That Portland Life

Portland Lifestyle and Real Estate

Contact Us!

Buyers

December Market Stats

by 1 Comment

We finished out 2019 with a bang. Despite all the talk about an impending recession, the real estate market was barely affected. If you look back at the data historically, very few recessions do affect the housing market. This is good news for the Portland Metro! Here is a look at the December Market Stats.

Portland Metro December 2019 market stats

If we look back at the whole year, we only appreciated by 1.5%. This is a small number when we are used to seeing 10-15% appreciation, but as long as things are continuing to climb, we are in a good place. 2020 is expected to mimic 2019 very closely so while things may seem like they have halted, homes are still gaining value.

In December home sales took a little longer than they had the rest of the year. This happens every year with the holidays and seasonal slowing, but so far January has seemed to be much busier.

December also saw more listings come onto the market and more homes go pending. We did have less homes actually sell in December, but again, this is likely due to the holidays.

We also broke down the numbers for each of the quadrants if you want a closer look at your neighborhood numbers. Se Portland is still leading the way with the most closings every month. West Portland continues to be the most expensive area to buy a home, and N Portland is the most affordable.

If you have been on the fence about buying, now is a really good time to get into the market. You can get ahead of the bidding wars and spring selling frenzy while still taking advantage of the low interest rates.

Ready to start your home search?

If you are interested in looking at the homes on the market, or you want to know what your home is worth, just click the buttons below! We will talk to you again next month!

Search For homes
See your Homes Value

Our Favorite Up and Coming Areas

by Leave a Comment

Hey Friends, Today we are going to be telling you all about our favorite up and coming neighborhoods in Portland. They are the perfect place for you to invest!  Check out this short video for all the details! If you are prefer to read the transcript, skip ahead!

The dream is to be in Irvington, or Laurelhurst, or Ladd’s Addition, but if you are looking for your first home, or an investment property, those neighborhoods may be out of reach.  I also want to talk about some of the mistakes that people can make when it comes to buying in an up and coming area.  

Make a Plan

When you are buying in an area that isn’t as established you need to think of it as a long term investment.  The Portland Market has been in a quickly appreciating city for many years. While everyone has benefited from this appreciation, the “up and coming” areas did so a little slower than the rest of the city.  We don’t want you to purchase a home and expect to have a huge return on your investment the following year.  We will help you to come up with a 5 year or 10 year plan so you know exactly what you are getting into.  

Trust Your Advisors

We will help to guide you so you can avoid any big missteps.  I want to be sure that you don’t overpay for a home, or buy something that needs a ton of work.  We will make sure that you are equipped with a market analysis for the areas that you want to seriously look in so you know what you should be paying for the houses we see.  We will also use our years of experience to identify any inspection red flags.  

Now that you know how to buy in an up and coming area, our favorites are….

St. Johns

I love St. Johns because they have such a strong sense of community, great restaurants and bars, and easy access to the rest of the city.  This neighborhood has become more popular over the years, but it is still one of the most affordable places to live.  You also get to be near the amazing Cathedral park!  

Foster-Powell

I love the Foster-Powell neighborhood for many of the same reasons. Ever since Foster Rd went down to 2 lanes last year, we have been seeing a new boutique, cocktail bar, or coffee shop pop-up practically every other week! In addition, there is a really strong sense of community and many great neighborhood focused events. While prices are certainly increasing as many are realizing the great investment opportunity, you can still find homes that are affordable. 

There are plenty of other areas that are still affordable, if you want to talk with us about your specific needs, definitely reach out to us and give us a call! 

Do you want to take a look at our buyer or seller guides? You can download either of those here

We are always happy to share our resources with you and answer any of your real estate questions.  Also, make sure to follow our blog for lots of great information and our favorite local bars and restaurants.  Thanks so much for joining us today and we will talk to you soon! 

Buyer Closing Costs

by Leave a Comment

Today we are going to be talking all about closing costs! Check out the video below to learn all about them! If you don’t like videos, read on below.

Last week we went through closing costs when you are selling a home, but there are also closing costs associated with purchasing a home.  Most buyers are aware that they need to save up for a downpayment. They also know they need to pay for inspections. But, many people don’t realize there are also quite a few fees that you need to budget for.  

I had a buyer a couple of years ago that had to let their dream home go because they didn’t have enough cash to close on the home. This could have been solved if they had know to budget for an extra 3%.  I really don’t want you to end up in that situation. So here are my 3 tips for buying a home when it comes to closing costs.  

Write out a budget

Meet with your realtor and write out a budget. Depending on the time of year that you are buying, closing costs can vary from 2-4% of the purchase price. That means if you are buying a $500,000 houses here in Portland, you can expect your closing costs to be about $15,000.  We have a great buyers guide for you once you are ready to get serious about buying a home. You can download it HERE

Be honest about what you can afford

Take a look at your finances and budget for what makes sense.  Just because you are approved for a $500,000  house doesn’t mean that is what you should spend.  If you only have $7,000 to put towards closing costs, we may want to look at buying a cheaper home.  You don’t want to move in and be immediately house poor, so lets come up with a real budget and decide what kind of purchase makes the most sense to you.  

