Archive for the ‘Home Improvement’ Category
Monday, September 27th, 2010
Fall is the best time to make a few home improvements and renovations to get ready for winter, and it’s also the best time to plant for Spring gardens! If you’ve ever lived in Portland, you’ll no doubt be familiar with the onslaught of bulb flowers – gorgeous irises and daffodils – that take over residential real estate and abandoned street corners all around town, filling Portland with color and Spring fever. You can contribute your own splash of floral beauty to the Spring explosion in Portland by planning some bulbs and Spring-blooming plants in your yard and garden, and if you need a bit of extra help or new idea be sure to check out the 2010 Portland Fall Home and Garden Show at the Portland Expo Center, beginning on September 30 and bringing tips, tricks, and discount supplies to the Portland metro area until October 3rd.
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Tags: Home Improvement, Portland Real Estate, Real Estate Tips, Real Estate Trends, Tips When Buying a Home, Tips When Selling a Home
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Monday, September 20th, 2010
As the temperature drops, we’re all thinking about fall. At the McDonald Group, we love this time of year with all of the gorgeous colors in the trees, golden sunlight breaking through the dark clouds, and the swirling leaves that dance through the trees. For some people around the country, fall means getting ready to clear out the garden for the winter ahead, but a lot of people in Portland have found creative ways to keep their gardens growing all year long. One way Portland-area homeowners keep the green alive is by planting an ecoroof that thrives in the rainy season. What’s even better, Portland citizens are eligible for benefits from the Grey to Green initiative, the city’s effort to increase the number of ecoroofs in town by offering cash payments for home and business owners willing to make the swap.
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Tags: Green Homes, Home Improvement, Investment Information, Market Report, Moving To Portland, Neighborhoods & Areas, Portland Real Estate, Real Estate Tips, Real Estate Trends, Tips When Buying a Home, Tips When Selling a Home
Posted in Green Homes, Home Improvement, Investment Information | No Comments »
Thursday, September 16th, 2010
Here on the McDonald Group Real Estate Blog, we’re often talking about Green home improvements, sustainable homes for sale in Portland, and the rise of eco-building in the Portland Real Estate market in general, but we talk to a lot of people who are still a bit confused about a lot of the technology and terminology behind the Green building revolution. If you’re one of those people who might not know as much as you’d like about Green homes, sustainable appliances, low-waste utilities, and other eco-friendly home improvements, there is an event coming up that might answer a lot of your questions. On Saturday, September 25th, the Build It Green! Home Tour and Info Fair will return to Portland for its ninth year, bringing information about sustainable remodels, green certification for new homes, and plenty of great tips for making the most of the green tools and incentives (including valuable tax rebates for green improvements) available to Portlanders.
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Tags: Green Homes, Home Improvement, Investment Information, Market Report, Moving To Portland, Neighborhoods & Areas, Portland Real Estate, Real Estate Tips, Real Estate Trends, Tips When Buying a Home, Tips When Selling a Home.
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Monday, September 13th, 2010
If you think Green homes are still a fringe phenomena in the Portland Real Estate market, get ready for a statistical shocker. Homes with green certification, such as the Portland-based Earth Advantage Institute U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED for Homes, the federal Department of Energy’s Energy Star program, and the National Association of Home Builders’ Green Building Standard, now make up one out of every four new homes for sale in Portland area real estate. 25% of the new home market? It’s obvious that sustainable home renovations and construction are not a passing fad – and can make the difference if you’re trying to sell a home in Portland.
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Posted in Green Homes, Home Improvement, Investment Information, Market Report, Moving To Portland, Neighborhoods & Areas, Portland Real Estate, Real Estate Tips, Tips When Buying a Home, Tips When Selling a Home | 1 Comment »
Thursday, September 9th, 2010
Studies have shown that common pollutants in the home can lead to serious problems like asthma, allergies, and chronic disease, but it’s not hard to clean up your act and keep yourself and your family healthy. To help out, the Oregon Environmental Council, the oldest environmental group in the state, has recently put out a wonderful free Eco-Healthy Homes Checkup kit to check up on the health safety and sustainability of your home, complete with helpful tips. If you’re looking for green homes for sale in Portland, recently bought a home after navigating the Portland Real Estate market, or are trying to sell a home in Portland, you could definitely benefit from the tips and checkups in this free kit. Check out our overview of the tips in the package, and click here to receive your own copy free in the mail. It’s an informative, easy way to make a difference in the safety and value of your home – what else could be more worth your time and investment?
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Posted in Green Homes, Home Improvement, Investment Information, Moving To Portland, Portland Real Estate, Real Estate Tips, Tips When Buying a Home, Tips When Selling a Home | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 27th, 2010
You already know that Portland is a haven for sustainable living, but lot of people think that fully sustainable homes are only for the upper crust. Portland-based design group Minimalist+ is working to change that by bringing pre-fabricated and affordable stylish homes to the metro area. The houses are architect-designed, modern wonders that are assembled in local Portland warehouses, so little carbon is wasted on transportation. These little gems pop up in a matter of days using light panels, preserving surrounding trees and landscaping.
