Please help us find our perfect little place to retire.. (Portland: rent, mobile home)

[therese marie]

My husband and I fell in love with Oregon last summer while attending our daughters wedding.. She is by Portland and our son is moving this summer with his wife to Medford..
Our plans are to move in 2 yrs when husband can retire. We will have about 225K for a house..So small is fine..
I have spent hundreds of hours on the internet looking at places in Oregon.. my head is spinning.. We are going to spend a week there in June but want to know where to go looking at ..

This is what we are looking for....
House surrounded by trees..Kinda a wooded or forest feeling.Huge yard or 1/4 acre if possible.. We would love to see wild life in our yard, so maybe a small cabin.. "We would love to be close to lakes.. We love to kayak and would love to get a small boat too..
We don't mind the rain or cold, just not too much snow.. I think few inches are fine, but want to feel like I can still drive to town if needed and not be stuck..
We are not interested in the coast..
We want green and trees all around us and not near the desert..
Some nice walking trails..
We want to be about 10-15 miles out of town.. I still want to be able to go and shop and eat out. And near a hospital for " the later years".. ha ha..
So that where I get confused.. Are there towns that are foresty without being all the way up in the mountains??
Oh and we need internet.. its a must.. so not to "rural"
Thank YOU so very much.. I would love to find out perfect little spot we can live out the rest of our golden years.. well we are only in our 50's, but don't want to move again .. ♥

[patches403]

Originally Posted by therese marie

My husband and I fell in love with Oregon last summer while attending our daughters wedding.. She is by Portland and our son is moving this summer with his wife to Medford..
Our plans are to move in 2 yrs when husband can retire. We will have about 225K for a house..So small is fine..
I have spent hundreds of hours on the internet looking at places in Oregon.. my head is spinning.. We are going to spend a week there in June but want to know where to go looking at ..

This is what we are looking for....
House surrounded by trees..Kinda a wooded or forest feeling.Huge yard or 1/4 acre if possible.. We would love to see wild life in our yard, so maybe a small cabin.. "We would love to be close to lakes.. We love to kayak and would love to get a small boat too..
We don't mind the rain or cold, just not too much snow.. I think few inches are fine, but want to feel like I can still drive to town if needed and not be stuck..
We are not interested in the coast..
We want green and trees all around us and not near the desert..
Some nice walking trails..
We want to be about 10-15 miles out of town.. I still want to be able to go and shop and eat out. And near a hospital for " the later years".. ha ha..
So that where I get confused.. Are there towns that are foresty without being all the way up in the mountains??
Oh and we need internet.. its a must.. so not to "rural"
Thank YOU so very much.. I would love to find out perfect little spot we can live out the rest of our golden years.. well we are only in our 50's, but don't want to move again .. ♥

The two things that are really going to really limit your options are your very low price point for a SFH on at least 1/4 acre outside of town and having internet not from a satellite.

Your price point is very low for the type of property you want anywhere that has green and trees in Oregon. Oregon's land use laws mean that there are relatively few properties outside of towns that are on lots in the size range you're looking for. Most properties out of town are on multiple acre lots and are priced far higher than $225k. What is available in your price range is going to be old and probably be classified as "fixer". If you're willing to live in a mobile home that would improve your available options.

If you can use high speed satellite internet it will open up your options; if you have to have regular wired high speed internet it will severely limit your ability to live 10 - 15 miles out of town. Normally areas 10 miles+ away from town don't have wired high speed internet as an option.

My two cents is if you want to come to Oregon you'll need to either increase your budget or be willing to live in town. And by town I don't mean Portland metro, Salem, Corvallis, Eugene or McMinnville since $225k won't buy you a SFH in decent shape in any of those areas. By in town I mean more isolated towns like Sheridan, Cottage Grove, Lebanon, etc. Looks like you might have some options around Medford (they aren't pretty but they exist) in your price range but again the internet thing will make it a challenge if you can't use satellite internet.

[Thom52]

Be careful about falling in love with the coastal Northwest on a sunny summer day.

You don't say where you are moving from, and how you feel about 10 months of gray drizzly skies.

I think you narrowed your search pretty well with that dream list, not wanting mountains, or desert, or coast in Oregon. Add to that a quarter acre in an ideal natural setting, with all the convienences, for $225, and the choices should be considerably narrowed down. I am not saying impossible, but definitely narrowed down. At least you don't need a job. That is definitely a plus for moving to Oregon, and will help you find something.

You may have to get creative on the type of housing, or some of your dream list may have to find a compromise, or priorities may have to be set. Hopefully some good ideas will spring up here.

