An Underwater Loan is a loan in which the homeowner owes more than what the home is worth, meaning that if they were to sell their home at market value they would need to bring a check to the closing table (or sell short).  Oregon ranks in the top 10 for the fewest amount of underwater loans (thank the gods) but guess which states are at the opposite end of the spectrum?  Check out this link to CNN Money and get the full list.

The climate of short sales in real estate is changing all the time.  You can usually count on a short sale home to be listed at a pretty great price, however many of our clients are asking “can I get an even better deal”?  My answer (more…)

Before I break in the bad news, know that there is a fantastic 100% financing program still available if you are interested in living in the rural area. Homes in SANDY, Oregon QUALIFY!  It’s called the “USDA Rural Housing Program”.  Now to the unfortunate news. (more…)

Every now and then we run across a home buyer that is interested in one of our listings, is not currently working with a specific Realtor and states that they will only write offers through the listing agent.  Most of these buyers are under the impression that if they write the offer through the listing agent  (more…)

Not sure if this is the real deal or a “bot” out looking for Zillow comments on blogs (probably the latter), but just thought I would post it here. I posted a blog entry on Zillow and it’s accuracy and use in our industry a few days ago and it was quickly commented on supposedly by Zillow’s COO Spencer Rascoff adding validity from the horses mouth as it were to my post:

Spencer Rascoff, COO of Zillow here. Thanks for the post.

There’s no doubt that Realtors are in a better position than a computer algorithm to value a client’s home. Our valuations are good — the best on the Internet, we believe — but it’s no substitute for a good Realtor, nor is is meant to be.

Right around the middle of each month RMLS sends out their “Market Action Report” for the previous month; Octobers market action report just came out today. Each month I do a write up on it, sort of summarizing it and post it on our website. The report and my summation of the report are both now posted.

Overall the numbers are as expected; we are after all in a down market. Some of the numbers however are showing slight improvements like for instance the Milwaukie / Clackamas areas moved from a depreciation rate of -6.7% to -5.4%.

Read my take on the market action report where you can also download the report itself. And if you want to see a historical perspective on the market, the archives of my summaries and the reports themselves are at the bottom of the page.

I recently listed a great home at 2100 SE 156th Ave. Square footage is 1590 but the home feels much larger and infact we had to remeasure to be certain it wasn’t more.  There are 5 bedrooms and 3 full baths which makes this home perfect for foster care or a large family!!~ 

COMPLETELY remodeled with an abundance of (more…)