cross-country move, thoughts on apartment hunting? (Portland: spring break, rentals, insurance)
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cross-country move, thoughts on apartment hunting?
Fine folks of stumptown, it is with the greatest of pleasure that I can finally make this post...we're officially moving to Portland!
My wife and I have been researching this move for almost four years now, and she just landed a sweet job with OHSU. What a Christmas present! We'll be coming out in early July and she'll be starting work later that month or early August. I'm sure in the next few months I'll have all kinds of new questions for you all, but for the time being here's the big one. Which of the following methods of apartment hunting would you prefer?
We'll be moving all the way from the east coast, and we've already decided to just ditch all our stuff and pare down to a car's worth plus some boxes which we can have shipped behind us. What's we're trying to decide is whether we want to spend vacation time and money on a housing hunt trip over spring break in March, or just come out in July? We're terribly eager to see the city again, but before long we'll be seeing it all the time, and we're not sure about whether the cost of flights and a hotel would be worth it four months ahead of arrival?
I'm presuming that if we come out in March, most of the predictable openings we'll find will probably be from large realtors like towers, and while some of those are very nice, they also tend to be rather expensive. If we just show up in July and check into a hotel and start hunting, we might find better deals. On the other hand, that hotel bill could add up too and a little added stress could eclipse the potentially higher price of a fancier rented condo.
If it influences a recommendation, we would love to live somewhere downtown with two bedrooms and a decently modern kitchen and bathroom, and we're looking to fit under a budget of $1600-$1800 a month (if possible, which it seems like it could be).
How would you attack this challenge? Thanks in advance for your advice!
In that price range you will have a host of good choices in any part of the city, especially in NW and SW, just search google and craigslist. Renting sight unseen, I would suggest a short term lease in a high rise or multi-unit building as there is some insurance against fraud if you can't afford/dont want to take a trip out in advance to search and sign a lease. After 6 months, you can move to something more long term, since you wont have too many belongings anyway.
In that price range you will have a host of good choices in any part of the city, especially in NW and SW, just search google and craigslist. Renting sight unseen, I would suggest a short term lease in a high rise or multi-unit building as there is some insurance against fraud if you can't afford/dont want to take a trip out in advance to search and sign a lease. After 6 months, you can move to something more long term, since you wont have too many belongings anyway.
We're not really considering renting blindly as an option, we're just weighing the balance between showing up four months early and only having very slim pickings of what will eventually come available by July...versus just heading out in July and hunting in real time while camping out of a hotel room.
The more I think about it, and the more I look at padmapper and other sites and note just how much (or little) lead time more vacancies have, I really think we're going to just come out in July and wing it. It feels a little less "responsible" but actually it might be the smart move. My wife won't need to start work for the first few weeks we're in town and I could get us a cheap room someplace like a McMenamin's, and we could just spend each day following leads and pounding pavement. I think it'll work out. Does that sound crazy to anyone?
Have you and your wife decided if you would prefer very intense urban Pearl or NW 23rd; easy living, but still slightly urban inner east side (Lloyd Center and Broadway); funky and trendy SE Hawthorne, SE Belmont (and the like); status conscious suburban life; or young artistic NE Alberta?
My recommendation is to find temp living along Bus line #8 on the NE side of town or near the Hollywood MAX stop. Then as you get to know the community you can choose to move to better housing. (Bus line #8 goes to the top of Pill Hill and OHSU. Ride MAX to downtown and transfer to line #8.)
Have you and your wife decided if you would prefer very intense urban Pearl or NW 23rd; easy living, but still slightly urban inner east side (Lloyd Center and Broadway); funky and trendy SE Hawthorne, SE Belmont (and the like); status conscious suburban life; or young artistic NE Alberta?
If we decide to stay around after her two-year stint, those are actually all neighborhoods we like for varying reasons. We've been out several times and done a lot of exploring. We're not terribly vexed by what Portland has to offer, but are just inexperienced in how best to shop for it, if that makes any sense.
Quote:
Originally Posted by philwithbeard
My recommendation is to find temp living along Bus line #8 on the NE side of town or near the Hollywood MAX stop. Then as you get to know the community you can choose to move to better housing. (Bus line #8 goes to the top of Pill Hill and OHSU. Ride MAX to downtown and transfer to line #8.)
