Need advise about Beaverton neighborhood (Portland, Hillsboro: days on market, sale, renters)

[Trentwalker]

Hi everyone,

Currently Me and my husband are looking for a single family house in Beaverton, plan to rent it out first and probably move there in the future.

Our budget is 350k, we went to arbor vineyards ,which is located at SW 209th Ave, a bit far away from everything, about 5 miles from 26 or 217 high way.But this neighborhood is so pretty, new. So we are struggling now ,need some advice:

1) is this neighborhood safe? I mean low crime rate etc.

2)value increase, shows average price 4 years ago was around 230k for size 1700sqft, now a lot of them are asking 310-340k. It seems crazy to me, not sure if this area will keep going up in the future though.houses there look new,clean,but all have small yard.like townhouse size yard.

3) is it easy to find a tenant? feels like too far to Portland , and its 4miles to downtown beaverton. no safeway or any other things around that neighborhood.

the only thing thats attractive is the pretty neighborhood, so I'm thinking if 300K for 1700sqft might be a good price to buy?

Need some advice! is there other affordable neighborhood we can look at?

Thanks!

[j_k_k]

Originally Posted by Trentwalker

Hi everyone,

Currently Me and my husband are looking for a single family house in Beaverton, plan to rent it out first and probably move there in the future.

Our budget is 350k, we went to arbor vineyards ,which is located at SW 209th Ave, a bit far away from everything, about 5 miles from 26 or 217 high way.But this neighborhood is so pretty, new. So we are struggling now ,need some advice:

1) is this neighborhood safe? I mean low crime rate etc.

2)value increase, shows average price 4 years ago was around 230k for size 1700sqft, now a lot of them are asking 310-340k. It seems crazy to me, not sure if this area will keep going up in the future though.houses there look new,clean,but all have small yard.like townhouse size yard.

3) is it easy to find a tenant? feels like too far to Portland , and its 4miles to downtown beaverton. no safeway or any other things around that neighborhood.

the only thing thats attractive is the pretty neighborhood, so I'm thinking if 300K for 1700sqft might be a good price to buy?

Need some advice! is there other affordable neighborhood we can look at?

Thanks!

Don't know about around 209th, as that's well west of me, but I can tell you the trends right where I live (near SW 170th and SW Oak/Davis/Allen/whateverthehellitisatanygivenpoint). Our place, bought just over two years ago, listed for 282K, we got it for just a bit over that. Fast forward to today, where two houses on our street have gone on the block in the past three months. One, in my opinion less desirable than ours, listed for 335K, closed for 353K. Another, arguably nicer landscaped than ours, listed for 379K. Still hasn't pended after about 21 days on market, which tells me they got greedy. I'd bet if they'd listed for 360K it'd be pending now, rather than their agent having open houses which I suspect are more to advertise herself than to sell the property. Estimates on our own house now range from 359K to 368K, and I think those are a little high, but I'd wager we could get 350K for it if we suddenly decided to sell. Houses in my area were built in the late 1970s, run about 1600 ft^2 with small lots, and some are trashy while some are not.

The only thing I can say about the rental idea is that by the time you decide to boot your renters and live there yourself, there'll be the usual neighborhood dowdiness set in that comes from renters serially not giving a crap. Bet your new neighbors will heart you big time as the people who brought slumness to the street. I've lived next to a rental before and it's a garbagefest.

[Trentwalker]

Thanks a lot! that helps. looking for investment property is kinda hard lol.

[psichick]

Originally Posted by Trentwalker

Thanks a lot! that helps. looking for investment property is kinda hard lol.

Why not look for a condo or townhome near Intel since they bring people in on contracts?

Housing is expected to slow down over the next 2 years, but not necessarily drop, so don't expect any kind of return like what you saw over the past 1-5 years.

[Trentwalker]

thanks psichick! we don't consider condo or townhouse because it has high hoa fee. And for future another house phurchase bank told us we can't use it for mortgage.

We looked at Hillsboro area the price is a bit too crazy and they are building new houses. Not sure if the intel ppl are coming more and more in the future lol.

[Luckystrike1]

Originally Posted by Trentwalker

thanks psichick! we don't consider condo or townhouse because it has high hoa fee. And for future another house phurchase bank told us we can't use it for mortgage.

We looked at Hillsboro area the price is a bit too crazy and they are building new houses. Not sure if the intel ppl are coming more and more in the future lol.

Wise person. A friend of mine owns a condo in that region you were asking about and her HOA fees have jacked up so much in so little time. She wants to sell it but is "stuck" like a lot of people. And renting out homes in Oregon is a demon of a job. You should look into the laws and changes before deciding to go that route.


I know this is even farther out yet but you should consider Forest Grove or some of the more modest neighborhoods of Hillsboro, which is primarily in the "original Hillsboro" areas.

[tothewolves1099]

Originally Posted by Luckystrike1

Wise person. A friend of mine owns a condo in that region you were asking about and her HOA fees have jacked up so much in so little time. She wants to sell it but is "stuck" like a lot of people. And renting out homes in Oregon is a demon of a job. You should look into the laws and changes before deciding to go that route.


I know this is even farther out yet but you should consider Forest Grove or some of the more modest neighborhoods of Hillsboro, which is primarily in the "original Hillsboro" areas.

Is this common? Seems like the average HOA fees on listings is between $200-250 every month which is incredibly high or so it seems.

What does this usually cover? I'm assuming landscaping and basic maintenance of the property but there's no way in hell it costs that much to maintain these communities.

[Luckystrike1]

Originally Posted by tothewolves1099

Is this common? Seems like the average HOA fees on listings is between $200-250 every month which is incredibly high or so it seems.

What does this usually cover? I'm assuming landscaping and basic maintenance of the property but there's no way in hell it costs that much to maintain these communities.

I don't think it's uncommon, and my friend pays a lot more than that for her condo's HOA (and needless to say, she is not a happy camper). I do think, in most cases, irrigation and landscaping are the only real covenant items $ in an association - and repairs leaks that occur. And, yes, most grounds don't have much, and the newer they are the less there is to mow. But I've never lived in an association, so hopefully others on this board can give better information.

[Trentwalker]

I'm currently living in a condo in seaside. Our Hoa is about $300/month. We just repaired one side of the wall of the whole building last year. They did maintain pretty well. But the risk is there might be a law suite in some of the neighborhoods. I know there is one on ave G in seaside. No one get to sale there condo. That's why we wanna avoid this risk.looking for a single
Family house instead.

[karlsch]

$200-250 every month is not high for condo fees.

Bookkeeping.
Administrative expense.
Janitorial.
If elevators, elevator contract (really expensive).
Water and sewer.
Garbage.
Insurance (expensive).
Repairs.
Electric.
Gas (if gas heat for common areas).
Water.
Yard Maintenance.
And so on.

It's always a good idea for condo owners to come to the meetings, although many don't and just complain about the power-hungry people on the board of directors.