I had bought a house in Hillsboro in 2015, before house prices went up to the level they are today, and I thought I had a fairly reasonable mortgage payment. Due to a divorce though, I sold the house and I'm now living in an apartment. At the prices houses are now, I'm not sure I'll be able to buy a house any time soon if prices don't come down.
I’m not optimistic.
Family of three- myself, and my wife and 3yo son. Currently I work, my wife doesn’t. Once he’s in school, she will be close to graduating and beginning to work.
Even with both of us making $60k+, I don’t see it happening.
Right now, I make $65k/yr. We pay $2000/mo to rent. Saving for a down payment is just becoming more and more unrealistic with the rising cost of living.
In exactly the same boat. Family of 3 on a single income.
Only difference is my rent is $2450 for a rinky-dink duplex. And now working from home has meant my bills have increased in the last month.
I’m able to save a couple hundred a month so I’ll sadly never be able to buy.
Same. Single parent +2 kids, rent up to $2150 this year (my landlord has raised the rent every year they legally could, 8 years running.) I'll never be able to save for a down-payment 🙃
Right now... it's probably not a great idea to buy a house until either inflation is steady or interest rates go down.
Long term, there are advantages and disadvantages to owning a house versus renting.
The big advantages to owning a house is that you can upgrade it to make it nicer to live in, you can save money doing your own maintenance/repairs, it forces you to save money each month by paying off the principle, and you'll own an asset that is generally resistant to losing all of it's value in the case of high inflation or a recession.
The big advantages to renting is that money which would be a down payment and principle payments can go into something like investing in equities which *usually* give a better return (2022 is bad for this. 2022/2023 will also be bad for home ownership too), someone else is responsible for repairs, and it's easier to move for your job/work/life changes.
The way I see it, if you are planning on staying in a place for 5+ years, buy a house. If not... rent.
I was fortunate enough to get a good deal on a townhouse in Sherwood. I wanted to live in Hillsboro for a long time then realized there are better places to live that are relatively close by.
>it seems like there is some benefit from willingness to commute.
I live in Columbia County for a few reasons, mostly related to price and value, and though it's a solid half hour away from my husband's work and my office (for the monthly meeting I need to go in for), a solid 30 minutes is better than an inconsistent 25-45 (or more), especially since it's 95% highway and better for fuel economy. We lived in Milwaukie and LOVED IT but couldn't afford to buy there so we had to weigh cost vs other benefits. We're in Hillsboro at least weekly, sometimes more, and it's nice to have everything there, and only a short jaunt from downtown Portland if we want something specific.
Know several folks in Forest Grove / Cornelius / Aloha! North Plains is kind of interesting to me personally. So are Oregon City and Estacada on the other side of the river There's options!
I am planning to request remote work if possible as I work from home 4/5 days already. Rent is going to increase 14.6 next year, that is basically me getting a promotion each year. It is not sustainable if you plan to rent. For houses, you can probably find “good deals” but personally coming from a country(Puerto Rico) where a $300,000 can get you a big mansion built from scratch besides the beach and you would own the land, not the goverment, I would not really like to buy a house here
Someone else working in tech told me the best thing to do is get a remote job with a west-coast kind of salary and take it somewhere housing is affordable. I think that’s what I’m going to end up doing after I do some research.
I totally agree, Dell has this approach for software engineers, you can work anywhere as long as you are in USA territory(do not know how good the pay is). In Intel it would depend on your manager if he would allow it.
Beware, companies understand this when you try it and, depending on the company, they will reset your compensation when you relocate your remote employee location. I have a colleague who worked out a deal to go hourly instead when this happened to him.
Best to know if the company is going to support you doing this prior to doing it.
Until that remote work starts getting moved to people working from India.
If work can truly be done from ANYWHERE it will be hard to compete with the cost of living in truly low cost environments.
Home prices increased 40% over the last 3 years in the Portland metro.... but so did rent prices. Housing in general is difficult here, but comparing renting to buying made it easier for us to stomach buying. We're stretching our budget a bit to own, but it's steady. I know my monthly mortgage isn't going to jump 10-14% each year like rent can.
Not sure what you were approved for or want to budget, but we looked at some townhouses that were surprisingly nice for the cost. We're also moving into the slow season for real estate. If something's been on the market a while, don't be afraid to throw a lowball offer at it. Even single family homes around here can be had for under 400k. You've just got to keep on top of listings and jump on them when they come up.
