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Home Renter Mindset

You’d think that the single most influential factor governing a potential Portland Metro area home buyer’s decision on whether to buy now or hold off would be the ongoing bottom line—that is, the amount of an anticipated monthly mortgage payment.

Maybe not.

The New York Federal Reserve argues otherwise. Not just a little bit otherwise; “dramatically” otherwise.

To cut to the chase (and that’s a good idea, for reasons that we’ll get to later), what is more likely to impact that decision—especially for those who are currently renters—is the size of the down payment. It follows that Portland Metro area home renters are more likely to be encouraged by any relaxation of down payment requirements than they are to be discouraged by a rise in mortgage interest rates (with the resulting increase in the monthly payment).

Upon reflection, the Fed’s finding isn’t so surprising. The slow-motion economic recovery and stall in wage growth has made it tougher […]

2016-02-01T22:01:49+00:00
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A Good Time To Sell

“Is now a good time to sell?”

A Portland home is never put up for sale on a whim. Although outside events can conspire to control the timing of that kind of major real estate venture, in most cases, the sale or purchase of a home happens on a timetable the local buyer or seller thoughtfully works out. That can be when a move will least interfere with everything else that’s going on (school and career schedules are often the ruling considerations). Or, it can be when surrounding conditions seem particularly auspicious.

The answer to the “is now a good time to sell” question looked to be a pretty firm ‘yes’ last fall for a number of reasons. The rebound in Portland Metro area home values had been underway for long enough that in many instances, previous high water marks had been equaled. Many who would have expected low appraisals as few years back could […]

2016-01-28T00:54:23+00:00
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Portland Open House Tips

If you are planning for your own open house in Portland, you won’t have much trouble finding good advice. Here’s a quick list of what you’ll find:

  • Don’t leave your pet behind
  • Don’t forget the yard
  • If you’re not confident in your house cleaning ability, trust that instinct (hire a pro)!
  • It’s the kitchen, stupid (really: don’t leave dirty dishes in the sink)
  • Clear out the medicine cabinet
  • Fresh bath towels

 

These are all sound pieces of advice   (although the medicine cabinet one should be more comprehensive: any valuable items should also be packed away). It’s why you’ll find some variation of those pointers on just about everyone’s ‘Top Ten Tips for Holding an Open House.’

There are also some open house tips that may not apply to every Portland open house, but which deserve to be in the running anyway. One good idea syncs with the last bullet point: white-out […]

2016-01-25T18:23:28+00:00
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A ‘Moving’ Experience

When a Portland home seller tallies the total financial impact of selling the old and then buying the new home, in addition to the closing and brokerage costs, the expense of the move has to be reckoned, too. It may seem like an afterthought, but especially for larger homes and families, it’s a cost significant enough that it bears some economy-minded preparations.

Although doing the lion’s share yourself is the surest way to bring that price tag down, it will also add a load to an occasion that’s already stressful enough. “Moving day” can prod your already surging emotional stress meter further into the red if you are trying to do everything yourself (or relying on friends). Since this is such a common hurdle, a good deal of wisdom has developed that can keep potential Portland moving day misery to a minimum. Here’s a few of our tips we’ve gathered over years of real estate work:

  1. Gather ye boxes while ye may…far ahead of time. Yes, you can certainly […]
2016-01-18T17:46:20+00:00
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Portland Rent-to-Own Solutions

The term “rent-to-own” sounds like a contradiction for good reason. It’s often called upon to reconcile a buyer-seller situation that does not fit a standard mold. A Portland rent-to-own agreement can allow potential buyers to move into a Portland metro area house before their finances are up to snuff (or at least that’s the call most lenders would make). It’s can be a useful contradiction for both parties, because the would-be buyer can get the immediate benefit of living in their choice of home knowing that some portion of the rent paid has the potential of building residential equity, while the seller will either eventually have successfully sold the property or have benefitted from some cash flow should the sale fail to materialize.

