Probably moving to Oregon (Portland, Eugene: real estate, houses, employment)

[2OregonBound]

I am retired, but my wife, a nurse, is not. Finding employment for her should be easy enough. We are considering moving from Colorado Springs to some place in Oregon. I once lived in Corvallis, and liked it, aside from the rain.
Criteria for my wife would be topped by quality of gardening. Shortly below that would be a short commute to a quality hospital.
I am more interested in avoiding really hot and really cold and snowy weather. I enjoy woodworking, and that can be done about anywhere.
Politically, we are not persuaded that Rush is underpaid, and tend to agree with Al Franken's assessment of him.
We are coming to Oregon next month for a week of scouting, and plan to see Silverton, McMinnville, and the Medford area. Ashland would be great, but housing is a bit beyond our means. We want to keep the price of a house below 350k, if possible.
No kids, so fishing is more important than schools.
Do our criteria light a bulb in anyone's mind?
Joe

[Silverfall]

If you want to stay small town, then in the valley then Silverton is probably a good choice. Good hospital. Jobs are hard to come by here, even for nurses. Oregon has 12.1% unemployment right now.

[Steve97415]

Originally Posted by 2OregonBound

the Medford area. Ashland would be great, but housing is a bit beyond our means.

So the RRV doesn't fall under your avoidance criterion of "really hot and really cold"?

[2OregonBound]

No. Houston, Las Vegas and Atlanta qualify as really hot. Really cold are Chicago, Buffalo and Banff.

[dsh1127]

Check out Southern Oregon. There are 2 hospitals in Medford, one in Ashland, and one in Grants Pass.

Talking fishing - look at the Grants Pass area! That's my favorite, anyways!!

[Smiled]

Anecdotal but telling (from Portland Housing Blog)


JohnG, Guest, and Longboard among others, I think my problem is that I have too many family members that are in deep due to this economic situation: sis in Boston bought in 2005 and has lost 20%, brother in Portland will likely send jingle mail this year, brother in Greeley, CO has lost nearly 30% (his dp plus some) and his company is possibly merging read MORE LAYOFFS (he's been laid off 2X in 5 years), aunt and uncle in Phoenix (in their 60's mind you) caught with a high end flip using their equity in their current residence, cousin and spouse in West Hills, CA have lost 30% in their home value AND she works for Country Wide and is expecting to be let go this year! A 58 y.o. uncle in Fort Worth laid off after more than 30 years with 84 Lumber. Another uncle in his late 50's laid off in Peoria, AZ.

Plus, I've overheard a conversation in Laurelhurst Park of a couple in their early 40's cashing out an IRA. I work on the hill and hear about people trying without luck to refi to cover childcare expenses (not enough equity). RN's unable to sell to be travelers. A coworker trying to pick up extra shifts due to her spouse's cut in hours.

I am an RN and live near two new grad RNs that can't land an interview, no one is hiring in PDX. In June my contract is up and I am nervous!

So if in your world people are buying spendy BMW's, great, but the rest of the more common folks are feeling this. I don't need to read negative news any more because we are living it.

[Hawk J]

Howdy 2OregonBound.....................


We Love fishin' & explorin' the BLM lands....................................... ........

[Mrs. Gunsmith]

There are a number of hospitals in Yamhill County. McMinnville and Newberg have the biggest ones. I am not sure if hospitals are hiring there is a 13.5% unemployment in the county. Colorado Springs is a nice community but it too has employment issues and the cost of living is a lot higher in Oregon simply because it is a coastal state. No state tax but high income tax about 9% to 11%. Property tax is similar to other states but can go up over time, but is widely different from county to county. For example Washington County could be twice as high as Yamhill county. Oregon is a bit weird politically than perhaps where you are coming from. It is the only state where you will find "red-neck liberals". Portland and Eugene being the most liberal. Housing is really interesting. There are many manufactured homes throughout the state and mostly in rural areas. Houses tend to be smaller and garages are typically very small so if you want to set up a shop, you'll need a place to build a pole barn or something like that. Look in areas like outside of McMinnville or Newberg but make sure you get yourself a good real estate agent. I fired two agents before I chose one that I liked when moving from Utah to Oregon. Make sure you are prepared with requirements ranked by very important to least important or must have, nice to have, not needed. That will narrow down the time to search and for goodness sake make sure you don't buy in a flood plane. Your agent should know how to check that out. Some agents don't like to work with someone who is prepared and rather just throw properties at you that they have listed because they are hungry; those are not the agents to work with. Trust me. Ensure that you are really ready to move. Moving costs can be expensive. Plan to spend at least $8K or more if you have a lot of stuff. Negotiation is key here also. You will be surprised how different the bids will be. If you do buy a house negotiate for the seller to pay your closing costs; I wish we had done that it would have saved us thousands of dollars. It is a buyers market right now so you can negotiate quite a bit for every part of your move. Just make sure it is right decision for you in the current economy. Moving is expensive and it could be a nightmare if you are not totally perpared. Fortunately we were very prepared and got everything we wanted because we took those extra steps.

[StealthRabbit]

I'd check out Roseburg. Good Fishing, Weather, healthcare options, + community college and some nice folks (Many active retirees)