Also known as the Sunnyside District with an easy-going and hip culture, Hawthorne is frequently 
compared with San Francisco’s Haight Street. Located in the southeastern section of the city, this neighborhood is filled with funk, from the locally-owned coffee shops and restaurants to the boutiques and used clothing stores that give a whole new meaning to fashion. It’s also a favorite on the nightlife scene, but that’s not all. With home styles that include bungalows, four-squares, and uniquely vintage Portland architecture, it’s clear that first and foremost, this place is a neighborhood. Read the rest of this entry »
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Happy Valley (Clackamas area just outside of Portland, Oregon) has created quite a stir for those buyers looking for a lot of square footage, new construction, a great deal, and maybe a view. It wasn’t long ago before our real estate debacle that builders were racing to build extravagant homes on the grand hillsides…. Now, they are desperate to sell them. Happy Valley is now overwhelmed with bank owned homes, short sales, and homeowners trying to sell at the same discount prices as their neighbors; quite frankly it’s a mess. For the home buyer it’s a super clearance sale at Macy’s. Read the rest of this entry »
Coldwell Banker came out with a great little quiz… define yourself as an Urbanist, Contemporarian or a … Ranchero…? (I think my dad owned one of those). Anyhow, give it a try! HOUSESTROLOGY QUIZ
Located 10 miles from the city center, the towns of Clackamas and Happy Valley are two of the fastest 
growing in the Portland area. Situated in Clackamas County, an area replete with forest, the towns are just a hop away from the 11,235-foot Mt. Hood and its National Forest, plus a host of rivers that include the Willamette, Clackamas, Sandy, and Salmon. Known for their newly constructed homes, Clackamas and Happy Valley also harbor beautifully old-style home designs. Read the rest of this entry »
The Sunday Oregonian had an interesting feature on Beaverton. 
And fortunately, they even uploaded a very visual guide on their website for you to view. Once you skip past the ads, you’ll run across some interesting content about the different cultural and community availabilities in Beaverton.
While there are some people out there who may never leave the hustle and flow of the city, and still others 
whose lives are bound to farm lands and gravel roads, most of us are after the middle way. Sure, we want the diversity of the city life: the art galleries and dance shows, the music, the nightlife, all that delicious food. But we’re also after some amount of green in our lives. Some fresh air. A hike up the mountain, a float on the river, a ski or even just a breathtaking view. And rather than craving the anonymity of the city life, many of us want to know the person who delivers our mail, who sells us our milk. And we want to be known by our community, too. Basically, we’re after big city life with small town charm. In other words, we’re after a place like Portland, Oregon.
A few months ago the Boston Globe reported that Google was sued because a Pennsylvania couple felt that 
Google Street View invaded their privacy. You will frequently find people in the street view images… a mother pushing a stroller, a man smoking in the driveway…. It sure it won’t be long before we hear of captured images of boyfriends cars in their ex-girlfriends driveways and naked people being captured walking across the front window of their home. Remember the famous Ebay picture of the naked man in the mirror…?
The Portland Market Action Report for the month of June just came out, and Scott wrote his take on the 
situation. It’s posted in the Portland Market Statistics page on our site, but here are some highlights for you on the blog.
Inventory has inched up again from 9.2 months in May to 9.5 months in June, but we are at least seeing a continued decrease in listings down 16.3% from June 2007; we do however need to see a greater decrease in listings.
Looking at 2nd quarter comparisons we see a 34.7% drop in sales from the same quarter last year, a 31% drop in pending sales and only a 8.1% drop in listings, we need that last number to get much larger than it is to really start to see some significant improvement in the market.
Yes we’re losing the zero down 100+% financing etc…Well, those are gone already and the very little (3%) down FHA programs & down payment assistance programs are an endangered species at this point as well…but these programs are not representative of a normal real estate market anyway. You use to need 20% down and really REALLY good credit to buy a home at 10%+ rates. We still have next to nothing down programs with not so perfect credit requirements at 7% and less. Home prices are about as low as they are going to get…If you’re waiting for “bottom” and keep waiting, you’re going to miss it. The media won’t be talking about a confirmed “bottom” until it’s 6 months gone.
Our advice, don’t be a contributor to the problem, be part of the solution, get off the fence find your home and buy it. A recovery will not happen until those on the fence buyers step off the fence and step up to the plate.
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).
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.
I hope to see these good news begin to make big headlines! What I have found over the last 6 months here in Portland is that majority of the homes hitting pending status are those priced right for the first time buyer at around $230,000 and under…… but even more recently I’m finding the price point of pendings moving up to just under $300,000. There has been a lot of inventory so these homes are sitting on the market longer, yes, but it’s picking up…. and buyers in this price point that have become used to taking their time to find just the right home (and in many cases are overwhelmed by the options) will soon find they’ll need to move quicker.
If you’re unfamiliar with Portland and don’t know where to start your home search, here are a few tips to get you started.
Consider Your Commute To Work
There are several main freeway arteries in Portland but some are more congested than others, although Portland traffic is nothing like California there are some areas you want to avoid depending on where you live vs. where you work and play. Here are some notes:
Highway 26 West: (AKA “The Sunset Hwy”) is heavily congested, even on the weekends there is an abundance of traffic flow. This Hwy connects the far West side of Portland (areas such as Beaverton, Hillsboro, Tanasbourne) to other arteries that connect near the center of Portland. I don’t recommend living on the East side of the River and then commuting to the far west side unless you work off hours and enjoy listening to a lot of radio in the car.
Do I need a car?
Many people are moving to Portland with the intention of beginning a carless lifestyle. Portland invites many lifestyles but our growing theme, especially in areas of inner SE Portland is “go green”. Because there are so many areas within Portland that you can work, live and play all within a single community it is easy to adapt. Segways, scooters, and “smart cars” are commonly seen around Portland and we have an enormous number of bike paths. Many of our main roadways (including the freeways) have a paved separate path that runs parallel to the main arteries for those bikers who take their health and gasless commute more seriously.
Commuting to Vancouver: There are only two bridges that commute between the cities, unless you work off hours I highly recommend living and working in the same state until a third bridge is built. There is a lot of discussion in Portland about how to remedy the traffic flow problems but city officials can’t get beyond the argument of whether to have more lanes for cars or to limit the car lanes and run Portland’s mass transit Max Train System and bike lanes instead.
Next, I’ll write additional “Relocating to Portland Tips” on a weekly basis. But in the meantime, to receive a Portland map that has the various main arteries and areas of Portland highlighted, contact us and we’ll send you a free map.