What to Know Before Buying a Home in Central Oregon as a Remote Worker
Buying a home in Central Oregon as a remote worker blog header, outdoor lifestyle and work from home living in Redmond Oregon, Diana Pullen listing specialist soldincentraloregon.com
By Diana Pullen | Listing Specialist, Real Broker LLC | Serving Redmond, Bend, Terrebonne, Culver, Sisters, Prineville, Madras, La Pine, and surrounding communities
My husband Ryan works for a company based in Dallas, Texas. His day starts at 6am sometimes, Oregon time, because of the time zone difference. He takes calls from our home office, steps out for meetings while we're running errands, and occasionally disappears at lunch for a bike ride through the canyon. We moved here from Texas, and the version of daily life we have now is genuinely different from anything we experienced there.
I'm also a real estate agent, which means my work happens in the afternoons, evenings, and weekends. My mornings are mine; exercise, groceries, getting our son ready for school. Ryan and I are both home when he gets off the bus in the afternoon. We haven't sat in an hour of traffic in either direction since we left Texas.
I say all of this because if you're a remote worker considering a move to Central Oregon, I want you to hear it from someone who actually lives it, not from a relocation guide written by someone who visited once.
Here's what you actually need to know.
The Remote Work Community Here Is Real but Quiet
About 23% of workers in the Bend-Redmond metro area work remotely, which is higher than Oregon's overall rate of 19% and significantly higher than the national average of 15%. So there are more of us here than you might expect from a city of 38,000 people.
That said, remote workers in Redmond tend to blend in rather than cluster. You're not going to find a co-working scene the way you would in a larger city, and the remote worker identity isn't something people wear loudly here. What you will find is a community of people who chose this place intentionally and who are figuring out the same things you're figuring out; how to build a social life when you don't have an office, how to balance the flexibility with the isolation, and how to make the most of living somewhere this beautiful without letting the workday swallow the whole point of being here.
Your Home Office Matters More Than You Think
When you're house hunting in Central Oregon as a remote worker, your office situation deserves as much attention as the kitchen or the primary bedroom. A dedicated room with a door, good natural light, and enough space to take a video call without your laundry visible in the background is not optional; it's a quality of life issue that shows up every single day.
Ryan and I actually share our upstairs office and it works out better than most people would expect. We bounce ideas off each other, get zoned into our own projects, and have an unspoken system of warning each other when a call or video meeting is coming up so nobody gets accidentally caught on camera in the background. Ryan takes his calls, I edit my videos with noise canceling headphones on, and somehow we both get things done. It turns out a good pair of headphones solves a lot of shared office problems.
That said, having one dedicated room that is clearly the work space has made a real difference for us. When you work from home, the line between work and the rest of your life can blur fast. Having a room with a door that you can walk out of at the end of the day helps with that more than you'd think. If you're a couple where both people are working from home, one solid dedicated office is the minimum worth looking for. Two is a luxury worth considering if the budget allows, but one well-designed shared space with good light and enough room for two setups can absolutely work, because we're proof of it.
Also worth thinking about: does the home have reliable enough cell signal for a video call in the backyard? Can you take a call on the back patio without the neighbor's dog ruining the meeting? These are small things that become daily things.
Internet: The Honest Answer
TDS Telecom is the primary internet provider in Redmond, and I'll be straight with you: it's not the fastest or the most reliable service out there. For most remote workers doing video calls and standard work tasks, it gets the job done. But if you're in a bandwidth-intensive role; large file uploads, high-volume video production, anything that really pushes your connection; it's worth researching your specific address before you commit.
The other option that's become increasingly popular in the Redmond area is Starlink. Satellite internet has come a long way and a lot of locals use it as either a primary connection or a backup. One of the things I genuinely love about Starlink in the context of living here: people are taking their dish on the road. Trailers, trucks, off-grid campsites. Remote workers who want to spend a week working from the woods off a forest service road near Three Creeks are doing exactly that. If your version of work-life balance involves occasionally working from a campsite next to a mountain stream, Starlink makes that a real option and not just a fantasy.
Check internet options for your specific address before you make an offer. It's one of those due diligence items that's easy to overlook and annoying to discover after closing.
The Daily Life Perks Are Real
The grocery store at 10am on a Tuesday is a genuinely underrated quality of life upgrade. So is getting your car in for an oil change without burning a vacation day. Or being available for a school event that starts at 1pm. Or taking a lunch break that involves a bike ride through the canyon instead of a sad desk sandwich.
Ryan is home when our son gets off the bus. We both were able to attend every school event and sports practice this past year without either of us having to leave a meeting early or ask permission. That's not something either of us takes for granted because we know what the other version looks like.
The flexibility of remote work is not unique to Redmond. But the place you're flexible in matters enormously. Being flexible in a city where there's nothing to do with a free hour is different from being flexible in a place where a canyon trail is ten minutes from your front door.
The Airport Is a Real Asset
Roberts Field, Redmond Municipal Airport, has direct flights to major West Coast cities and connects to hubs for broader travel. If you're a remote worker who still travels for work periodically, or if your family and clients are scattered around the country, having a real airport five minutes from most Redmond addresses is genuinely convenient. It's one of those things that sounds minor until you're comparing it to the alternative of driving 45 minutes to an hour to catch a flight.
The Honest Challenge: Meeting People
Oregon has a reputation for being socially reserved on the front end of a friendship and it's earned. People here are warm once you know them, but the initial layers take longer to get through than in a lot of other places. When you work from home, you don't have a built-in social infrastructure the way an office provides. You have to build it deliberately.
I've experienced this firsthand. Building community as a remote worker in Redmond takes intention. It means showing up to things, joining groups, putting yourself in situations where you'll see the same people repeatedly until the familiarity turns into actual friendship. The Sisterhood of Redmond, OR, which I run, has been one of the best ways I've seen remote workers and newcomers find their people here. Events like pickleball, book club, coffee meetups, and community socials create the repeated contact that friendships are actually built on.
One thing I've noticed: a lot of remote workers are home during the day but their schedules don't always flex the way people assume. If you're chained to a screen from 9 to 5 even though you're technically at home, midday events don't actually work. This month I'm hosting a summer social in the evening specifically so the work-from-home (and work-from-work) crowd has somewhere to show up after hours. If you're moving to Redmond as a remote worker and want to meet people, look for evening and weekend community events rather than assuming your daytime flexibility will solve the social equation automatically.
What to Look For in a Redmond Home as a Remote Worker
A few things worth prioritizing when you're searching:
A dedicated office or a room that can become one. Two if you're both working from home.
A lot that gives you some outdoor space to decompress between calls. Central Oregon's outdoor access is one of the main reasons people move here; make sure your home gives you easy access to that, whether it's a yard, a nearby trail, or both.
A neighborhood with reliable internet infrastructure. Ask specifically, don't assume.
Proximity to the airport if travel is part of your work life.
A community with things happening in the evenings and on weekends, because that's when you'll actually have the bandwidth to show up.
Ready to Figure Out If Redmond Is the Right Move?
If you're a remote worker doing your research on Central Oregon and you want a straight conversation about what it's actually like to live and work here, I'm happy to have it. I'm not going to sell you on something that isn't a fit. But if it is a fit, I'll tell you that too and help you find the right home in the right neighborhood to make it work.
Diana Pullen, listing specialist and Redmond local, Real Broker LLC. I live here, I work from here, and I know this market well.
https://www.calendly.com/diana-soldincentraloregon/consult
Information reflects personal experience and general market data as of 2026. Internet provider availability varies by address; verify directly before purchasing. Remote work statistics sourced from HUD and Census Reporter data for the Bend-Redmond metro area.
