Top Ten Signs it may be time to Buy a Portland Home

10. Entering and exiting bedrooms is done by crawling over the bed.

 9. The closest thing you have to a Master Bath is the Cats litter box.

 8. Family gatherings of more than 5 people have to be held on the Patio.

 7. Your outdoor recliner can not be extended to a full recline.

 6. Your friends would rather meet at the Bus Station than at your house.

 5. The Children bump their heads while climbing into their bunk beads at night.

 4. Your tired of walking the 6 blocks home from your parking spot.

 3. You owe less money on your current home than you do on your old car.

 2. Interest rates remain the lowest they have been in decades.

 1. Realtors(r) are buying everything they can.

The Self Fulfilling Prophecy

How many times has it been said and must it be said before you get it? Perception is reality!

This is the greatest time in years to make money. Not on the backs of others despair but in real opportunities awaiting around every corner.

Many of the ideas being floated today in green technology, environmental concerns, energy conservation, cost cutting measures for homes and businesses. The list goes on and on. Anywhere you here a voice of concern there is an opportunity.

Building a new business around concerns opens the way for additional opportunities. What new opportunities you ask? Let me tell you about my friend and Client Mac.

Mac was laid off from a construction site. Like many others in times of prosperity it is easy to overlook your budget. The cost overruns by the builder were putting him out of business. My friend Mac saw an opportunity where others seen despair and or financial disaster.

Mac found that most of the forms used as curbing for concrete foundations were being provided by a few large companies. No matter who you called the prices were similar ( expensive ) and the condition of these forms were often in disrepair. Not only that but there was very little flexibility to the forms. Standard sizes only were available requiring the builder to modify or create odd sizes for custom floor plans. Pretty much take it or leave it was the attitude of the forms companies.

Mac set out to build his own sets of forms. He made them out of a heavier material so as to add longevity. Several options for size were made available for flexibility sake. Finally Mac bought several flat bed trailers needing a little attention from a transport company upgrading there fleet of trailers. The rest was pretty easy. Contact the builders and deliver a better product at a better price.

The story doesn’t stop here though. Mac also discovered that the employees working for him had needs. It seemed as if every time Mac turned around one of his delivery drivers was unable to make it that day due to a sick child or something similar at home requiring someone do the babysitting. Most of Mac’s employees wives had jobs that were dependent upon them being there as they were easily replaced. What to do?

So Mac put together a small local magazine devoted to child care and day care services. A free advertisement magazine for the local baby sitter and for professional services as well. Advertisers flocked to this publication to advertise there wares. Before you know it Mac’s little helpful magazine turned into a full time enterprise. Macs employees had an easy time finding those baby sitters for there children when mom was away at work and Mac had another source of income and employees who were at work instead of at home.

Point is folks we can all play the blame game and do nothing. Or we can choose to stand up and take control of our own futures. Which path will you choose?

Tweet_Tweet  A Twitter here or there.

Let_Your_Next_Home_find_YOU_!

Real Estate Investor’s Web Site for Portland Oregon

Typically this would mean that I would be viewing some 10 to 35 houses before noon. By 12:00 Am or 1:00 PM I was back in front of the computer checking once again the hot sheet to see what had come on the market since I had been gone. Out the door again for more previews and maybe even once again before the end of the day. Finaly I would power down the computer about 9:00 PM or so in the evening only to start the whole thing over again the very next day.

Yet as hard as I seemed to work there always seemed to be a few houses that somehow slipped between the cracks. Now don’t get me wrong this is not a Rant. This is a demonstration of the power of Technology and my Real_Estate_Investor’s_Web_Site.  At first it was a little slow going getting people signed up. Part of the problem was that I was so busy doing business the old way I really had no time to promote the new way.

