Family with Horses & dogs (Portland, Eugene: for sale, real estate, lender)

[NewfKat]

Hi everyone,
I am a homeschool mom with 3 boys who are all involved in karate and a lot of sports. I train my Newfoundland dogs and need a place to take them swimming!!
My husband is from Alaska and wants to live near the mountains.
We also like to hike, swim, camp, and canoe
So what we would like to find:

- Mountains
- river, pond, or some large body of water
- land for horses
- activities for families; sports, karate
- snow
- descent shopping

We are looking to move to either Oregon or Montana, thanks everybody!!

[Nell Plotts]

I was thinking Joseph or Enterprise, OR near Wallowa Lake until you said 'decent shopping'. Snow during the winter is found atop Cascade Mountain range and the Blue & Wallowa Mountains. There are many lakes and horse camps in the publicly owned forests. It is tough to find 'decent shopping' and karate in horse country unless you travel to one or the other. Central Oregon around Bend is probably your best bet overall.

[hamellr]

By decent horse country, do you mean lots of places to ride, or just liveable in general?

There are a large number of horse farms and stables out near Forest Grove. But not a lot of ridable areas there. You'll need to trailer the horses in. Another large horse area is out around Sandy, but you'll need to go up on to Mt. Hood to find any horse friendly trails.

The largest area of horse friendly trails is South Eastern Oregon. There are places where you can ride for days and not see another soul. But that's pretty far from anything.

[susanmartin7007]

Licensed Property Manager here. I have lived and worked in Oregon for many years. There are lots of places in Oregon meet your requirements. Right off the top of my head, look East of Portland (Past Gresham!). The farther east you go, the less populated the state. Many small towns so shopping is limited. The I-5 corridor runs north and south clear through the state so any of the cities along the corridor will have good shopping. Portland is north, Salem and Eugene in the middle and Grants Pass, Klamath Falls to the south.

You might like Klamath Falls and Grants Pass. They are warmer in the summer, snowier in the winter and lots of mountains. Find a city that has what your family needs (ie: karate, shopping, etc) and then just drive 10 minutes out of the city limits. Everything you want is there.

[Steve Pickering]

All will require an income (Job) in adition to Horses and Children. If you don't have one carved in stone or an indipendent income, you're looking in the wrong state when you consider Oregon. Now Montana might be a good choice.

[Nell Plotts]

I hear that N. Dakota is really rolling from an employment pov.

[Steve97415]

Starting to sound like one of those design-your-own reality posts with an impossibly contradictory set of wants (we see a lot of those):

"I'd like some place that is green all year with lots of trees and forests and lakes where the climate is mostly sunny and there is very little rain..."

"I'd like to live in an artsy town with many cultural opportunities where there are good-paying jobs and elegant inexpensive homes with big yards..."

"I'd like to live on the Oregon coast in a place where summers are sunny and warm and you can go swimming and surfing without a heavy wet suit..."

"I'd like to live on an acreage where I can have a fruit orchard and raise goats and that has shopping malls, good schools and organized activities for kids nearby..."

[gypsydoc]

Originally Posted by Steve97415

Starting to sound like one of those design-your-own reality posts with an impossibly contradictory set of wants (we see a lot of those):

"I'd like some place that is green all year with lots of trees and forests and lakes where the climate is mostly sunny and there is very little rain..."

"I'd like to live in an artsy town with many cultural opportunities where there are good-paying jobs and elegant inexpensive homes with big yards..."

"I'd like to live on the Oregon coast in a place where summers are sunny and warm and you can go swimming and surfing without a heavy wet suit..."

"I'd like to live on an acreage where I can have a fruit orchard and raise goats and that has shopping malls, good schools and organized activities for kids nearby..."

Reminds me of episodes of "Property Virgins"... I want a 4 BR, 3,000 sq. foot home on a corner lot 10 minutes from work, 3 baths, deck, huge yard for half my budget (whatever that is where-ever).... oh, and did I say, move in ready? - with the colors and flooring and finishes that I like.

[yellow4yield]

I tried searching local real estate listings for ranch or farm and did not find anything for sale. (I guess everyone is happy where they are living!) There ARE rural homes with acreage for sale, just difficult to use their search to find.

Anyway the Cascade mountain range runs down the state of Oregon. Might look at a map and note the towns on either side. The west side is more green and has more population (shopping). The east side is high desert and less water. But anyway on the west side there are creeks / rivers everywhere.

Small towns (large enough to have a realtor) on the west side of the Cascades heading south are Estacada, Molalla (speed trap, don't move there!), Silverton, Stayton, Lebanon, Sweet Home, Springfield, etc.

The further south you get from Portland, the more open land there is and the lower the prices. And less traffic.

Anyway surrounding all those towns above is lots of farm land and ranch land. Probably best to come and visit. Drive around and see the areas. (Be sure to have compass in car and map so you don't get lost.) Stop at local real estate offices and see what they have.

Do not sign anything at a realtors to just look! One or two real estate places try to get you to sign something before showing you any properties. If they pull that, walk out! You don't not have to sign anything to see properties for sale. And that paper might lock you in to buying from them?

[gypsydoc]

If you want a Realtor to show you properties, it is a good idea to let them know what kind of property you are qualified to buy. Most of them won't take you out to show you properties if you just walk into an office and say you want to look at properties. Of course you do!

At least have a verbal statement from your lender as to your financial state - so you're not wasting anyone's time.

No Realtor wants to waste their time showing houses for free to someone who can't afford what they're looking at.

Also, you might want to interview a few Realtors before looking so that you can pick one to work with.