Medford & Grants Pass (Ashland, Central Point: real estate, apartments, for rent)

[mdvaden]

We are right in between the two cities in Applegate Valley.

The photos posted of Grants Pass earlier, are fairly good to go by. Every city has it's "unsightly features" but when you drive into Grants Pass, the mountains and greenery are about like that. And there are a lot of nice homes being built.

The main advantage we have in the valley, is being able to access all that's in both Grants Pass and Medford, easily.

Applegate Valley and Grants Pass have a better climate than Medford and are greener. And are both closer to the coast and the redwood forest.

[ladysrodgers]

Originally Posted by freedom

Hi Skitow,

We are looking at a variety of areas, we can't say we have settled on one specifically. We've been on mountains for most of our time here, so the grass is greener concept seems to be calling us to prairie flat land. Gardens, livestock etc...
After spending the last couple months we seem to like 4 areas for that.
1. Eagle point (north of Medford)
2. Jerome Prairie (west of GP)
3. Williams (south of GP)
4. Phoenix foothills (southwest of Medford)

They are all within 15-20 min of downtowns. We have some good friendships in the GP area, so I think that may be a factor, for convienience.
Part of the challenge is that there are so many neat places to live here. Too many to pick from. Like which side of heaven do you want to live in....

best wishes,
freedom

Freedom I'm not familiar with the Jerome Prairie, by name anyway. Where exactly is it?

I spent quite a bit of time in the Williams area, as it was so close to my home. Just beware, there are tons of cranksters out there, and I heard it first hand from people who knew them and lived there.

You learn quite a bit at the tiny local market.

If you drive straight past the market in Williams (without turning left), there are some really nice homes. I drive a convertible and used to drive that road all the way to the top of the mountains, just to get out of the house. I "think" that road finally ends up in O'Brien. It was gorgeous but kinda scarey being so isolated - and alone! LOL

My biggest fear was running into a critter of some kind.

[freedom]

Originally Posted by ladysrodgers

Freedom I'm not familiar with the Jerome Prairie, by name anyway. Where exactly is it?

I spent quite a bit of time in the Williams area, as it was so close to my home. Just beware, there are tons of cranksters out there, and I heard it first hand from people who knew them and lived there.

You learn quite a bit at the tiny local market.

If you drive straight past the market in Williams (without turning left), there are some really nice homes. I drive a convertible and used to drive that road all the way to the top of the mountains, just to get out of the house. I "think" that road finally ends up in O'Brien. It was gorgeous but kinda scarey being so isolated - and alone! LOL

My biggest fear was running into a critter of some kind.

Jerome Prairie is South west of GP, it is a horse and ranching community between RCC and the Wilderville area, with the Applegate river running through it.

Williams does have a mix of cultures, the drug one fortunately continues to die out. Hopefully one day they'll be priced out of that beautiful mountain valley.
Cedar Flats does take you to the Illinois valley, even to the Oregon Caves.
Beautiful area to explore.

freedom

[ladysrodgers]

Originally Posted by freedom

Jerome Prairie is South west of GP, it is a horse and ranching community between RCC and the Wilderville area, with the Applegate river running through it.

Williams does have a mix of cultures, the drug one fortunately continues to die out. Hopefully one day they'll be priced out of that beautiful mountain valley.
Cedar Flats does take you to the Illinois valley, even to the Oregon Caves.
Beautiful area to explore.

freedom

I know where you mean now. It is very nice in that area with some incredibly beautiful ranches! I used to cut through there on my way to the coast.

[questing42]

Hi all,
I'm new to the board and new to Oregon. I'm looking for a place to live in the Medford/Talent area and am struggling to understand zoning, Prop 37, 49, urban growth boundaries, etc.
Initially, I wanted a home with room for a garden, maybe a goat and some chickens. But then I came across a home zoned "Exclusive Farm Use". This one looks intriguing - very low taxes, but looks like you are required to make it pay its own way through farming it. I really like this place, but don't know how to value it. Since it must be farmed and it's not very big, it's not like it has the capacity to bring in much in the way of crop sales - so how can you assess a price to bid on it? You can't match it against rural residential properties because it is a farm and must be farmed to maintain its preferential tax treatment and irrigation rights. At least this is my understanding, though getting information out of anybody here has been sketchy at best.
Is anybody here familiar with these issues?