That was until one morning while I was out looking at the properties I had taken off of the Hot Sheet, when the Phone rang. Paul, one of my long term buyers had just looked at the email that had been sent to him by my automated web site. After I had gone out on the street looking at all of the hot sheet properties a new property had hit the market. Paul wanted to know more about it. He gave me the address and all of the details. I drove on over and went straight into the vacant house. I called him back immediately. Within 2 hours of his initial call we had presented and had acceptance of his offer on a fabulous Victorian home. The following day the Listing agent told me that within 2 hours of our offer being accepted he received another 10 offers 4 of them for more than full price.

Here is what made the difference. www.househuntportland.com for home buyers and www.portlandflips.com for Investors. Now here are the features.

There are 2 types of searches performed.

1) The Daily email search is sent once a day at 5:30 AM. Search criteria in the Daily search is by Price range in $ 1,000 increments and by area. The area can be as large as the entire Portland Metropolitan area including suburbs and surrounding towns or as small as a neighborhood area of only a few blocks.

2) The second search type is the Saved search. Not only can you choose area and price but a myriad of other search features almost as extensive as is available to Realtors. After your original search criteria is entered you will immediately be sent an email with all of the properties currently on the market matching your criteria. The web site will them monitor the RMLS 24/7 looking for matching properties to be entered. Those matches will then be sent to you within 20 minutes.

Sign up is Free and the success stories are building with 3 people in the last couple of months able to purchase prior to the other agents even knowing the property was listed. You can be on top of the market as well. Sign up today for HOUSE_HUNT or Portland_Flips and let the next success story be YOURS!

Or Visit my other web site www.portlandrealproperty.com  where you will find that 

” A real estate transaction with Herb is one you will Profit from”

Be Sure to Follow_Herb_on_Twitter

Are_YOU_in_a_Pickle ???

A Real Estate Investor’s Family Lets Him Down

I was looking to take a break when my Cell phone rang. I looked down and saw that California Prefix attached to the number. You know how we Oregonians Love the California Buyer’s? Sam was all excited. He had seen a listing I had advertised on Craig’s list and wanted to know more about it. Unfortunately for Sam, like most homes that are well priced I had taken an offer the previous evening. This one was now sale pending.

Sam and I hit it off on the phone. He was intent on buying investment properties in Portland. The followind day he flew to Portland we met and began looking for properties. We really hit it off well but did not see any properties that first day that met his needs. Sam went home the following day. In the meantime I set him up on my Home Buyers search Tool at House_Hunt_Portland a web site developed for proactive Buyers.

The following day I was looking at a group of Fixers that I had pulled from the Multiple Listing Service ( RMLS ) and a few For Sale by Owners ( FSBO”S) when the phone rang. It was Sam and he was all excited about a fixer home that my web site House Hunt had just sent him. I drove over to the Vacant home and took some pictures and a short video. shortly thereafter I had Sam back on the phone.

Sam decided to make the offer right then and there. So I did a conference call with the Listing agent, and the Seller. We hammered out the details over the phone and within minutes Sam had bought his first home in Portland.

The home Sam purchased was a modest fixer upper. Sam decided to enlist the help of his brother-n-law Toby do some work on the first house and to eventually help manage his properties. Toby was a little bit of a slacker but he was family. Sam would often talk to both Toby and myself about the progress. I made the best of the situation preferring to converse with Sam by phone while all the time keeping Toby in the Loop.

Over the Next few months Sam , Toby and I found 3 other homes which Sam purchased as rental properties. Toby’s work on the original home was going very slow while the other cosmetic fixers were still waiting to be started. Finally Sam called from southern Cal. and asked if I could go over to the house and check it out for him. I did and when I arrived I found no one there and still a significant amount of work yet to be started. Sam was upset. It seems as if none of his relatives, Toby included would tell him what the condition of the home was or when would it be finished . Toby just kept asking for more money. I walked through the project describing and photographing the condition. I could tell Sam was Smoking Hot.

Over the next few weeks Sam flew to Portlandon 3 sepearate occasions and it seemed as though things were starting to smooth out. Sam however fell ill after his last trip and I was left to communicate with Toby and Sam’s wife Nella ( Toby’s Sister ).

