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Visting Portland - Rental Homes?

mrs.sheamrs.shea
in Oregon Babies

I posted over on the Nest too but looks like this board gets a lot more traffic!  I hope you all don't mind me asking a few questions!

I'm planning to visit the Portland area in August with my husband and 3-year old son.  We're making this trip to decide if we want to uproot and permanently move in a year or two.

I had been given a website a year or so ago that listed Portland area homes for rent for vacations.  They weren't typical vacation homes - usually it was something like a family renting their guest house, etc.  Does anyone know what that website is?  I can't seem to find it!

Also, since you all are are parents...what are good areas around Portland to settle in?  This is really a research trip for us and I would like to stay in an area we would likely live in.  I've looked at housing costs for the city of Portland and it appears we'd be better off looking just outside Portland and even into Vancouver, Washington.  Does that sound, right?  Are those areas more affordable?

Any advice would be great!!!  Thanks!!!!

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Re: Visting Portland - Rental Homes?

  • ILoveRedVinoILoveRedVino member

    I don't know about a website specifically for Portland, but have you checked www.vrbo.com?

    Also, I'd recommend getting out of Portland.  We bought our house in the city, and now that Baby is coming, I kind of regret it.  Suburbs (including Vancouver) are much less expensive.  I think our next house will be in Tigard/Tualatin/West Linn/Lake Oswego.  Check out the school districts too, especially if you buy.  The Portland schools are nothing to write home about.

    I moved from Missouri too.  It was a great move! :)

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    Baby Boy born sleeping at 20 weeks.
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  • connor.ma09connor.ma09
    I was born and raised in Oregon and have pretty much lived in every major city we have to offer- we currently live in North Portland, and we love it, but it really depends on what type of neighborhood you're looking for- the good news is that Portland and its surrounding areas have every type of environment you could ask for, the bad news is that our rental market is the country's second scarcest, and most expensive! If you're looking for suburbia, look into Lake Oswego, Hillsboro, or Beaverton. If you want the trendy, city neighborhoods, look into inner NE, N, or SE (inner meaning street numbers below like, 60th). But be prepared to pay for those zip codes. A lot of people choose Vancouver to live in because it is so much cheaper, yet you're still 15-20 minutes away from most everything Portland has to offer. The zoo, Omsi, and Children;s Museum are all on the outskirts of the city, so its easy for most to access them. But now we have to start thinking about schools, so like the previous poster said, our schools aren't in the best shape right now, due to budget issues. Lake Oswego has always been toted as the the best, but nowadays, everyone is struggling. Hope this helps! You'll love it here, its beautiful.
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  • mrs.sheamrs.shea
    imageILoveRedVino:

    I don't know about a website specifically for Portland, but have you checked www.vrbo.com?

    Also, I'd recommend getting out of Portland.  We bought our house in the city, and now that Baby is coming, I kind of regret it.  Suburbs (including Vancouver) are much less expensive.  I think our next house will be in Tigard/Tualatin/West Linn/Lake Oswego.  Check out the school districts too, especially if you buy.  The Portland schools are nothing to write home about.

    I moved from Missouri too.  It was a great move! :)

    Thanks!  This helps.  I've seen that site but I don't think that's the one I'm remembering...too bad our computer crashed because I've lost the link.  Oh well...I'll keep searching this and other sites.

    Glad to hear it was a great move for you!  We've talked about this forever....it's time to fish or cut bait!  If we decide we want to move we hope to look for jobs (for at least one of us) next spring/summer and move.  That's kind of the problem - one of us would at least have to have a job before we moved.  Did you do that?  Long distance always seems more difficult when applying for jobs!

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  • mrs.sheamrs.shea
    Thanks!  This is helpful!  We're definitely more the suburban type but love the idea of living close to such an awesome city!  I've had my eye on Vancouver for a while knowing that that's probably our best bet economically.
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  • ilovemyducks21ilovemyducks21 member

    Sorry this reply is a little late, but thought I could give a bit of input. I live in Vancouver and LOVE it. DH and I bought a house on the north end of town right near the I-5 and I-205 interchange, and love the location, not to mention we got all the space we'll ever need in a home at a great price. Less than 10 minutes from our house and we're in Portland (which we go to several times a week).

    One thing I would recommend against. I worked in Portland for a while and the commute is something I couldn't deal with and eventually was lucky enough to land a job in Vancouver. People do it, so if you're used to a longer drive maybe you won't mind. That and there are talks (who knows if it'll ever happen) of building another bridge, which I'm assuming means one will be out of commission for a while. So if your jobs will for sure be in Portland, I'd think about it first before you chose to move to Vancouver. I'd take another poster's suggestion and look at outlying areas on Oregon.

    Feel free to PM me if you have questions Smile

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