A REAL ESTATE WEBSITE FROM OREGON'S BEAUTIFUL SOUTH COAST

Offered by Karl D. Johnson, a licensed real estate broker.  
Serving Oregon's Pacific Wonderland since 1978

WELL, NOT IN BIG BUNCHES.   But, just to prove a point,  we really do have a few banana trees oranges growing around town.  And they grow alongside the citrus trees and the palm trees  And everybody knows our daffodils bloom in January and almost all of AMERICA'S EASTER LILIES grow here along with really beautiful roses and rhodies and azaleas and fuchsias and all kinds of other plants that really ought to be growing in Hawaii or someplace like that.  So if Oregon has such a thing as a "Banana Belt", Brookings-Harbor is definitely in the heart of it.

THIS IS NOT TO SAY WE DON'T GET RAIN HERE.  In fact, some of the locals swear that Mother Nature uses the Oregon south coast as a testing ground for Pacific storms.  But we normally don't get that day after day after day of gloomy, drizzly, weather that so much of the Pacific Northwest is known for.

When it rains here, it gets with the program and gets it over with.  So as not to spoil our tourist season, it politely rains only in the winter and usually the storms last for two or three days at a time.  (Please notice I said "usually".)

JUNE IN JANUARY.   In between the rains, it is simply beautiful!  The sun comes out and warms us into the 60's and 70's (even into the 80 degree range once in a while in January or February).  The sky is blue without even a trace of smog.  We pick spring flowers right after Christmas and we can have a picnic during any month of the year.

IS IT BROOKINGS OR HARBOR...WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?  Actually, that can be a bit confusing.  There is really one incorporated city here known as "Brookings".  Then, from the Chetco River to the California line, there is another community known as "Harbor".  Harbor is not incorporated but it does have its own water and sewer districts.  About 6200 people live within the Brookings city limits while in the entire Brookings-Harbor area, there are approximately 15,000 or so.

The community called "Harbor" should not be confused with the regular boat harbor which is at the mouth of the Chetco River.  According to a whole bunch of smart people, our harbor is one of the safest small craft harbors on the coast!  

(READ ABOUT OUR HARBOR HERE) 

BROOKINGS SOUNDS LIKE A PRETTY SMALL TOWN.  WHAT'S THERE TO DO?

IT IS A SMALL TOWN!  That's one of the nice things about it.  But there is still a lot of stuff to do!  You can choose from all kinds of activities (or none at all if you want to be left along).  We have a great library and Friends of Music and little theater and art guilds and garden clubs and churches and a beautiful new branch campus of Southwestern Oregon Community College and great television and internet service and fabulous camping and a very busy activity center.  Then there's whale watching and hiking and shopping and gambling and tennis and swimming and golf. Three nearby courses! 

BUT IS THERE A SAK'S FIFTH AVENUE NEARBY?  Uh...Not within walking distance.  But on the other hand, we have some of the best shopping on the Oregon coast.  Lots of small local shops and several chain stores here or within a half hour drive.  All of them are staffed by friendly local people who haven't forgotten how to care.  And of course, when you buy something for $9.98 in Oregon, you get two cents back from your ten dollar bill.  We don't like that nasty sales tax any more than we like those ridiculously high-priced license plates.  (Did I mention that ours cost less than $30.00 a year?)

MORE?  Ok.  We have good builders and plumbers and electricians and barbers and beauty shops.  And we have good accountants and mechanics and lawyers and just about any service you'll find in any other fair-sized town.  There are several good insurance agencies and some great real estate brokerages in town.  Two excellent escrow companies, major banks, a great credit union and good mortgage companies.  We also have great police and fire departments and caring government workers.

SO HOW ARE THE PEOPLE?  Mainly nice (with just a few grouches mixed in for contrast).  Supposed to be about 15,000 of us in the area.  About 6200 of us live within the city limits of Brookings.  The rest are in the unincorporated areas like the community called simply "Harbor".  They say about two thirds of us are retired.  Those who are have back-grounds ranging from accounting to zoology.  Those who are not retired work in the timber industry or the fishing industry or the tourist business or in agriculture.  Many of our residents are also employed by the California Department of Corrections which maintains a maximum security facility just a few miles south of the state border.

       You definitely should call a doctor! Of course, if you’re really in bad shape, we're only minutes from an emergency medical center and  only a half-hour away from either of two well-staffed hospitals. Also, everybody who’s anybody is a member of our local ambulance service and also an air ambulance service. Great medical people in all fields and a nursing home and assisted living facilities. Good vets are in the area if your pooch needs a pill.  

SO WHAT DON’T YOU HAVE? Well, we don’t have big malls and we don’t have the Santa Ana Freeway and we don’t have smog or drive-by shootings. We don’t have traffic jams and we don’t have drug wars and the only muggings we see are on television. Some people around here don’t even own house keys and a lot of us still don’t lock our cars.

When you think about it, we’ve got a pretty good set-up. We have about everything we need for normal day-to-day living and yet, within the time it takes most city dwellers to get on the freeway, the people who live here can get to their jobs or to decent shopping areas or to any of four rivers, ancient groves of magnificent redwoods, rugged coastal mountains, a national wilderness and, of course, some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. That’s just not too shabby. In general, Brookings is a safe, friendly community. Big enough-but not too big.

IS IT FOR YOU? I don’t know. If you think you’d like it enough to move here, you’ll find most of what you need. It’s not perfect. But then, if you were living here, it just might be.  

Brookings is the site of the only Japanese air raid in the 48 contiguous states.  It happened in 1942. 

HOW TO SEARCH FOR PROPERTY

1.  Simply click on the FOR SALE sign to connect  to the Regional Multiple Listing Service website. Quick, easy and up to date!
 
2.Click on the "Quick Search" button.

3.Select "Oregon", Curry County and Brookings.

4. Enter your search criteria.

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