For the immediate future, that's precisely what we're interested in...living somewhere near the #8 route. While the aerial tram is nifty, sadly it's pretty useless for the shift hours my wife would be working, so the #8 would most likely be her commuting vehicle of choice (other than our car, which we only plan to use minimally for groceries and such). Her life will mostly be centered around OHSU, and I will be spending a lot of time at the NW Film Center. We're probably going to center our hunting around downtown near PSU, but that doesn't mean we won't entertain really attractive looking properties elsewhere that have easy streetcar/bus access.
I was in your boat with my wife this last summer, but with a much more limited budget, as I'm on a student at OHSU. I would recommend trying to find places closer to your move. There really are almost no places that will save rentals for months. We ended up doing a place site unseen the day before we got to Pdx. It is cheap, and fairly large for the price, which is nice while we figure out where we really want to live.
If you're not dead set on living downtown, there is always Hillsdale, which has really close, easy access to OHSU. The area around PSU, from my experience, has severly overpriced, small places. The South Waterfront might be a good option for you guys (although you said the tram was a problem), in your price range. I would definitely look to SE though, before the area around PSU. Maybe Goose Hollow would be another option.
One thing to consider as well. If your wife is any kind of cyclist, or can be come a biker, OHSU gives you a $50/30 trip incentive to commute by bike to campus. So you'll save money on public transport AND actually make money by riding to work. And if the idea of getting up the hill on a bike is scary, you can bring your bike on the tram, or just park it there. OHSU does offer deeply discounted TriMet passes too. I think we only pay $25/month.
If you're not dead set on living downtown, there is always Hillsdale, which has really close, easy access to OHSU. The area around PSU, from my experience, has severly overpriced, small places. The South Waterfront might be a good option for you guys (although you said the tram was a problem), in your price range. I would definitely look to SE though, before the area around PSU. Maybe Goose Hollow would be another option.
One thing to consider as well. If your wife is any kind of cyclist, or can be come a biker, OHSU gives you a $50/30 trip incentive to commute by bike to campus. So you'll save money on public transport AND actually make money by riding to work. And if the idea of getting up the hill on a bike is scary, you can bring your bike on the tram, or just park it there. OHSU does offer deeply discounted TriMet passes too. I think we only pay $25/month.
Yeah we would consider the South Waterfront, even though it is a yuppie condo DMZ, just because of its proximity and the insane deals to be had down there from desperate owners and developers. Unfortunately the hours that the tram runs really nukes that for us...it would be ridiculous to live within sight of the OHSU buildings and yet have to drive a car to them or take a streetcar ride just to get on the #8. We're more interested in having a one-step, brief commute for my wife. We know about the OHSU biking incentives (which are way cool btw) but the hours she'll be working most of the time make cycling unwise/impractical (if you're too tired to drive, you're WAY too tired to bike).
Hillsdale is a great suggestion, khyron. With great proximity to downtown (ten minute drive maximum) and OHSU, you will find affordable two bedroom places with free parking. Paying to park your car downtown or in the Pearl could run you as much as $200 a month. I think the Pearl may be out of reach for you if you are looking for a two bedroom, but try some of the older, charming places downtown near PSU. Just keep the parking issue in mind.
Hillsdale is a great suggestion, khyron. With great proximity to downtown (ten minute drive maximum) and OHSU, you will find affordable two bedroom places with free parking. Paying to park your car downtown or in the Pearl could run you as much as $200 a month. I think the Pearl may be out of reach for you if you are looking for a two bedroom, but try some of the older, charming places downtown near PSU. Just keep the parking issue in mind.
I appreciate the suggestion, and Hillsdale is probably a great idea for some people. For us however, the very idea of deliberately living someplace where you have to drive a car to go to work is, for us, contrary to the primary goals of living in a city...let alone why we're excited to be moving to this specific city. I'm actually really glad that parking in some places is perceived as difficult, expensive, or both. Good! The daily use of a personal car or truck as a commuting vehicle in the downtown area of a city should be strongly discouraged by any sort of reasonable urban planning, which should promote pedestrian-friendliness and transit access above all else. I know not everyone thinks that way, but hey, that's part of why we're moving to Portland.
Well, you will see plenty, plenty, plenty of cars in this city (just a forewarning LOL). BUT- In that case, I would stick to the area around Portland State. IMO, the Hollywood area is a bit farther from OHSU (which is in the West Hills) than your wife may want to travel via public transportation all the time.
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