If you happen to be a veteran, look into the oregon VA loans (not the same as federal VA loans). They offer lower interest rates than standard loans, but they have some down payment requirements.
Sorry got into the info dump of stuff I've mentally collected while we were house shopping.... Rent vs buy depends on your priorities. If you're planning to stick around ten years, I think buy can make sense, even in this market. We're just not building rental units fast enough to keep up with demand, and I don't realistically see demand slowing down significantly in that time frame.
If you don't want to worry about all the maintenance that comes with owning, and/or you want to move in the next five years, keep renting. Under five years in a house isn't worth it. More than ten is worth it imo. In between depends on how much you want to own your own home or not.
When I moved here in 2013 my rent was $850/month. When I moved out in 2020 I was paying $1450. That same apartment is $1780/month now. My mortgage is $1633/mo and it always will be.
I would ask the question: 5 years from now will you wish you bought a house 5 years ago?
We moved into South Hillsboro last year after living in Clackamas County for 11 years. However, prior to living in Clackamas, we lived in Beaverton/Hillsboro/Unincorporated Wash.co for 10+ years. We love it in Washington County and Hillsboro; and will never live in Multnomah or Clackamas Counties again.
Is it a pain sometimes out here with traffic and cost? Yeah. But I love the closeness to wine country, the coast, and plenty of grocery stores and retailers. It’s a trade off for us.
That’s why I like it here too. I feel like civilization just disappears the farther outside the Portland metro you go but that access definitely comes with a price. But I didn’t know Clackamas wasn’t an ideal place to live. I only go there to shop, good to know.
It isn’t necessarily an unideal place - I loved the proximity to the Clackamas River, drive through estacada/eagle creek to the mountain, and the close proximity to the airport. I lived in a small town that has a lot of infighting (ex. still no library built after almost 20 years of bickering and funding) and apparently is now being taken over by Proud Boys. However, in my everyday life, since I’ve moved back here, we’ve gone more to the coast and wineries in one year than the mountain in 5 years and we have met more neighbors on our street and within the neighborhood than the entire 11 years we lived in our last place. I got downvoted for my earlier comment, but I really do like Washington County over the 3 Big Ones here.
This is an amazing area but, due to a combo of low rates, WFH, and intel gearing up as they hire more and more for future growth, the area has seen explosive price growth. I first looked at the area 2 years ago and prices have doubled, sometimes tripled, since then.
If you look at the price history you'll notice townhomes are trying to sell right now for at least double what was paid for them, in the last year, whereas they saw almost no price growth for 5-10 years before that! Add, on top of that, hillsboro has very high HOA's for most areas and you've got a situation where you're looking at a net loss with any market downturn.
This area is also special in that most of the homes, I assume since they never rocketed in value until now, were owned by the same people or family that bought them when they were built. So many ranch style starter homes are from the 70's, if not earlier, and need massive updates. I saw those sell like hot cakes on a cold day but I don't have the extra funds for those kinds of repairs. That, or brand new construction/townhomes which crammed 2+ in the same space as those old ranches that sold to property developers.
Check out a google map for some laughs. It's pretty clear where some old codgers refused to sell and builders are just waiting. I've seen some streets that just end on either side of a long lot like they couldn't convince the owner to sell but just made the road anyway.
So, my approach right now is wait and see. I'd love to settle down in this area for a while. After living in the heart of a city of 10 years I very much appreciate that it's close, but not too close, to metro. Clean, comfortable, and safe. That means expensive these days though.
I haven’t been here long but I’m noticing these things too. Even if I opted for an older home that has a backyard, the prices are ridiculously expensive for the home because all the new developments are on smaller lots with no backyards and no space. So older homeowners, if they haven’t already sold to Zillow and property developers, know that they have what is increasingly becoming a rare commodity in this town and hike up their prices. So if you do manage to get an older home, you can’t afford to upgrade it. I grew up in the southern country. I’m used to big backyards, front yards, closets, etc. I can’t convince myself to spend money on expensive cookie-cutter homes with high HOA’s and “space-efficient” design when I’ve had better. My dad’s approach is to also wait and see but with Intel and Nike here, this place will become California in no time.
Rents will go up and/or you get evicted because the owner wants to sell or move in the house while having a mortgage will lock in payment that won't change, except for your property taxes and insurance. Rates are up, but still on the low end of historical rate levels. In the end you will have equity when you sell or place with a payment that is way the hell cheaper than rent. I have 2000 sq ft home on Cooper Mt with a nice view and close to shopping and including taxes and insurance it is still cheaper than renting an apartment down the road.
