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I’m proud to be a small part of Windermere Foundation’s $2.2 million 2017 grants.
Here’s where it all went…
The Best Mortgage Information comes from?
With mortgages, there is no “one-size fits all”. Mortgages (and the rates) vary according to your personal situation: income, debts, down payment, credit score and so many more items. Your best source for mortgage information is a local, experienced, mortgage broker. If you don’t know one, contact me for an introduction to my preferred lender.
Fannie Mae, which indirectly finances the fast majority of mortgages in the US, recently did a study on the most influential sources of mortgage information. Here’s what they found
This shows we have a lot of smart people in this country. Almost one third relied on a mortgage lender. Slightly fewer named their Realtor. Before I get too flattered with that, a Realtor is not the best source of mortgage information. If you ask me about mortgages I’ll tell you exactly that and introduce you to my preferred lender, who is a mortgage broker. Next most often used, family and friends, may be a good source if they’ve recently financed a home purchase (but the best mortgage for you is almost certainly not the same as the mortgage your family or friend got). The best source remains a mortgage broker. The reason is that mortgages are so varied and complex (and changing) today that you have to be in the business every day to have good, up to date, knowledge of what’s available that best matches for a particular borrower. A mortgage broker has access to dozens of mortgage sources and probably works with 8-10 on a daily basis. They are the best place to find the best mortgage for you.
Home owners #1 complaint – should have bought bigger home
We continue to buy ever larger homes, now average 2700 SqFt (up 1,000 from 1973). 41% of renters wish they’d bought. Full details here.
Triple your down payment money – free !
I just learned of a new down payment match offer from Guild Mortgage, the largest local mortgage 
lender in the NW. It’s really simple: you put up 1% of the purchase price of a home and Guild makes a grant of 2% so you qualify for a conventional 3% down payment mortgage. Yes, you just tripled your money. You can buy a $350,000 home with only $3,500 of your money down (plus closing costs). You could buy a nice $100,000 condo with $1,000 down. There’s even more good news in the fine print in the detail flyer my preferred lender, Kelly Parkman at Guild, gave me today
And here’s a short video of Kelly himself explaining it. We’ve worked together for five years and I’ve never seen him so excited.
Contact Kelly at 503/528-9800 or KParkman@GuildMortgage.net or contact me and I’ll help, too
First time buyer? Ask me about a no-down payment mortgage.
So you want to downsize?
If you’re like me and my wife, you have a lot of “stuff” (for lack of a more pleasing word) that will simply not fit in a downsized home. I frequently help buyers who want a garage only to store “stuff”. The time-tested method is, of
course a “garage sale”. But they are subject to the whims of the weather (if it rains the day(s) of your garage sale, you won’t sell much) and while summer in Portland is usually dependable for decent garage sale weather, the other three seasons are a gamble. And if you don’t have a yard or driveway?
Second place is certainly Craigslist.org but I also found an article click here that lists several competing apps as methods to sell that unwanted “stuff”. Enjoy, and call me when you’re ready for the downsized home or if you’d just like an idea of what your present home would sell for.
Portland in Top Ten “Next Tech Havens”
This may not be a surprise to a lot of Portlanders, but our city has been
included in a list of the top ten “next tech havens“
So you ask, “What does that have to do with real estate?”
With new jobs comes new population – people who don’t live here today. And those people buy things – groceries, cars, insurance, medical, accounting AND homes. Some will rent, of course, but the gap between the cost of renting and buying in Portland has grown pretty wide, so most will buy a home.
That adds to the number of home buyers, which already far outstrips the number of homes for sale, and keeps the upward pressure on home prices. Last month I listed a very nice condo in Tigard and had ten offers (all over list) in the first week. Maybe not ten, but for nice homes, multiple offers is the rule.
If you’re one of the nine buyers who didn’t get this one, that’s hard and I feel for you.
Of course none of us wants to live where jobs are disappearing (and home prices are going down). If you’re a buyer and your first thought is “Yes I would.”, while that does put you in an easier buying position, you wind up buying a major asset that’s worth less tomorrow than today. I’ve been in real estate in that kind of market and it’s not easy for buyers, sellers, or Realtors.
Today’s market in Portland is difficult but not impossible for buyers, and at least you’re buying a major asset that’s likely to be worth more tomorrow than today.
One More Reason Home Prices Continue their Rise
The Oregon Association of Realtors reports:
| A 2016 study from Josh Lehner (Oregon Office of Economic Analysis) illustrates Oregon is currently underbuilt by 24,000 units. In other words, we need to build 24,000 units just to equalize the supply/demand curve. Until we reach a period of hypersupply, Oregonians will continue to feel the pinch of the real estate supply/demand curve https://www.oregon.gov/das/OEA/Pages/forecastecorev.aspx | |
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" is $61,927 and an "upscale" $122,359). It also estimates how much each project will return in short-term sale price. The "minor" kitchen remodel will increase your short term sale price by $23,197 – 11% over your cost, so a pretty good investment. The "major" adds $48,371 and the "upscale" $87,667, but neither returns more than their cost. Still, if you're going to live in the house for many years, there's no dollar value on the enjoyment you'll get from the new kitchen. The report has figures on 26 other remodels. Want a copy? Let me know and it's on its way.