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Posted in Archetecture, Green Homes, Home Improvement, Investment Information, Moving To Portland, Portland Real Estate | No Comments »
Friday, June 25th, 2010
In this age of high-end sustainable renovations, high-profile LEED certifications, and the seemingly never-ending marketing of the next popular Energy Star kitchen or home appliance, it sometimes feels like you need to spend a lot of money in order to cut back on energy use. However, like many things in life, small changes can add up to a big difference, and some of the most important adjustments you can make in your home are downright cheap.
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Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010
Whether you’re restoring a historic home for sale or you’ve just purchased a diamond in the rough that needs some polishing, Portland has some amazing resources for classic restoration hardware, fixtures, and furniture that are true to the spirit of Northwest style and sustainability. What better way to be green when you’re fixing up a classic home than to use salvaged antique materials? Here are some of The McDonald Group’s favorite spots for browsing through classic tiles, old neon signs, gorgeous sustainable lumber, rusted scrolled keys, and giant boxes of original tin ceiling plates. Remember to use gloves, those edges can be sharp!
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Posted in Archetecture, Green Homes, Home Improvement, Real Estate Tips, Tips When Buying a Home, Tips When Selling a Home | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 8th, 2010
This week, a 583-acre section of the Irvington neighborhood in Northeast Portland (north of NE Broadway and south of NE Fremont Street, between 7th and 27th Avenues) is being considered for placement on the National Register of Historic Places. The district under consideration includes around 2,800 buildings, largely comprised of historic houses built in Portland’s heyday of the early twentieth century. The organization overseeing the district’s proposal, the Portland Historic Landmarks Commission, recently changed the boundaries of the Irvington section up for consideration to eliminate several modern tracts of houses along NE Broadway. The modified proposal could be approved by the National Register by the end of the year.
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Posted in Home Improvement, Investment Information, Irvington | 1 Comment »
Sunday, June 6th, 2010
If you’ve ever lived in a place where the tap water is less than appetizing, you’ll be amazed at the quality of Portland’s drinking water. I never take it for granted that I’m able to drink cool, delicious water straight out of my kitchen faucet, and it’s not a surprise to find out that Portland’s water is some of the highest-quality drinking water in the world. This week the Portland Water Bureau released their 2010 Drinking Water Quality Report, which is essentially a nutritional label for the drinking water of Portland, and I’ve culled through the 11 pages of data for the most interesting and relevant facts for Portland homeowners and out-of-towners looking to buy Real Estate in the Portland metro area.
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Posted in Home Improvement, Moving To Portland, Portland Real Estate, Real Estate Tips | No Comments »
Saturday, January 2nd, 2010
Should I get a home warranty? Depends…. alot of agents would say no, however I am a strong believer under the right circumstances and would frequently say ”yes”. New construction no (if it’s a builder who will be staying in business long enough, the home is warrantied for 1 year already), a home passing it’s home inspection with flying colors maybe not, but a home that has been rented, is over 15 years old and a bit rough, or a house that has been purchased from a bank or as a short sale, yes.
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Tags: home warranty, the warranty group
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Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
Many of the homes in SE Portland have converted garages…. if you are buying a home with a converted garage request the seller provide or obtain a permit, if you are selling a home with a converted garage be prepared to have to get one.
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Tags: converted garage, investors, multnomah, permits
Posted in Home Improvement, Inner SE Portland, Investment Information, Real Estate Tips, Tips When Buying a Home | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
I know, Kristie is getting fixated on this whole “stop the new, let’s renew building homes vs. renovating them” thing. Edwin Hesse (an awesome home remodeler) sent me an article from TIME entitled “Greening This Old House” which further discusses renovating existing unwanted homes that are currently sitting on the market.
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Tags: article, ed hesse, edwin hesse, mac-bo, renovating, renovation, Street of Dreams, time, updating
Posted in Home Improvement | No Comments »
Saturday, April 25th, 2009
I recently suggested to the Street of Dreams that instead of building more homes for the 2010 show, we should instead adopt a street of unattractive ranches homes or better yet, split levels and turn the builders loose! (more…)
Tags: ranch, recycle, remodel, renovations, split level, Street of Dreams
Posted in Home Improvement, Listings, Portland Real Estate, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Fall is the best time to make a few home improvements and renovations to get ready for winter, and it’s also the best time to plant for Spring gardens! If you’ve ever lived in Portland, you’ll no doubt be familiar with the onslaught of bulb flowers – gorgeous irises and daffodils – that take over residential real estate and abandoned street corners all around town, filling Portland with color and Spring fever. You can contribute your own splash of floral beauty to the Spring explosion in Portland by planning some bulbs and Spring-blooming plants in your yard and garden, and if you need a bit of extra help or new idea be sure to check out the 2010 Portland Fall Home and Garden Show at the Portland Expo Center, beginning on September 30 and bringing tips, tricks, and discount supplies to the Portland metro area until October 3rd.
