Where To Live In Roseburg, Oregon (Portland, Sutherlin: real estate, apartment complexes, rentals)

[roseburgenquirer]

I plan on moving to Roseburg, Or and would like your recommendations on which area to live in. I especially would like to know where not to live. I want to avoid the white trash. So please, any tips would be helpful. Thanks!

[Larry Caldwell]

It would help to know what you are looking for. I assume you are retired? Roseburg is a nice place to live if you have an independent income, or have a guaranteed job.

Are you looking to buy or rent? The really nice neighborhoods will run at least half a million, and a million bucks or more for riverfront property. You might be able to find a rental on the edges of nice neighborhoods for $2500 a month or so. There are some fairly clean working class neighborhoods that will run you about half that. Roseburg bought and bulldozed some of the worst neighborhoods, and even the oldest got a serious rehab during the housing boom last decade.

What are you looking for? A house? Apartment? Senior housing?

[liv2ride]

Hi Larry,
You seem very knowledgeable about Roseburg.
I, too, am thinking of a move to Roseburg with a job possibility with the VA hospital there. Real estate seems to really be booming there? I am going by past posts about the cost of housing--rentals or buying--older posts from 3 years ago made it seem that housing costs were far less at the time. I guess the recession prices are making a comeback? Are there any townhome type places to rent in the area? Outside of Roseburg, what areas would you recommend? Looking for 2-3 BR, in a safe area. I also have a horse that I would need to find a stable for. Do you know if there are boarding stables in the area? You mentioned that property with acreage is quite costly now, so that, while ideal, may not be an option for me! I would be okay with driving 20-30 minutes into Roseburg for work......any info would be appreciated. Thanks!!

[jimj]

I'm interested to here this as well. Looking at building a house in Roseburg possibly.

[Steve Pickering]

Originally Posted by jimj

I'm interested to hear this as well. Looking at building a house in Roseburg possibly.

Getting land in a good area is getting tough. Buying ready built is easier.

[jimj]

Originally Posted by Steve Pickering

Getting land in a good area is getting tough. Buying ready built is easier.

Thanks for the spell check, dealing with puppy while I was typing so I missed it. Anyway, I was looking at MLS ID: 12507673 which came up in a Roseburg search but I guess shows just outside in Glide?

[Steve Pickering]

I like Glide. A little bit of Hicksville, but a nice view and close to Roseburg.

As to spelling, I am the worst college graduate speller I know, but some words jump out at me. I was suttle about it and didn't play spelling police.

[Foreverking]

I grew up in Roseburg, but what I don't understand is how most folks continue to live there, as the prices are VERY high for housing and incomes are...well...ultra pathetic. I lived in the Eastwood area...which now looks somewhat like a ghetto (as Roseburg goes). Now I just visit every few years, say hi to my few friends who stuck it out. Most of them are having a tough time there. Don't know why they don't just pick up and move to Portland, the cost of housing seems about the same.

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by liv2ride

Hi Larry,
You seem very knowledgeable about Roseburg.
I, too, am thinking of a move to Roseburg with a job possibility with the VA hospital there. Real estate seems to really be booming there? I am going by past posts about the cost of housing--rentals or buying--older posts from 3 years ago made it seem that housing costs were far less at the time. I guess the recession prices are making a comeback? Are there any townhome type places to rent in the area? Outside of Roseburg, what areas would you recommend? Looking for 2-3 BR, in a safe area. I also have a horse that I would need to find a stable for. Do you know if there are boarding stables in the area? You mentioned that property with acreage is quite costly now, so that, while ideal, may not be an option for me! I would be okay with driving 20-30 minutes into Roseburg for work......any info would be appreciated. Thanks!!

No, real estate is not booming in the Roseburg area. People put houses on the market for what they dream they will get for them, but they always sell for much less. Rents are up because the lemmings decided if they couldn't get rich owning a house they wouldn't own one. The result is that PITI runs quite a bit lower than rent on a comparable house.

House prices have stabilized, but I haven't seen them recover any. I'm not the greatest person to ask, though. I bought my place in 1994, paid off the mortgage in 2008, and am more or less retired. My house is worth a nice place to live, and that's all.

I don't know what you mean by "townhome." Do you mean condo style with the units all scrunched together? Not much, and I wouldn't want to live in the larger apartment complexes. If you want a safe place to live you need to look in neighborhoods that are primarily owner occupied, which means rentals might be hard to find. Most of the large realtors also are property managers, and that's where I would go to find a rental. I have worked closely with several of them, and they do a good job of putting the right tenant in the right rental.

There are more people living outside Roseburg than live in Roseburg. The official population of the town is about 22,000, except M-F 8 to 5, when the population is more like 50,000. Anything from Winston/Green or even Myrtle Creek north to Sutherlin is a fairly easy commute. Glide is a ways out, but that is where all the movie stars have their summer homes, along the North Umpqua. Downstream and west of Roseburg is where the upscale professionals live, plus a few mountaintop redoubts. Once you get to town you can start house hunting. My wife and I burned every weekend for 3 months to find the place we finally bought.

I don't know about boarding stables. Try Google.

[jimj]

Thanks for the brief descriptions Larry C.. I'd notice prices consistently being lowered from the listing date pricing as well and huge DOM's so I was wondering what info I was missing.
As for living around "movie stars", that part is usually pretty good as they're rarely home. Most of the ones we lived around in N/W MT were actually pretty nice people (with the exception of Ted T.) and John Lithgow (3rd rock from the sun) was a #1 funny,real nice guy but I digress.

I'm certainly still going to look at existing, maybe toss a couple offers to see how serious they are to sell and if one bites then yippie, we'll move on it.