my first trip to Portland...in Jan!

[GLC1968]

And if you go over those west hills out of Portland, you end up in the Hillsboro/Beaverton area where there are a ton of high tech companies and where TE is located.

We looked mostly in this western area as both my husband and I had job offers from companies located in Hillsboro. Real estate is not cheap. It's gotten a tad more affordable since we moved here 3 years ago, but it hasn't dropped all that much compared to some places. It's more affordable than a lot of other cities, particularly for the west coast, but it's a bit painful if you compare it to small town North Carolina (where we came here from!). If you are looking to have any land at all, then expect to pay a premium. It's very, very expensive within the urban boundry and only slightly more affordable if you are willing to have a long commute.

[smilingcat]

I just went through house buying in Portland area.

Toward downtown Portland, it gets pricier. If you go just tad south like in Happy valley area. Well you can be happy if you have money there. And pleasant valley area is nice but all the subdivisions there seem to have HOA. Some are rather strict

Gresham can go from one extreme to the other. Some area are really bad, other area are pretty nice; but, its still Gresham.

Mt. Tabor area is very nice but expect to pay a lot. Another nice area is Maywood Park. Technically, its a city all its own. Lots of trees close to downtown, I liked the area when looking for a house.

Further east of Maywood Park, Argay area is really nice and affordable but you might want to think about it since its right under the approach to PDX. People there don't seem to mind and turnover rate is low. East of Argay is Fairview and Woodbridge. Now you are about 25 minutes from downtown are. maybe longer. I passed on these area and settled on Troutdale.

I'm about 20 minutes from Multnomah water fall. about 5 minutes from Sandy river where you can go fish for salmon. And we love the historic downtown area. And about 35minutes from downtown PDX. And oh its tad hilly.

I also looked further south Milwaukie area. Houses there are very affordable, nice neighborhood downtown area is cute Liked the area too.

I didn't bother looking at Hillsboro and Beaverton area. Lots of new houses and like GLC says not so cheap.

Nice house in Troutdale around $250K to about $300k
nice house in Milwaukie around $220K to about $300k
Argay area around $275K

Happy Valley well lots of big McMansion and gaudy. Starts around $400K
Pleasant Valley have some normal houses around $275k
Hillsboro and Beaverton, nice house starts around $350k
Mt. Tabbor area nice house starts around $350-$400k

The real estate company I used have a very nice web site and you can set your needs and it can show you houses for sale in the area. If you would like a link, I can send it to you.

And oh there are certain streets you want to avoid. in NE and SE of Portland.