Questions about the Portland area, looking for a fixer-upper, decent size lot, ranch property. How hard is to get a land loan when building a home in the county ?

aggie-o · 02-16-2009, 04:39 PM

We are interested in knowing if there is such a thing as residential proprerty in or near LO? We'd like to build a home and ideally would like some property (an acre or so) but from what I've seen searching online no such thing exists in LO or anywhere near. We want to be part of the LO community and utilize LO schools and it looks like to get land elsewhere [not even sure where] a person would not get the LO schools, is this correct? I've also not seen any larger lots (like 1/2 acre or even .25 acre) available in LO. We are just trying to see what is available as we're very interested in relocating there. We'd even considered getting an old fixer-upper to remodel (or even tear down) on a larger lot, but from what I can tell (again, via Internet) these would all be in the "less than desirable" neighborhoods. Just thought I'd throw this out there in case any of you local folks could offer any insight as to options we might be missing. Thanks in advance for anything you might have to suggest.

kimhamblin · 02-16-2009, 08:15 PM

You probably won't find an acre of buildable property inside the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB). Oregon has very strict land use laws which help to keep our state beautiful, but also makes density critical. I did see some 1/2 acre or so lots in LO, but not all of them had LO highschool. I'm not that familiar with the schooldistricts there, but I do know a great agent who works in LO that could help you!

aggie-o · 02-17-2009, 09:01 AM

Wow, thank you so much, that explains a lot. I had not heard of the UGB so I am learning something here. Well, the hubby really wants a little land, and I really want a nice town but would love at least a decent sized lot so we were attempting to see if we could combine both! We both like the LO area, but it sounds like we'd have to settle for a smallish lot in order to stay in a nice neighborhood with the best schools--this is kind of what I thought. When the hubby kept saying we could just find property "out" farther, I tried to explain that I didn't think that would still put us with the schools in LO--it would be the schools for whatever town that was in and that sounds like it is the case.

Mt-7 · 02-18-2009, 08:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aggie-o

Wow, thank you so much, that explains a lot. I had not heard of the UGB so I am learning something here. Well, the hubby really wants a little land, and I really want a nice town but would love at least a decent sized lot so we were attempting to see if we could combine both! We both like the LO area, but it sounds like we'd have to settle for a smallish lot in order to stay in a nice neighborhood with the best schools--this is kind of what I thought. When the hubby kept saying we could just find property "out" farther, I tried to explain that I didn't think that would still put us with the schools in LO--it would be the schools for whatever town that was in and that sounds like it is the case.

If you are interested try the west-linn/wilsonville school district. DM me if you want more info, former resident, not a realtor.