Relocating to Oregon
I think everyone knows that I have been pretty much constantly with Laurie for a few years, It’s been a long distance relationship at times, with Laurie living in the Portland suburbs, and my living in the San Francisco Bay suburb of Walnut Creek. We occasionally had to each be in our respective homes from time to time, as we had things on our schedule that could not be readily adjusted, but we have spent the vast majority of our time together.
Recent events, from the COVID-19 pandemic to changes around our living situations, are telling us that a change is needed. My condo is feeling a little confining, between HOA regulations and insufficient space for my found family. Laurie’s lease is ending on her apartment, and the new complex owners would like Laurie and her sister out of the way so they can renovate the apartment and raise the rent substantially.
We have been exploring new living arrangements, to find a place where we could safely age together, with accommodations for the three of us, that would offer privacy, space, the ability for us to pursue hobbies, and be in close range to needed medical facilities, shopping, places to walk and relax, and extended family.
I have family in the Gig Harbor area of Washington state, as well as family currently in Idaho and missing Portland. My location in the San Francisco area puts hundreds of miles more between me and them. Laurie and her sister have relatives in Oregon, of course, and her sister has grandchildren there.
We’ve reached the conclusion that things will be best for all of us if I relocate to Oregon, and Laurie and her sister remain there. To that end, Laurie and I have been looking at homes in the Portland suburbs of Tigard, Durham, Lake Oswego, and Tualatin to try and find a home that would be perfect for us, or could be made perfect over the next few months.
We have found a few. One was perfect as-is, and so naturally the bidding went crazy on it, and we wisely dropped out rather than massively overpaying. It’s now the most expensive home per square foot in it’s town, delighting the tax assessor.
After looking at a number of others, we ruled most out because of price, location, or goofy HOA rules. Some were overpriced per square foot. Some were incredibly trashed on the interior while looking nice on the outside. All the copper pipe is GONE and the interior walls destroyed? The HOA prohibits possession of any wireless transmission device? So, no cellphones or WiFi, or is this going to be weaponized to harass residents that some HOA board member doesn’t like? Oh, and your association is wildly underfunded, so there will be a massive special assessment in the future. Good grief.
We finally found something in our price range, a great location, with plenty of space, that we think we can, with a bit of work, make perfect. The home was an as-is estate sale, priced low, and needing some work. It was built in 1978, and the interior is completely original but in excellent condition. It has a high-end 1978 kitchen, with a Jenn-aire grill, built-in 1978 vintage oven (ain’t NOTHING digital!), cabinets and countertop.
There’s some deferred maintenance, including a roof due for replacement, and the water main is pinched off a bit, reducing flow. We are budgeting for this, of course. We also plan on doing a little remodeling to turn a downstairs den and half-bath into a bedroom with attached full bath for Laurie’s sister, along with replacing the carpeting and flooring. That plus new paint inside and landscape cleanup should have the place ready to move in for us.
We closed on this on Friday, July 24th.
Over the next few months I will be packing up and selling my condo in Walnut Creek, and relocating to Oregon. This is exciting, and a bit anxiety-producing. We will have a lot of work to do before all is ready for us, but I hope to get this done within a few months and be moved in before the end of the year.