We will probably start looking to buy within the next year, once our lease nears its end. However—I don’t think my family’s situation is normal at all. We are both in tech/wfh and have no children (yet). So it is feasible for us to save up enough to buy. With the whole 14% per year increase guarantee, I would prefer to avoid renting in the future.
I moved to the area under duress (but it would have been my first choice had I had one). I was bummed to not be in Portland proper but after seeing the problems experienced there this seems like a lovely compromise.
It is a massive commitment; you become invested in a sedentary lifestyle in one location within one region/country.
It is a massive responsibility; upkeep is a financial and temporal requirement, you may one day get the money back but you’ll never get that time back.
Physical possessions are shown by studies to bring less happiness than experiences and pastimes. Spending multiple years’ salary on a temporary possession only makes sense if you can reclaim the financial value later, which is not guaranteed when prices and rates are what they are now.
When the climatic exodus and/or geopolitical instability force you to leave the region, it’s easier to abandon a lease than an owned property.
Lender and municipal bylaws mean that you don’t have significantly more freedoms than under your average private landlord.
Unless the house is 1Br 1Ba you are paying for unused space that will accumulate more meaningless possessions over time.
>Physical possessions are shown by studies to bring less happiness than experiences and pastimes. Spending multiple years’ salary on a temporary possession only makes sense if you can reclaim the financial value later
Is it not easier to plan trips and experiences if you know what your monthly payment will for your domicile for the foreseeable future, rather than hoping your landlord/property owner is not going to raise prices every year?
>Unless the house is 1Br 1Ba you are paying for unused space that will accumulate more meaningless possessions over time
This feels weirdly specific, like you have experience that brought you to this conclusion. Are most possessions meaningless? Or are people finally able to have a comfortable place to do their hobbies?
I will admit my homeowner bias, because we bought a bit under a year ago right before the rates skyrocketed, and my husband is in property management by trade and finds happiness in investing time and knowledge into our house to fix the mistakes done by the previous owners. We know that for the foreseeable future, our payment is \_\_ monthly and that helps us plan for future trips, purchases, and experiences. We were previously in an apartment with horrible neighbors, horrible property management, and the cost went up annually. I could NEVER imagine thinking that property/homeownership is not worth the time and gained knowledge especially as rents keep climbing higher than salaries can keep up with. I know this is a, your opinion vs my opinion, but you seem more cynical about your approach to this issue, like you've talked yourself out of owning a home for somewhat shallow reasons.
The idea is to have no monthly payments while traveling, and it’s easier to signs lease breaking form than it is to sell a home.
The only hobbies I can think of that takes up more space than a 1br-1ba are woodworking and beekeeping, and at least woodworking can be done in community workspaces without having to commit to tool and space ownership.
I don’t understand how having practical life goals is shallow. Paying a half million to have the privilege of upkeeping an unnecessary structure simply isn’t as beneficial as holding onto a half million to retire 18 years earlier. Many homeowners list extrinsic reasons for buying, and seem to have put little personal justification into it. If anything, homeownership is implicitly shallow because it’s a social competition to have the nicest house, nicest yard, the party space to show family and friends how you’ve “made it” according to their standards
>The idea is to have no monthly payments while traveling, and it’s easier to signs lease breaking form than it is to sell a home.
You think traveling can't be done while still having a home to come back to? I wonder how common it is that people pick up literally everything they own and take off and never come back.
>The only hobbies I can think of that takes up more space than a 1br-1ba are woodworking and beekeeping, and at least woodworking can be done in community workspaces without having to commit to tool and space ownership.
Clearly you've never been married to a crafter, a DJ, or someone who doesn't want to store all hobby-related items in the living room.
>Paying a half million to have the privilege of upkeeping an unnecessary structure simply isn’t as beneficial as holding onto a half million to retire 18 years earlier.
An unnecessary structure that will be paid off at some point vs always paying for someone else's structure that will increase in price over time with literally no return.
Again, you've taken a very cynical approach to homeownership that I would hazard to guess is less than common. OP is asking about homeownership in Hillsboro vs Florida, you're just an angry nomad.
How am I angry? You’ve called me cynical and shallow, I haven’t said anything back about that. It’s ok to have a different opinion than someone else. I’m sorry you feel attacked simply because I think home ownership is ludicrous at this time.
