Agent Profile
I am a top ranked agent serving the Portland area for over 20 years specializing in residential real estate sales and investments. I created this site as a real estate resource for buyers and sellers who want to be well informed about current inventory and pricing. If you are interested in actively tracking the market, please sign up to receive my daily listing email. We map every new listing each day then update the neighborhood maps. The map is emailed to you...simply click a neighborhood to see the listed properties for sale, complete with pictures, price and address. Agency Info
RE/MAX Equity Group
4800 Meadows Road, Suite 100
Lake Oswego, OR 97035
OZ Finally Comes Out From Behind the Curtain!
After 30 days of silence, we finally hear from OZ. The lender made contact with us and, based on their appraisals and BPOs, asked us to raise the price by $55,000. After a sleepless night, I sent a letter to the listing agent itemizing the repairs and deferred maintenance. I am determined to not cave into spending the additional $55,000 and I was prepared to walk away rather than overpay. The other buyer was offered the same deal of asking to raise their offer. Since I have already completed a home inspection and found unanticipated repairs that amounted into the thousands, I had already compromised my bottom line. The new price did nothing but put the home out of reach: both financially and emotionally. It is time to move on. I am prepared to pass if they don’t agree to the price I have laid on the table.
Signs of Stability
Housing market shows 12th consecutive monthly decrease in number of listed homes! The number of single family homes and condos listed for sale (according to MLS data) decreased in June 2009 from May by 2.1%, bringing the total number of active listings to 696,858, according to national real estate brockerage ZipRealty.
Follow this link to view the whole story:
The Agony of a Short Sale
We are not the only family that has made an offer on our short sale home. And to make matters worse, the house will remain on the market as an active listing so that additional buyers can make offers on the house. This is an attempt to get the lender the best price possible. This also serves to drive quality buyers away that need to have a definite closing date and purchase agreement. For the real estate agent, the real deal killer is that the lender retains the right to reduce the commission to increase their net proceeds. Most agents avoid short sales since they may never close and, if they do close, they
take twice the amount of time, energy and effort for a lower commission. This process desperately needs to be changed for the benefit of all parties involved.
At this point in time, the lender has decided to delay the foreclosure sale for a third month while they try and work out a purchase agreement. Everyone keeps asking me if this is good news or bad. It’s bad if you can’t handle uncertainty and good if you have a better offer on the table and the lender is ready and willing to negotiate. Our time clock is ticking since we only have 2 months to stay in our current home to avoid a double move. The most difficult part of being involved in a short sale is the total lack of protocol. There isn’t a playbook, a formula or a time line. Whenever the bank gets to your file, you will get an answer.
We continue to wait for a response…
Market Action
This June, same-month pending sales were up for the first time since December 2006 in the Portland Metro area, and inventory reached it’s lowest point since August 2007.
Comparing June 2009 with June 2008, pending sales were up 8.4% while closed decreased 5.4%. New listings dropped 18.3%. Inventory fell to 8.2 months, dropping for the fifth consecutive month and reaching it’s lowest point since August 2007.
Click here to see June’s Market Action Report:
Money Magazine Names West Linn and Lake Oswego in Top 100 Places to Live List
Money Magazine named the top 100 places to live in the U.S. and West Linn was listed as number 64. With a population of 25,000 and one of the lowest tax rates in the metro area, West Linn’s charm and small town feel is getting the recognition it deserves. Of course Lake Oswego made the list at #74.
Find out more and view the complete 100 list at: http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2009/top100/
Our house is closed…now the waiting game begins
The entire transaction was incredibly smooth and the buyer was gracious and completely grateful. We are now renting back for 2 months while the lender determines what they are going to do about our purchase agreement.
So what is a qualified, soon to be homeless, potential home buyer to do? Find a second choice? With such a large inventory to choose from, there has to be something else…..
I am obsessively scanning the multiple listing website to find my “Plan B”. There has to be another home on the market that will meet our needs, should this not go through. I need a back up house. I have email notifications set up so that any new listing is automatically sent to me but it isn’t enough. I can’t stop logging on to the system and surfing the same inventory. I keep waking up earlier in the morning to go through the same ritual. When there is nothing new in the system, I look at the older listings. I have taken the entire family on property tours for the past three weeks. The kids are getting confused. We keep on telling them that we might be buying the brown house but we don’t know for sure. They continue to ask why but I can’t explain this to my friends and family so I have stopped trying to explain it to the them.
My mother starts every conversation with, “Any news on the house?”
So I continue the search….
Pending Home Sales On The Rise Again
According to the National Association of REALTORS, as of the end of April, pending home sales are now 6.7% higher than it was in May 2008. Pending home sales have also been rising for the past four consecutive months. Could this be the beginning of a change in the market?
Check out this article from REALTOR magazine to see all of the stats and trends:
http://www.realtor.org/RMODaily.nsf/pages/News2009070101?OpenDocument
