Hi! My husband has interviewed and been offered a position in Beaverton. We would be moving from Fort Worth, TX. The thing is we are trying to negotiate a relocation package and are wondering about a few things. I have been lurking on this board for a few weeks and everyone seems so helpful, I thought I would finally join the discussion! Okay, down to business...
We are leaving a 2300 sq ft house here and would like to have at least that size home in one of the burbs around Beaverton. Hillsboro, Tigard, Tualatin, etc. We have a 7 yr old son in the 2nd grade and a 2 yr old daughter. We definitely want a newer neighborhood with younger families with children of similar ages to our children. Our son has his pick of friends around our home now and we would like to help the transition for him by trying to duplicate that as much as possible. Any ideas about neighborhoods?
Also, we are trying to get some numbers together and are wondering about homeowners insurance rates. That is something that is so hard to research without actually owning a home yet. I don%26#39;t want to ask what anyone pays specifically, but am wondering what the percentage of the mortgage versus insurance is. If anyone feels comfortable sharing that, I would appreciate it immensely!!
Any information you could share about the tax situation in Oregon would be awesome. In TX, we pay alot for property taxes but have no state tax. We do pay sales tax, but not on groceries, unless it is prepared food (deli, bakery, etc..) Tags for our cars are fairly inexpensive. We are having difficulty negotiating salary with such big differences in the types of taxes between the two states. Hard to make that part very clear, I guess. Sorry!!
What is the real estate market like right now? A future coworker mentioned to my hubby that he was seeing homes sit a little longer than usual. Since we are probably wanting new construction, are we likely to have choices? We will probably have a budget of around 375K. Scary, our home here only cost 187K!!!
Now to the travel part of the discussion! We will likely bring our son out with us for the house hunting trip. What fun things can we do with him after making him walk through houses all day long? Any fun restaurants or entertainment ideas would be greatly appreciated. I am assuming we will stay in the same hotel that my hubby stayed in - which is a Homewood Suites in Beaverton. Sorry, I do not know which one, if there is more than one!
My husband and I are both in our mid 30%26#39;s and would just like a family friendly place to live that has a good school system. Since we are coming from an area that is so FLAT, if hills or mountains were visible from said neighborhood, we would be in heaven!! Also, TREES, TREES, TREES!!! Really looking forward to all that green!!! We are just coming out of a drought here that has been about as bad as I can remember. Some of our lakes were at least 10 feet under normal. Just pitiful.
I guess I have rambled enough! Sorry. Thanks in advance for all of your help. Anything you can share will be appreciated, I promise.
Real good chance of relocating to Portland.....
Any information you could share about the tax situation in Oregon would be awesome. In TX, we pay alot for property taxes but have no state tax. We do pay sales tax, but not on groceries, unless it is prepared food (deli, bakery, etc..) Tags for our cars are fairly inexpensive. We are having difficulty negotiating salary with such big differences in the types of taxes between the two states. Hard to make that part very clear, I guess. Sorry!!
Oregon has NO sales tax. We do have property taxes and we do have state taxes. Some would debate me about this, but one of the great things about Oregon is that the legislature cannot raise these taxes without voter approval. It is an interesting system to be sure.
I just renewed my car tags and it was 54.00 for 2 years. Transferring your titles should be no problem, either. 55.00 for the title transer, 7 for the vin inspection, 54 for the registration.
Since I no longer live in Portland, I will leave the recommendations to neighborhoods and schools to someone else. 375K will get you a modest home. (In Salem, it would get you a custom built home, on or new the golf course). I have friends in real estate that have told me the housing market it slowing down some.
Real good chance of relocating to Portland.....
Lisa gave some great info already.
You are smart to look at everything in the relocation package before making a decision.
Our next door neighbors were transferred to Austin, TX about 2 years ago and while their house here was large, they had an emormous home built there, that was a lot less money. I have no idea how Austin and Forth Worth compare, but you probably do so maybe that bit of info will help.
Don%26#39;t worry, there are hills/mountains all over around here:)
Yes, homes are sitting a bit longer than they were a year or so ago, but they still are moving fast and selling for much more than people anticipate.
