To all the California people who moved to Oregon (Portland: condos, house)

[IB Oregon]

Ok, I ment to do a PRO CON thing, but it was too long. Everyone move to OR because it is cheaper. It is EXPENSIVE to live here. I live in San Diego, I make alllllotttt more money than I did in Oregon. BUT, my mortage is twice as much as would be in salem in a coparative home. I can say I live in a 420,000 home. Same exact home in a nice neighborhood would be 125,000, if that. And I pay more in insurance and intrest. Plus food, gas, and, OMG - WATER!! You have to pay for decent H20 at the store that I got out of my kitchen sink every day for free!!! (well, be pay for water also, monthly, same water we flush the toliet with, comes out of kitchen sink I drink, and out of the sink it is delicious! No gallons of water,no water service, just turn on the handle, there you got mountain fresh well water to drink. Guess snow fall is good for something)

Why. because I can afford it. I do not like raking leaves or shoveling snow or scraping off ice from my windowshield of my car. I can go visit my familiy. .... I have family and friends out the yazoo, asking me if "they can visit", well duh yes, why? Not to see me only, but.... 4 star hotel at reasonable rate, ZOO, SEA WORLD, DEL MAR, DESERT, BEACHES (I live 1 block from), ANY type of food you want, Mexico, theater, Mission bay, power boats etc, Casino's -WPBA pool every year, shows, music acts (Buffett was by far and large my fav, Viegos, intimate arena). CHARGERS, PADRES, BALBOA PARK, BIRCH, etc, for a CITY, we have alot to offer and be proud off. As a little girl,I only wanted to come here, just to see the world famous zoo, sea world and sites, once i moved here, met the the people, got to know a few things. I fell in love, best transit system, great career advancement, climate to die for. But San Diegio need to get better people at DMV. I love you all, and I'm now one of, but get a clue. San Diegons for the most, CAN NOT DRIVE!! See the red thing on the the stringing thing acrross the street, that glows? that means STOP! Not, "Oh I can make it, takes the other traffic a few seconds to move thier feet or hands into driving position to go" Or the big red sign at the corner, or my fav, "stop ahead"? Means stop! I know alot of people here English is not their first language, but STOP?? For Gosh Sakes! San Diegoians, may CA in general, NO COMMON FRICKING SENSE!!! Oregon people, and that is what is different.

(Based on what I read, only Oregonians hate Califonians as much as they hate us. OR complaines all the time about CA drivers, which I've seen both, totally true, and the cost of real estate going up because CA people move to OR in droves, true.. I'm one of them,,,but was a baby) Only thing I miss, Seasons, abut not We Ole Oregonians are by far on the bad side as it would seem, Portland for instance has alot to offer we do here, just not quite on the scale equal.OMSI, best place to spend time, without a doubt, miss that one actually alot. Balboa Park here, just it is so varied, Museum of... Man, Space, Science etc (each one is its own museum plus another ten or so I can remember in a park the rivals Central Park in NY, people tell me its bigger, I don't know, or care, it's just BIG and beautifull.

Okay, so Oregon does so also, but not on the scale.

[mdvaden]

Originally Posted by Terryj

Just Lookin, Yes, the Applegate area is a great place, just a half hour drive into Medford or Ashland to the east and and about the same to Grants Pass to the north. As for the weather, you can expect around 2 to 6" of snow during the winter with temps in the mid 30's to mid 40's. During the summer it can get very warm with temps in the upper 90's and on occasion 100+. The towns in that area are Ruch, Applegate and Williams all 3 are small.

That's just about right.

In Ruch, where we have a library, school, country store, restaurants and a few other things, our address is "Jacksonville" for mailing. It takes 10 minutes to get into small historic downtown "J-ville", and a bit over 5 more minutes to reach the part of Medford where commerce begins.

Portland's warm dry season is from late June to late September. But here, it's more like from late May to mid-October. Medford's "average" summer high, similar to Applegate Valley's, is about 5 to 6 degrees higher than Portland's.

