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Is this a good HOA?

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Buying a home could mean dealing with a homeowners’ association. This begs the question, how can you tell if the HOA is doing a good job? Watch to find out!

HOA’s manage, maintain, and regulate everything that is outside of the home — Such as the structure of the building, the common areas, the landscaping, and the recreation areas, if they have them. But unlike the membership of other community organizations, you can’t resign if you’re unhappy with the way the organization is run.

If the community you are searching in passes these 4 checks, you are probably in good hands!

#1 – Community looks nice

If the community looks good, it usually means that something positive has impacted the community. Of course, the opposite is also true. If you’re thinking about buying into a community, take an objective look at its appearance. Is the structure of the building in good repair? Are the trees pruned, the beds weeded and the landscaping well maintained? Is the pool clean? Are any of the homes in the community eyesores? Your answers to these questions reflect on whether the HOA is performing its duties properly and requiring homeowners to do the same. The proof, as they say, is in the pudding.

#2 – Strong Communication

This is your community and you have every right to know what’s going on in it. Do your research. Figure out how the HOA board communicates with homeowners. The options are numerous and include newsletters, websites, annual reports and emails. Check for flyers advertising community meetings. If homeowners are invited to attend committee meetings, it’s a good sign that their input is heard and valued.

#3 – Strong Money Management

The best HOA’s put checks and balances in place to safeguard against the risk of financial mismanagement. They employ a second set of eyes – someone not on the board – to collect the dues, pay the bills, and review checks and invoices to make sure the HOAs financial affairs are in good order. Often the second pair of eyes is a professional property manager, a lawyer, or an accountant on staff. We also want to be sure that they have a clear budget for addressing repairs, whether it is unforeseen circumstances or scheduled maintenance.

#4 – Clear HOA Rules

HOA’s tend to have a set of rules called Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions. CC&R’s supercede city, county, and state laws and come with hefty fines if they are violated. So it’s really important to know if you’re moving into a community with a strict HOA. CC&R’s are meant to be applied objectively and fairly throughout the community – but sometimes they’re only enforced if a neighbor complains. The best way to tell if CC&R’s are applied consistently (or not) is to take a tour around the community. If everyone’s landscaping is immaculate, the HOA is probably very strict. But if some homes look run-down, and others don’t, it’s a good sign that the HOA is pretty lax on enforcing their rules.

Now that you know what to look for, let us help guide you into the perfect community! Even if that means avoiding HOAs all together! Contact us below!

Ready to get started? You can chat with us, or our lenders! Learn more about them over on our preferred lenders page

June 2021

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The latest market update is out for June of 2021. Inventory is starting to creep back up and the buying frenzy is starting to calm down. This is really good news for buyers that are still in the market. We are seeing homes get a couple of offers instead of 20 and houses selling for 100K over list price are becoming increasingly rare. If you are a seller, there is still a good market out there and plenty of buyers, it just isn’t the feeding frenzy it was back in March. If you want to get into the details, continue on below!

The first things we notice is the average sales price. We haven’t quite hit 600k as our average to live in Portland proper, but we will by next month. This is over a 20% increase from last year and a 2% increase from just last month. I know we say this a lot, but if you are on the fence about buying, get off of it. Things are going to continue to climb and gain equity, so waiting is only making it harder to buy.

The other big stat that jumps out is the amount that things are selling over the list price. Earlier I mentioned that things were starting to cool off. That is true though this number doesn’t show it. The thing to remember is that 13% average is from homes that went pending in May and closed in June. May was one of our busiest months. Things have settled back down between 8-10% over as of recently.

The other bit of good news for buyers is that listings are finally starting to climb up above the closed sales. Things are still selling quickly, but at least everyone has multiple options when they are deciding what to buy. If you are a seller, make sure you are situating yourself with the right listing agent, the right price, and the right marketing so you can stand out among the crowd.

If you want to chat about specifics whether it is buying or selling, we are happy to do so! Just call or email us and we would love to talk with you about your unique situation! You can also look for homes HERE if you are ready to get started.

Why Use a Realtor

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So now that you are ready to buy a house why on earth should you use a realtor? Well, watch the video below to find out! Or skip ahead and read about it!

I get it, realtors have a bad reputation and tons of people think we are under qualified and over-paid.  So why would you hire one when you can just do it yourself online?  Well, here are our top 5 reasons that you will want to hire us. 

#1 – It’s Free

That’s right, as a buyer, you don’t have to pay me. If you could get 10 years of sales experience for free wouldn’t you want to use it? I only get paid when we successfully find and close on a house and the seller pays that fee so there is literally no cost to you for using me. 

