Your California equity goes a long way here. Here's what else changes.

Oregon has no sales tax. Its income tax tops out at 9.9 percent, compared with California's top rate of 13.3 percent. Oregon also doesn't tax Social Security benefits, which matters to anyone planning retirement.

Californians already know how hard fire country can be to insure, and parts of Southern Oregon have the same problem. Get a homeowners quote before you write an offer, not during escrow. If standard companies decline, Oregon's FAIR Plan is the insurer of last resort. It covers the property but not liability, and caps coverage at $600,000.

Outside the cities, most homes run on private wells. A household well can water up to half an acre of lawn or garden without a water right. Pasture, orchards or a vineyard beyond that need one. Water rights are a separate question from the well, so I check both before you fall for a property.

Medford's airport has nonstop flights to San Francisco, San Diego and Santa Ana, among other West Coast cities. Driving, the Bay Area is roughly six and a half hours down I-5, and Sacramento is closer.

For a town with services and a real downtown, start with Grants Pass. For acreage close to town, look at Murphy, Merlin and Wilderville. For wine country, the Applegate Valley. Ashland and Jacksonville are the Rogue Valley's most walkable small-town centers. Not sure? The Find Your Town quiz narrows it down in five questions.