Blog - Dave Sutton

Portland Events & Activities, Portland Real Estate, Uncategorized

Have a coat or warm blanket to donate? I’ll pick it up.

From now until December 16, Windermere offices in Portland are collecting warm blankets and coats. Drop off at any office listed here OR I’m happy to pick it up.
Portland Events & Activities, Portland Real Estate, Uncategorized

Portland is hopping in November

Here’s a list from our friends at First American Title (I’m up for the Turkey Trot)
Portland Events & Activities, Portland Real Estate, Uncategorized

Portland area Pumpkin Patches & Haunted Houses

From our friends at First American Title, click here for an interactive map with all the details.
Home Selling, Portland Real Estate, Portland Real Estate Statistics

Financially, Which Remodels are Best?

Not necessarily the best for quick return (important if you're selling in the next year or so), but the best value in the long term. HouseLogic's "8 Most Financially Savvy Home Improvements are here

Portland Events & Activities Have a coat or warm blanket to donate? I’ll pick it up. From now until December 16, Windermere offices in Portland are collecting warm blankets and coats. Drop off at any office listed here OR I’m happy to pick it up.

Portland Events & Activities Portland is hopping in November Here’s a list from our friends at First American Title (I’m up for the Turkey Trot)

Portland Events & Activities Portland area Pumpkin Patches & Haunted Houses From our friends at First American Title, click here for an interactive map with all the details.

Home Selling Financially, Which Remodels are Best? Not necessarily the best for quick return (important if you're selling in the next year or so), but the best value in the long term. HouseLogic's "8 Most Financially Savvy Home Improvements are here

Home Selling Even a “minor” kitchen remodel is Portland is $20,000, so…. the question is how to do it so the value holds up for the long run. Here's HouseLogic's list of the seven "Kitchen Remodeling Decisions You'll never regret" The $20,000 figure is from the 2016 "Cost vs. Value" report* that shows costs in Portland for 27 popular remodels . It's for a "minor" kitchen remodel, (a "major" […]

Home Buying Is this neighborhood noisy? If prospective buyers could spend a week in a house they're thinking about buying, it would give them a good feel for the neighborhood, including how noisy (or quiet). Now there's a tool that can help with that. Enter the address at HowLoud and you'll get a SoundScore – a 50 to 100 rating (higher is quieter) […]

Home Buying Property Tax Schedules & Who Pays Who on Sale Oregon property taxes can by confusing. Especially due dates and how they are prorated when you buy or sell. Click Here for a simple chart from our friends at Ticor Title

Home Buying What to Do About that Annoying (house/car/business/neighbor). "That house down the street has 3-foot tall weeds all over the front yard" "That car has been parked there for weeks" "The business on the corner is so noisy I can't sleep" "The neighbor's dog barks all day and night" "I don't think that apartment being built over their garage complies with code" In […]

Home Buying We just got approved for a mortgage, now we can buy the new car! NOooooo !! ALL lenders have the right to do a second credit check (and confirm employment, etc) just before funding. If you buy the new car after approval (or run up your credit card balance, or anything else that raises your monthly payments) you have changed your debt to income ratio. An acceptable ratio was one of […]

Home Buying Is Oregon’s Economy Improving? Yes, and Here’s Why At a Windermere meeting last week we heard Windermere's Chief Economist. Here's the takeaway in plain English: http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/blog/real-estate-daily/2016/02/is-the-economy-going-to-be-better-this-year-brian.html

Home Buying Seller credits in the Portland area? I just answered a question on a popular real estate site asking about the average amount of seller concessions for closing costs and repairs. Here's what I wrote: You've mixed two different things when you include repairs with closing costs. A buyer's closing costs typically include some escrow & title fees, property taxes, and insurance. […]

Portland Events & Activities Coat or blanket to donate? I’ll pick it up ! It's the time of year when there's an even greater need for coats and blankets. Windermere's Share the Warmth Coat & Blanket Drive is under way and my office (825 NE Multnomah St. on the ground floor) is a drop off point, BUT if it's better for you, contact me and I'll come and pick […]

Portland Real Estate What the color on your property tax bill means Thanks to our friends at Penrith Mortgage: PROPERTY TAX BILLS ARE COMING, PLEASE REMEMBER: If the statement is green, the county thinks you are paying the bill. If the statement is yellow, the county thinks your lender is paying the bill and they have sent the bill to them; no further action is needed. […]

Home Buying BIG House on a BIG lot in Kenton Come see this bargain in person 8627 N. Seward Ave., Portland, Or

Home Buying How Fast are Oregon Homes selling? While the chart shows Oregon as less than 30 days, the reality is that any decent Portland home that's fairly priced will be gone in a week. My last listing went live on MLS at 8:00 PM on a Saturday night. We received 10 offers by Wednesday and accepted $56,000 over the list price. […]

Uncategorized Want to help families impacted by wild fires? If you'd like to directly help families suffering from the current wildfire epidemic in the Northwest, this link to the Windermere Foundation will send 100% of your donation to local organizations in the area you designate or to your billing zip code: http://www.windermere.com/blogs/windermere/posts/the-windermere-foundation-wildfire-fund

Home Selling Thinking of cutting down that tree? Sometimes trees die or outlive their location. It's unfortunate, but true. But before you fire up the chain saw, be sure to check with your city. Many require permits and there are fines for cutting without. City of Portland permit is $25 but the fine can be $1,000. Also consider leaving the whole job to […]

Home Buying Home buyers: beware of wire fraud scam Most home buyers need to transfer money to the escrow company to complete the down payment the day before closing. The common way to do that is with a "wire transfer" – an electronic transfer from the buyer's bank to the escrow company. The escrow company will send "wire transfer instructions" to the buyer to […]

Home Buying Nice Portland Homes for less than $300,000 I often hear people say they'd like to buy a house,"but everything's so expensive now." It's true that median sale prices of detached homes in Portland are around $300,000, but there are plenty of nice homes for less, sometimes a lot less. Yesterday a friend was amazed at a listing I showed him for a very nice 1120 SqFt 2-BR […]

Home Selling Congress extends tax relief for underwater home sellers Just got word from the National Association of Realtors on key legislation affecting home sellers and investors: “The package of tax extensions approved by the U.S. House and Senate, and headed to the President’s desk for signature, includes important provisions that will help distressed homeowners and commercial property investors with transactions made during 2014. NAR […]