Dallas was getting larger and more people were spreading out to the outlying areas. So, I wonder how much longer it would be before Falls City gets swallowed up by expanding Dallas residents? Any feedback you can provide will be most welcome!

Thanks so much!

[Silverfall]

Falls City is an old logging town. It used to have several mills and the economy there just tanked when logging when downhill. I think the poor reputation you are talking about stems from those issues. Some of the rural towns that haven't been able to recover from logging have "poor" reputations.

The schools are fairly average according to the stats. Not bad, not great, just average. They are small rural schools so it depends on what you want for your children.

The biggest issue I would see in building out there is knowing the water source. There are some water table issues out in Polk county and some shallower wells have run dry or have poor water rates. Since you would be looking for 5 acres, this would be very important. Is it dangerous?? Well, I'm not sure what you mean by that, but resale would be an issue. If something happened and you had to sell right away, you would have some problems.

Hope this is helpful.

[hopscotch]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge about Falls City. When I was referring to the area being "dangerous" I guess I was thinking about lots of crime in related to drug use. I'd heard that there were lots of drug users (especially meth) in that area. Thanks again for the info!

[DavePautsch]

hopscotch,
what do you consider a "reasonable" price range for 5+ acres? You can kind of run a pretty broad range depending on what you are willing to take as far as a house goes. You can go from something with a tear-down manufactured home to a big house...and everything in between for between $200 and 800K.

The other thing that comes into play is what you want to DO with the land (Farming, Agribusiness, timber, or just purely residential)...farm land (EFU zoning) is generally going to be much priced differently than residential property on a per/acre basis.

Dave