Portland Market Report for March 2009

Market Action Report , Source : RMLS Oregon for Residential Listings

The Portland Metro market activity continues to grow in 2009 although it is still slightly behind 2008 levels for the same reporting period last year.

March 2009 closed sales grew by 382% pending sales were up 28.3% over February 2009.

Inventory levels also dropped to 12 months, it’s lowest since October 2008. Average and Median sales price however continued to drop by 11.8% and 14% respectively for the month of March as compared with February.

                                Current Month                        Year to Date

New Listings                141                                         477                   Area141 ( North Portland )

                                    355                                        1,064                 Area 142 ( Northeast Portland )

                                    423                                        1,376                 Area 143 ( Southeast Portland )

Pending Sales                82                                            193                 Area 141

   2009                         180                                            430                 Area 142

                                    230                                            573                 Area 143

Closed Sales                  68                                            132                 Area 141

                                    117                                            303                 Area 142

                                    169                                            423                 Area 143

Average Sales          $216,600                                   $232,000            Area 141

Price                        $290,000                                   $296,000            Area 142

                               $237,400                                    $239,000            Area 143

Median Sales                                                              $229,600            Area 141

    Price                                                                       $260,000            Area 142

                                                                                   $210,000            Area 143

Days on The                                                                    114                 Area 141

    Market                                                                         130                 Area 142

                                                                                        149                 Area 143

All information is deemed to be accurate but not guaranteed and is only a partial amount of information provided by RMLS. Use of this information is for entertainment only and should not be used as a basis for conducting real estate activity.

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The Confused Dog Look

Pardon ME if I give you the confused Dog look . But I ran into something a while ago that definitely was perplexing. Do you have your ears perked up!

I was doing a little Surfing on the Net. I was looking for Real Estate agents web sites hoping to find some that would be interested in exchanging links. A great way to get additional Exposure for your Listings by the way.

I came across what appeared to be someone advertising a couple of properties for sale in an area that I really like. The odd thing is thAT IT appeared to be a real estate add but no mention of a company name. I made a quick enquiry by email and sat back to wait. The following day I received by email a list of about 20 properties for sale including the ones that were in the add.

The add included such things as Price, descriptions, and address. It looked as if the email message had been sent from somewhere in the Midwest. And because I am in Portland Oregon I immediately thought ” Ahah! Must be and Investor dumping properties.” But wait a minute, I think  I recognized a couple of the addresses. I quickly checked our MLS and found that about 1/3 of the properties on the list were Listed for sale with a variety of different local real estate companies. In fact of those that were listed, they had been on the market for quite some time. I then checked the tax records and noted that all of the Owners were different. No where in any of the MLS listings was there any mention of the person who sent me the email.

The email that I had recieved was somewhat like the following. ” Thanks for inquiring about the properties I have for sale. Read them over if you want more information about 1 or more please do not hesitate to contact me. Thanks Martha ”

Anybody run on to this before? What do you Think? And don’t just give me that Confused Dog Look either.

Investors_let_Your_Next_Investment_Property_find_you_with_this_Real_Estate_Investor’s_web_site 

www.portlandrealproperty.com  Looking for more Portland Oregon Information?

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Who Loves Short Shorts

It had been over a year since I had talked with Joe and Rita. I had met them at an Open House on RODNEY  in the PIEDMONT_NEIGHBORHOOD in Portland Oregon. I remembered that Rita was a type A personality backed by a Let’s get Going attitude. I also remember from last year that they had an abundant amount of enthusiasm but not much money. A year ago I had sent them to my lender  TAMMY_WITTREN of Northwest Mortgage. Tammy is very good at sitting people down, analyzing there problems and structuring a game plan for them to follow. A sort of road map to Real Estate Financial success.

As Rita began to speak I sensed that something was up. With a little prodding Rita began to unravel like a ball of yarn. Both Rita and Joe had been so impressed with the work done by one of my rehabbers a year ago that they became convinced that they could do the same. 

( Step 1) was to call Tammy . True to form Tammy quickly determined that they were not in a position to purchase. She gave them a game plan to follow and of course in their minds that was not acceptable as it would just take too long. So they went out on their own and found a FSBO to purchase.

They had been working on the FSBO for about 6 months when they out of the blue gave me a call. It sounded over the phone as if they were stuck on a solution to a plumbing question and wanted some advice and asked if I would come over and take a look. I agreed. 

