Let’s move away.
Why not? Let’s just pack up and move away? If you live in California, how often have you said that to yourself while you see massive houses for sale at a fraction of the price of what you paid? We constantly say it. And then we come back to our senses. Work is here. Family is here. Friends are here. It would be crazy to start over somewhere else.
Then things started happening. More break-ins in the neighborhood. The boy’s classrooms have gotten over-crowded (they’re up to 32 students per class). Traffic has just gotten hideous. My job has been crazy busy. We can’t even water our lawn anymore. So the last time we said “Let’s move away!” – it didn’t sound ridiculous anymore. But where?
Well, we really love the West coast. Going South would be JUST as expensive as here. We can’t go West without buying a boat. So North it is! We started our search at the next stop North…Oregon! I’ve heard great things. One of our biggest clients at work is located in Portland. They have seasons. There’s no drought. Mountains! Let’s move there!
Zillow became our best friend. We looked at properties. We looked at land. We considered big houses. Wrap around porches. Southern Oregon. Central Oregon. But as much as I wanted to be remote and away from the busy, our jobs still need to be close to civilization. So we looked closer to Portland. Then we noticed how close Washington was. Just right across the river! So we started looking there too. Washington had many more listings available on larger lots and we started to research neighborhoods…and schools…and the possibilities.
Then things got serious. We booked tickets to fly up with the boys after school was out. Lined up realtors (one for Oregon, one for Washington). Found a bank that did land loans. Holy crap! This is happening!
Love the blog Laura. Have you guys even thought about Northern California? There is a lot to be said for this little corner of the state. TOur little town of Dunsmuir, CA, is coming back to life better than ever. The schools are small have some of the best teachers, the air and water is clean, and you can get land. New tech business are coming to town and really making a difference.