PortlandMaps has a wealth of Portland specific information on it. You can find out about building permits, oil tanks and other valuable home information. Other information, including sex offenders living around the neighborhood, might be pertinent to the purchase of a home but might be considered buyer due diligence rather than seller required disclosure.
Now the State has created a website for the whole of Oregon with predetory sex offender information.
In January, I wrote that I thought the Lexus RX 400h might be the perfect real estate car. Yesterday, we traded in the old SUV for a second 400h. The old SUV averaged 15.4mpg on premium fuel. I’ve been getting an average of 25mpg in my 400h running on 87 octane gas which is recommended. With the amount of driving we do it seemed the smartest (and most responsible) thing we could do. Clients don’t want to tour houses in a cramped old car. They should expect to be transported in comfort as they decide on what is probably their largest financial decision.
Two Realtors with two hybrids trying to do their part. Hopefully we can help you find your next home.
I posted this over on Blue Oregon as part of a thread going on over there on home prices in Portland.
Last week on CNNMoney.com:
Harvard study says there may be bumps along the way, but that the long-term health of the housing market is intact.
By Les Christie, CNNMoney.com staff writer
June 13, 2006: 3:18 PM EDTNEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) – The housing market is entering a down cycle, according to a report from Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, but is unlikely to undergo a severe reversal.
The market may face risks as interest rates rise, decreasing affordability and expanding inventories, according to the study, but the market will suffer only a modest downturn unless the broader economy collapses and jobs dry up.
The story continues at the link above.
Scroll down to the bottom and there is a link to overpriced areas. Bend, Oregon gets the number five spot. The best value? Five different areas in Texas!
RMLS keeps statistical records of our real estate market. May’s Market Action was just released and it doesn’t deliver the dagger to burst the bubble. What it does state is that there are more listings and fewer sales.
This year, has continued to generate growth in new listings. For example, when comparing market activity for January–May 2006 to the same time period in 2005, new listings increased 9%. On the other hand, the number of pending and closed sales decreased 10.5% and 8.4%, respectively. See Year-to-Date rows below for more information.
Market action continues:
Appreciation
The area’s average sale price for the months of June 2005 through May 2006 was $301,300–a 17.4% increase when compared with the $256,700 average for the twelve months immediately prior. Also,
using the same date range, the median sale price ending in May 2006 was $253,000–up 17.7% from the $215,000 median from the twelve months prior.
May’s RMLS Market Action isn’t out yet so I thought I would start new catagory and occaisonly post stats for the different RMLS Areas. Portland is broken up into four areas. The complete RMLS_area_map (PDF) is downloadable. The areas for Portland are defined as:
141 North Portland NORTH: Columbia River, WEST: Willamette River, SOUTH: Willamette River, EAST: Williams Ave.
142 Northeast Portland NORTH: Columbia River, WEST: Williams Ave., SOUTH: East Burnside, EAST: 182nd Ave.
143 Southeast Portland NORTH: East Burnside, WEST: Willamette River, SOUTH: Multnomah County/
Clackamas County line, EAST: 182nd Ave.148 West Portland : NORTHWillamette River, WEST: Cornelius Pass Rd. to Washington Co./ Multnomah
Co. line (including Raleigh Hills), SOUTH: Multnomah Co./Clackamas Co. Line, EAST:
Willamette River. (Excludes Lake Oswego addresses.)
Here is the market data for West Portland. Click on the image to enlarge:
It would be great is some readers would post their experiece during the real estate process compared to the poll results.
When Sellers Decide To Sell, They Find Agents Quickly, Says HouseValues’ Newest Survey says a recent post on Realty Times.
For sellers, the survey revealed that:
Before even thinking about selling, consumers can take up to four years subconsciously collecting experiences related to their home, including current and future desired requirements, features and amenities. These experiences compound to bring the home sale to the forefront of consciousness, triggering an active research phase.
