I don't have any advice, except to say that I too will be homebuying as soon as I have a more stable job (if that happens). If it doesn't, I'll still ask the bank if they loan me money.

I'm thinking I'd like to move to an already existing eco-minded neighborhood. From what I've seen, the Cully Neighborhood seems like just the place. From what I understand, they have a strong neighborhood association and the people are interested in permaculture, etc.

Jennifer Rueda

I recently purchased a different home to live in (I won't say "new" because it's not - it was built in '86). As always, there are tradeoffs to be made depending on your situation, so I will try to stick to general/universally applicable advice:

1) Don't buy more house than you need. It is REALLY easy to get sucked up into the whole "more square footage = better" thinking. Don't let yourself be sucked into that trap. On the other hand, don't buy less than you need because less does not equal better if it doesn't give you enough space to live in comfortably.

2) Don't get sucked into the whole speculation mindset trap. Don't buy a home based on some "projected future value" spiel. Buy a home because you want to live in it long term. The whole "I'll make money off my home" mentality which so deeply pervades American society is a ridiculous house of cards which will (peak oil or not) inevitably come tumbling down. In many parts of the country, it's already tumbling. So again, buy a house to live in, not as an "investment". The idea that you can buy your home and sell it a few years down the road for a tidy profit is a temporary one that history has repeatedly smacked down.

3) Check out the neighbors of any house you want to buy. Do your best to ensure that you are moving into a neighborhood where you can trust your neighbors and can establish good relations with. This has always been standard home buyer advice, but with Peak Oil on the mind, it becomes that much more important.

4) Beware of HOA's (Home Owner's Associations). I'm not saying they are all evil, but many HOA contracts will severely limit your rights as a homeowner AND even worse, they can (and often will) harass you *using your own money to fund the harassment*. What's worse, many HOA's have the right to *arbitrarily* increase fees which you are legally bound to pay - with very little legal recourse if you disagree with how the HOA uses those funds. I am speaking from experience. HOA's arose because of the decline in neighborly relations. In general, HOA's are unnecessary if you have a good relationship with your neighbors.

5) Make sure you have enough money after the mortgage payments to live . This sounds ridiculously simple, but many lenders (including *every* one I talked to when shopping for mortgages) will happily help you to buy a more expensive house than you logically should buy (from a financial standpoint). They will happily okay you for a loan which exceeds your financial capacity because they know that you will starve yourself to keep your home, and the bigger loan means more money for them. When you're calculating how much house you can afford, don't forget to add in costs of food, clothing, ENERGY (electricity, gas, oil, etc.), commuting, HOME UPKEEP, etc. which need to be paid every month also. Finally, don't forget the inevitable costs which pop up immediately after buying a house - the costs of outfitting the house (hey, the roof needs to be treated! Hey, the walls need painting! Hey, the carpet needs replacing! Hey, I need a dining room table now!, Hey I need a LAWN MOWER now!)...

6) On the subject of location - I honestly don't know what the best location will be. However, I do believe that as the economic repercussions of Peak Oil are increasingly felt, I believe that crime (both petty and violent) will increase. In fact, I believe that they will increase first and foremost in areas where people of lower income scale predominate. So, with that in mind, I would take into consideration the demographics & crime rate of neighborhoods/cities you choose to live in. Some areas of town (the close-in Southeast neighborhoods come to mind) have a great reputation as progressive and "hip", but this ignores the fact that they also have a fair amount of petty crime (often driven by meth-heads) which would (IMO) most likely become rampant & unconstrained if/when the economy tanks. This is not to say that every neighborhood which is lower income would become a burned out gangland, just that one should consider this (in light of Peak Oil).

And finally, please keep in mind this is just advice from another person who is not an expert, and is just trying to navigate the world with limited knowledge and wisdom but who is also concerned about life in a Post-Peak society..

Good luck and God Bless ya,

Eric

I've been looking at many houses and some things that come to mind are:
don't buy a house on a sloping lot, it's more difficult to build a garden.
remove the driveway NOW, while there are vehicles to haul away the concrete
be sure the lot is big enough that you can have enough agriculture
look at sunlight penetration and shade trees.
the best houses are those on the south side of a street, so the service rooms (toilets, closets) are on the north side and the living space has passive solar heat.

Finally if anyone is interested in sharing the cost of home-ownership, I am interested in co-housing and would be willing to discuss this.

Aaron
Transportation Diplomat
aaron@yourbodypower.org

For any house you are thinking about buying or renting, plug the address into portlandmaps.com and you can pull up a wealth of information.