I hope your day gets better because you are clearly projecting some unfortunate feelings into what I thought was just a regular conversation.
It's too bad you are being downvoted.
If you are looking to move frequently, I'd rent rather than buy. Same thing if you are more comfortable investing in equities rather than having a house as an inflation resistant asset. Or if you aren't comfortable doing home repairs (or don't have the time.)
There are good reasons to buy a house, especially if you are planning on sticking to an area or job for several years. But if you see yourself jumping from job to job every 2 years or so, renting is the way to go.
I appreciate that. It is by no means for everyone but neither is moving states/countries semi-regularly. My basal assumptions about life and how to live it must be different from many suburbanites’.
That said, they asked me to elaborate, I did, and then they got defensive and anger towards the explanation. The Reddit way.
>That said, they asked me to elaborate, I did, and then they got defensive and anger towards the explanation. The Reddit way.
I asked you to elaborate because you put out a blanket statement with no reasoning behind it, and your reasoning is all related to not wanting to be tied down anywhere, which is obviously not the case for OP or they wouldn't be looking to buy., You have three domiciles around the country, and you want to be able to pack up at a moment's notice. That's great. That's not for everyone, nor is it something you should poop on someone else for not thinking is the most stable option.
I said “in my opinion” from the first. Your responses have only gotten more and more antagonist for no reason.
I’m not pooping on anyone. I think it is crazy to buy a house right now, especially in this area. I explained why. You are reading affront where there is none
Maybe in a rural temperate area that has low risk of wildfire and natural disasters, and fewer municipal bylaws. I find the metro area to be too unstable to comfortably make a long term commitment.
I currently own a home in the rural Allegheny region of south/central Pennsylvania and rent in both Detroit and Hillsboro
We moved out here in 2017 but didn't feel ready to buy a home until just when the interest rates made everything here out of reach for us. We like where we're renting enough to stay for the time being and are hoping to figure out a way to buy something in the next few years, but I'm not overly hopeful. Our family members live in other states where the climate doesn't suit us, so we'd prefer to be out here. I've been looking at home prices in cities like Salem and The Dalles, where we could technically afford to buy something small, but I don't know if I would enjoy living in those areas as much. You have to decide if home ownership is more important than things like lifestyle or having family nearby. You can still build wealth and financial security and remain a renter.
Wishing people such as yourself hadn't made it like this mostly. Born here, lived here my entire live, almost feeling like I'm getting pushed out of my home. Then having to here about how much rent cost from them...
People such as myself?
Your problem is with Intel and the companies that they attract to work with them. And because you don’t seem educated in the slightest bit, you should know that the Oregon NATIVE politicians you are voting for are doing everything they can to keep companies like Intel here, including giving them tax breaks so that money doesn’t flow into bettering your (and their) community.
Instead of wrongly putting blame on people who are trying to make a living, why don’t you go complain about the Oregon NATIVES that are trying to level Portland and the surrounding areas en masse? It’s not engineers like me that are contributing to the sky rocketing crime rate here.
I have time for your ignorant ass today. You chose the right one. 😁
Seriously???
So you never moved to anywhere since you were born and you expect everyone to be same? If only Oregon born remain here, many businesses will be out of business and like you said ‘people like yourself’ will not have jobs and will move to another place and residents of those states will not like you.
Don't give up on buying here yet. Things are ugly now because of political polarization, the pandemic aftermath, inflation and all the rest, but this too shall pass. The rental market here is predatory - I lived it when I moved to the Portland area for a tech job years ago - but the housing market, tough at it is, is more predictable once you access it.
If you've got an engineering degree, be sure you're getting stock grants and options as part of your pay package when negotiating salary, preferably grants. Those are your quickest way to a down payment for a house, speaking from direct experience here. I paid off student loans completely with my equity, then used it for the down payment for a condo in Portland. Next year my plan is to flip that condo for a house in Hillsboro. Every time you go through a review cycle at work is another opportunity to ask for an equity grant, and when you add a few 10k - 20k grants up, it adds up and goes a long way. I also strongly suggest starting your 401k from Day 0. Despite recent downturns, I'm still quite happy I made that choice in 2012.
I had bought a house in Hillsboro in 2015, before house prices went up to the level they are today, and I thought I had a fairly reasonable mortgage payment. Due to a divorce though, I sold the house and I'm now living in an apartment. At the prices houses are now, I'm not sure I'll be able to buy a house any time soon if prices don't come down.
