Everything. Portland. Real Estate. Blog.

Thank You!!!

Scott & I were recently named Top Producers for the 2nd Quarter and we want to thank all of our clients for making it happen!  We are dedicated to each and every transaction as if it were our only one; it’s about quality not quantity.

To further assist our clients we are Cartus Certified and also privileged to be part of the USAA referral system.

In addition to working towards certifications we are routinely taking continuous education courses to keep ourselves and our clients ahead of the trends. Recent classes attended include topics such as:

•    Short Sales
•    Integrity Selling
•    Legislation and its effects on the market
•    Parcel Partitioning
•    Tax Planning
•    Title Reporting & the Escrow Process
•    1031 Exchanges
•    Insurance Requirements & Updates
•    Lending Updates on FHA, VA & Down Payment Assistance Programs
•    Real Estate Law & Updates
•    Appraisals

As Coldwell Banker’s tag line emphasizes, we work hard to “Put Knowledge On Your Side”.

Thanks again for you continued referrals; we love what we do!

-Kristie & Scott

We are in escrow as commonly phrased by agents, in its simplest form means both the buyer and seller have mutually agreed on a sale price of the home, the EMA (Earnest Money Agreement or “agreement”) has been signed and now both parties move forward to the next stage of the sale (refer to my home buyers process chart pdf download for a general idea of timelines).

Read the rest of this entry »

Fannie and Freddie are the hot topic of late of course, the general concensus I hear (and also believe) is that nobody should bail them out.  I think if we leave the housing market alone it will fix itself. In fact the biggest problem I see right now and on the horizon is the banks inability to implement a speedy and efficient process for selling the homes currently in “short sale” status. Because the banks have made such a mess of the process, agents are refusing to bring buyers to these types of homes and they are sitting stagnent on the market.  This is information is based on the Shirmeyer Rate Market Report, which is published by Sigma Research.

Many buyers, especially those moving to Portland from out of town are looking for tools to research Portland’s neighborhoods themselves. One of the best online resources for the home buyer is portlandmaps.com. Most addresses will open you to a plethora of information; just a few examples include:

• Flood zones
• Urban Growth Boundaries
• Crime Statistics
• Businesses Nearby
• Outstanding Permits
• Parks in the Area

The amount of information available is dependent on the home address you enter but PortlandMaps.com is by far one of the best resources available to date, especially if you have already identified a home or area you are interested in.

Crime for Instance-

It’s worth noting that agents are bound by law not to point out or specify areas prone to crime (which can be referred to as “steering”) so the buyer needs to take some initiative to further investigate statistics that interest them on their own. PortlandMaps shows specific crimes within a radius of an address and layers them based on type of crime, frequency, and proximity. Even more specifically the date and time of such crimes are also noted.

For those of you law abiding citizens, the crime maps conveniently define the various types of crimes so incase you’re wondering for example: “Prostitution” is defined as “Sex offenses of a commercialized nature, including assisting or promoting prostitution. Attempts are included”.

One of the country’s leading Real Estate Trends experts gives his assessment on the Portland Real Estate Market. He says the market has remained stable. Dr. Lawrence Yuni was also interviewed for this story, which we thought was very positive.