I just accepted a 90k a year job working the Gorge. Will I be able to afford housing? (Portland: mortgage)

[bretk]

I am looking at towns from Cascade Locks, Hood River, Mosier, Rufus and Arlington even the Dalles. What do you think? I have a daughter who is four and am looking to rent a house that is less than $2000 per month.

[bretk]

thank you for your reply

[dachmom]

Yes, you should be able to afford something. Not much in Cascade Locks(it's a very small town). Hood River will be more expensive than The Dalles, but prices are going up in both towns since Google came to The Dalles. Were will you be working? Moiser is about half way between The Dalles and Hood River, once again small town, not a lot of homes and very popular in the summer with windsurfers(hard to find a place to rent in the summer). Rufus and Arlington are small towns east of The Dalles. If you are looking for really small towns near Hood River and don't mind snow in the winter you can try Odell or Parkdale, they are only a few miles outside of Hood River. Small towns just outside of The Dalles include Dufur and Tygh Valley, once again must be O.K. with a little snow in the winter.
Hope this helps.

[Waterlily]

I believe that any of those towns will have something for rent under $2000. It will depend on the city and what kind of place you are looking to rent. Try looking in the classifieds here http://www.hoodrivernews.com/ or here http://www.thedalleschronicle.com/

[freedom]

Congrats, 90k nice income for OR.

My thought is not can you afford rent, but why are you not buying a house.
2k a month down the drain.

Mortgage interest is a working mans best write off, and at 90k I am thinking you will be paying some tax. You could structure your withholdings on your paycheck so that you could afford a nicer home and have more cash to spend.

Buy the nicest home in the area. 2k will get you a $350,000 home that can earn about 20k equity per yr. min. Plus result in 20k per yr. right off. Then if you sell it in two yrs. and move up to another home, you get to keep up to $250k profit, if your single, and $500k if married.
We move every 2 yrs and make 3 yrs income, plus write off the mortgage int.

freedom

[bretk]

I have been told that the school in Cascade Locks is very good and that they offer fulldday kindergarten. At the present time I am a single father of a 4.5 yr old daughter and she will be starting kindergarten in the fall, so all day kindergarten is very attractive. The only problem is that there are not any rentals currently in Cascade Locks. Hood River wold be great also. I am even entertaining the idea of living in Echo.

I do not have good credit so I cannot buy at this time. I had a foreclosure in Colorado after 9/11

I do not mind snow.

My job is to oversee the repair and replacement of 20 bridges from Troutdale to the Idaho Border over the next six years. I have the option of living anywhere off of I-84 but have family in Portland and Florence so I prefer not to go as far as Pendleton or La Grande. Somewhere between Arlington and Troutdale is where I prefer to live.

[freedom]

Originally Posted by bretk

I have been told that the school in Cascade Locks is very good and that they offer fulldday kindergarten. At the present time I am a single father of a 4.5 yr old daughter and she will be starting kindergarten in the fall, so all day kindergarten is very attractive. The only problem is that there are not any rentals currently in Cascade Locks. Hood River wold be great also. I am even entertaining the idea of living in Echo.

I do not have good credit so I cannot buy at this time. I had a foreclosure in Colorado after 9/11

I do not mind snow.

My job is to oversee the repair and replacement of 20 bridges from Troutdale to the Idaho Border over the next six years. I have the option of living anywhere off of I-84 but have family in Portland and Florence so I prefer not to go as far as Pendleton or La Grande. Somewhere between Arlington and Troutdale is where I prefer to live.

Sorry about the foreclosure, the good news is only 1 more year and you should be free from that. The seven yr. grace.
Build good bridges, we go through there every few yrs.

[dachmom]

Your best bet is probably Hood River if you want to stay close to Cascade Locks. My suggestion is to try to find rental housing soon. The summer months bring a lot of windsurfers and rental housing gets very hard to find in Hood River, Moiser, and The Dalles. Good Luck in your search.

[Topaz]

Why don't you do a lease option / lease purchase? You can definitely afford it and your credit won't matter so much as it would with a conventional purchase. Check out these folks:

http://www.leaseoptiongroup.com

(I'm not affiliated with them in any way).

Topaz

[mdvaden]

My dad had a business up in the gorge. I drove through there a lot when I was young, and plenty later while married, for recreation.

If I was raising a child, I'd pick Hood River if I was not going to pick an east suburb like Troutdale. Hood River is a decent town - one that children can enjoy meeting friends and having things to do.

For $2000 a month, or less, you can pick any city in northern Oregon, except maybe a rental beach house