Once the research phase has been initiated, it takes sellers an average of 9.3 months to sell — 5.5 months in a pre-research phase, 1.4 months for the active research phase, and 2.4 months for the active selling phase.
The majority of sellers — 52.1 percent — take only one day to select their agent.
For buyers, the survey found that:Buyers, like sellers, often take up to four years collecting experiences related to their current home, and potential future needs.
It takes buyers nearly a year and a half — 16.4 months on average — to buy from the time they begin thinking about a purchase.
Once the research phase for buyers has been initiated, it takes an average of 16.7 months to buy — 7.1 months in the pre-research phase, 5.5 months in the active research phase, and 4.1 months in the active buying phase.
44 percent of buyers take more than six months thinking about desirable homes and neighborhoods before actually searching for listings. The average buyer then spends more than four months searching for homes.
First-time buyers take an average of 20.5 months on the entire home-buying process.
61.8 percent of buyers select their real estate agent within just one to three days.
I know from our website stats that a buyer, once they have contacted us through email or through our website as a registered user, the process generally takes less than six months though some clients have looked through over 2000 listings since registering.
A few months ago I wrote The Questions You Should Ask Your Realtor and Our Answers. Every agent is different. Choose wisely!
There have been a lot of recent hits on the blog looking for information on the Wyatt. Culled from various sources on the web (primarily Skyscraperpage.com) we know the following:
The site is known as the Cronin Block
The condo complex to be named The Wyatt
15 stories – 244 condominiums
Pearl District/Hoyt Yards – NW 13th & Marshall St. The block next to the site is the home of the new Pearl District Safeway (which will be a mixed use space with residential space on top)
Completion: Summer to Fall 2007. I’d lean towards the latter.
Architects: Fletcher Farr Ayotte Architects
Developers: Robert Ball
The following is an artist rendering of the site. When we were down there last week looking at the large hole in the ground it is hard to belive what is still to come.
We’ve decided to take some of the proceeds from the sale of NE Ivy (the relinquished property in 1031 speak) and pay the capitol gains on it. The majority of the money is being used for the down payments on two new properties. The trick is that the IRS doesn’t allow the 1031 Exchange company (the accommodator) to release funds to us until:
1) the end of the identification period if no property has been identified
2) all identified property has been acquired or
3) the 180th of the exchange.
Even though we will have closed/acquired all of the identified property prior to the 45th day, the funds must remain in the account until after the 45 days are up.
A reader posed the question: “How do I convert a duplex or other building into condos?” We both worked on the answer since it isn’t entirely straight forward. The short answer is “contact a real estate attorney.” That’s probably the long answer too. We both got the same answer from different sources.
Somewhere in the middle you have city (Portland), county (Multnomah) and state (Oregon Real Estate Agency) laws and statutes to follow. The Agency is one the final steps. They approve the Declarations, By-laws and Disclosures. These must be approved before the condo can be sold as a binding contract which is why we see new construction condos sold as reservations. The Agency supplied me with a list of real estate attorneys. I’m not going to publish it so contact me if you have questions.
We now have accepted offers on two properties for our 1031 Exchange of NE Ivy. Cash flow has become the biggest issue. Simply said, neither property does.
Rentals are tough (or at least the no-brainer they used to be). Used to be that 20% down was good enough to create positive cash flow. That’s no longer the case. We’re figuring both houses to come out about $400 a month short. The rent will cover the mortgage but not taxes and insurance. We’ll hold them as rentals and then remodel them before selling. Appreciation has been holding over 10% so we can suck it up now for the long term gain. I think as we see interest rates rise, appreciation may decrease but property isn’t going to get cheaper anytime in the foreseeable future in my opinion.
If I lose $4800 for a year of owning a $300,000 property and sell it two years later at 10% appreciation ($363,000). I think I can live with the loss (and the tax advantage gain for owning the property).
Craigslist or www.oregonlive.com is usually the best place for rental comparisons. I’d rather under-rent a little and keep it occupied than to hold the place vacant for any amount of time.
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