From the Oregon Legal Journal:

“Oregon has been working to save people from carbon monoxide and an important date in that drive is coming up. As of April 1, 2011, you can’t sell your house in Oregon if it has a potential carbon monoxide source, like a fuel-burning heater, unless you have first installed a special alarm. [...] Carbon monoxide is an invisible, colorless gas created when fuels are incompletely burned. Sources in homes include heaters, fireplaces, furnances, appliances and cooking sources that use coal, wood or petroleum. The law covers residences with an attached garage that have an opening to the living space.”

For more information on the new law please read ‘Carbon Monoxide Questions & Answers’ from the Oregon Fire Marshal.

Lathrop, Steve. “Deadline Nears on Oregon Carbon Monoxide Home Alarms.” Oregon Legal Journal 12.6 (2011): 1

From the Lee Davies Real Estate Metro Market report for March

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For 24 years I have heard buyers make that statement.  Now more than ever, during this real estate downturn, buyers are proclaiming their qualified motivation to buy with the statement, “We are looking for a great deal”.

Today there are a lot of “great deals”:  foreclosures, short sales and motivated sellers. Deals are truly abundant but you will rarely find them in an ideal neighborhood or associated with a wonderful home. The fact is the intersection of a great deal and a great home rarely exists, yet buyers seem to be relentless in the search. In the end, most buyers will choose the great home over the great deal and all of that time and effort searching for the intersection of the two is reminiscent of a snipe hunt.  It just doesn’t exist.

That being said, we all know of someone who truly found the mythical snipe; an incredible home, in the best neighborhood, for a steal.  I am here to tell you, most of those lottery winners won through their hard work in conjunction with working with an aggressive broker.  To achieve such greatness, these buyers put in the time and become proactive students of the market.  Together or independently, the broker and the buyer actively sifted through the daily inventory, saw every home for sale, and contacted either the owner or the lender on all the homes that looked distressed.  They worked hard to eventually earn their good fortune. 

If their great acquisition was through a “short sale”, it may have been their second or third attempt to acquire such a property as  the bank or banks may have denied their initial proposals, or perhaps another buyer out bid them after months of waiting.  But somehow they persevered, found another short sale, and waited patiently month after month, for the bank to finally determine that releasing the property at a price below market would be a better alternative than owning the home and having to re-sell it.  Yes, these buyers get incredible steals; they earned it.  They worked their tail off, had the patience of a saint, and prayed that no one would bump them out of the way at the 11th hour.  

If you have the time, select a great broker, and are willing to put in the effort (while having ice in your veins), you too could be rewarded by landing a “great deal”, and we are ready to make it happen.  Just know, the harder you work, the luckier you will be when it comes to finding a deal called your dream home.

The Portland Renovation and Remodeling show is being held this weekend at the Memorial Coliseum (300 N Winning Way, Portland, OR 97227). Experts will be available to consult on all aspects of the home, no detail is too small.

Friday, March 11th from 2:00pm to 8:00pm

Saturday, March 12th from 10:00am to 7:00pm

Sunday, March 13th from 11:00am to 5:00pm

For FREE ADMISSION to the show courtesy of our friends at  Pacific Northwest Cabinetry: Booth 412-413 print the tickets below…

There are special rules for Federal Housing Tax Credits for members of the military, foreign service and intelligence community. The following is from the National Association of Home Builders.

“Congress has acknowledged the unique circumstances affecting members of the military, the foreign service and the intelligence community by making the following exceptions that apply to both the $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers and the $6,500 tax credit for repeat home buyers.

Exemption From Tax Credit Recapture Rules

• Typically, homes that are sold or that cease to be used as a principal residence within three years of the initial purchase are subject to recapture of the tax credit.
• However, qualified service members who sell or move from a tax credit home within three years of the initial purchase due to official extended duty are exempt from the recapture rule.

Extension of Tax Credit Deadlines

• The home buyer tax credit is available for qualified purchases with a binding sales contract in place on or before April 30, 2010 and closed by September 30, 2010.
• However, for qualified service members who are ordered on a period of official extended duty, these dates are extended. For these home buyers, the tax credit applies to sales with a binding sales contract in place on or before April 30, 2011 and closed by June 30, 2011.
• A person who is forced to return to the U.S. for medical reasons before completing an assignment of at least 90 days of qualified official extended duty outside of the United States may qualify for the one-year extension.

