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December Market Stats

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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.

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Our Favorite Up and Coming Areas

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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! 

Seller Closing Costs

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Today is all about closing costs and specifically about the closing costs sellers are responsible for. We made a great video for you to watch, but if you would rather just read along, skip ahead!

One of the most common mistakes that sellers make when it comes to listing their home, is failing to budget appropriately. I see this especially often when it comes to closing costs.

Sellers in Portland should expect to pay about 7% of the total sales price in closing costs. On a typical home priced at 500,000, a seller should anticipate allocating about $35,000 toward closing costs. That number is inclusive of most fees, however, it will vary depending on your specific situation.  If you have equity in your home, these fees will be deducted from your proceeds.  However, in some cases, a seller may be required to actually bring money to the closing table.  We don’t want this to happen to you. Here are my top 3 tips so we are fully prepared before listing your home.

Discuss the true cost of selling

Before you decide to list your property, meet with a local real estate expert. You want to discuss the true cost of selling your home. As a licensed Realtor®, I’m able to provide you with resources like a closing checklist and a seller net sheet. These will help you to better understand the home selling process, your responsibilities as a seller, and what you can expect to net from the sale of your home.

Budget for Closing Costs

Work with your Realtor® to understand and budget for Closing Costs. Sellers in the Portland market are typically responsible for paying; Commissions, mortgage payoff, title search fees, transfer taxes, city recording fees, unpaid property taxes, and any other liens that may be on the property. We want to have a clear idea of what these numbers add up to.

Factor in the unexpected

In competitive markets, it’s common for a seller to offer a concession toward a buyer’s closing costs.  This is done as an added incentive. As an example, it can be done after we may have had weeks of slow activity, or as a result of an issue that arises during a home inspection.  Often times, this practice can make your home seem more appealing to a buyer that may not otherwise have thought of buying your home because they didn’t have the cash to cover potential repairs or their own closing expenses.

Planning ahead will ensure that we both have a pleasant transaction together.  You will have a clear idea of exactly where you will be financially, and there won’t be any what-ifs left to think about.  If you have some questions or want any guidance, please feel free to reach out to me and I am happy to walk you through the specifics.  

Are you ready to see what your home is worth? Check the value now! Click Here

Sell your home FASTER than the competition

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With the shifting real estate market, you may be wondering what you can do to really stand out to the buyers that are shopping for a home. We outline our best tips for getting your home to be the one that buyer’s choose in the video below.

Are video’s not your thing? Read below for a quick outline!

Just the other day I was showing 2 homes in the same neighborhood, with similar floor plans, and very few differences. We wrote an offer and were competing on one of the homes, and the other is still sitting on the market more than a month later.

We want your home to be the house that sells right away. Frequently when I am talking to sellers they believe that buyers will be able to make improvements to the home after they have made the purchase. In reality, most buyers don’t have the extra money and will devalue your home as they start to see the projects they want to complete. We want to invest in meaningful projects that will warrant the highest return on your investment so buyers walk in and say “oooh, this one”

Before you do any projects, be sure to consult with your realtor, me, about what projects make the most sense. I will be able to give you valuable information about the projects that will wow buyers, and the projects that we can leave alone. I’l do a market analysis of your home’s current value and a probable analysis after the updates are done. Kitchen and bathrooms will get you the most money back, but curb appeal is also high on the list.

The next step is going to be getting bids from contractors and deciding who to hire. If you don’t know any contractors, and don’t know where to begin, I am happy to share my list of contractors and vendors to make sure you are well taken care of.

Lastly, it’s time to do the work! Make sure you set a timeline, so you have an end date to the projects. We don’t want to be working on things for 6 months, because we don’t know what the market is going to look like in 6 months. You want to be doing projects on your timeline, not waiting around for a contractor.

Once everything is finished, new will get a new market analysis and set up a marketing plan to ensure your home sells quickly and for top dollar.

At this point you might be wondering where to even start. I am happy to come over and talk to you about projects and what will make sense for you, even if you aren’t thinking of moving soon, it can be fun living in a freshly remodeled house for awhile.

If you have any questions or comments, we would love to hear from you!

August Market Stats

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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 cost of Instant offers

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So you want an instant offer? No doubt you have heard about open door at this point, but Zillow and Amazon also have programs that allow you as a home seller to get an offer without any showings or contingencies. Check out the full video for all the details!

It is terribly convenient to just sell your home to an internet company. As they say on their commercials, there are no showings, no contingencies, and you get to look over the pricing details before you make a decision. If this all sounds too good to be true, it’s because it usually is.

These companies are in the market of buying homes to make a profit when they re-sell them. This means you are selling your home for less than you would get if you listed it with a realtor almost every time. They want to pay wholesale for your home, do a couple repairs, which likely means paint, and then they re-list it at the price it was worth in the first place.

Zillow

We have a great example of this. this offer below was presented to the client of an associate of mine. He needed to sell quickly but also wanted to be sure he was getting what his home was worth. He called his realtor to discuss what his opinion was and they needed up selling the home after 3 days on the market, for 6% commission at $550,000.

Had the seller chosen to go with this Zillow offer he would have left more than $100,000 on the table. Most the examples that we see aren’t this extreme, but in almost every case the seller could have received thousands more dollars if they had listed with a Realtor.

This model will of course work for some people, if you need to just sell and timing is more important than price, this is a great option. Just make sure you discuss everything in detail with a Realtor so you know all of your options.

Open Door

Another issue we see with Open Door specifically is the way they send over offers can be very misleading. They don’t charge a real estate commission but they do charge a 7% service fee (also known as a commission). They also over-estimate the time on market and time for closing, and lastly, they assume you will be paying 3.5% in seller concessions. You may have to pay some concessions for a buyer but this is rare, negotiable, and should not be thought of as a guarantee.

For this example the seller should have $18,000 more selling through a Realtor, but we don’t know what the home is actually worth either so they could have received even more. Again, it is very important to talk to a realtor about your home before you make any decisions.

If you have specific questions about your home and what it is worth, please reach out to us directly. Or if you want an instant valuation click here. You can also see our other real estate videos over on Youtube. Or our other posts HERE

We will talk to you again soon!