We paid $350k for our dream retirement home on a postage stamp (low maintenance) lot, and are quite happy with our compromises, but we didn't get close to filling in your entire dream checklist.

[therese marie]

I was looking on Zillow and it must be pretty off then.. That is why I posted here.. I can see something on there that looks nice for the price but really have no clue about the area or if its a fixer..
We are fine in a tiny house, under 900 sq ft.. I don't mind a small town.. I would rather be closer to a town, hubby wanted to be bit away from one .. The land size is not as important as location.. I can live in a shoe box if it means sitting outside drinking my coffee and looking at nature around me..
I am not sure what satellite internet is or the difference is. I am a professional photographer and need to be able to be on the internet for clients..
We are coming from So California.. was afraid to mention that since I hear that can be discouraged..
We are tired of sun.. after 55 yrs, over it.. But to be 100% sure, we will rent a place for a winter season just to make sure..
WA is not totally out of the picture either, but want to be close to our kids that live there..
When you think about buying your last home,want to make sure its the right place..♥

[Metlakatla]

Consider Oakridge. Sounds like it might be a really good fit for you (although you might find it too mountainous). Also, look at the Sweet Home area, maybe out by Foster Lake. Both are in the foothills of the Cascades but not "all the way up in the mountains." You might also look the other side of I-5 toward Monmouth, maybe Willamina.

[therese marie]

thank you.. I will add that to my list to see.♥
I LOVE the mountains.. Just worried if we go to high, we will get snowed in..
So somewhere on the way up would be great.. ha ha
We could also go up to 260K for small place..

[patches403]

Originally Posted by therese marie

I was looking on Zillow and it must be pretty off then.. That is why I posted here.. I can see something on there that looks nice for the price but really have no clue about the area or if its a fixer..
We are fine in a tiny house, under 900 sq ft.. I don't mind a small town.. I would rather be closer to a town, hubby wanted to be bit away from one .. The land size is not as important as location.. I can live in a shoe box if it means sitting outside drinking my coffee and looking at nature around me..
I am not sure what satellite internet is or the difference is. I am a professional photographer and need to be able to be on the internet for clients..
We are coming from So California.. was afraid to mention that since I hear that can be discouraged..
We are tired of sun.. after 55 yrs, over it.. But to be 100% sure, we will rent a place for a winter season just to make sure..
WA is not totally out of the picture either, but want to be close to our kids that live there..
When you think about buying your last home,want to make sure its the right place..♥

One of the first things I would do if I were you is research your internet needs. It doesn't do you much good to fall in love with a particular area only to discover that only satellite internet is available and satellite isn't fast enough for your needs.

You need to figure out the bare minimum internet speed and data limits you will need to operate your business and cover your personal needs as well. There's multiple different high speed internet options available in Oregon, but many of them are not available very far outside city limits. Some of them cost over $100 a month to get a high enough data limit to be able to work from home, some of them wouldn't be fast enough to use in certain applications, some are so stingy with data allowances and hours of usage that they're practically useless for anything other than emailing and surfing and some of them require you be within line of sight to their service tower or satellite (meaning even if your house is within their service area, you still might not be able to use their internet service because there's too many trees or a hill in the way).

Once you know what you actually need, then you can start narrowing down the list of possible areas to ones where you can get the level of internet service you need. Then once you have some possible addresses, there's online websites you can use to determine available internet service options at a particular address.

[therese marie]

thank you so much patches403
that make so much sense..

[Phrogg]

I know you don't want too much snow, but I can't help thinking you might find something you like along the Mount Hood Corridor in one of "The Villages at Mount Hood": somewhere like Zigzag, Rhododendron, etc. Those are definitely cabin-in-the-woods places and I believe you may find something small that's in your price range.

[Hawk J]

For about six lustrum we have happily lived on our forested mountain, southside, at 2000'. About once a month we go about 25 mile into Grants Pass for vittles & other goods we need.

This last winter it only snowed one time about 8". It melted in a week. We get quite a bit of sunshine, even in the winter. There is very little wind here. We are surrounded by mountains. Lately it's been mostly in the 50's-60's-70.

If i was in y'all folks boots, i would suggest looking for a place to love around Grants Pass, Merlin, Hugo, Sunny Valley, Wolf Creek, Glendale, Azalea (over to Galesville Reservoir). These are small towns of different small sizes...

I love the country around here. I enjoy exploring the BLM lands seeing beautiful scenery & finding new fishing holes...

Leave nothing but barely visible footprints...

Best of Luck finding your place.