Definitions

• “Qualified service member” means a member of the uniformed services of the U.S military, a member of the Foreign Service of the U.S., or an employee of the intelligence community.
• “Official extended duty” means any period of extended duty outside of the United States for at least 90 days during the period beginning after December 31, 2008 and ending before May 1, 2010.”

For more information, please visit http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/service_mem.php

After a long community meeting last night, it was decided by a Washington County Commissioners vote of 3-2 that Bethany Boulevard will be expanded from two lanes to four. This is a reduction to the original proposal of five lanes, but will still reduce the backyards of many property owners. The project is set to begin in the summer of 2012.

For more information, visit OregonLive

The amazingly low interest rates hovering just above 4% were with us long enough that we began to believe they were here to stay.  But in November rates began trending upward to 4.5% and December, 4.75% and now one is lucky to lock in at 5% for a 30-year fixed.  There is no reason to believe that rates won’t continue to be on the rise as we head into the spring home selling season.
 
Meanwhile, average Portland home prices are down 24.9 percent since their July 2007 high, according to the Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller index. The state ranked No. 12 nationally in foreclosure activity last year.  Portland, Seattle and six other cities hit new market lows in November, according to monthly S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices released on 1/25/11. Portland prices have retreated to March 2005 levels. Portland and Seattle are just now hitting bottom-of-market prices, even though the rest of the country bottomed out in early 2009 after peaking in 2006 and 2007.
While this may seem like doom and gloom, the fact is the timing is ideal to have a large inventory of homes to choose from, purchase, and then lock into what is still a historically low interest rate.  This is the time to buy.  For sellers, it is a great time to move up and if you are moving down, it would be best if we were to study your immediate market to determine if the timing is good.   Either way, there is good buyer energy out there as many folks are already aware that rates are trending upwards and they would like to take advantage of low interest rates today.

This Saturday, February 12th 2011 you can enjoy a yummy breakfast and help out a great cause at Cedar Mill Elementary School’s annual “Flippin’ for Pancakes” Breakfast!

From 8-11am the community is warmly welcomed to attend the event which will be held in the school cafeteria (10265 NW Cornell Rd) and helps raise necessary funds for an overnight field trip to Mt. Hood.

The school’s fourth graders have been studying the Oregon Trail and the field trip will bring their studies to life. They will get to experience what life was like for pioneers, from packing a wagon bed to staking out a homestead.

Pancakes, sausages and beverages will be served by student pioneers and donations will be gladly and gratefully accepted.

At the recent Forest Park Elementary School Foundation 13th annual dinner and auction benefiting Forest Park Elementary School

Lee Davies Real Estate helped raise an amazing $2,800 by generously donating one of the corporate vacation homes. Lee Davies Real Estate also donated use of our Client Courtesy Truck to the Foundation, so that they could move items for the auction.

At the St. Pius X School auction held on February 5th, 2011 Lee Davies Real Estate helped raise over $5,000!

If you would like more information on either of the beautiful vacation homes located in:

 La Quinta (Palm Springs), California

or Eden, Utah

please don’t hesitate to give Lori Davies a call at (503) 292-1500.

At CASA for Children’s 20th anniversary annual auction and dinner

 which was held on Saturday, January 22nd 2011, Lee Davies Real Estate helped to raise $3000 for their program.

CASA for children, “advocates for the best interests of abused and neglected children who are under the protection of the court”. For more information visit CASAhelpskids

Our newest addition to the Lee Davies Real Estate team, Rachel Schaden’s interest in real estate began early on as she majored in Real Estate at University of Wisconsin – Madison and St. Cloud State University in Minnesota.   After being on the board of the Real Estate Association at SCSU for two years and interning at a local real estate assessor’s office, Rachel relocated to the Pacific Northwest with her husband. 

Rachel worked for two local property management companies after relocating to the Portland area, honing her communication and task management skills.  We found that her detail-orientated nature was the perfect fit as she joined LDRE to begin the career that induced her studies of real estate in college.  With her “Minnesota Nice” personality, clients and peers alike appreciate her sincerity, enjoy working alongside her, and have confidence in her abilities to manage transactions from beginning to end. 

Rachel believes the path to success as a broker is through hard work, a high ethical standard, and extreme care.  Rachel’s passion for selling homes keeps her interested in always learning more about the market area, successful marketing techniques and focused on making your transaction as smooth and seamless as possible.

In her spare time, Rachel enjoys running, traveling and dining out with her husband and friends.