If this rent-to-own scenario sounds like a win-win, that’s because it is…that is, unless it isn’t. The reason that rent-to-own is not more popular with Portland area home buyers and sellers is because of some frequently encountered landmines—but a well thought-out arrangement can tackle most of the […]

2016-01-14T03:26:12+00:00
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Young Adults Might Reverse a Town Housing Trend

You don’t need real estate statistics or government bureau reports to sense that first-time home ownership rates have been in the dumps for a while. Portland housing figures have too few transactions month-by-month to draw many conclusions about sustained trends in home ownership here—yet it’s evident that for young adults everywhere, the glacial recovery in the economy combined with factors like student debt have made it particularly difficult for most of them to move from renting to owning a Portland area home.

 Despite the new year’s opening burst of worrisome economic headlines, nationally, when it comes to house ownership trends, there seem to be spots of good news. One with that focus came out of Fannie Mae at year’s end, courtesy of their Housing Insights publication. It wasn’t exactly a barn-burner. But for young adults who find their personal financial outlook is a square peg when it comes to the round hole of buying a first

2016-01-12T01:22:50+00:00
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New Year’s Frame of Mind

Along with all of last week’s New Year’s Day festivities came what you could call the New Year’s Frame of Mind: the familiar, this-time-of-year special consciousness of the passage of time. For most Portland area residents, all the other seasons come and go with everyone too busy tending to everyday affairs to pay much attention to the big picture: the progress (or lack of it) toward the major goals most everybody hopes to achieve.

It’s that New Year’s Frame of Mind that’s behind the impulse to make New Year’s resolutions. After all, there’s no such thing as ‘Fourth of July resolutions,’ or ‘Labor Day resolutions,’ even though a quick check of the calendar confirms they come once every year, too. Nope; it is the moment when the crystal globe slides down to the Times Square throng and old Father Time greets Baby 2016 that’s most likely to trigger thoughts of how preposterous it is that another whole year has gone […]

2016-01-08T00:04:28+00:00
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Rainy (or slushy) Day Home Décor Inspiration

Even if you don’t pride yourself on your artistic flair, you probably have developed fairly firm ideas about what makes some Portland metro area homes come across better than others. Without even consciously thinking about it, you know as soon as you walk through a front door whether that immediate impression is strongly positive, just so-so, or sub-so-so .

A Portland home’s agreeable first impression can usually be laid to a combination of pleasing architecture, diligent maintenance, and appealing décor. Not every home in Portland has all that going for it, but there can also be a saving note: sometimes the most important impression comes from just a few minor touches—clever accents that just seem perfect.

Now that we’re wading deeper into the months when the Portland area’s bad weather days are stacking up, (especially with the recent “blizzard”) we are more likely to find ourselves with some spare time—the commodity that was so hard to […]

2016-01-04T19:49:38+00:00
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Real Estate Listing Lingo

Anyone who creates listings can’t help but be drawn to critiques of real estate writing. There aren’t a whole lot of those to be drawn to, so when a respected national media titan like The Wall Street Journal comes up with an essay on real estate listing language, this is one Portland listing writer who considers it a must-read.  

The poetic analysis in question appeared just a couple weeks ago. From the outset, it presented itself as a less than flattering critique: “Real-Estate Pros Pen Purple Prose” was the headline—with an explanatory blurb to the effect that higher-priced real estate listing lingo tends to get a little bit flowery. Never mind that the Journal put a hyphen between ‘real’ and ‘estate’—this was clearly going to be an authoritative commentary!

Bottom line: astronomical listing prices get more poetic language. In some cases, extremely poetic:

“Majestically poised along the shimmering Gulf of Mexico” was […]

2015-12-30T17:10:38+00:00
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Holiday Season Magic

Last week, those of us who were out and about during the increasingly short daylight hours could take in what looked like the regular number of Portland homes decked out with the familiar holiday paraphernalia. When the weather cooperates, it can’t help but bring a smile to your face to spot the reindeer, Santas, menorahs, giant candles, elves—all the elements that help bring home the familiar feelings the season seldom fails to muster.

I bet it’s just that—the sheer familiarity—that explains a large part of why the words “Holiday Magic” are no exaggeration. Sooner or later we feel it. It grabs us. The holidays are back!

This usually starts (for me at least) with a valiant attempt to reject reality. Sometime between Hallowe’en and Thanksgiving, with the first department store ad or the first notes of a carol playing somewhere in the distance, we think “OH NO! – NOT ALREADY!!!” This is the part when the ‘magic’ part of the holidays is nowhere in prospect. […]

2015-12-21T21:21:43+00:00
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