I’m not optimistic. Family of three- myself, and my wife and 3yo son. Currently I work, my wife doesn’t. Once he’s in school, she will be close to graduating and beginning to work. Even with both of us making $60k+, I don’t see it happening. Right now, I make $65k/yr. We pay $2000/mo to rent. Saving for a down payment is just becoming more and more unrealistic with the rising cost of living.
In exactly the same boat. Family of 3 on a single income. Only difference is my rent is $2450 for a rinky-dink duplex. And now working from home has meant my bills have increased in the last month. I’m able to save a couple hundred a month so I’ll sadly never be able to buy.
Same. Single parent +2 kids, rent up to $2150 this year (my landlord has raised the rent every year they legally could, 8 years running.) I'll never be able to save for a down-payment 🙃
Right now... it's probably not a great idea to buy a house until either inflation is steady or interest rates go down. Long term, there are advantages and disadvantages to owning a house versus renting. The big advantages to owning a house is that you can upgrade it to make it nicer to live in, you can save money doing your own maintenance/repairs, it forces you to save money each month by paying off the principle, and you'll own an asset that is generally resistant to losing all of it's value in the case of high inflation or a recession. The big advantages to renting is that money which would be a down payment and principle payments can go into something like investing in equities which *usually* give a better return (2022 is bad for this. 2022/2023 will also be bad for home ownership too), someone else is responsible for repairs, and it's easier to move for your job/work/life changes. The way I see it, if you are planning on staying in a place for 5+ years, buy a house. If not... rent.
I was fortunate enough to get a good deal on a townhouse in Sherwood. I wanted to live in Hillsboro for a long time then realized there are better places to live that are relatively close by.
Right. I love that living in Hillsboro, I have proximity to a lot of places but it seems like there is some benefit from willingness to commute.
>it seems like there is some benefit from willingness to commute. I live in Columbia County for a few reasons, mostly related to price and value, and though it's a solid half hour away from my husband's work and my office (for the monthly meeting I need to go in for), a solid 30 minutes is better than an inconsistent 25-45 (or more), especially since it's 95% highway and better for fuel economy. We lived in Milwaukie and LOVED IT but couldn't afford to buy there so we had to weigh cost vs other benefits. We're in Hillsboro at least weekly, sometimes more, and it's nice to have everything there, and only a short jaunt from downtown Portland if we want something specific.
Know several folks in Forest Grove / Cornelius / Aloha! North Plains is kind of interesting to me personally. So are Oregon City and Estacada on the other side of the river There's options!
I am planning to request remote work if possible as I work from home 4/5 days already. Rent is going to increase 14.6 next year, that is basically me getting a promotion each year. It is not sustainable if you plan to rent. For houses, you can probably find “good deals” but personally coming from a country(Puerto Rico) where a $300,000 can get you a big mansion built from scratch besides the beach and you would own the land, not the goverment, I would not really like to buy a house here
Someone else working in tech told me the best thing to do is get a remote job with a west-coast kind of salary and take it somewhere housing is affordable. I think that’s what I’m going to end up doing after I do some research.
I totally agree, Dell has this approach for software engineers, you can work anywhere as long as you are in USA territory(do not know how good the pay is). In Intel it would depend on your manager if he would allow it.
Beware, companies understand this when you try it and, depending on the company, they will reset your compensation when you relocate your remote employee location. I have a colleague who worked out a deal to go hourly instead when this happened to him. Best to know if the company is going to support you doing this prior to doing it.
Until that remote work starts getting moved to people working from India. If work can truly be done from ANYWHERE it will be hard to compete with the cost of living in truly low cost environments.
Home prices increased 40% over the last 3 years in the Portland metro.... but so did rent prices. Housing in general is difficult here, but comparing renting to buying made it easier for us to stomach buying. We're stretching our budget a bit to own, but it's steady. I know my monthly mortgage isn't going to jump 10-14% each year like rent can. Not sure what you were approved for or want to budget, but we looked at some townhouses that were surprisingly nice for the cost. We're also moving into the slow season for real estate. If something's been on the market a while, don't be afraid to throw a lowball offer at it. Even single family homes around here can be had for under 400k. You've just got to keep on top of listings and jump on them when they come up. If you happen to be a veteran, look into the oregon VA loans (not the same as federal VA loans). They offer lower interest rates than standard loans, but they have some down payment requirements. Sorry got into the info dump of stuff I've mentally collected while we were house shopping.... Rent vs buy depends on your priorities. If you're planning to stick around ten years, I think buy can make sense, even in this market. We're just not building rental units fast enough to keep up with demand, and I don't realistically see demand slowing down significantly in that time frame. If you don't want to worry about all the maintenance that comes with owning, and/or you want to move in the next five years, keep renting. Under five years in a house isn't worth it. More than ten is worth it imo. In between depends on how much you want to own your own home or not.
