West Linn is a roughly 25,000-resident suburb south of Portland. With great neighborhoods, schools, and attractive physical surroundings, it ranks high on the list of communities for relocation candidates in Oregon.

My partner in crime, Jody McLeod, lives in West Linn and is particularly tuned into the schools and city politics. And since our brokerage is located in town, we view a lot of properties and meet a lot of customers here. It is natural fit for us to provide local real estate coverage for this micro-market.

Our mission as it were:

…in the case of creating move2westlinn.com, it was simply a matter of acknowledging that real estate is a LOCAL endeavor.

Best served by local feet on the street. Local eyes on the inventory. Local knowledge of community news and events. Highlighting local homeowners, business people, and resources.

There are many directory or community sites, typically created by companies looking to generate advertising revenue or leads for real estate agents. But these websites provide little additional value to the reader. Even the new flashy, map-driven property valuation national sites tell only part of the story.

We aren’t looking to be a dead-end list of links or an advertisement-strewn real estate site. We aren’t looking to dish gossip or parrot the local newspaper.

We do, however, want to help potential West Linn residents gain a local perspective on housing, lifestyle, and livability. Home values, neighborhood descriptions, architecture, parks, schools, commutes, city planning, and local businesses all add up to paint the entire picture. We are the blank canvas…for now.

Please a peek at the newborn move2westlinn.com. More coverage to come, so add it to your newsreader.