Going from Greater Salt Lake City to Greater Portland (Spokane: apartment, rental)

[vacuumbed]

Hello everyone,
I love this site and I can't believe it's taken me this long to sign up.

I currently live in Herriman, Utah in a small home but on a 5 acre mountain lot with a beautiful view of the Salt Lake Valley. I've been here for 10 years and we have an HOA.

I like the rural feel of being on a few acres, but in 45 minutes I can be in downtown Salt Lake City which is 28 miles away.

I like Portland. There's more liberal stuff going on there than Salt Lake City.

I just want to be on like one acre with a new 1,700 sq foot home with a basement and a very big garage. I would like to be the general contractor on this project.

So I've been looking a lot at the general area to see if I can have someting similiar near Portland as I do here, but it doesn't look as good unless I have a lot of money!

I've been looking at surrounding areas a lot online. Things I dislike are wooded properties, high taxes, and HOA's and their fees.

So first is the debate between Oregon and Washington. I like Oregon, but I hear the property taxes are high, and counties like Multnomah and Clakamas might be hard to work with and have expensive fees to build a new home. Then I heard of SDC fees, ouch!

Laugh if you want, but I want to live not too far from a Del Taco. There is one in Hillsboro, Oregon. This leaves Columbia county (Vernonia and St Helens) or one in Salem (Marion county).

The areas I listed above are still pricey except for Vernonia but I see they get flooded every 10 years or so.

This now leaves Washington as an option. Clark county I think will have the same issues as Multnomah county, just not as bad. For lower taxes and an easier county to work with, it seems like Cowlitz county may just do the trick. The Woodland area seems good, as it's just 21 miles north of the Oregon border. I see it's cheaper in Longview, but just more of a drive. I also like being away from I-5 at least a mile, so there isn't as much road noise. I'm hoping to find an acre in the $50,000 more or less range to build my new home on.

Well, that's my story of what I have observed so far. If you guys have any thoughts on this I would love to hear from you.

[StealthRabbit]

Carrolls, WA is a very nice area that is high and dry (between Longview and Kalama)

https://maps.google.com/maps?oe=utf-...classic&dg=brw

Gonna have to get your Del Taco fix in North Vancouver, WA (You will be there a lot... Grovers for your rural / house building plumbing needs). I think I had over 100 trips to Grovers, while building my last house). Grover Electric and Plumbing Supply - Welcome! Grover Electric & Plumbing Supply Co - Vancouver, WA | Yelp
http://www.yelp.com/biz/del-taco-vancouver

BTW: keep your beautiful UT place. (for necessary sunbreaks / extra income / in-case you want to return)
Add an apartment in the shop before you leave, rent out the home for positive cash flow and keep the shop and apartment for you (free housing), keep a spare car there for you to use. (I keep a $100 VW diesel in my 'other' homes... they can sit for yrs and happily fire up and run (and get 50 mpg)) I get near new tires at the junkyard for $5 each, VW diesels are CHEAP for incidental repairs. One of best VW parts places in USA is in NE Portland. (ez on I-205). http://www.yelp.com/biz/halsey-import-parts-portland

Make friends here (before you leave) Free fuel takes the edge off a 40 minute commute for shopping / Del Taco.
http://utahbiodieselsupply.com/biodi...ocessorkit.php

BTW2: I would build a shop with apartment 1st, and home later (so you can collect CHEAP building supplies from Habitat and Rebuilding Center. ) I often build very nice custom energy home with basement for under $50 / SF (Tax assessor won't believe that). I have stone fireplaces / 100% natural woodwork / build ins for that price. I have 2 story Garages too (cars on both levels) PM me if you want more building ideas. SWWA builders will discourage basements, but not me. I have never had a 'leaker'. Love the quiet / cool sleeping of a basement. I am paying $70/ month utilities for 4,000sf full electric home in a very harsh climate. (Cape Horn, WA)
http://www.pdxrestore.org/
http://rebuildingcenter.org/

