One of our buyer specialists, Sandy Morley www.roblevy.com/about.asp was telling me this last weekend she spent allot of time with some good friends from California and the big discussion was real estate here in Portland.  They were up here for a wedding of a couple that moved here almost a year ago and bought a large home in Tualatin after selling a small condo in Fremont, California.  Her friends daughter moved up here six months ago and bought a beautiful home in Wilsonville.  How strange life is sometimes when the babysitter for your kids is now a client living a mile from my house in Wilsonville.  Sandy had a allot of time to talk with them and other relatives from different parts of the country and a great deal of the conversation was in regards to several of the couples thinking of retiring here. 
 
Sandy herself moved to Wilsonville www.ci.wilsonville.or.us 5 years ago from Pleasanton, California and bought a home in Wilsonville that she could only dream of there.  The comment that kept coming up was that Portland was still the best deal on the West Coast...with it's close proximity to the Oregon Coast and also to Mt. Hood. During the course of the weekend she picked up one buyer for sure and two more that are still weighing their options.  They couldn't believe how clean downtown Portland is and the beauty of the Willamette River running through the city.   They were also amazed at all Portland has to offer with fantastic restaurants, theatres and the fine arts.  It is great to be a real estate agent in Portland as it sells itself!