When I arrived I was greeted with a Horrible sight. I tried to be positive but everything I seen indicated that they had bought a major Money Pit. Not the worst thing in the world, that of getting a little in over your head. However the Seller was now threatening  to foreclose on their contract of sale and he wasn’t interested in thier problems or solutions. He just wanted paid off and he wanted it now!

To further complicate matters for Joe and Rita they had put up their Cars and household possessions as collateral. I advised them to see an attorney as there was nothing that I could do for them. They were totally buried in this house and it still needed at least 60 days worth of work to get it in to a financible state.

A month went by and Joe called. After beating around the bush for a while he said that they had lost the house and their cars. The Seller had felt sorry for them and let them keep their personal possessions. Rita was too embarrassed to call but they wondered if I could come out to their home for a talk. It turns out that they had purchased a second FSBO just after they had bought the first Fixer. The Home was of course leveraged beyond belief and they were not even sure of the payoff amount.

They had borrowed from several family members enough money to buy the home from the bank using a no-income no-doc loan. Their theory was that they would pay off all of the family members after they refinanced. Big problem was the home needed a lot of work and they had not been making the full house payments. Just making enough to keep the bank at bay while they continued to poor more and more money into the other Money pit neglecting this home.

After arriving they took me though the home and we discussed potential market values. I left and returned the following evening armed with a full market analysis. A review indicated this house to be worth between $240,000 to $248,000 with 20 very relevant comps in the same subdivision and roughly the same condition.

After spending some more time on the comps I once again asked if they had those payoff figures from their lender that I had asked about. They did and it turns out that they owed a total amount of $270,000. Further more the payoff letter was accompanied by a foreclosure notice. I looked at them and asked if they new what a Short Sale was. They did not. It means Rita and Joe that you have no equity in this home at all. You will need to get permission from the lender to market the home at a sales price of less than you owe.

They finally got the message a few weeks later. I had presented the market analysis to the Lender along with a marketing plan. I listed the home and we were able to sell the home for $245,000. The bank forgave Rita and Joe the difference and let them walk. I wonder when I will here from them again and under what circumstance.

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10 Top Winning Stratagies of Top Producers

Ever wonder how The Top Producers stay on Top? We all struggle from time to time but one thing that Keeps Top Producers on Top is a consistent strategy. Although from Agent to Agent techniques very, you will find at the very heart of each and every Top Producer these core group of simple strategies that YOU can apply.

www.portlandrealproperty.com Portland Oregon information.

www.househuntportland.com Let your next home find you.

                                  Top Producers Ten Techniques to Greatness

1. Attitude: Attitude is key to having a successful day. Routine will help establish a great day. A good breakfast, Positive affirmations, A daily planner filled with scheduled activities and events, A mirror to reflect in while on the telephone. A positive attitude it will help you excel. A negative one will tear you down. Avoid meetings and conversations with negative people. Work only with People you Like.
2. Transaction Goals : Sit down and create a goal for number of transactions you would like to do for the year. Break it down by month and week and day. Create a plan on how to achieve your goals. What is your success ratio of each technique you hope to employ. Example : If it takes you 5 open house to get three Buyer leads resulting in 1 contract, then you know what your success ratio is. Plan it and it will happen.
3. Prospecting Goals : The mark of a great prospector is one that can show you in his day planner a flow sheet designed to meet the transaction goals. Every method of prospecting should be flow charted and worked into a day planner. A Time Management Plan is essential. Plan it and it will work.
4. Know your Market : There are many neighborhoods in my market area if you were to give me the street cross streets and describe the property I could tell you what color the house is. I could also recite how many times it had been on the market over the last 10 or so years. I know exactly what each home should sell for and why. Take time to go back through your neighborhoods from time to time and dump out what you used to know yesterday. Agents fail when the start thinking about what homes used to sell for instead of knowing what they will sell for.
5. Ask for the Business : All the prospecting in the world wont pay off at all if you cant ask for the business. Look for new ways to ask for business. Give everyone in the world a business card. Don’t be afraid to give them one every day. If they say I already have one, smile and ask them to pass it on. Prospect regularly for referral business. Put a not in your bills that you send out each month, people look at them you know. Write down a list of 10 new opportunities for referral business each month and act on it.
6. Communicate the Results : Communicate the results of your activities to virtually everyone. Listings, Buyers, Sellers, Referral partners, Lenders, Title Companies, Spere of influence, virtually everyone. You will be surprised how many people that know you would love to live vicariously through your achievements. How many people do you know that have said ” I used to know him when… ” Allow people to support and champion your achievements.
7. Hire an Assistant : Each and every state has there own rules for assistants. Follow them and quit complaining about the dollars. An assistant worth there salt should double or triple at minimum what they cost you. What should an assistant Do? Your Job is to be in front of Buyer’s and Seller’s all day long. The Assistants job is everything else.
8. Education : Devote time to educating your self. Be it Continuing education classes, Cd’s or tapes of other top producers, books, Blogging and commenting, Peer Group meetings or Conventions and trade shows.
9. Exercise : A Physical and mental exercises strategy should hold a prominent position in your daily planner. Good mental and Physical conditioning will keep you tuned and ready. A sloppy body or mental attitude can present a poor impression to a new client.
10. You Get by Giving : Give of your time and money. Give back to the community. Get involved with charities of your liking. Get behind a cause. It will enrich you in many more ways than money could ever hope to.

