Sparks are flying. Your imagination has become hot and heavy. It’s true love. You’ve fallen hard–for a Portland house!

Buying a Portland house is serious business. It’s not only where you’ll be hanging your hat: it’s also a great investment. So when you find the one that’s the total knockout you were hoping for, the excitement can be blissfully overwhelming. But—easy there, partner! Falling in love with a house too soon is a predictably bad idea.

·         Love at First Sight Can Backfire         

Whether you drove by or saw the home on an online listing, it’s all too easy to get stuck on a home’s curb appeal. Exteriors count for a lot, and with more houses in Portland than ever being listed online, wise sellers know how to make sure their property looks great from the outside. But beauty that’s skin deep in a Portland house isn’t good enough. It’s what is inside—the bones of the place—that can be the difference between a canny investment and one that never quite pans out.
Takeaway: Don’t ever judge a book (or a Portland house) by its […]

If you are currently selling your Portland home, you may already find yourself playing the waiting game. It’s a normal course of affairs in most real estate markets—but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating. You’ve got decisions to make, moving deadlines to order, but everything goes into limbo while you await the completion of the buyer’s home inspection report (and the resulting after-inspection decisions). What did the inspector find during the investigation? Will there be significant offer and timing changes as a result of those findings?

When you’re selling your home, one way to nip much of that anguish in the bud is by having already completed a home inspection of your own. You are already aware of minor problems which might or might not concern prospective buyers, but you may not be aware of more serious problems that could trigger an offer change.

If you take the initiative when selling your home to order your own pre-sale inspection, you will get a useful verdict on the overall health of the property. It will help you make an informed decision on whether […]

In earlier eras, a would-be Portland home buyer had few tools to aid in the task of finding a home that was ‘just right.’ Today, the situation has gotten a good deal easier thanks to a wealth of real estate apps that home buyers simply download onto their mobile devices. There are apps that can help you with everything from finding your dream home (and determining how much you can afford) to learning more about the neighborhood.

Home Buyer Terminology

Every home buyer is inevitably exposed to a welter of technical terms—and some of them have meanings that differ from what you would guess. Trying to decipher the jargon is a challenge you can shortcut with a good app dedicated to the task. Android users can download Relmark’s Glossary Real Estate Terms; iPhone and other Apple devices use Barron’s Dictionary of Real Estate Terms (although, like so many parts of the Apple universe, it’s a bit pricey).

Neighborhood Info

When a home buyer wants truly in-depth information about an area, SiteWise can provide some data that’s not usually provided. This app was actually developed for […]

Local homeowners are among the keenest observers of Portland mortgage rates because they are such a large factor in the long-term investment that is their house. It’s the factor that determines if and when refinancing makes sense; the factor that plays a large part in heating (or cooling) the overall Portland real estate market.

For the most part, home buyers simply accept the mortgage rate in Portland that happens to be currently offered when they decide buy a Portland home. The timing of their purchase is generally triggered by their own financial fortunes, or when the right home comes along, or when some outside circumstance forces them to find new digs—or any of a dozen reasons other than the current Portland mortgage rates.

If they even consider how Portland mortgage rates come into play, they may look to financial experts—but only for guidance in how to land the lowest available rates (and that answer is always the same: “protect your credit score”). Few consider whether a mortgage rate dip should in itself be the determining factor for triggering their home purchase—but it wouldn’t […]

Portland residents don’t have to have children at home to know when we’ve gone through the familiar back-to-school rituals. Just turn on a radio or TV, step into a retail store, or drive past a school and the calls to educational muster are evident. At the same time, it’s hard not to be reminded how significant education is when it comes to Portland home buying—how likely it is for schools to be on the forefront of many buyers’ minds.

Most people know intuitively that top-notch schools carry significant weight in the searching and home buying processes—but the result of a survey done by realtor.com has spelled it out in black-and-white. Their research reveals that more than 60% of buyers consider school district boundaries during their home buying process. It’s a surprisingly weighty number.

The depth of interest that buyers registered was also illuminating. The same survey uncovered the fact that prospective homebuyers are willing to spend more—and give up other features—in exchange for a house located in a preferred school district. For example, many buyers said that they are ready to ignore access […]

Even though the housing market continues to trace an upward path, foreclosures do still occur—and Portland home auctions are sometimes the result. It means that there are still some good distress bargains to be had, particularly if you are interested in buying a home at auction.

Television shows like HGTV’s Flip or Flop portray the “nail-biting” drama and money-making side of buying a home at auction—sometimes inspiring home buyers to try their hand at the enterprise. But what is sometimes underplayed in such TV presentations is a fact well known to seasoned Portland home auction veterans: namely, that home auctions involve significant risk.

If you have never attended a Portland home auction before, the process can be fairly straightforward. Homes set for auction are listed publicly or made attainable through a paid auction service. Once the auction starts, you will have the opportunity to bid on the property, competing with other buyers either online or in person. Auction properties are usually offered on a cash-only basis, which eliminates would-be bidders who would depend on a bank loan or mortgage; but where auctions do […]

With Labor Day behind us, the serious fall Portland home buying season is upon us. If you will be scouring the market for a new residence, you are likely to be in luck: across the nation, more sellers are being coaxed off of the sidelines. According to the Associated Press, “A fourth straight monthly increase of sales in existing homes provided the latest evidence…that the U.S. housing market is rebounding…” The rise comprised “the highest annual rate since September of last year.”

With temptingly low interest rates and batches of homes hitting the market from sellers motivated to complete their sales before the holidays, Portland home buying consumers have ample reason to think their timing is good. Once the right property has been found, success in home buying negotiations determine what happens next:

The Asking Price

When the subject property is one that has just recently come onto the market, the asking price may or may not be negotiable. The odds of encountering more price flexibility increase once a property has lingered on the market for 60 days or more: depending on their own […]

Springtime is correctly known near and far as the peak season for selling your home—in Portland; elsewhere in the U.S.; probably on Mars, too. Everybody knows it. This has created a most unfortunate side effect: namely, the notion that if you missed the spring home sales binge, you’d best cancel all plans and hold your house off the market until next year (even if you’re actually ready to list).

So…should you give up on selling your home in Portland as we move into the cooler months?

Far from it! In fact, many agents with years of experience under their belts have done the math and consider autumn to be the second best season to sell a home. When you think about it, it’s logical. For one thing, there certainly are prospects who won’t wait—buyers who will be happily mowing their new lawns by the time next spring rolls around. Weather is another reason: fall brings many moderate, perfect-for-home-touring days. Then there’s the calendar itself, providing extra motivation to buy (e.g., everyone who wants to be in their new home before the holidays, or […]

You’ve done it: found what’s soon to become your family’s new Portland home! It’s in a great neighborhood…reasonable commute…decent kitchen (size is right; definitely upgradeable). All this and it fits the budget! Congrats! Looks like your housing hunt is over…

YET…before you sign on the dotted line, there should be one last check-off. Factor in all the costs that improving the house to your liking will entail. The cost of home improvements in Portland can be light—but since that’s not always the case, there are areas where the possible impact on your bottom line can be meaningful. For instance:

Anyone who has had the experience of paying for new fencing—even for just a section in need of replacement—has learned to respect the fencing cost factor. Depending on the type and size (and whether you have a neighbor who’s willing to split the cost!), it will be fairly simple to go online to find a generic online calculator that will estimate an all-in price.

Although repairing split or broken concrete can sometimes be as easy pouring new concrete over the old, often the old has […]