Part Time/Rookie Real Estate
Should real estate agents be required to close a certain number of transactions a year without having to work in conjunction with a Realtor that meets or exceeds that threshold? What would that threshold be?
By Charles Turner | Jul 22, 2008 | Comments (2)
Permalink: Part Time/Rookie Real Estate
Portland Developer Goes Belly Up
It's not the first story of its kind and probably not the last. Sunday's front page Oregonian article detailed the rise and fall of Ryan Olsen Development in their story, Portland-area Builder Implodes. I don't know the stories behind other builder's woes or Ryan personally but the article felt more personal and well, sad.
Olsen rode into the housing market with a really good product for Portland. We sold at least one of his homes; new construction with an eye to fitting into the existing houses in the neighborhood. We had a good working relationship with his Realtor through both Ryan's homes and other properties he sold. Olsen's homes were "appropriate" and very well finished. He had a core competency of building one or two houses at a time in close-in North and Northeast Portland neighborhoods on in-fill lots.
When he got away from his core competency, everything went to hell in a hand basket. The combination of moving into subdevelopments, coupled with a brutal decline in the market for what he was building sent the company into a death spiral for which the end result will be the foreclosure auction of his personal home.
No matter how you feel about builders, developers, flippers and those who make or have made their living around the Portland housing market, you've got to give Olsen credit for going down with his ship and trying to make it survive to the bitter end. I don't have the specifics but I expect a less moral builder could have exited and left others holding the bag much earlier than he did with less personal sacrifice.
By Charles Turner | Jul 21, 2008 | Comments (19)
Permalink: Portland Developer Goes Belly Up
When Your House has a Name
Realtor Beige, the paint preferred by Realtors nationwide. Walk into any paint store and they'll know what you want but they won't have a paint by that name. Neutral is good. Many remodels, cosmetic or otherwise are a matter of personal choice that you might plan to live with for years. No problem. Su casa isn't mi casa. But when it comes time to sell, what will the buyer's reaction be? Will your house be referred to as 123 Main St. or something else?
Our buyer's have named houses:
- Big Pink- not the US Bank Building
- The Man House- a urinal in the master sticks out in a single woman's mind
- The Ranch- a SE Old PDX misnamed in RMLS (probably not the seller's fault)
- The Cat Pee House- self explanatory
With the exception of the last house, they're really not derogatory towards the property it's just how the buyers separate lots of houses in their minds. Food for thought more than anything else.
By Charles Turner | Jul 18, 2008 | Comments (3)
Permalink: When Your House has a Name
Washington Real Estate
This is my first blogging foray over the Columbia River. I'm not licensed in Washington but Jenny is and has numerous transactions going on up there right now. Since she has clients that are interested in the happenings up there we'll give this a try. If it is well received, I'll post similar reports when they come out from RMLS.
Clark County's inventory is considerably higher than Portland's: 12.6 months compared to 9.5. Clark County peaked at 17 months of inventory in January. Portland never broke 13 months.
By Charles Turner | Jul 17, 2008 | Comments (2)
Permalink: Washington Real Estate
Are Banks Digging Their Graves Willingly?
The feature story in July 7th's Business week is somewhat mind boggling. The Housing Abyss story is fairly long but the idea of "buying and bailing" followed two paragraphs later by the common damage to foreclosed homes makes one think that 2+2=5 in bankland:
[An agent] in Henderson, Nev., says he has been flooded with calls from people interested in "buying and bailing"—that is, buying an additional house while their credit is still good, then walking away from the old one unless they can cut a favorable deal with the lender. So far the number of people who have done so appears to be small. But Hawks says banks are receptive to lending for such purchases because they figure the buyer will be able to afford the new, cheaper place. Also, says Hawks, they know that, since the buyer's credit will become damaged, he or she won't pull the same trick on them, at least for a few years.
Two paragraphs later:
Mass foreclosures accelerate a neighborhood's decline, triggering a spiral of abandonment and decay. A survey of agents this year for Inside Mortgage Finance by Geosegment Systems and Campbell Communications found that about half of foreclosed properties have significant damage, which reduces a property's value by about 25% (e.g., $100,000 on a $400,000 house). Ruined floors and carpets, holes in walls, and missing appliances lead the list.
Banks are knowingly receptive to a buyer purchasing a second home so they can repossess a house that is going to be trashed? Maybe the buyer can strip the house before foreclosure and put the parts on Ebay to pay for the first seven years of mortgage payments on the second home! The whole thing requires some long-range planning on the buyers part as it is going to trash your credit and perhaps a total lack of morals but the American way is all about the bottom line.
Doesn't seem like good banking practice to as a way of making new loans.
By Charles Turner | Jul 16, 2008 | Comments (1)
Permalink: Are Banks Digging Their Graves Willingly?
Porland Real Estate History
This graph is a part of the June RMLS Market Action. It shows the number of quarterly closings over the last 12 years. It's a great representation of where we are and where we have been.
By Charles Turner | Jul 15, 2008 | Comments (6)
Permalink: Porland Real Estate History
RMLS June Market Action
Three posts in one day! RMLS Market Action for June just came out. The median sales price in the Portland area is $289,000, a 2% drop from June 2007. The average sales price is $348,800. That's down 1.1% from June 2007. Days on market are about the same as last month. Inventory is fairly static but almost two-fold what it was this time last year.
