Moving from Southern California to Oregon (Portland, Eugene: attorney, real estate, work)

[Waterlily]

Des Demona I'm so glad you are enjoying Oregon. It sounds like it will be a good fit for you. Yes the coast can be amazing. I love the views out here. Eugene will be a good place to meet people once you've moved there.

I don't miss the rain much but I'm sure it'll be back soon. Rain has a way of showing up here on the coast.

[jthomas45]

I'm glad your getting lots of replay about oregon ,I lived in bend for 2.5 years andand headed down to texas ,austin and after this passed summer in texas I know maybe we should of stayed there ? Houseing prices are why to high even when we moved there 175k was about it for bend ,now its 475 ? I know that the prices are going to come down , I hope you have agod paying job .
good luck to you

[PDXsailor]

They say that house prices are falling in the US, but in Oregon, it is still appreciating something like 13% a year.

[Clear2land]

I am closely watching home values in Southern Oregon that have been on the market for more than 180 days that aren't selling. My realtor tells me that a lot of listings are being reduced and I too see that happening. Sales came to an abrupt stop last summer with many tract builders furloughing their crews. Prices may be increasing in certain areas but I sure don’t see it. There aren’t many takers interested in paying $246 a square foot. I see a lot of nice homes priced at $156 a square foot and they aren't selling either.

Dan

[yakker]

Dan,

I see that also. I don't have an agent yet, but continually check several web sites and have noticed Southern Oregon house prices dropping. I have seen the same houses for sale for over six months, and note when the price drops. The same is happening all over the country, and even new houses are being offered with buy-downs and huge incentives. It's sad for the sellers if they're under a time constraint, but good news for 1st time buyers if they can qualify. Once the interest rates begin to drop the market will pick up again. The banks and the Fed know that, and the lenders can only manipulate the rates so much before they price themselves into a tight spot, or their foreclosures get out of hand.

I don't use the sites mentioned here but have found a couple that I can pass on if you send me a pm. It may be considered advertising if I posted them on the forum. Both sites have huge databases and good discrete search engines, listing MLS with pictures and virtual tours. That being said, there's no substitute for seeing the house in person.

Dave

[Des_Demona]

The friends' house I'm staying at is really REALLY nice 3 bedroom in the nice part of Eugene and they bought it recently for 141k so you can find the good deals if you look hard enough. They have a huge backyard and garden with trees and berry plants and a deck and a jacuzzi which is also clothing optional Can't wait to try out the hotsprings haha. I'm loving Oregon. I'm heading up to Portland today and the weather report says it will be sunny. We'll have to see... it only sprinkled like... once yesterday but it wasn't what I really consider "rain". It's been so nice, very cold though but that's to be expected in winter. I like bundling up though. YAY FOR OREGON!!!!!!!!!!!

[tiffela74]

Hey Des, are you going to go check out Saturday Market? If its open this weekend (being the New years weekend) its well worth it. They have such wonderful unique things there that all these creative people make and sell...I always find something for everyone, Especially ME!!, each time I go there. Not to mention the food....ahhhhhh. the food...
Im so glad youre having such a wonderful time!! When you were at Florence, did you got to the Sealion Caves? I love the views from there, but down in the caves, cold and stinky! lol. My fav. drive is from the caves all the way through Lincoln City. - we just did that drive last weekend in fact. And we were in Portland til Tuesday night. If youre going up to Portland via I5, and you have time and want, theres the Woodburn company outlet mall up that way. The lines just to get in the stores were incredible last week....jeez. Of course,Im sure its nothign you cant get at home too...I just love the outlets though, especially when theres sales going on! Thought Id share it w/ya. lol
Bummer Corvallis didnt work out for you, but Im sure glad you found out before you moved there! Its a wonderful place for some, others...not their thing.
Are you gonna head up to see the M. falls too? Thats another thing well worth the drive.
How much longer do you have here? Are you serious about coming up sooner and staying w/friends? How wonderful that you have such great friends that are willing to have you do that!
Hey, i just got a call from my mom to meet her in Eugene today, rotten timing! If you werent headed up to P. we couldve met for lunch! ah well, I'll still send you a wave.
Have a terrific time in P. and for the rest of your visit! Keep us updated, its always fun to hear about someones happy experiences here in Oregon.
Tiff

[Opalina]

Hi! I've never posted before, but I've been reading this thread all morning, and I want to share a few thoughts as a Californian who left SoCal (San Diego), moved to Rogue River, and one year later, am back to San Diego by choice. My parents retired and moved up there in 2002, and after some visits and a small financial windfall in 2005, we decided to move up and give a slower pace of life a shot. I was born and raised in San Diego (the city proper), and have never lived anywhere else (though I have traveled fairly extensively through the Southwestern and Midwestern US), and I was looking forward to a chance to experience small-town living and be closer to my parents as they grew older. Well....it just didn’t work out. Decent-paying jobs were difficult to find. I worked in the biotech industry here in SD, and was unable to translate any of that experience here. The laboratories I was interested in were having hiring freezes. I ended up doing accounting, and the pay was really low for that. I had been a travel agent for many years here in SD, and after three interviews for a travel agent position (travel for internal employees), I was told by the largest employer in Southern Oregon that some of their employees didn’t like to work with women when they called to book their travel. (Wayyy back in this thread, my sis in law posted about this, and she is referring to me. The employer is a very large auto corporation. We've already had it out.) To make a long story short, I ended up deciding to move home. I got my old job back, and my life is good. What I came away with is this...

Californians, think long and hard about this move. It is not for everyone. Oregon is beyond beautiful, and I will always enjoy my visits there. But it is a HUGE change, and the novelty may wear off. The reality of day to day living is very different. Southern Californians: it rains A LOT. You may hear that it should end around February often, but it doesn't. I was actually in awe of the amount of water that could fall from the sky. There were weeks where it never stopped, and it wasn’t just drizzle.

For the most part, I really liked the people! Loved Rogue River! There are many, many down to earth, decent, and cool people in Southern Oregon. I did get some mean comments about being from CA, though. There are people who don't know how to act everywhere including Oregon. Ignore them.

Best piece of advice I can give you is that if you find yourself complaining, miserable, and wanting things to be like they were-go home if you can. It's not fair to yourself or anyone else who has to hear it. Some of us just don't belong there, and that’s how it is.

[tiffela74]

Im sorry things didnt work out for you, but Im sure glad you were able to go back to living in a place that is happy home for you. Oregon is not for everyone. Your last line is terrific advice, thank you for sharing that. And Im glad youre still able to come up and enjoy visits now and again.
btw, I hope you sued the pants off that rotten company!! That is beyond dark ages and is highly illegal!! Ive never even heard of something like that happening and them getting away with it, in a long long long time. Pathetic and horrible. Im sorry for your experience. And I hope you got a heck of a settlement out of it!
Again, Im sorry it didnt work out for you here,but hey, welcome back home in San Diego to you!! Im glad you were able to make it back where youre happy.
Tiffany

[Opalina]

Tiffela, thank you!! I am happy to be home, and am looking forward to my next visit to Rogue in a few weeks! I'd like to think that I have an amicable and respectful relationship with Oregon as a Californian! As for the company, I did contact a couple of attorneys but no one was really into taking it, and at that point, I had pretty much decided that I was going to return to SD anyways, so I just let it go. I have wondered if that was the right thing to do, but I think that it would have been more than I could handle at the time. It happened in May so I would think it would be too late at this point. But I definitely dont take it as any indication of what Oregon is like! Attitudes like that pop up everywhere-here in CA too.

Have a Happy New Year!