#2 – Home Tours

You need a realtor to get access to most houses.  You can’t just knock on doors and expect to get a  tour, you could try, but people will think you are crazy and that is not what you want when you are trying to convince someone to let you buy their home.  Of course you can go to open houses, but not everyone hosts them, and some houses sell before they have had a chance to be open on the weekend.  Hiring me means we can go see that house anytime that suits your schedule so you can e one of the first people in the door. 

#3- Pocket Listings

Not all houses get listed on the market.  We see houses all the time that are offered as office exclusives that sell before they hit the market.  If I know what you are looking for I am going to be searching within my network to see what they have coming up.  This can give you the upper edge if we are able to get into these homes before the reset of the public sees them. Zillow can’t offer you that. 

#4- Paperwork and Contracts

I can help you understand and write a way stronger contract.  Real Estate contracts are no joke, it’s a 13 page document that outlines all the important timelines, who pays for what, who gets to keep what, and when you get to move into the house.  There are also over 30 addendums that could apply to your transaction.  We know the paperwork and how to write things so you are getting as much as you possibly can, even in a seller’s market.  

#5 – Gifts!

Lastly, you’ll get a cool present. I love giving gifts, so you’ll get something nice when you close on the house, plus a home-anniversary gift, plus a holiday gift or party, plus some random thing  at some point during the year.  We love our clients and believe in taking care of them before, during, and after the transaction.  We won’t pick up a paycheck and then disappear on you, we like you too much! 

Now you might be thinking, this all sounds great, but I don’t want to buy a house right now. Even if you aren’t quite ready, we can start narrowing down neighborhoods and keeping our eyes on good deals for you, you never know when they will come up or when you will be ready to jump in.  The more we know about you, the better we can help you!  If you want to set up a zoom call to just going over basic questions and criteria, we would love to chat, just send a message over! 

I appreciate your time today, be sure to follow us on facebook and Instagram to stay up to date with what we are doing!  You can also search for homes with the button below, or fill out the contact form and we will get in touch with you!

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November Market Update

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It’s time for the November market update and 2020 continues to surprise us with the stats. Largely due to the lack of sales we experienced in the early spring, our market is still stronger than ever. In short, homes are selling quickly, inventory is at it’s lowest in history, and prices are rising every month. Here is a snapshot of the numbers from the past month and if you want a more detailed description, read on below!

November Portland Market Update

The most important things to mention is that this month we saw the inventory drop from 1.1 months to 1 month, which is the lowest it has been in the entire history of the RMLS. This is caused by the decrease in new listings from 3,500 in October down to 2,238 in November. Historically less people list their homes with the holidays coming up, but with the number of buyers currently in the market, the lack of listings is really driving demand and with it, increasing prices.

Secondly, the average sales price has risen 12.7% since November of last year. With December being as busy as it has been I’m sure we will see an increase through the end of the year. This is great news if you are a seller. We didn’t expect to continue seeing appreciation with double digits this year, but there it is. Because of the tight inventory, we do expect 2021 to look much the same as this past year. If you aren’t quite ready to sell, you likely have a bit of time to still get in on this hot market.

The most surprising statistic is that the number of days a listing is on the market actually increased this month. Our best guess is that many sellers are seeing what homes are selling for and listing too high. When a home is priced too high, it forces price reductions and longer days on market. But as always, a well-priced home is selling in a matter of days, usually with stiff competition.

If you have questions about how this affects you as a buyer or a seller, please reach out to us! We are happy to make a personalized plan for you. You can also see what your home is worth by clicking HERE

Happy Holidays!

October Market Update

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October 2020 has been one of the busiest months to date for the real estate industry. Typically we see things start to slow down, less listings, less pendings, and less buyers out in the market. The numbers show that this year, that is not the case.

October 2020 Market Stats

Compared to last year we have 14% more homes on the market and 21% more closings. So while we are seeing new homes come onto the market in higher than average numbers, we are still not able to keep up with the demand. As a seller this means that if you are priced appropriately, your home will sell very quickly. As a buyer this means that we will likely be competing with other buyers and will need to be aggressive.

This low demand is causing home prices to continue to climb as well. We are up to an average price of $516,000 for the Portland Metro which is 1.2% increase from last month and a 12% increase from last year. We expect this trend to continue through this year and into the spring of next year. So if you are on the fence about buying, I would recommend getting into the market soon!

Both inventory and time on market remained the same as last month. 38 days seems like a high number when you compare it to what we are seeing in most neighborhoods. Many homes are going pending in 2-4 days. When we look further into the data we can see that both condo sales and luxury homes, which take longer to sell, are skewing that number up.

Want to see what is available across all of the Portland Metro? You can do so HERE! If you would prefer a specific search in an area of your choice, fill out the form below and we will get that set up for you!

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.

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!

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