[ladysrodgers]

Originally Posted by questing42

Hi all,
I'm new to the board and new to Oregon. I'm looking for a place to live in the Medford/Talent area and am struggling to understand zoning, Prop 37, 49, urban growth boundaries, etc.
Initially, I wanted a home with room for a garden, maybe a goat and some chickens. But then I came across a home zoned "Exclusive Farm Use". This one looks intriguing - very low taxes, but looks like you are required to make it pay its own way through farming it. I really like this place, but don't know how to value it. Since it must be farmed and it's not very big, it's not like it has the capacity to bring in much in the way of crop sales - so how can you assess a price to bid on it? You can't match it against rural residential properties because it is a farm and must be farmed to maintain its preferential tax treatment and irrigation rights. At least this is my understanding, though getting information out of anybody here has been sketchy at best.
Is anybody here familiar with these issues?

I suggest contacting the Jackson County Planning Department for your answers.

In my experience of owning an exclusive farm use property, in the Applegate Valley, the rules often changed - without the county even notifying us.

If you're using a Realtor, they should have answers for all of your questions anyway. If they don't, find another Realtor.

[Just Lookin]

I don't know if this will help you but lets try.

I called the planning Department last week asking about the amount of dogs I can have a how much land I'd have to have.

I talked to a very nice man named Robert Ivy.
Same area you are talking about. Hope this helps.

[questing42]

Thank you both. I will call Robert tomorrow.
Ladysrogers, have you owned your property for a long time? How much in yearly sales are required to satisfy the farming requirement? Does this figure vary per farm or is it the same for all? And if you were to sell it, how would you price it? Would you ignore residential properties and try to find comparable farms? Or is there little difference between residential and farm properties?

I was thinking of trying to find comparable farms on the Front Counter Application on the web and then checking out assessments, but I'm hoping there's a simpler way to handle this.

[ladysrodgers]

Originally Posted by questing42

Thank you both. I will call Robert tomorrow.
Ladysrogers, have you owned your property for a long time? How much in yearly sales are required to satisfy the farming requirement? Does this figure vary per farm or is it the same for all? And if you were to sell it, how would you price it? Would you ignore residential properties and try to find comparable farms? Or is there little difference between residential and farm properties?

I was thinking of trying to find comparable farms on the Front Counter Application on the web and then checking out assessments, but I'm hoping there's a simpler way to handle this.

We did sell the property. We purchased it in June of 03, and sold in 3/07. Values do vary from property to property.

We could never get a straight answer out of the office that regulates farm use, as to what was actually required. One person told us if we put a few of the trees we'd planted along the road to sell, that would satisfy the county (Jackson County). Another person in the same office said no.

Our next door neighbor said the county told him he had to show receipts for proof of selling his alfalfa, even though he grew it for his own livestock.

The powers that be seem to be in confusion as to what exactly constitutes "farm use." Why they don't recognize a self-sustaining farm seems odd.

I'm pretty sure you have to have irrigated within 4 years, or lose your water rights too - if your rights are connected to a river. We had irrigation rights to the Applegate River. Our land had been irrigated in 2004. If we didn't irrigate by 2008 at the latest, our water rights to the river would be terminated, and no chance of ever regaining them.

Our land basically sold as raw land. We had 5.5 acres on the Applegate River, with a mobile home and garage on it, a well and septic in, electricity in, and phone lines in.

In our case we should have been able to get another $60k for it - because of it's uniqueness, but because of a pending gravel quarry going in directly across the river, realizing it's full value was in the eye of the buyer. Our land was flat and all usable. It included one of the few deep spots on the river, which was great for fishing, and swimming.

We had a $515k cash offer with a 2 week escrow the first week we listed it. The buyer backed out because of the pending gravel quarry.

Researching any pending or previously applied for permits for anything in close proximity to where you're planning to buy, is a must. If special use permits have been turned down in the past, they can be reapplied for in 2 years. It's a sure bet, the permit "will" be reapplied for - especially when it concerns gravel or timber.

Again, do plenty of research, and get with a professional to find out the details. Oregon regulations are very different than California.

[questing42]

Thanks, ladysrodgers,
I couldn't decide whether the realtors were being evasive in answering the farm use questions or whether it was like a day in court - the outcome isn't set until the verdict is read. Nothing seems cast in stone in this state. Isn't there a motto here, "We do it different"? I just didn't realize, they meant every single time.

But - can you at least answer whether small farms (zoned exclusive use farmland) are priced as if they were businesses or residences? Does anybody judge the value by a return on investment? Or does it have a base residence value plus income in addition?