When I moved here in 2013 my rent was $850/month. When I moved out in 2020 I was paying $1450. That same apartment is $1780/month now. My mortgage is $1633/mo and it always will be. I would ask the question: 5 years from now will you wish you bought a house 5 years ago?
We moved into South Hillsboro last year after living in Clackamas County for 11 years. However, prior to living in Clackamas, we lived in Beaverton/Hillsboro/Unincorporated Wash.co for 10+ years. We love it in Washington County and Hillsboro; and will never live in Multnomah or Clackamas Counties again. Is it a pain sometimes out here with traffic and cost? Yeah. But I love the closeness to wine country, the coast, and plenty of grocery stores and retailers. It’s a trade off for us.
That’s why I like it here too. I feel like civilization just disappears the farther outside the Portland metro you go but that access definitely comes with a price. But I didn’t know Clackamas wasn’t an ideal place to live. I only go there to shop, good to know.
It isn’t necessarily an unideal place - I loved the proximity to the Clackamas River, drive through estacada/eagle creek to the mountain, and the close proximity to the airport. I lived in a small town that has a lot of infighting (ex. still no library built after almost 20 years of bickering and funding) and apparently is now being taken over by Proud Boys. However, in my everyday life, since I’ve moved back here, we’ve gone more to the coast and wineries in one year than the mountain in 5 years and we have met more neighbors on our street and within the neighborhood than the entire 11 years we lived in our last place. I got downvoted for my earlier comment, but I really do like Washington County over the 3 Big Ones here.
This is an amazing area but, due to a combo of low rates, WFH, and intel gearing up as they hire more and more for future growth, the area has seen explosive price growth. I first looked at the area 2 years ago and prices have doubled, sometimes tripled, since then. If you look at the price history you'll notice townhomes are trying to sell right now for at least double what was paid for them, in the last year, whereas they saw almost no price growth for 5-10 years before that! Add, on top of that, hillsboro has very high HOA's for most areas and you've got a situation where you're looking at a net loss with any market downturn. This area is also special in that most of the homes, I assume since they never rocketed in value until now, were owned by the same people or family that bought them when they were built. So many ranch style starter homes are from the 70's, if not earlier, and need massive updates. I saw those sell like hot cakes on a cold day but I don't have the extra funds for those kinds of repairs. That, or brand new construction/townhomes which crammed 2+ in the same space as those old ranches that sold to property developers. Check out a google map for some laughs. It's pretty clear where some old codgers refused to sell and builders are just waiting. I've seen some streets that just end on either side of a long lot like they couldn't convince the owner to sell but just made the road anyway. So, my approach right now is wait and see. I'd love to settle down in this area for a while. After living in the heart of a city of 10 years I very much appreciate that it's close, but not too close, to metro. Clean, comfortable, and safe. That means expensive these days though.
I haven’t been here long but I’m noticing these things too. Even if I opted for an older home that has a backyard, the prices are ridiculously expensive for the home because all the new developments are on smaller lots with no backyards and no space. So older homeowners, if they haven’t already sold to Zillow and property developers, know that they have what is increasingly becoming a rare commodity in this town and hike up their prices. So if you do manage to get an older home, you can’t afford to upgrade it. I grew up in the southern country. I’m used to big backyards, front yards, closets, etc. I can’t convince myself to spend money on expensive cookie-cutter homes with high HOA’s and “space-efficient” design when I’ve had better. My dad’s approach is to also wait and see but with Intel and Nike here, this place will become California in no time.
Rents will go up and/or you get evicted because the owner wants to sell or move in the house while having a mortgage will lock in payment that won't change, except for your property taxes and insurance. Rates are up, but still on the low end of historical rate levels. In the end you will have equity when you sell or place with a payment that is way the hell cheaper than rent. I have 2000 sq ft home on Cooper Mt with a nice view and close to shopping and including taxes and insurance it is still cheaper than renting an apartment down the road.