So you Think you are Prepared Are You?

How Prepared are You as a Real Estate Agent? Do you carry with you the necessary tools do you your job? You never know in this business when the need may arise and an opportunity may be lost. I will give you an example.

On a damp Tuesday Morning a group of us were looking at all the new vacant land properties just outside of the city limits offered by a local Real Estate Brokerage. Most of the parcels were fairly small and easy to get to.

As we made our way up the single car road towards the 1/2 acre of ground the caravan came to a sudden stop. Being the 5th or so car back it took me a while to make my way up the rain soaked slippery cart path.

When I got to where the first car had stopped the group had formed and were looking across a small land bridge at the head of a small gully. On the other side stood the listing agent. Hurry up he was calling out to the stragglers still making there way up the slippery road.

Okay Okay he called out as the drizzle began to pick up a little steam. Now as a true Oregonian we would’t call that a Rain. We might call it a Driven Mist, as it began to pelt down on us while while huddled together listening to the agent regale the attributes of the listing.

The crowd was indeed getting restless and seemed as if they wanted to bolt but did not want to offend the agent. I called out and asked to him, What is the Price? He quickly answered back beaming from ear to ear. And the term’s I asked what are they? Still beaming he quickly satisfied my questions and asked in a booming voice ” Do you have some one for this ?”

To which I answered Holding up the Earnest money contract that I had extricated from the inner pocket of my Blazer ” Yes! Here is the Offer! How soon can you present? It is full price cash with a 10 day closing! ” The crowd assembled was in the murmur state and only the owner of the Real Estate office who was present made the following comment.

Dang , Herb !  I was going to do that but did not have an offer sheet with me. I thought I would have enough time to do it when we got back to the office. Good for you. He went on to say ” Folks that is what being prepared is all about “.

Herb Hamilton is a Real Estate Broker with RE/MAX Preferred Inc. Realtors working in Portland Oregon

Beam ME Up Scotty !

What causes us to resist change? For several years now I have constantly preached the benefits of Scanning documents and sending them out by email. The legibility factor his huge. Specifically when you look at issues of clarity as it relates to the Old Mighty Fax.

How long have scanners been around? This not new technology and certainly the price point is so low it is almost as if they are paying you to take them. Yet day in and day out the use of the Fax machine as the primary sender of documents remains.

I have heard of some people who have said they would like to fax but cannot find a program that doesn’t cost a fortune. Most of your common software applications have a scan and or acquire feature today. As well as most if not all of the scanners have programs built in or have software included.

Several years ago I bought a simple little software program from downloads . com called Scanout. This utility allows you to scan in black and white color and a few other methods. You can use it with your flat bed scanner or document feeder. It then creates a PDF file and allows you to save where ever you like. The program only cost $29 or so and still performs excellent today.

Not only that but my computer crashed once and I emailed the folks at Scanout and they sent me a new version with no charge, this was after I already had owned it for almost 2 years.

So what is causing you to resist this change? Are you pleased with working with illegible documents? Your Clients certainly deserve a legible copy of what they are signing. I know that in Oregon the Real Estate Agency would like to see it as well.

Are you ready to ’ Boldly Go ‘….. or are you a ‘ Just the Fax Ma’m ‘ type of person.

Be sure to Boldy go to My Portland_Real_Estate_Web_Site for lots of local information.

Home Loan Challenge

What is the single greatest challenge to the Portland Oregon economy? Is it Jobs ? Is it Money for lenders as the national news would report? Or is it apathy and falsehoods?

Yesterday I was sitting down for a little rest and relaxation at a favorite hang out and heard someone in the background with a rather boisterous voice exclaiming to any and all who would listen to just how poor she thought the economy is.

