5 Affordable, Family-Friendly Neighborhoods in Vancouver WA (Hidden Gems!)

Summary

In this episode of Spotlight Vancouver, host Doug Varenas celebrates the 10th episode by discussing under-the-radar neighborhoods in Vancouver, Washington. He highlights five neighborhoods that offer affordable housing options, community amenities, and potential for appreciation. Each neighborhood is characterized by its unique features, safety, walkability, and proximity to parks and schools, making them ideal for families and homebuyers looking for value in the current market.

Takeaways

The median home price in Vancouver is currently around $500,000.

Neighborhoods like Northwest and Carter Park offer great community vibes.

Carter Park has seen a significant drop in home prices, making it a good investment.

Oakbrook is a hidden gem with low crime and walkability.

Cascade Park has a lot of parks and community amenities.

Mill Plain is a growing area with access to green spaces.

Older homes in these neighborhoods can present incredible value.

Safety and community are key factors in these neighborhoods.

Access to transportation is relatively easy in these areas.

These neighborhoods are ideal for families looking for affordable housing.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Affordable Neighborhoods in Vancouver

02:50 Exploring Northwest Neighborhood

05:45 Carter Park: A Hidden Gem

09:03 Discovering Oakbrook Neighborhood

10:42 Cascade Park: Value and Community

Hello! I’m Doug Varenas, REALTOR® and occupational therapist based in Vancouver WA. My services include representing buyers, sellers, and investors in the Greater Vancouver WA area. I am on a journey of creating a business that offers a positive impact on my community by not only helping my community realize their real estate dreams, but by donating 5% of net commissions to local non profit organizations. I bring a wealth of experience as a home owner, real estate investor, and healthcare professional to the real estate industry and believe that real estate has the power to change lives for the better! That’s my mission, and I hope you choose to join me on my journey!

MAKE THIS YOUR YEAR! 🏡

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Doug Varenas, REALTOR® REAL Brokerage

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Disclaimer: Doug Varenas is a licensed real estate agent in Washington and Oregon with REAL Brokerage as of the time of making this video. All information given is meant to be educational in nature. Specific financial and liability issues require the advice of appropriate, licensed professionals. The use of the Internet for communications with the firm will not establish an agency relationship. All information provided on this channel is from our personal experiences as a licensed real estate agent.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hello, and welcome to the Spotlight Vancouver podcast.

(00:03):
I am your host, Doug Varinas, and I am a licensed real estate agent in Washington and Oregon.
And today, we are celebrating the 10th episode of Spotlight Vancouver, Washington.
And let me tell you, it's an accomplishment because typically podcasts go seven episodes
before they disband.
So super proud of that.
Today's episode, I'm going to be talking about affordable under-the-radar neighborhoods

(00:28):
that I think are incredibly livable, they are safe, and they have a lot of potential
for appreciation.
And so I really think that these neighborhoods are great to live in and present a tremendous
value right now, as opposed to the rest of the market.
And so what I'm using as a value metric is going to be basically the median home price.

(00:51):
Currently it is 500,000.
Now there's always outliers, but we're going to get into some under-the-radar affordable
and awesome neighborhoods.
So let's get started.
I'm going to share my screen here.
And we are going to get right into it.
I'm going to first up, I'm going to take you to the Northwest neighborhood.

(01:12):
Now nobody talks about this neighborhood right up here in this little corner.
It's a little bit south of Felida and, yeah, Lakeshore.
And we're going to zoom in here because I love this pocket right here.
So you're right on the Burbridge Creek here, and that kind of provides this barrier between
this West Hazeldale neighborhood and Northwest Vancouver.

(01:35):
So I love this neighborhood.
The median home price here is a Scosh over five, I believe, currently.
Again, there's always outliers.
And what I really love about this neighborhood is this area around the Burney Drive up to
Franklin Park here.
You get a lot of other nice pockets here.
This neighborhood is known for its, the Franklin Halloween and the Franklin Christmas house

(01:58):
here by Franklin Elementary.
And the neighborhood here, you get some great mid-century 70s and 80s homes here, but you
also get a real strong sense of community.
It's sort of anchored by Franklin Elementary, which has a great PTA.
It's a small but mighty school.
I have a lot of experience here.
My daughter goes here.

(02:18):
They have a Mandarin Immersion program.
So it's just an incredible community, but you also get a wonderful neighborhood.
Crime is low.
It's pretty walkable.
There's some busy streets here, and there's not sidewalks all the time.
So, you know, be careful.
But for the most part, because you have the elementary school and the park so close by,

(02:41):
it creates just a really close community.
And you are sort of out here.
I wouldn't say it's easy access to transportation.
Honestly, to get to the freeway, it is not that tough.
And to get to shopping over here up in Hazeldale, or you can go to Uptown, not really hard to
get to.
So it's kind of tucked away here, and I just love this Northwest area.

(03:03):
So my second neighborhood, the one that I didn't plan on doing, but I just have seen the
median home price here go down quite a bit.
So I wanted to include it.
It's actually a neighborhood that is south of the Northwest neighborhood, so that's convenient.
And it is this Carter Park neighborhood.
I'm picking up all the other Papa Murphy's and stuff here.