Stretch your money

Make a plan for your money to go farther.  Depending on the health of the overall market, we may be able to ask the seller to pay for some, or all, of your closing costs. This means that your money can go farther.  While this is an option in all markets, if we end up writing an offer on a home with multiple offers, the chances of our offer being accepted and getting closing costs covered is very low.  There are things we can do to combat this, so we just need to sit together to plan everything out.  

Closing costs are not a fun part of the real estate transaction. They do however pay for your new deed, so they are crucial to buying a home.  If you want to sit down to discuss the specifics about what fees are covered, or if you just have general real estate questions, I would love to chat with you anytime! 

Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube so you are always up to date with what we are doing!  You can also sign up for our monthly newsletter and we will send you fun events happening in Portland.  

Thanks for joining me today and I will talk to you soon!

August Market Stats

by Leave a Comment

The statistics for the last month are out so we now get to break down the numbers. The market is continuing to slow down and steady throughout the entire Portland Metro. We are still seeing multiple offers in certain areas, but for the most part things are selling for around asking price after sitting on the market for a week or more. If you want the full break down, read below!

Overall, we saw our numbers drop slightly across the board. Less homes came on the market than in July, less homes sold, and the average sale price fell from $466K to $462K for the metro area. However, the average sales price is still up from last august, so we are still appreciating, just more slowly.

We see less and less inventory come onto the market every year, but the drop off happened sooner this year than it did in previous years. We usually expect a strong market through September with new listings dropping off for the holidays. I think a large reason that we are seeing less and less homes on the market is due to the huge inventory we had at the beginning of the year. The media has been speculating about a recession for quite some time and that spooked sellers into selling early on in the year.

There are still lots of people buying and selling homes so make sure you choose a professional that can help you easily navigate the changing market. Please leave us a comment or send us a message if you have any questions!

If you are thinking of buying, we would love to talk you through how these numbers specifically can affect you. If you think you might want to sell, we would love to come chat with you! If you want an instant home evaluation you can click here!

Talk to you again soon.

The Importance of the Home Inspection

by Leave a Comment

Having a home inspection is perhaps the most important piece to buying a home. As a buyer it can be very easy to look over the little flaws in a home while you are walking around falling in love with it. Check out this awesome video we made explaining why inspections are so important! If video isn’t your thing, read the transcript below.

No matter the type of home that you are buying, whether a 1920’s bungalow, a midcentury modern, or a brand new home, you need to have a home inspection. A couple of weeks ago we discussed the importance of property disclosures, and the inspection is your opportunity to really dig deep into any issues that the home might have.

With older homes we especially want to look into the electrical system and plumbing, the foundation and the overall structure. With new construction you want to make sure the builder didn’t cut any corners and that everything is functioning the way that you want it to.

Inspections are also your best opportunity to negotiate with the seller on repairs. Anything that is a safety concern, a major defect, or is no longer functioning properly is a fair thing to ask the sellers to fix. Alternatively, we could negotiate for closing costs or a price reduction. We will be sure to discuss all the details and what will work best for your specific needs once we get to that point.

Another important thing to remember is that not all inspectors, like Realtors, are equally skilled. It often happens that we will have buyers that enter into contract on a home that was only purchased by the sellers within the last couple of years and our inspector finds major defects that were certainly around longer than that time period. Make sure you work with someone you can count on, otherwise you might end up on the wrong end of the repair negotiations when you eventually decide to sell! We, of course have fantastic recommendations for you if you need them.

Do you want a list of the most common issues found with new construction homes? You can find that here. As always, don’t hesitate to reach out with any further questions you may have! See you next time.

Seller Property Disclosures

by Leave a Comment

What are they and are they important? Check out this quick video we did explaining everything you need to know about these disclosures! Don’t want to see the video? Jump below to read all about them.

First let’s start with what property disclosures are. The disclosures are a couple of pages with the information that the seller knows about the house. They have very basic things, like the type of heating in the home, down to common issues, like whether the roof has leaked. Typically you receive them in the first couple days after an offer has been accepted so you can get an idea of what to look for during an inspection.

While we want to trust whomever is filling the disclosures out, we still want to do our own due diligence on the property because people never know everything about their homes. You would be surprised how few people don’t realize they have a burgeoning pest or moisture problem. the disclosures should really just be thought about as additional information in your arsenal as you decide whether to move forward with your purchase or not.

Now, are they important? the short answer is , of course! You want to have as much information about the home as possible before you make the purchase. They should never replace having a full home inspection, but you will still get some valuable information out of them. If you come across something that is troubling in the disclosures we can ask for some clarifications, or we can walk away from the property without risking your earnest money.

Every home will be unique and if you have questions about a specific home, we would love to help!