"For Sale" homes unsold...for a while. Why? (Eugene: real estate, rentals)

[ActionJaxn]

I am new to the forum and am preparing for a potential move from Fremont, CA to Oregon! I am excited about it as I have become tired of all that is California (you name it, I'm tired of it: taxes, cost of living, crime, gas prices, rude people, congestion, overpopulation, etc). I am 46 and have been here in the Bay Area my whole life so I feel my observations and perspectives are empirically accurate but also emotionally biased as well b/c I like the way CA 'used to be'. I have a degree in Criminal Justice and work for parole in Oakland CA. Let's just say it IS as bad as you read. Scary stuff. Anyway, I will be posting more in the future about specific items, including neighborhood areas, questions about Oregon-specific issues (that don't necessarily exist in CA/Bay Area), and the like. I do have a general question. In looking at houses for sale in the Grants Pass, Medford, and Ashland areas, I notice some houses do stay on the market for quite a while. My question is WHY? Is it b/c the neighborhood is unsavory? Just the housing market in general? Are they sitting empty? Does that create opportunity for squatters? Do they have to divulge if the house has been identified as a squatter house prior to sale? Squatters are a major issue in the Bay Area, including weed growers moving-in to vacant houses and setting up shop. Thanks in advance and I look forward to posting more here!

[Larry Caldwell]

Location
Priced too high
House needs extensive repairs

Most neighborhoods taste ok, but some are dominated by rentals and poor maintenance. Southern Oregon towns are surrounded by unincorporated rural residential areas that actually house most of the population. They are close to city shopping and get water and sewer service, but don't have to pay city taxes. There's no nuisance code enforcement, so yards full of junk cars and piles of garbage are pretty common.

Many houses are sitting empty.

There's not much problem with squatters because of the small size of the communities.

You can grow weed in your back yard just about anywhere and nobody pays any attention. The cops don't check for licensed grow operations, they just assume it's OK. High traffic turnover is the sign of a volume dealer, and the cops will shut those down pretty quick.

Finding a job is your problem, but prisons are definitely a growth industry in Oregon. They repatriate criminals into the area they came from, so I think every county has a state parole officer. It's unlikely you will find a job with a county, since southern Oregon counties are chronically skirting bankruptcy, but miracles do happen. You will have a better chance if you are a sworn officer in California.

Most courts have a diversion counselor. There are minimum security state facilities at Lakeview and North Bend/Coos Bay, both of which are beyond commuting distance from your proposed location.

[ActionJaxn]

Thanks for the response, some good info there sir. The houses I have located on Trulia and Zillow sure look good and the neighborhoods (using the street view, map view and crime locator) sure appear decent. I know nothing is as it seems and I don't trust anything or anyone (not even the dead ones) so I know it will take some investigating on my part if I do make a move. Getting crime reports don't tell the whole tale b/c of course that is only REPORTED crimes. Quality of life issues/crimes are not necessarily documented of course. I have known people that have actually moved b/c of a barking dog/animal abuse that counties here in the Bay Area simply won't do anything about (Animal Control advises them to relocate a window or actually move). So, any more advice? Besides actually taking a trip up there, which I plan to do.

[PNW-type-gal]

Some of it has to do with price range - in Medford, things under $200,000 in better neighborhoods go fast. Things over $400,000, irrespective of neighborhood, move slowly. The mid-range, between those two price points, depends on area, condition and price.

What are you looking for and where?

To get an idea of what is selling, use something like Zillow, set it to display houses sold in the last 6 months or so, and you can see what sells and where.

[ActionJaxn]

I want to buy a 3 br/2 bath, edging towards Grants Pass/Ashland or maybe Medford if I can pick the right area (I hope to use use this forum for some clarity on areas). I don't know if I'm allowed to post actual links here to those real estate sites, but for instance, there is one house that looks very nice on Almaden St. in Eugene selling for 330...it's been for sale for 150 days! Maybe because of the area? I don't know good/bad areas of course, so I'm assuming it's next to a crack house or a Residential Treatment Facility to be that cheap and not sell. There are many others in Grants Pass that look very nice with the same situation, priced at about 225k, 257k, 339k, etc. Typically, houses here in the East Bay Area priced at about 750k sell in a few weeks.

[PNW-type-gal]

Don't know the Eugene market at all (it's roughly 3 hours north of Medford), so I can't say. If you use something like Zillow, you can scroll down and see the listing history, and you might see the house being delisted and then relisted multiple times, which CAN mean that it's gone under contract before but then fallen out because of some issues - appraisal, home inspector's report, property boundary issue, etc - and then been put back on the market.

Do you want to be in a city area, a suburb, a rural area?