Brand new construction for $375K will be tough, depending on size, yard, location, etc. Can you bump that up at all?
Not being a homeowner, just renter, I can%26#39;t answer many of your questions. I can tell you that you don%26#39;t really want to consider Hillsboro for a home...though the prices will make your wallets happier. I do live in Hillsboro, but on the outskirts, near Beaverton in an area known as Orenco. They%26#39;ve been building houses and townhomes seeminly non-stop around here for awhile, it%26#39;s definately worth looking into...when house hunting, look at the houses between Brookwood Parkway (west) %26amp; Cornelius Pass Road (east) and Basline (south) and Evergreen Terrace (north). This area is near the Intel Oregon campuses, so the houses are all nice, some even with views of Mt. Hood. The people in my area seem to be mid-lifed in age and have a decent amount of children.
Just something for you to look into...hope you like it here :)
p.s. check this site out for quick reference:
www.moving.com/Find_A_Place/Relosmart/rs.asp
Thanks to everyone for the quick responses!! WOW, you guys are on top of it.
Yes, all of that is extremely helpful. The more information and points of view that we can get the better. We are just having so much anxiety right now. We have never made a move quite this far before and it is pretty scary and exciting at the same time.
As far as the budget for a house goes, we may be able to bump it up a little. It depends on what we get for our current house (not much I%26#39;m afraid) and also what the final salary decision is. The house does not necessarily have to be new but newer, I guess I left that part out earlier. We just really enjoy the neighborhood/planned community environment at this time in our lives. I think my son would transition much better with kids around and parks to play in etc.. Also, some of our best friends here have turned out to be our neighbors, so we like that aspect of the planned community also.
I have read some about Orenco. I really liked what I read and planned on asking a real estate agent about it. So I am really glad to hear that you like it. What do you not like about Hillsboro? Do you know anything about the school system? I have also seen alot of listings in the Bull Mountain area. What is that area like?
Also, glad to hear that car tags are cheaper than in TX. I think we paid more than $54 for one car for one year. What are gas prices like out there right now? Just curious.
We were told by the recruiter that homeowners insurance rates run about .17% to .21% of home value. Does this sound about right?
Thanks again for all of the much needed advice! Please feel free to share anything you think might be helpful.
Lots of good info here already...
I think Mtngrl is right; you will have trouble finding a newly constructed house in your price range. The stuff that I see - at least in neighborhoods where you might want to buy - is running around $175/foot or higher. With some looking, you might find a 10-15 year-old home close to the same size as what you%26#39;re in, for about what you%26#39;re planning to spend. Yeah.... it is scary! Houses are now on the market a little longer than in the past, but I don%26#39;t think we%26#39;ve seen significant drops in pricing. The further west from Beaverton you go, the better bang you%26#39;ll get for your buck. But I%26#39;m not sure I%26#39;d want to send my kids to school in Hillsboro (given a choice of the other towns you mention).
With the Urban Growth Boundary, which restricts development to within an arbitrarily determined area, it%26#39;s hard to recommend specific neighborhoods, especially new construction. Most new homes around here are built in pockets of undeveloped property. Those pockets are often situated next to homes/neighborhoods built 50 years ago.
Just read your latest post.... Not to discourage, but you should probably forget Bull Mtn. I%26#39;m fairly certain you won%26#39;t find what you%26#39;d want to buy up there for even $500K. I%26#39;d probably suggest Murray Hills area west, or somewhere north of hwy 26 between Beaverton and Hillsboro, maybe the Bethany area.
Homeowner%26#39;s insurance rates are close to what you%26#39;re thinking. Property taxes, on the other hand.... Ouch! And Oregon%26#39;s income tax is one of the highest in the nation, I think. Gas prices are probably higher than what you pay too. It was either $2.29 or $2.39 I saw earlier today... can%26#39;t remember which.
Portland is a wonderful place to live. But it is also expensive. Oregon income taxes and property taxes are high. Home sales are now on a slight decline and that may be to your advantage, I have always used Hasson Realtors and that might be a good place for you to check.
