First home/ house hack in Portland OR or Vancouver WA?

Question

Hey all,

I'm from Los Angeles. My partner was accepted into Portland State University for a master's program. Myself and the girlfriends father will both be putting down $70,000 (20%) as a down deposit on a budget for a 350k home.

We preferably would like to live in portland or up to 30 min commute time. Can you give us recommendations around the area or a zip code? We plan to house hack and get a 4 bedroom home to rent out the two bedroom to help out on mortgage.

Any recommendations to buying in portland or Vancouver, wa?

Thank you so much!

Steve Milford · Answer

I have lived all over the Portland Metro area, and I love Vancouver. It is slower pace to raise the kids, and it is less dense. Any the dollar stretches further. A nice 4-bedroom home can be had for $450,000. Let me know if you need help.

Tim Rostro · Answer

I'm moving back to WA state next month.  This whole summer, I ended up looking for a house to purchase all over the I-5 corridor from Vancouver to Olympia.  I found a new housing development in Ridgefield, WA, just north of Vancouver, 30 minutes to Portland.  The Ridgefield area, when I passed through it, is pretty much brand new, mix of country and suburb.  The home prices were $300,000-$400,000 and I almost put an offer for one before deciding I wanted to live closer to Olympia.

Steve Morris · Answer

What's your goal with the house - Resale or rentability?

If resale, stay in the cheaper neighborhoods since there's always demand.  Try to stay West of SE 82nd.

If it's rentability, shoot for suburbs like Beaverton/Hillsboro from Nike's parking lot to Intel.  It'll also hold value better there.

Just don't say you're from Cali :)

Jason Leavitt · Answer

Congrats on the acceptance and the upcoming move. PSU is right in town (west side) but with your budget (which will be tight for a 4-bed in Portland) I’d look in Saint Johns, SE Portland, North Portland, Beaverton/Raleigh Hills. There are some great neighborhoods farther out but will be more than 30 mins in traffic (Gresham maybe). Vancouver might be cheaper but I don’t know much about it’s neighborhoods.