(03:26):
But Carter Park is an incredibly walkable neighborhood.
It has sidewalks.
It has not a lot of traffic.
Has real good proximity to downtown and the Uptown area, close to transportation, older
homes here, and presents an incredible value.
I've seen the median home price here drop to, when I checked, I believe it was like

(03:51):
450, which is unbelievable.
I have trouble actually believing that statistic.
Now again, depending on the home, you can go a lot higher, especially if it's remodeled.
So a lot of these older homes, if they just go on the market because for whatever reason,
maybe it's an estate sale, you can get kind of a deal on them.
It's fully remodeled, expect to pay more, but even, I mean, these used to be 750 homes

(04:16):
easily a couple of years ago, so the prices have come down quite a bit.
Schools here are pretty decent.
I don't have personal experience, but if you're in Carter Park, you either go to Halk or Lincoln.
Both of these are okay schools.
And so really it's that proximity to the Uptown area in the downtown and that convenience

(04:38):
that makes these a real solid deal, I think.
So our next neighborhood, we're going to go a little bit east here and we're going to
check out a neighborhood that I stumbled upon not too long ago and it is this Oak Brook
neighborhood.

(04:58):
This is a really cool part of town that I just mentioned, like I stumbled upon it and
was just really impressed with what was going on here.
So a lot of trees, so this is Oak Brook Park here.
This is a country club.
And so again, you got some proximity to Burbridge Creek.

(05:20):
Lot of wooded area here, which was really cool.
Older homes again, but you know, we're talking 70s homes, very walkable, not a lot of traffic
here.
This Ogden area can be kind of spotty.
And so I think Oak Brook stands out in this area because again, low crime, nice homes,

(05:46):
walkable, close to parks.
And then the median home price here is about 400.
I think you can get homes here in the fives pretty easily.
And so this neighborhood really stands out to me as kind of a hidden gem in Vancouver

(06:06):
and something that I would be looking at if I was looking for a home, especially in that
price range.
I think it's a deal.
So we're going to travel for our next one.
We're going to travel a little bit east and a little bit south here.
And I'm going to take you to this Cascade Park area and I'm going to include two neighborhoods

(06:27):
here, zoom in a little bit.
And they are the River Ridge neighborhood here and Mountain View here.
And to be honest, you can include this entire Cascade Park area.
Again, prices have come down here.
I've seen some deals in the high boards here that are incredible.

(06:49):
I saw one in this area that came back on the market, a West pending came back, couldn't
believe the prices here.
Even these tend to vary as well with the homes condition.
But if you want to get one that's a little bit that needs some cosmetic work, I think
this area is excellent.
I'm going to include Lewis and Clark Woods here as well, Bella Vista, all this neighborhood

(07:11):
here, an older neighborhood, very walkable.
It's pretty common to see people walking their dogs, walking for exercise, you know, when
they got their coffee.
It can be a little bit older, but like as far as the population goes.
But there's also really good elementary schools, River Ridge Elementary.

(07:32):
You have access to parks here, Bella Vista Park, Bridalwood Park, Cascade Park, a lot
of parks here.
And so really you're getting quite a deal here in this 500 area, 500,000.
I think this represents a tremendous value for people looking right now.
I think we're going to get some more development on the East Waterfront too.

(07:56):
So that just is a cherry on top of that Sunday.
But all around this neighborhood, this Cascade Park, if you can find something for, you know,
the high fours, 470, that just represents tremendous value to me.
And I would definitely be looking in this area for sure.

(08:18):
So I'm going to zoom out here and we're going to take a look at the last neighborhood I
had on my list as far as under the Radar Gems that you should have your eye on.
And we're going to move a little bit east and a little bit north here.
And I'm going to take you to this Milp Plain area here.
So the median home price here is a little bit higher.

(08:40):
It tends to be more in the five east.
And I think a lot of that is because of this Lackamas Prairie neighborhood here, which
has some more expensive developments, but I love this area from the zoom out.
I love this border area here on East Vancouver, sort of between the Camus area and, you know,

(09:03):
this area of Vancouver as you go west here.
But I like this border area.
There's things happening here.
There's, you know, the Boulder Ridge development.
You have Fisher's Landing, which is a little higher price point.
But as you go up here, you can still get homes.
And I'm talking about kind of this, um, pheasant run area here.

(09:26):
And this area here, I sold the home to a client not too long ago.
They love it.
Their child goes to Pacific.
No, it's Harmony.
Sorry, Harmony here.
You got schools located nearby.
You have access to parks.
You have access to green space.
You have access to Camus.

(09:47):
You're not too far from like Lackamas Lake and Round Lake.
So that's good.
And I find that this area represents a really great value in that even at 550, I feel with
the development going on there, the rising tide lifts all boats.
And in this pheasant run area, especially the west side here, where it's a little more

(10:10):
affordable.
You get a tremendous value.
So those are five under the radar neighborhoods in Vancouver that I have my eye on.
And I think you should have your eye on too, because like I said, safe, fairly walkable,
access to transportation, a lot of amenities like parks, libraries, and right now can be

(10:33):
had at about or even below the immediate home price of 500,000.
So if you're interested in any of these homes or any others, please feel to reach out to
me.
I'd love to talk with you about how I can help serve you.
And with that, I'm going to wish you a great weekend and take care, everybody.
See you on the next episode.