Portland Floating Homes for Sale

Search all Portland, Oregon floating homes for sale. For more information about floating houses in Portland, or to schedule a private showing of a property displayed below, contact our expert Portland floating home real estate agents today.

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Portland Floating Home Listings

Floating Homes vs. Houseboats

Folks will often use the terms houseboat and floating home interchangeably. However, a houseboat is not a house; rather, it is functionally a boat in a house's shape. Meaning, it has a motor and can move around.

Conversely, a floating home does not have a motor or any means of propulsion. It stays moored in its slip and sits on a floating foundation.

Floating homes can be financed with a mortgage. Houseboats can be financed with a boat loan, personal loan, equity line of credit on another home you own, or a recreational vehicle loan.

Financing a Floating Home

Floating homes are not real property because they do not come with land. Thus, they cannot be financed with a conventional mortgage backed by FHA, VA, Fannie Mae, or Freddie Mac. What's more, very few banks and credit unions will finance a floating home. Homebuyers will need to be in a better-than-average financial position to buy one.

Floating house loans require a higher down payment (usually 20%) instead of a low down payment as one could expect when using FHA or VA mortgages. Borrowers will pay a higher interest rate than a traditional mortgage, too, usually by 1 to 3 points depending upon the size of the initial down payment and the borrower's credit profile. Loan terms are shorter (10, 15, or 20-year terms) instead of the standard 30-year terms commonly used for traditional mortgages. Lastly, banks may only offer an adjustable interest rate (ARM) rather than a fixed-rate loan.

Slip and Moorage Fees

In addition to a monthly loan payment, homeowners will have additional property taxes and fees. If the slip is owned, homeowners will pay homeowners association (HOA) fees that cover water, electricity, and trash. If the slip is leased, then there will be a moorage fee.

Floating Homes Near Portland, Oregon

Floating houses tend to be close to one another in marinas, making it easy for homebuyers to monitor specific neighborhoods and tour homes for sale in-persion, back-to-back.

Along the Columbia River's Oregon side, check out Hayden Island, Tomahawk Island, Bridgeton, and St. Johns. Farther north, along the Multnomah Channel of Willamette River, you will find clusters of homes in Scappoose.

Along the Willamette River, close to downtown, floating homes can be found in South Portland’s Macadam Bay and across the river in the Sellwood neighborhood near Oaks Amusement Park.

Some regions near Portland also have clusters or marinas of floating homes in The Dalles, North Gresham, and Ridgefield, Washington.

Portland Floating Home Realtors®

Buying or selling a floating home? If you're looking to buy, contact our Portland real estate agents; we're the LOCAL experts and can answer all of your home buying and Portland neighborhood questions. If you're thinking of selling your house in the Portland area, our listing agents can provide dates and prices of recently sold homes nearby, up-to-date Portland real estate market information, and previous sales history.