Archive for the ‘Fixers and Remodeling’ Category:

Got trash?  The Bagster might be your solution.  For all intensive purposes the Bagster is a 8′ x 4′ x 30″ dumpster that would fit under your bed when not is use.  Load it with up to 3300 pounds of just about anything nonhazardous and call to have it picked up. (more…)

Once upon a Portland real estate market, fixer properties were hot commodities.  They were easy to finance and the market allowed a lot, if not too much, forgiveness for what might be considered sub par remodels.  Appreciation allowed for some leeway if the buyer was planning on holding the property as well.  Today’s market doesn’t allow for easy access to financing for properties in need of lots of work.  That’s just one of the reason we see fewer buyers planning on putting in sweat equity into their homes, not because they don’t want to but they can’t fund it.  We did just have a buyer close on a property financed with a Wells Fargo Purchase and Renovate rehab loan though so it is possible, just not as easy as in the past. (more…)

On April 22nd, 2010 Oregon law changed regarding lead based paint.  The standard earnest money agreement (offer between the buyer and seller) includes a contingency for the buyer’s right to conduct a lead inspection.  Houses built before 1978 may have been painted with lead based paint. (more…)

The cost versus value of remodeling is one of the major real estate questions that homeowners face.  I wrote this post about the National Association of Realtors 2008 Cost Versus Value Report a couple of months ago.

Hanley Wood has a much more regional tool for the cost versus value of projects.  The link is to the national spreadsheet but you can drill down into regions and register to download city-specific information which is where the graph below for Portland came from.  The report provides a description of what each remodel project entails. (more…)

Here’s a reminder that The Oregon Remodelers Association’s 34th annual Home Improvement Show auction event will benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Oregon and southwest Washington is at 5:00PM this Thursday, September 24th, the first day of the show. Like the rest of the show, is at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland (not the Expo Center).  Tickets prices, which include admission to the show all four days, are now 2 for 1. (more…)

The Oregon Remodelers Association‘s 34th annual Home Improvement Show auction event will benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Oregon (and southwest Washington).  The event is at 5:00PM on Thursday, September 24th, the first day of the show, like the rest of the show, is at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland (not the Expo Center). (more…)

I’m sure I wasn’t the first and I know I wasn’t the last since we just discovered the issue in a house we inspected: install a dryer vent when remodeling! Seems obvious that a laundry facility, a standard washer and dryer requires:

Since there were only four of us for Thanksgiving dinner this year, we decided that we’d have dinner out rather than having the traditional dinner and mess to clean up at home. Wildwood is only four blocks from here but fairly heavy rain caused us to climb in the car. Stepping out of the front door, we could clearly hear the din of sirens from multiple vehicles. Whatever was going on wasn’t being taken lightly. Pulling out from NW Northrup, I had planned on turning right towards Overton but saw a fire truck heading down Lovejoy towards our remodel project and future home. Like insects drawn to bright lights, I turned left towards Lovejoy. The street was completely closed between 24th and 25th: fire trucks and emergency vehicles everywhere. We pulled around the block to the Alano Club parking lot to find a ladder truck with its ladder resting on our roof and about half a dozen firefighters scrambling around the roof!

More Pictures Here! Sorry- link will be repaired.

(more…)

In Portland, most major (and some minor) projects require a permit. Do I need a permit? If you are doing the job yourself or are doing lots of things at once, it may make the most sense to head down to the city and get the permit yourself. On Thursday nights, from 5-7PM, the Bueau of Development Services host Residential Permit night. I arrived at 4:45 and was eighth in line. I felt like a proud parent when I discovered one of our past clients at the front of the line with his remodel plans for the kitchen in hand. When you go to sell you home, a savvy buyer needs to look no further than PortlandMaps.com to see if the “kitchen remodeled in 2005″ was done legally.

Once checked in, your slip of paper is put in a box depending on what you need to accomplish. My application was first entered into the computer. During this session, we discovered that some of the forms on the web are no longer in use but they are making a concerted effort to correct. It’s better to have too much documentation than none at all. When finished, the slip of paper goes to another box and your name is called. From what I could tell, your initial check in time determines your draw out of each box. (more…)

In the Portland market, we tend to think of fixers as being in the $200,000 range and under 2000 square feet. The buyers are usually first time homeowners or investors looking to “flip” the property for a profit (note that you have to be a licensed contractor to do this (or at least check with the http://www.ccb.state.or.us/)).
This picture is the house circa 1900. The oldest picture we have found. The only other old picture we have is circa 1950 and the front porch has already been removed and only stairs remain.

Our new fixer project is none of the above. We’re experienced buyers looking to move in once the remodel is complete. The house is well over the $200,000 price range. The William L. Brewster house is on the Historic Registry as a contributing property to the Historic Alphabet District in downtown Portland. Brewster was one of the city’s first commissioners. The house was designed by the architecture firm of Whidden & Lewis circa 1900. It’s got seven bedrooms and three and a half baths and is just under 4000 square feet plus 1300 square feet of unfinished basement. The first time we did this, our project house was much smaller and we had intended to flip it but made it a rental instead that we still own.

(more…)