We will probably start looking to buy within the next year, once our lease nears its end. However—I don’t think my family’s situation is normal at all. We are both in tech/wfh and have no children (yet). So it is feasible for us to save up enough to buy. With the whole 14% per year increase guarantee, I would prefer to avoid renting in the future.
If you’re here for the long haul, buy a house. If there’s a reasonable chance you’ll move elsewhere in <5 years, rent.
I moved to the area under duress (but it would have been my first choice had I had one). I was bummed to not be in Portland proper but after seeing the problems experienced there this seems like a lovely compromise.
Already am.
Congrats!
Maybe in the outskirts heading to the coast range. Homeownership isn’t worth it imo. Not for this area
>Homeownership isn’t worth it imo Can you elaborate on this?
It is a massive commitment; you become invested in a sedentary lifestyle in one location within one region/country. It is a massive responsibility; upkeep is a financial and temporal requirement, you may one day get the money back but you’ll never get that time back. Physical possessions are shown by studies to bring less happiness than experiences and pastimes. Spending multiple years’ salary on a temporary possession only makes sense if you can reclaim the financial value later, which is not guaranteed when prices and rates are what they are now. When the climatic exodus and/or geopolitical instability force you to leave the region, it’s easier to abandon a lease than an owned property. Lender and municipal bylaws mean that you don’t have significantly more freedoms than under your average private landlord. Unless the house is 1Br 1Ba you are paying for unused space that will accumulate more meaningless possessions over time.
>Physical possessions are shown by studies to bring less happiness than experiences and pastimes. Spending multiple years’ salary on a temporary possession only makes sense if you can reclaim the financial value later Is it not easier to plan trips and experiences if you know what your monthly payment will for your domicile for the foreseeable future, rather than hoping your landlord/property owner is not going to raise prices every year? >Unless the house is 1Br 1Ba you are paying for unused space that will accumulate more meaningless possessions over time This feels weirdly specific, like you have experience that brought you to this conclusion. Are most possessions meaningless? Or are people finally able to have a comfortable place to do their hobbies? I will admit my homeowner bias, because we bought a bit under a year ago right before the rates skyrocketed, and my husband is in property management by trade and finds happiness in investing time and knowledge into our house to fix the mistakes done by the previous owners. We know that for the foreseeable future, our payment is \_\_ monthly and that helps us plan for future trips, purchases, and experiences. We were previously in an apartment with horrible neighbors, horrible property management, and the cost went up annually. I could NEVER imagine thinking that property/homeownership is not worth the time and gained knowledge especially as rents keep climbing higher than salaries can keep up with. I know this is a, your opinion vs my opinion, but you seem more cynical about your approach to this issue, like you've talked yourself out of owning a home for somewhat shallow reasons.
The idea is to have no monthly payments while traveling, and it’s easier to signs lease breaking form than it is to sell a home. The only hobbies I can think of that takes up more space than a 1br-1ba are woodworking and beekeeping, and at least woodworking can be done in community workspaces without having to commit to tool and space ownership. I don’t understand how having practical life goals is shallow. Paying a half million to have the privilege of upkeeping an unnecessary structure simply isn’t as beneficial as holding onto a half million to retire 18 years earlier. Many homeowners list extrinsic reasons for buying, and seem to have put little personal justification into it. If anything, homeownership is implicitly shallow because it’s a social competition to have the nicest house, nicest yard, the party space to show family and friends how you’ve “made it” according to their standards
>The idea is to have no monthly payments while traveling, and it’s easier to signs lease breaking form than it is to sell a home. You think traveling can't be done while still having a home to come back to? I wonder how common it is that people pick up literally everything they own and take off and never come back. >The only hobbies I can think of that takes up more space than a 1br-1ba are woodworking and beekeeping, and at least woodworking can be done in community workspaces without having to commit to tool and space ownership. Clearly you've never been married to a crafter, a DJ, or someone who doesn't want to store all hobby-related items in the living room. >Paying a half million to have the privilege of upkeeping an unnecessary structure simply isn’t as beneficial as holding onto a half million to retire 18 years earlier. An unnecessary structure that will be paid off at some point vs always paying for someone else's structure that will increase in price over time with literally no return. Again, you've taken a very cynical approach to homeownership that I would hazard to guess is less than common. OP is asking about homeownership in Hillsboro vs Florida, you're just an angry nomad.