Vegetation is a little different down here, from Portland. North state tends to have more of the big leaf maples, hemlocks and Douglas firs. In southern Oregon, those are found too, but the area has more along the lines of oaks, sugar pines and madrones.

We happened to get an acre with 4 big oak trees, and 6 big madrone / arbutus trees that have not been messed-up. The image below is me next to the trunk of a middle size one. Two in the background are bigger and taller. But these are one of my favorite trees. here.



Eagle Point NE of Medford is nice too. But in my case, I'd rather be closer to the ocean on the west side. There are a few nice small communities.

The one thing I can say about the snow here, going into our 3rd winter, is that the small to moderate amount of snow has not stopped me from going into town, except on one day. They do plow the road, gravel the corners, and regularly de-ice the few miles of hill down into Jacksonville.

So the snow is almost more for enjoying watching it fall a few times, but it does not hang-around for long. Personally, I like snow as a visitor, but not as a resident.

[elcapitan]

IB Oregon:

Huh?

[Imperial1904]

Originally Posted by IB Oregon

San Diegons for the most, CAN NOT DRIVE!! See the red thing on the the stringing thing acrross the street, that glows? that means STOP! Not, "Oh I can make it, takes the other traffic a few seconds to move thier feet or hands into driving position to go" Or the big red sign at the corner, or my fav, "stop ahead"? Means stop! I know alot of people here English is not their first language, but STOP?? For Gosh Sakes! San Diegoians, may CA in general, NO COMMON FRICKING SENSE!!! Oregon people, and that is what is different.

I grew up in San Diego and that's where I learned to drive, thank God!! Here in Oregon, I've seen people run red lights like they don't exist. I've even seen a car run a red light from a stopped position right in front of several cops. I've seen on a regular basis drivers blocking intersections and backing up traffic. Here, they don't know how to merge into traffic. I've had people tailgate me and pass over double solid lines.

And by the way, it's San Diegans.

[Just Lookin]

I am kind of concerned about the property taxes in Oregon. I don't really understand what your property tax is. I read this and am now more confused. How does this work? If I buy a home at $175,00 what is my taxes going to be?
How do you find out what taxes you will pay. Is this saying you don't have a percentage rate for all of Oregon?
Like we pay 1% of the selling price.

Property Taxes
Oregon does not grant homeowners a homestead exemption. Tax rates are set by the counties and any special considerations are levied by county officials. Homeowners 62 or older may delay paying property taxes based on certain income criteria. The state offers a Disabled Citizen Property Tax Deferral Program and a Senior Citizen Property Tax Deferral Program. Both deferral programs allow qualified taxpayers to defer payment of their property taxes on their homes. The state pays the taxes to the county, maintains the account, and charges 6% simple interest, which also is deferred. Taxes are owed when the taxpayer receiving the deferral dies, sells the property, ceases to live permanently on the property, or the property changes ownership. I WOULDN'T EVER DO THIS.

To qualify for either program, the taxpayer must live on the property and have a total household income of less than $36,500 for the year before application. Participants may remain on either program as long as their federal adjusted gross income does not exceed that amount. If a participant's income exceeds the $36,500 limit, part of the taxes still may be deferred. Participants can come in and out of the programs if their income changes. In addition to meeting the income limitation and property ownership requirement, disabled persons must be receiving or be eligible to receive federal Social Security Disability benefits to qualify. Residents must be 62 years old or older to qualify for the Senior Citizen Property Tax Deferral Program.

[mdvaden]

Originally Posted by Just Lookin

I am kind of concerned about the property taxes in Oregon. I don't really understand what your property tax is. I read this and am now more confused. How does this work? If I buy a home at $175,00 what is my taxes going to be?
How do you find out what taxes you will pay. Is this saying you don't have a percentage rate for all of Oregon?
Like we pay 1% of the selling price.