On and on she went describing one debacle after another about others tales of doom and gloom. Not stopping long enough to give names or credibility to the short stories she weaved. Building into a crescendo as more and more interest grew from the surrounding group she blurted ” and if your thinking about getting a home loan you can forget about that ! “ ” There are no home loans available that is unless you have a credit score in the high 700’s and you have at least 25% down.”

It was right there I had enough and rose up and said ” That is just not true”suddenly the room became quiet and the attention swung to see me standing there confronting this purveyor of negativity. ” What she exclaimed? “

“None of the things you say are true”, I said. There  are abundant home loan products available. ” As a real estate Broker working in this state now for over 20 years I am finding no problem at all finding home loans for virtually anyone who wants one.”

Just at that time a fellow who had been sitting close to me also stood up and said. ” I agree completely!” He went on to say ” I am a car salesman and have to combat this every day.” He told us of a common story that happens in his business day in and day out. That of Buyers out looking and finding incredible deals yet reluctant to buy. When quarried their response is that they heard that there were no loans available. ” It is just not true he said ” ” I have multiple financing options available and the rates have never been better”

All in all this is a great time to buy! If your looking for that next car or Your Next Home now is the time. Or you can always wait for prices to start to climb. Then you can sit back and say ” Gee I should have bought when the market was down “

Let_your_next_Portland_home_find_you  stop by or sign up direct at www.househuntportland.com  you will be amazed.

Wall Murals of Alberta Arts District in Portland Oregon

Do you live in a city that embraces local artists?  Portland Oregon is just such a place. This detail of a wall mural in the Alberta Arts District of Portland is just one of many shining examples. The display fosters a sense of community and also helps to curtail graffiti taggers.

The Alberta Arts Districthas become very popular over the last several years. In the mid 1990’s I worked with several Contractors who bought homes in the area to rehab and resale. Returning those old turn of the century homes to a new state of grandeur has been quite emotionally rewarding. And now that people are poring into the area it is really a joy to see.

Don’t lose out on your opportunity. Come to My_Real_Estate_MLS_Web_Site_for_Buyer’s  and Let Your Next Home Find You.

Herb_sells_Alberta_Arts_District_Homes  by the boat load!

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Moving to Portland Find Schools for your home

Getting all your information in one place is often times very hard. Example you just found out that your company is moving you to Portland Oregon. The thoughts flood into your head like lightning bolts on the open prairie.

Where is Portland? What about my friends? Where will we live? What about the Kids Schools? Just to mention a few. Well now you can have it all in just one place.

Having worked with Incoming Buyers transplanted here from all over the world for more than 20 years I set out to put it all together on my Portland_Or._Web_Site . While here you can do a variety of things from Search_Foreclosures, find Mortgage Broker information or mortgage calculators, do a Basic_MLS_Search or for those who prefer the visual search try the Portland_Real_Estate_IDX_Search or you can simply Let_Your_Next_Home_Find_You with this simple email notification site. And of course you can do your own property searches right here on the Pickle.

One of the Biggest concerns for those transferring to Portland are Schools.  When moving to Portland you can Find_a_Portland_Public_School by you new home address. While there you can follow a variety of links to help you find more information about the schools like reports, attendance and class sizes, age of school and much much more.

While at my web site just for fun be sure to check out some of Herb’s_Sold_Homes . Golfers don’t despair, there is even a link for you at Golf_in_Portland right here. I welcome you suggestions as well. Didn’t see it here? Tell me about it.

The Red Letter Day ! Foreclosure Looms Large !

                                                                           The Red Letter Day

Have you received THE LETTER?

Perhaps you have or you are anticipating its arrival any day now. What letter am I talking about? 

It is the letter that you receive from your home mortgage lender. There notice to you that they have not received payment as normal. It is also notification of potential additional fees and consequences for not paying. Also known as the pre-foreclosure letter it can send a chill up and down your spine.

If you have or soon expect to receive the pre-foreclosure letter it most likely comes as no surprise to you. What actions could or should you take?  The last thing you want to do is sit and wait.

Believe it or not your lender did not want to send you that letter. Foreclosures are costly and time consuming and it often times makes more sense for towork out a solution if one is available.

Do you know what your options are? You do have options. As bleak as things may look now they will only look worse if you don’t act. Give me a call today and let’s take a look at how I can help.

Don’t Wait! Call or email Herb today. The longer you wait the harder it will be for me to help. Call now let’s get the ball rolling.

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