In general, Ashland is much higher housing cost than any other of the Rogue Valley cities (south-to-north: Ashland, Talent, Phoenix, Medford, Jacksonville, Central Point, White City, Gold Hill, Rogue River, Grants Pass). The cities from Ashland to Rogue River are in Jackson County, with Medford the county seat and the most likely place for you to find work. Grants Pass is in Josephine County, which is a very hard-strapped county and you are not likely to find a job in your field with the county, as they have laid off most of their CJ workforce and are likely to lay off even more.

[Steve Pickering]

Originally Posted by ActionJaxn

... ... , but for instance, there is one house that looks very nice on Almaden St. in Eugene selling for 330...it's been for sale for 150 days! ... ...

This is an easy one to answer. Houses like that one on Almaden are actually worth between $80,000 and $130,000, but the neighborhood is so desirable that they get the big dollars. It takes awhile to sell, but if you want that neighborhood you'll pay the price or whistle Dixie.

People who know houses are not going to buy one of these 1930's to 1950's homes for $300,000 when they know the same home a dozen blocks away will go for less than half that. Unless they really want to be there.

[ActionJaxn]

I figured the age of the home combined with the price are an influence on how fast it moves. I have been a city boy my whole life: freeways right outside my tract, homeless on drugs that walk out into the middle of the street with their cart and stare you down like it's their street (I know, a defense mechanism, but it's irritating), gas stations a few yards away, noisy and smelly cars zooming through your front yard constantly, congestion the minute you drive to the main drag, people screaming for no reason, etc. It's weird, I am accustomed to it, but yet I don't want it anymore, ya know? I don't freak out when I encounter drug users/sexual predators/lifers cuz I deal with them every day, but I don't necessarily want to deal with them when I'm at home and my wife prefers not to experience that element. As far as location, she is 'afraid' of the endless trees in some of your Oregon backyards, but I find it tranquil. I like isolation, but find comfort in being in my community. So I guess my answer is, I want a little bit of everything. I don't think I want to be RIGHT in the middle of a forest, I've seen those homes. They would be cool for a vacation cottage, but not daily living. I like SPACE between homes/backyards and privacy. I find that there are some properties in Grants Pass/Ashland/Medford that offer my happy medium. I just don't really know where the savory and unsavory neighborhoods are of course like I do here. I have saved some homes in Central Point, White City, and Rogue River as well, but that is just based on the MAP/bird's eye view option (not near a park, school, or business) and using the basic 'crime' button in Trulia. I don't want to get into the generic question 'where is the safest place in Rogue River or Eagle Point, so I hope I can maybe give the forum some actual streets and get some feedback? Finally, are there any flood or fire risk areas in Josephine County? OH, and are houses required to be tested for mold/mildew prior to sale? Remember, it rains just a few days a year here in the Bay Area

[Steve Pickering]

Drive a little farther north and take a look at Monmouth, Independence, and Dallas. Just head right up Highway 99 and take the West branch in Junction City. Along the route you will see a dozen towns that please you both.

[PNW-type-gal]

Really, your best bet is to drive the 6 hours or so up and drive around the neighborhoods. You'll see, very quickly, what you like and don't like.

Ashland: nice, lots of restaurants, boutique shopping. VERY expensive, compared to the rest of the area. You mind find yourself getting into the "but it is cheap compared to here!" trap. That may be true, but you are going to be paid anything like you are in California, either. Price and value relative to everything else in the area is what matters. Home of the Shakespeare Festival.

Talent and Phoenix - small communities along I5 between Ashland and Medford. Mostly residential. I like Talent a little better than Phoenix, but not a lot of difference. Dependent on Medford for jobs and major shopping.

Medford: the largest city. Nice areas, intermediate area, bad areas. Some older charming areas. Has a downtown core which is looking up a bit, with some nicer restaurants and clubs. Crater Lake Hwy (which is not the same thing as Crater Lake Avenue, in a bit of street naming guaranteed to confuse) is strip mall center. Costco, Lowe's WalMart, etc. Heaviest traffic in town (again, that is a relative term).

White City: bedroom community, lots of 80s and 90s subdivisions, not much charm. Dependent on Medford for jobs and any shopping.

Jacksonville: lots of charm (maybe too much, particularly with tourists in the summer season). Home of the Britt Festival, the area's biggest music festival. Dependent on Medford for jobs and major shopping.

Central Point: some community with some local jobs, medical, shopping but pretty much a part of Medford with no visible line in between.

Gold Hill and Rogue River - very small communities between Medford and Grants Pass. Dependent on Medford for jobs and major shopping.

Grants Pass. Independent community, mostly self-reliant (ie: not a part of Medford, although it is close). Shopping, medical, restaurants, nice downtown.