Property Taxes
Oregon does not grant homeowners a homestead exemption. Tax rates are set by the counties and any special considerations are levied by county officials. Homeowners 62 or older may delay paying property taxes based on certain income criteria. The state offers a Disabled Citizen Property Tax Deferral Program and a Senior Citizen Property Tax Deferral Program. Both deferral programs allow qualified taxpayers to defer payment of their property taxes on their homes. The state pays the taxes to the county, maintains the account, and charges 6% simple interest, which also is deferred. Taxes are owed when the taxpayer receiving the deferral dies, sells the property, ceases to live permanently on the property, or the property changes ownership. I WOULDN'T EVER DO THIS.

To qualify for either program, the taxpayer must live on the property and have a total household income of less than $36,500 for the year before application. Participants may remain on either program as long as their federal adjusted gross income does not exceed that amount. If a participant's income exceeds the $36,500 limit, part of the taxes still may be deferred. Participants can come in and out of the programs if their income changes. In addition to meeting the income limitation and property ownership requirement, disabled persons must be receiving or be eligible to receive federal Social Security Disability benefits to qualify. Residents must be 62 years old or older to qualify for the Senior Citizen Property Tax Deferral Program. Call 800-356-4222 or 503-376-4988 for details or click here.

We pay the county.

Look up the county and ask what the rate is.

Probably about $3100 per year on a $300,000 home in a city like Beaverton.

[skitow]

Originally Posted by elcapitan

IB Oregon:

Huh?

I agree. What??

[Just Lookin]

Okay I give up. What is IB and huh mean. Where are all the Californians who moved to Oregon. I guess you don't like it there. (:

[CedarView]

Sounds like she moved from Oregon, where she had clean air and delicious clean water from the tap, to Imperial Beach, where she loves it also. Not a bad post for an obvious english as second language. Better than I could do in a different country.

[ladysrodgers]

Originally Posted by mdvaden

Applegate Valley is fairly nice, and right between Medford and Grants Pass.

We even have high-speed internet service. Plenty of vineyards too, if you like wine.

I can be inside Medford's city limits in 20 minutes. And can almost be to Costco and stuff in 25 minutes. I was amazed at how little holiday traffic was here - expected more. Portland area was like grid-lock.

Applegate Valley has Medford like temperatures, but we get less fog and 9 more inches of rain per year. Redwood forest and coast only 2 hours to the west cutting through Grants Pass. School bus comes out here from the high school, and the grade school here is excellent with all 8 grades.

Right now, I am sitting here looking at the snow on the upper half of these mountains (photo taken earlier in year). The particular one outside my home office window is the one where the image was taken from. We are where the blue spot is.

Homes are moving decently here - good selection. It's not Applegate Valley, but between us and Medford on the fringe of Central Point, my mother in law's home was sold after being on the market for barely 3 weeks.

It depends on what part of the Applegate Valley you live in. Where I lived, we had plenty of fog. I was 9 miles south of Murphy, and 3 miles north of the town of Applegate, on the valley floor.

The snow level varies from year to year. Last winter (2006) was exceptionally cold, and there were several snow falls. On the average, I would say there was 4 to 6 inches of snow. Of course it melted a few days later, then snowed again.

From my place it took 20 minutes to get to Grants Pass, and about the 25 to Medford, depending on traffic once I reached Jacksonville. On the rare ocassions I went to Costco, it took nearly 45 minutes.

One of the things people really "need" to consider when moving to a rural area, is how inconvenient it is. It takes a longer driving time, more gas, more everything. The grocery stores within the Applegate Valley, which means in Ruch, are limited in what they carry, and not all that cheap. That isn't to say they don't carry good products, quite the contrary. I love their deli pastas and home made sourdough breads!

There is a tiny grocery/convenience/gas store in Applegate - 9 miles north of Ruch with a pretty good selection of things - still rather pricey, but they have an awesome restaurant in there!

In Murphy, 12 miles north of the town of Applegate........bleh. The grocery store is okay, but pricey and certainly not one of my favorite places to shop.

There is only one road in or out of the valley. These are just a few things to consider when thinking of making the leap to rural living.