(good reason to come to Del Taco)

BTW3:
I prefer living in the Columbia Gorge (beautiful recreation / fishing out your door). Give Carrolls and Skamania, WA a visit. Bargains can be found in each. A friend just sold a nice 5 acres in Columbia Gorge with mobile home / Orchard / shop for $105k (20 min to PDX) 10 min to Safeway. I have bought several for under $100k. (It can be cheaper to buy a mobile on acreage, than to add well / septic / road / power / grading... 4 hrs on a dozer can make quick work of preparing for a house and shop. You can sell the mobile when the shop is complete. (or move it to another lot and use as a rental / entry level buyer home))

[elkotronics]

Stealth-any photos of your homes you can post on city-data? Love to see a pic of one of them!

[StealthRabbit]

C-D Vancouver, WA is a very dangerous place to post. Fire Dept (volunteers and Fire Chief minions) were stalking me cuz I was campaigning against their usual unnecessary bond levy. They threatened to burn me down and not respond... They got my addy and number and called all night for months with quite distressing messages. I was 12,000 miles away working, so my family at home was not impressed. As you probably know Fire Service / EMS people have a much higher incidence of arson, due to adrenalin rush.

Here are similar pics. (Swiss Chalets with daily basement / barn / garage) We have lived in Switzerland, France, Spain and have always lived in the mtns, so usually build similar. (Grew up in Estes Park, Co where parents and inlaws were builders).

https://www.google.com/search?q=swis...ed=0CAYQ_AUoAQ

Chalet House Plans at Dream Home Source | Swiss-Style Chalet Homes
https://www.google.com/search?q=dayl...ed=0CAYQ_AUoAQ

Suspended slabs are very popular in much of the world (We just did one in Nov at a rehab camp in the Philippines)
similar to this: (Australia)
$2.5M COCT Multi Use Hall completed | StruXi Toowoomba

As you know,,,I don't do much 'conventional' thinking / building. That would be a bit boring and unchallenging.

[elkotronics]

Thanks, StealthRabbit, for those pics. That gives me an idea of what you're building. They look cool.

[vacuumbed]

Thank you StealthRabbit, all great advice here. I will look in those areas. If you live within a mile of the Columbia river in the warmer months, are mosquitoes a problem?

[bler144]

Originally Posted by vacuumbed

Thank you StealthRabbit, all great advice here. I will look in those areas. If you live within a mile of the Columbia river in the warmer months, are mosquitoes a problem?

As you move downriver towards Vancouver mosquitoes are few.

If you get up towards some of the cascade lakes they can be an issue (particularly on the OR side of the river). But for the most part the cascade lakes are in national forest where you can't build anyway. So mostly you'll only encounter more than a few strays if camping/hiking.

I live along the river and only saw a handful all summer.

Possible climate change could change that, but if I had to guess I think the issue is that there's not that much standing water in the PNW compared to the midwest or northeast.

Compared to other states I've lived in those regions, I don't think about mosquitoes much at all out here and don't think I've ever invested in spray other than for camping trips.

[StealthRabbit]

As mentioned.. stagnant water; ponds, backwater, rain barrels, old tires... this is where you will find mosquitoes. The mighty Columbia is moving pretty quick till you get near woodland. (not sure is there is more of a mosquito problem there, call the campgrounds and ask!) There are a couple in Woodland that host a lot of Fulltimers & income tax fleeing retirees.

[vacuumbed]

Great info, thank you. Does Cowlitz county do vehicle emissions?

[bler144]

Originally Posted by vacuumbed

Great info, thank you. Does Cowlitz county do vehicle emissions?

"Who needs to have their vehicle tested?
If you live in these counties, your vehicle may need testing every 2 years:

Clark County
King County
Pierce County
Snohomish County
Spokane County"

WA State Licensing (DOL) Official Site: Vehicle emissions testing