2003 was a year of transition for us. My husband was in between jobs, and really didn't want to work for anyone else anymore. For years he watched, and for a while participated in, the hard work and satisfaction that came from my mortagage/real estate business. The time had come to pursue his dream, and we switched gears, looking for a business to purchase instead of a job for my husband to go to.

What we were finding in Southern California was disheartening, but we realized this was not a disappointment, this was an opportunity! We had been prowling all over the Internet doing research about various businesses and their areas, and stumbled in to a great website.

Have you heard of FindYourSpot.com? What a great site! My husband and I each filled out the questionnaire, which was rather lengthy. But, it came back with data on areas that not only had we never considered, but had never heard of! It turned our thought processes to relocation. Several areas in Oregon popped up on our lists, but the amount of rains they received in those coastal cities was more than I was willing to accept. But, it turned our attention to this area, and we started researching business opportunities in the area.  Several other steps were involved, but here we are in the Rogue Valley in Southern Oregon, with my mortgage business relocated, and the proud owners of Superior Windows & Doors in Ashland, Oregon.

Top Five Reasons We Relocated to the Rogue Valley:

Climate/Weather - The Rogue Valley has its own microclimate, making its weather more like Northern California, giving it four distinct but mild seasons, weather unlike the rainy, cloudy weather the rest of the Pacific Northwest I-5 Corridor experiences or the dry desert climate the areas East of the Cascades experiences.

Location - Six Hours from Sacramento or San Francisco, 5 Hours from Portland, 2 Hours to the Coast, but surrounded by mountains (Siskiyous, Cascades and Coastal), rivers (Rogue River, Applegate River), lakes (Crater Lake, Lost Creek Lake, Lake of the Woods, Howard Prairie Lake, Hyatt Lake, Emigrant Lake) and forests. If we really want to leave the area, we have our own Rogue Valley International Airport, which is the easiest airport I've ever flown in and out of.

Schools - Our youngest was in a great school in Santa Clarita, California, where we moved from, a school with small class sizes, high ratings, and strong parent involvement. We wanted to keep that successful streak going, and found the school here in Medford equally as good. Two of the local high schools are part of the small schools initiative funded by the Gates Foundation, and we're hoping they will have a successful track record when the time comes for our youngest to attend high school. There are also two great private high schools.

Healthy Business Climate - We could see by the income levels for our area that the only way we could meet our financial objectives was to be self-employed. The job base in Southern Oregon has diversified since the days when most residents were reliant upon the timber industry. But higher paying jobs are not prevalent, like they are in the big cities. The flip side of this wage coin is labor for the business would be affordable. The Chamber of Commerce presence is strong, plus SOREDI is a strong advocate for business.

People - The first people we met in the Rogue Valley were Dean and Suzie Truscott. Dean is the Real Estate Broker who represented us on the purchase of the business, our home and a rental we have here, and Suzie is his wife. These are two of the most welcoming, caring people we know. How could we not relocate to an area where people like this live? Coming from an area twice the size of the Rogue Valley, but surrounded by other cities unlike the mountains surrounding the Rogue Valley, we were ready for less people and to slow down. One of my biggest stresses in Southern California was traffic, always worried I wouldn't make it back from my business appointments in time to pick up our youngest, frantically trying to reach someone to get there if I got hung up in traffic. It took us a while to shake some of the habits we brought with us, and it was Dean and Suzie that helped "tame the beast" in me and my husband, while acting as surrogate grandparents for our youngest. I would have liked to have heard what the checker at the grocery store had to say to her colleagues when she saw my expression after calling me by name. People didn't do that where we came from! The first month we were here, we knew 6 people, and we kept bumping in to those same 6 people everywhere we went. We are surrounded by many down-to-earth, wonderful people here in the Rogue Valley, an area with 120,000+ residents that still has a small town feel to it.

So, if you are thinking about relocating, or just dreaming about other places you might want to live, check out FindYourSpot.com, and then find the posts about the areas you develop an interest in on Localism.com. Maybe you, too, will follow your dream to see where it leads you.

See you out there!

Karen Cooper - OR/CA Mortgage Consultant - www.Quality4Loans.com