I was asked today for a good resource for Portland schools.  There are lots of them.  Some are subjective, some provide rankings, some confirm what school your child will go to within a school district.  Schools are either of utmost importance or of no importance for individual buyers but is probably one of the most important features in real estate that is not actually a part of the property.  It is possible to search for homes in any given (public) elementary, middle or high school. (more…)

One of the features of a short sale is that the transaction must be “Arms Length.”  This means than an immediate family member or business partner or business associate can not buy your house if it is a short sale.  The reason is that neither the seller, the buyer, nor their associates can benefit from the bank’s loss. (more…)

RMLS Market Action for May 2011 is out with mixed news.  The average sales price in Portland is down from April 1.8% to $262,400.  During the same period the median price increased .1% to $220,000.  The average sales price has dropped 7.3% over the last year.

Inventory levels continue to decline.  New listings have dropped and pending transactions are up.  RMLS reports Portland Metro as a five county area.  We’ve updated our inventory graph for the more localized markets.  The trend continues that the City of Portland has about one month less inventory than Portland Metro. (more…)

American Home Shield logo

American Home Shield current and past policy holders may have already received a letter informing them that they may qualify to be a part of a class action lawsuit brought against the home warranty company.  The Abney Class Action Settlement website has all of the documents associated with the case.  While both parties vigorously maintain their side of the case, it has been agreed that a settlement is better than a protracted court battle.  The crux of the case is whether AHS’s payment to Realtors was a RESPA violation or not?  If the settlement goes through the payment will be $45.11 and not to exceed $60. (more…)

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…)

We’ve been working on a lot of behind the scenes stuff lately that has drawn me away from writing.  Here’s an update of various things that have been going on:

1) We’re trying out two different property search engines.  There is the current version on the sidebar and another one our PDXRelocations website.  Both search engines have full access to all active RMLS listings. (more…)