We were only a week from closing on Two more homes when Toby and Nella asked to have a meeting with me. When I arrived at Toby’s home they began to summarize the Sales that we had done so farand the business that they hoped to do in the future. I thought the momentum was going well and it appeared they were starting to come into their own.

I felt that this was a great basis for our future work together until Toby said ” So we need you to kick us some money back after closing or  however you want to do it “ I wasn’t totally sure if I understood what they had just asked as I was still all caught up in the euphoria of the previous conversation. I asked them to repeat what they had just said.

No doubt about it. Now that Sam was sick they had decided to build themselves a little nest egg , off of my earnings. I quickly nipped it in the Bud and notified them that it was illegal. ” We dont meen on these current transactions they said but certainly on any future deals. “ I reiterated that it was illegal, and did not bring up the subject again.

Some 3 weeks later I got a call from Sam he sounded very weak and wanted to know how things were going. He informed me that it was probably going to be a rather lengthy recovery from his illness but he wanted to keep rolling ahead with more purchases. I could tell he was still really sick. I did not want to upset him by telling him of Toby and Nella’s previous plan. I decided to handle that on my own if it came up again.

It came up all right. This time they had a list of Agent’s ( according to them ) that had no problem with the kick-backs. Tey were adamant about it and were not interested in bargaining further. I asked them if that was their final decision and they said that it was. I thanked them for there past business and turned around and left.

It was about 5 months later that I received a call from Nella. Sam had passed on and Toby had taken a couple of the houses from her by manipulating her into signing the deeds over to him while she was trying to nurse Sam back to health. Apparantly Toby had left her only the properties that needed a lot of work and would be a challenge to sell. I asked her what if anything I could do for her. She wanted me to put the remaining homes on the market. I told her I would prepare a market analysis and email it to her later that evening.

Bright and early the next morning Nella called me and said that she had reviewed the paperwork and all looked fine except the Commission.  She wanted me to either reduce the commission or kick-back a percentage after the sale concluded. I told her in as polite as voice as I could that I am a professional and I could not participate and wished her well.

The last I heard Toby had manipulated the remaining 2 homes from her and had them tied up in some sort of investors scam.

How Hungry Are YOU ?

A quick cute story. I had taken a Sign call fairly early in the morning some years ago on a Home that I had Listed in the Piedmont Neighborhood of Portland Oregon. The call had been placed by a fellow that I would guess was about 35 years old or so. He had asked if I could pick him and his Grandmother up and take them to see the house.

Beaming over the phoneI said that I would be Delighted. I went right into my qualifications spiel asking them my standard set of questions. Amongst the questions that I like to ask is ” would you have time to look at other properties as well. ” I generally would pick a couple of more homes close by. The man said that he thought that would be a great Idea.

Promptly at 3pm I picked up the man and his Grandmother and took them to the house. As we walked through the Grandson asked a variety of questions and I returned the favor by answering and following up with a series of questions of my own. Grandmother chose to walk through the home without making any comments at all even when I asked her questions she mostly nodded and moved on.

The Grandson seemed to be asking enough questionsfor the both of them. And as Grandmother did not seem the least annoyed or interested in contributing to the conversation I pretty much left it at that. The next two homes were literally a replay of the first home. That of the Grandson asking a lot of questions and Grandmother walking and nodding when required.

We had spent at least 45 minutes in each of the housesand I wondered if Grandmother was getting little tired. Before I could ask them if they wanted a brake, the Grandson said that he would like to take a closer look at the first house again. We spent a least another 30 minutes there the second time. The entire time Grandmother wandered and I answered questions.

Driving them towards the house the Grandson suddenly had the presence of mind to ask his Grandmother if she was hungry. After being with them for almost 3 hours Grandmother made her first and only statement.

” I’m so hungry I could Eat a Raw Dog ! “

Herb Hamilton is a real estate Broker associated with RE/MAX Preferred Inc. Realtors in Portland Oregon

” A Real Estate Experience with Herb is one YOU will Profit from “

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