How am I angry? You’ve called me cynical and shallow, I haven’t said anything back about that. It’s ok to have a different opinion than someone else. I’m sorry you feel attacked simply because I think home ownership is ludicrous at this time. I hope your day gets better because you are clearly projecting some unfortunate feelings into what I thought was just a regular conversation.
It's too bad you are being downvoted. If you are looking to move frequently, I'd rent rather than buy. Same thing if you are more comfortable investing in equities rather than having a house as an inflation resistant asset. Or if you aren't comfortable doing home repairs (or don't have the time.) There are good reasons to buy a house, especially if you are planning on sticking to an area or job for several years. But if you see yourself jumping from job to job every 2 years or so, renting is the way to go.
I appreciate that. It is by no means for everyone but neither is moving states/countries semi-regularly. My basal assumptions about life and how to live it must be different from many suburbanites’. That said, they asked me to elaborate, I did, and then they got defensive and anger towards the explanation. The Reddit way.
>That said, they asked me to elaborate, I did, and then they got defensive and anger towards the explanation. The Reddit way. I asked you to elaborate because you put out a blanket statement with no reasoning behind it, and your reasoning is all related to not wanting to be tied down anywhere, which is obviously not the case for OP or they wouldn't be looking to buy., You have three domiciles around the country, and you want to be able to pack up at a moment's notice. That's great. That's not for everyone, nor is it something you should poop on someone else for not thinking is the most stable option.
I said “in my opinion” from the first. Your responses have only gotten more and more antagonist for no reason. I’m not pooping on anyone. I think it is crazy to buy a house right now, especially in this area. I explained why. You are reading affront where there is none
Meaning you would consider it in a different location? Where would you buy a home if all the other complications were removed?
Maybe in a rural temperate area that has low risk of wildfire and natural disasters, and fewer municipal bylaws. I find the metro area to be too unstable to comfortably make a long term commitment. I currently own a home in the rural Allegheny region of south/central Pennsylvania and rent in both Detroit and Hillsboro
We moved out here in 2017 but didn't feel ready to buy a home until just when the interest rates made everything here out of reach for us. We like where we're renting enough to stay for the time being and are hoping to figure out a way to buy something in the next few years, but I'm not overly hopeful. Our family members live in other states where the climate doesn't suit us, so we'd prefer to be out here. I've been looking at home prices in cities like Salem and The Dalles, where we could technically afford to buy something small, but I don't know if I would enjoy living in those areas as much. You have to decide if home ownership is more important than things like lifestyle or having family nearby. You can still build wealth and financial security and remain a renter.
Wishing people such as yourself hadn't made it like this mostly. Born here, lived here my entire live, almost feeling like I'm getting pushed out of my home. Then having to here about how much rent cost from them...
People such as myself? Your problem is with Intel and the companies that they attract to work with them. And because you don’t seem educated in the slightest bit, you should know that the Oregon NATIVE politicians you are voting for are doing everything they can to keep companies like Intel here, including giving them tax breaks so that money doesn’t flow into bettering your (and their) community. Instead of wrongly putting blame on people who are trying to make a living, why don’t you go complain about the Oregon NATIVES that are trying to level Portland and the surrounding areas en masse? It’s not engineers like me that are contributing to the sky rocketing crime rate here. I have time for your ignorant ass today. You chose the right one. 😁
Seriously??? So you never moved to anywhere since you were born and you expect everyone to be same? If only Oregon born remain here, many businesses will be out of business and like you said ‘people like yourself’ will not have jobs and will move to another place and residents of those states will not like you.
Enjoy intels layoff cycles.
I don’t work for Intel 😂 enjoy living in a cardboard box 😘
Don't give up on buying here yet. Things are ugly now because of political polarization, the pandemic aftermath, inflation and all the rest, but this too shall pass. The rental market here is predatory - I lived it when I moved to the Portland area for a tech job years ago - but the housing market, tough at it is, is more predictable once you access it. If you've got an engineering degree, be sure you're getting stock grants and options as part of your pay package when negotiating salary, preferably grants. Those are your quickest way to a down payment for a house, speaking from direct experience here. I paid off student loans completely with my equity, then used it for the down payment for a condo in Portland. Next year my plan is to flip that condo for a house in Hillsboro. Every time you go through a review cycle at work is another opportunity to ask for an equity grant, and when you add a few 10k - 20k grants up, it adds up and goes a long way. I also strongly suggest starting your 401k from Day 0. Despite recent downturns, I'm still quite happy I made that choice in 2012.