Despite pandemic, Yachats area sees another big spurt of homebuilding as demand grows for retirement and second homes

 

By QUINTON SMITH/YachatsNews.com

Lori and Mike Stevens of Chico, Calif. were looking for someplace on the Oregon coast to be close – but not too close — to their grandchildren in Eugene.

Toni Trauman and Ann Fisler of Modesto, Calif. had been coming to Yachats for 20 years and finally decided to make their visit permanent.

Jacqueline and Stephen Cutler have lived just north of Yachats for 15 years and, anticipating retirement, wanted a smaller, mortgage-free house in town.

It’s people like them – retirees, people from sweltering and equity-rich states like California and Arizona, and downsizers that are fueling a building boom in Yachats and surrounding areas.

And all have pushed through with their new home projects despite the uncertainties of the coronavirus pandemic.

In Yachats alone, there were 13 building permits taken out for single-family homes in the first six months of 2020. That’s higher than a full year of permits in 2019, 2018 and 2016. In 2017 there were 15 single-family home permits issued in Yachats, but seven of those were for the Koho Oregon subdivision.

“It’s a lot,” said Dave Mattison, who until July 1 was the Yachats city planner. “It’s the most since the early 2000s.”

There is evidence of the upsurge in new home construction almost everywhere you look.

Just south of the Yachats River, construction is proceeding on the last of 30 homes in the Koho subdivision started eight years ago by David and Drew Myron Rieseck.

North of Yachats, land is being cleared for houses on both sides of U.S Highway 101.

In Yachats, one deteriorating, old house in downtown was taken down by its owner from Eugene and is being replaced by a new one to be used as a vacation home.

Elsewhere, property owners are turning to manufactured homes as a way to more quickly set up their new houses. And, in almost every neighborhood, there is the whirr of saws and snaps of nail guns as construction workers erect new homes.

“It’s definitely ramped up,” said Todd Norwood, who has been building custom homes in Yachats for 30 years as he worked on a vacation home on Gender Drive for a Portland family. He’s got contracts for three more homes in the works.

Second homes are popular

Mike Stevens is a retired homebuilder and Lori Stevens was a high school teacher in Chico. They have a son and his family in Eugene and another in Chico, so began looking for a second home within 2 hours of their grandchildren in Oregon.

They started looking around Eugene, then as their thinking evolved moved farther west to the Florence area.

“If we’re going to do this we wanted this to be super special and to be on the water,” said Lori Stevens.

Florence wasn’t quite right, so they started driving up the coast and hit Yachats.

“This is a cute little town,” said Lori Stevens, recounting their thinking. “And it’s close enough for us.”

So they started looking at houses. Many were not in good shape – a common complaint of people looking for property to buy – so they started looking for bare lots near the ocean.

During one trip they spotted a lot for sale on Ocean View Drive, Lori Stevens said, “and so we bought it.” It was their most impulsive purchase ever, she said.

They found a builder, Blaine Cunningham of RC Exteriors, who has done lots of houses around Yachats, worked out a design and broke ground on their 1,700 square foot home. With his construction background, Mike Stevens keeps in contact by phone and email with Cunningham. And they drive up every few months in their small motor home to check in and watch the progress.

“We’d like to have Christmas here,” said Lori Stevens.

 

Homebuilders are scrambling

Homebuilders in the area say they have never been so busy. Many have simultaneous projects going on and work lined up into next year.

All said they saw a “hesitation” from current or prospective clients in March when the coronavirus pandemic hit. People grew uncertain of their finances when their jobs changed and the stock market drastically dropped.

“The Covid stuff made people a little cautious and tight,” said Louie Cole, owner of Vision Builders.

For Cole, the pandemic also affected his crews. Two of his workers were single fathers and had to stop working when schools closed to care for their children. Another was over 60 years old, and wanted to lessen his possible exposure to the virus.

Cole had one customer scheduled for later this year pull out, but he expects others to quickly take their place.

Mike Smallwood has been building homes in south Lincoln County for nearly 30 years. This year he completed a custom home on Windsong for a customer from California, is finishing up a retirement home on East 10^th Street for a couple from the Willamette Valley, is framing another overlooking the ocean in Seal Rock, and has the foundation done on the Cutler house on Aqua Vista Drive.

“I thought the virus might slow it down,” Smallwood said of his business. “It has not. We had a couple of people hesitate but it quickly restarted and we’re as busy as ever.”

Not your typical manufactured home

Yachats regulars Toni Trauman and Ann Fisler of Modesto, Calif. looked around town off and on for three years for a house to buy. But they could never find quite the right place.

Then they met a Waldport couple also from Modesto who suggested looking at manufactured homes.

“Years ago, I heard horror stories about manufactured homes … but we started educating ourselves,” said Trauman.

They talked with Dan James of Northwest Homes in Depoe Bay. They toured a factory in McMinnville. They discovered they could add their own floor coverings and kitchen and bathroom finishes.

“And it wasn’t bad. It was doable. And here we are.”

“Here” is a triple-wide manufactured home on a commercial lot overlooking Highway 101 adjacent to the Ya-Tel Motel.

They signed papers April 1. Next came concrete flat work. Three sections of the house were gingerly moved into place in June. The foundation is nearly complete. A three-car garage is coming soon. They signed papers selling their Modesto home last week.

“We are very pleased,” said Trauman. “We aren’t saving any money. It wasn’t about that. It was about timing.

“We could have gone north or south,” she said. “But we wanted Yachats.”

 

Jacqueline and Stephen Cutler already “had” Yachats. Well, sort of.

They live on Northeast Evergreen Lane off Starr Creek Road just north of Yachats.

The Cutlers used to own a restaurant in Tucson, but lost it in the 2001 recession. They relocated to Yachats, where Stephen Cutler worked at the former LaSerre restaurant before starting a wine distributorship 18 years ago. They built their 1,400-square foot home in 2005.

Now, anticipating retirement they wanted to downsize and be free of a mortgage. The Cutlers had a 700-square-foot house in Tucson and were not leery of going small again. They also wanted to be in Yachats so they could more easily access trails and walk rather than drive into town.

Their new house will be 650 square feet, with an ocean view, tall ceilings, lots of windows and a spiral staircase to a rooftop sitting area.

“It’s not a ‘tiny house’,” said Stephen Cutler. “But it’s small.”

The couple had some second thoughts after the shutdown of restaurants in March cut their wine distribution business by 90 percent. That’s improved to half of what it used to be, Stephen Cutler said.

“We didn’t know if we were going to proceed,” he said. “But we did, and no matter what happens we didn’t want a mortgage.”

The Cutlers hope to move in November.

“I hope so,” laughed Smallwood, who is building their home.