Oregon Real Estate

The home prices in Oregon are about average for the United States median home price.  This state is located nearby California, Las Vegas, Seattle, and borders the Pacific Ocean.  Portland is the most populated city in Oregon, with many listings for both residential and commercial real estate. Finding a real estate agent in this state is essential.

Oregon is home to rich scenery such as mountains, forests, and even deserts.  When looking into real estate in Oregon, the local environment should be taken into consideration.  Different areas have different natural elements that may make certain home features more enticing.  A home nearby a river would need to be built high enough to avoid potential flooding, and a home near a mountain range may be built to provide the best scenic view from inside the house.  The weather in the western part of Oregon is heavily influenced by the Pacific Ocean, and while it is generally mild, the ocean does make for some extreme climate changes throughout the year.

Oregon’s topography includes valleys, mountain ranges, rivers, and even volcanoes.  The volcanoes located in Oregon are fairly dormant, and offer impressive scenery.  Hell’s canyon is another interesting geographical location in Oregon.  It is ten miles wide and was created by the Snake River.  The canyon also houses a number of different hydroelectric dams, and does include several access roads for visitors. 

Oregon borders Washington, Nevada, California, and the Pacific Ocean.  With Las Vegas, Seattle, San Francisco, and many nearby beaches, anyone living in Oregon would never have to worry about running out of interesting things to do.  If you were interested in visiting these nearby areas, but did not want to pay the higher home prices in these locations, Oregon could be a good middle ground to consider.      

Oregon is not a dry state, but very few areas in Oregon sell hard liquor.  However, Portland, Oregon has more breweries than any other city in the country.  Portland also houses almost half of the entire population of Oregon.  Anyone looking to live in a sparsely populated area would have to look into real estate elsewhere.

There is not a wide variety of major sporting events in Oregon, so any sports fanatic may have a problem with living in such an area.  Of course, neighboring states do house a number of professional sporting teams, so anything that is not located in Oregon could probably be found somewhere close by.   

The unemployment rate in Oregon is relatively high, at about ten percent in 2010.  Anyone looking into commercial real estate would probably have to focus on larger cities, such as Portland, to see if there were any appropriate business opportunities.  There are several large headquarters located in Oregon, such as Nike, Fortune 1000, and Harry and David.  These are located in Medford, with any other large corporations being located in Portland.

Some interesting facts about Oregon are that it is illegal to pump your own gas, this must be done by a gas station attendant.  It is also legal to smoke marijuana on your own property, but it cannot be bought or sold.  This could be either enticing or deterring, depending on personal opinion.  In addition, Oregon possesses more “ghost towns” than any other state in the country.  These areas are virtually uninhabited, and there are not often attempts to rebuild them.  Anyone that is looking for an extreme adventure in business and real estate could attempt to revive one of these areas.   

Crater Lake is located in Oregon and is the deepest lake in the United States.  Oregon is also one of the top salmon fishing industries in the country.  Other popular industries are paper goods production and technological industries.  Construction and manufacturing are some of the slowest industries in the current Oregon job market, so any plans to move to Oregon and start a career in these fields may need to be adjusted. 

Oregon has a wide variety of schools and universities, including public and private, medical, religious, specialty universities, and more.  Any family looking to move to Oregon would not have to worry about a lack of educational facilities for their children.  

While there is a wide variety of interesting places and activities in Oregon, it is also good to know that there are so many different things to be found in nearby states.  Whether you are looking for urban city life, a calm, quiet, lake house, or anything in between, there is likely something to be found in this state.