Buying a house in Portland (Lake Oswego, West Linn: for sale, 2015, to rent)

[questions11]

Hello Everyone.
I recently moved to Portland and We really HATE renting. The ppl upstairs make noise. The Lady downstairs complain about us making noise.. LOSE LOSE situation. We dont want to rent a house because for the amount these homes rent out for we could buy our own.
So my question here is What areas here in Portland should we consider moving to with a 3 year old.
I am looking for kid friendly neighborhood where kids play outside.
Also near schools.
i have so many questions I dont even know how to ask them.
We are looking to buy because we are ready to get settled and we are wanting to have a place of our own and not have to deal with ppl living up or down stairs from us.
Any advise will help. and Please be as honest as you can be.
Thanks

[EnricoV]

My choice really depends on where work is, I'd always go with the easiest commute.
But ... in general, I think Clackamas county is a great family-friendly choice. Schools are good. Lots can be bigger. Prices are a bit less than Multnomah County, overall.

[davemess10]

a little more information would be helpful.
What's important to you (ie. we want to walk to restaurants. We want lots of parks. We bike more than we use a car, We HAVE to have 3 car garages (scary)).
Also price point is important.

Sellwood is in SE Portland. And comparing one specific neighborhood to an entire quadrant (or an entire county!) is pretty hard to do.

[christiner81]

what's your budget? where do you work?

[Squidlo]

With very little to go on. I said SW Portland. Pretty hard to go wrong there if you can afford it. I like the look of Sellwood. I love the 1900-1930 era homes. Lots of those there. With a child it's all about the schools. If you can do private you have a lot more options.

[localgirlpdxbldr]

Milwaukie. Bigger houses for less $, 5 minutes to Sellwood, 1/2 the taxes than Multnomah County. And....in 2015 the MAX line will be going through downtown Milwaukie. Easy to get anywhere.

[Copsgirl73]

Originally Posted by christiner81

what's your budget? where do you work?

This. If your budget was limitless and you didnt care about commute then I would pick SW Portland first followed by Clackamas County (West Linn/Lake Oswego area)

[Minervah]

If money is no object I would probably choose where I live around Hawthorne. I see kids playing outside and there are some great houses here with for sale signs. But I know nothing about the schools other than the Sunnyside elementary school on around 36th and Salmon is now the Sunnyside Environmental School whatever that means.

[us2add3]

If money were no object we'd all live in Dunthorpe. That is Portland's most exclusive neighborhood. Homes in that area can run in the millions. I knew some friends who paid thousands of dollars for their kids to attend the "public school."

[questions11]

thank you all for your replies.. Commute is not an issue. I can drive anywhere. I just worry more about it being safe and sending my daughter to a good school. I know nothing is perfect and i dont expected to be but a finger in a right directed can make a big difference.
We are gonna hold of buying a home till next year. We are going to save up some money and see how things go. We have only been in Portland about 4 months now and I dont even know if i would like the winter weather.
Does it get really cold here?
I am from Cali and it doesn't get that cold there. I could go out with no jacket and be just fine. any who.. thank again .