The west side suburbs, which you mentioned, has a lot of new construction. The inner east side has a lot of established neighborhoods and stately older homes. The suburban east side out towards Gresham has good pricing and ongoing new development.
Homewood Suites is good. Also the Residence Inn on the river (it has a pool). OMSI is usually fun for kids, plus Max and Streetcar Rides. If you stay at the Residence Inn these options will be close and easy for you.
Homeowners insurance strikes me as reasonable through reputable firms.
I %26#39;m thinking you%26#39;re renting a car for home searches?
We just moved from Beaverton to Jacksonville, Oregon, to get a break from the traffic. But the Beaverton area is fine, I%26#39;d live there again.
I grew up there from 1963, went to school, rented and owned a home.
Check out the Greenway neighborhood south of Hall Blvd. Basically, near Greenway Elementary and Hiteon Elementary.
That%26#39;s the best overall neighborhood. The few pockets of low-income apartments will be noticeable, and there are but few in that area.
Murrayhill is a bit upscale, but if you have $450,000 or a bit more to dish out, Murrayhill is a nice area.
I never really cared for Aloha.
Hillsboro has some good neighborhoods, but coupling a good school with nice homes is harder.
Sherwood has many fine neighborhoods and schools.
But Beaverton is so central to the highways, Portland and many other things.
Taxes are not brutal. Not cheap by any means, but okay. We paid about $2800 per year for a $240,000 house and lot. The house insurance was less than $400 per year.
www.mdvaden.com
I have to agree with Mistletoe, as usual, lol! I would not want my children in the Hillsboro schools. But like he said, there will be some areas with homes a bit older that will be in your price range. It is good that you are planning to come visit first.
As for things to do with kids...there is a lot! The Zoo is right off of HWY 26, and OMSI, Mt. Hood is an hour east of downtown Portland, and the coast is 90 minutes west of downtown Portland. Cannon Beach is a great town, and kids love to check out the tidepools around Haystack Rock.
Not a place you have mentioned, but Sherwood is a fantastic family town. I call it Mayberry, lol! Excellent schools, kids everywhere, small town feel...overall just a great place, IMO...but of course I am biased;) There would be some homes like what mistletoe described for your price range also. And not a bad drive to Beaverton.
Sherwood is a very nice town, worth checking out. Check out zillow.com for home values in certain areas.
You son might not be too old for the Children%26#39;s Museum, right across the parking lot from the zoo. If you drive south on I-5 about 10 minutes from Beaverton, you%26#39;ll see a family fun mini golf course and a place called Bullwinkes in Wilsonville. It%26#39;s Chucky-Cheese like. Go a little further south in Wilsonville and there is a toy store for men called Fry%26#39;s - okay for geeky men. It is a giant consumer electronics store.
Your situation sounds very similar to ours; however, ours was 16 years ago when we moved to Portland from the NY/NJ/CT area. We had very young children at the time, and we centered our search around the schools; looked at tons of stats our real estate agent had gotten for us, and then looked at homes around what appeared to be the best schools. We decided to settle in the Garden Home area, and we sent our kids to the Montclair Elementary school, the smallest school in the Beaverton district. It has been wonderful, and with 2 kids now in college and our youngest a senior in HS, we could not have asked for a better experience.
I have to agree with the rest of the posters; $375K is gonna be hard for new construction. We are actively seeking to downsize now, and are noticing that yes indeed, houses are sitting longer and prices are coming down. Your good news is that real estate pros are telling us that the deals are to be found on the new homes and the builders are really starting to get strapped so they are REALLY starting to offer lots of free stuff to sell their homes. Go to rmls.com and put in your criteria and see what pops up; you can search by city, county or zip code. They won%26#39;t give you the address, but if you%26#39;re working with an agent, they can tell you where it is by the #. Also check online (somewhere, sorry) for the report cards that are now issued for all schools....those stats should give you an idea of what schools look good.
Moving to Portland was the best thing we%26#39;ve ever done; I think you will find the people here are the biggest draw, so friendly!