By Charles Turner | Jul 14, 2008 | Comments (1)
Permalink: RMLS June Market Action
Fed Cracking Down on Mortgage Lending
The headline reads, "Fed adopts plan to curb shady mortgage practices." I found the story on Yahoo Finance after watching the same story on Headline news. The bullet point version (my comments/questions in italics):
-- bar lenders from making loans without proof of a borrower's income. Sounds like the end of "No doc" and stated income loans.-- require lenders to make sure risky borrowers set aside money to pay for taxes and insurance.
Lots of loans require impound accounts that are part of the monthly payment already. The only time I had previously seen impounds waived was when the borrower had over 20% down. Lean something new everyday.-- restrict lenders from penalizing risky borrowers who pay loans off early. Such "prepayment" penalties are banned if the payment can change during the initial four years of the mortgage. In other cases, a penalty can't be imposed in the first two years of the mortgage.
I've only seen prepayment penalties assessed within the first two to four years of a loan. Does this end prepayment penalties across the board?-- prohibit lenders from making a loan without considering a borrower's ability to repay a home loan from sources other than the home's value. The borrower need not have to prove that the lender engaged in a "pattern or practice" for this to be deemed a violation. That marks a change -- sought by consumer advocates -- from the Fed's initial proposal and should make it easier for borrowers to lodge a complaint.
By Charles Turner | Jul 14, 2008 | Comments (0)
Permalink: Fed Cracking Down on Mortgage Lending
Monday Morning Real Estate
It's not all about real estate. "It's the economy, stupid." Real estate is commonly credited with keeping the economy afloat during the last decade. Now we have to wonder whether the economy can save real estate.
The Oregonian AM print edition: Feds step in to aid mortgage giants
CNNMoney: Rescuing Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac
CNNMoney: IndyMac: Your money is safe
CNNMoney: Gas prices set another record
Yahoo: Stock futures rise on U.S. plan to aid Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac:
NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. stocks headed for a sharply higher open Monday after the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department outlined steps aimed at shoring up confidence in mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.Shares of the government-chartered companies have tumbled over the past week as investors have fretted over whether they could survive losses in their mortgage portfolios.
The Fed said in the plan announced Sunday it would lend to the two companies "should such lending prove necessary." Secretary Henry Paulson said the Treasury is asking Congress for quick approval of a plan to expand its line of credit to the two companies and to make an equity investment in the companies, if necessary.
Wall Street is on edge about the well-being of the companies because Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac hold or back $5.3 trillion of mortgage debt, about half the outstanding mortgages in the United States. Worries over their future led to a volatile session Friday in which the Dow Jones industrial average dipped below the 11,000 mark for the first time in about two years before paring its losses.
According to Bankrate.com:
KGW at 6:45AM- Stock Market up 94 points. But is that enough? It is a sign that there is some confidence in the moves by the Fed or bargain hunters doing what they do best?
By Charles Turner | Jul 14, 2008 | Comments (2)
Permalink: Monday Morning Real Estate
Who is Blogging Portland Real Estate?
The PortlandRealEstateBlog will turn 200,000 page views today or tomorrow (I'll turn 35 tomorrow so we can share in the joy). In the overall blogsphere 200k isn't much but it is 200k more than the vast number of Realtors have achieved (since they don't have blogs).
From time to time I take some time to read some of the other blogs discussing Portland real estate. I let Google do the legwork with a simple search of Portland Real Estate Blogs. Today's results are below (complete with a typo in my blog's description; now corrected though it may take time to register with Google). With the exception of the Oregonian's Ryan Frank's Front Porch, they are all Realtor hosted. The results don't change much when I search Portland Housing Market Blogs instead.
What surprises me is the exclusion of clint8200's www.PortlandHousing.Blogspot.com and www.PortlandRealEstateOutsider.Blogspot.com. Neither of them are Realtors (and would probably commit ritual suicide before being Realtors). Both blogs provide the non-Realtor view of our market. I haven't completely avoided Clint's venom but overall his topics are good even if his commentary doesn't thrill me. I can only hope not to be the subject of an 'Outsider flipper gone wrong thread with our NW Hoyt project (the use of the phrase flip in conjunction with the depth of the project are not applicable here
There was a comment on another blog (I can't remember which but I think the commenter was "hmmmm," asked why there isn't more audience debate on the blogs? ). Blogging is fickle. I still don't know how I pissed JP off this forum- his commentary and analytical skills rank high.
The Google results:
Portland Oregon Real Estate Agent Blog
Portland Oregon Real Estate Blog: Commentary and Resources.
www.repdx.com/ - 47k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
Front Porch - Portland Real Estate News - OregonLive.com
Blog spotlight: Portland Real Estate Outsider - Front Porch ...
Portland Oregon Real Estate Blog
Herb's Portland Oregon Real Estate Blog your RE/MAX Agent
Herb's Portland Oregon Real Estate Blog your RE/MAX Agent on the ActiveRain Real Estate Network.
activerain.com/blogs/herb - 85k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
BlueOregon: Is Portland Real Estate Overpriced?
Portland Metro Real Estate News
Portland Real Estate — Blogs, Pictures, and more on WordPress
By Charles Turner | Jul 11, 2008 | Comments (5)
Permalink: Who is Blogging Portland Real Estate?
