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Oak Grove! Park Ave Fest for Orange Line Opening!

Pa’lante is one of the featured bands at Oak Grove’s light rail celebration at Park Ave Station Saturday 9/12.

What happens when you ride to the last stop on the new MAX Orange Line?

On Saturday 9/12, you’ll find a huge community celebration of Oak Grove and the Orange line opening! Music all day from 11 am to 6 pm. Beer Garden, food booths,

community booths and a community council in the Oak Grove Village area. It all happens on top of the new parking structure at Mcloughlin (99E) and Park Ave.

Jelly Roll Ramblers at noon and Nick Gefroh’s 10 piece band Pa’lante plays fiery salsa, Latin jazz and Afro Cuban rhythms at 4 pm.

p.s. Ride the Orange Line free from 11 am to 6 pm on Saturday.

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Ladd’s Addition — 2145 SE Ladd Ave.

$654,000 — 4 Bedrooms, 2 Baths — 2782 SF

Much bigger than it looks! Beautiful *bright* 1924 bungalow in historic Ladd’s Addition near Hawthorne & Division cafes. Stunning vintage built-ins. Lovely cherry wood kitchen w Silestone quartz countertops. Generous light shines through a multitude of windows. Possible art studio in shop/garage that has plumbing. Sunny yard. Possible sep living quarters. Park 2 cars off street. High-rated, high achieving schools.

Listed by: Laurie Sonnenfeld @ M Realty LLC

SOLD — 15 Days on Market

Home Tour Video

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Keep Portland’s Older Homes

I hosted a strategy meeting at People’s Co-op, SE 21st and Tibbetts in June 2014. We brainstormed solutions and strategies and d how we want the process of housing demolitions to change to protect neighborhood livability,

housing affordability, solar access and more. And don’t forget the environmental impacts of housing demolition. Too many good older homes are being destroyed in our inner city neighborhoods.

Here are some important links for information on this issue:

Demolition Delay and Notification Information

Architectural Heritage Center Blog with overview and proposed strategies

SE Uplift Demolition resources page, including video and very good info from the June 11 conference at Concordia

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Mortgage Rates Drive Purchasing Power

Offering a special glimpse into the financial realm, M Realty’s preferred lending partner, Guild Mortgage’s Brent Lucas provided this illuminating chart and information showing the impact of mortgage rates on actual buying power.

Mortgage Rates Drive Home Affordability and Buying Power
“How much home can I afford?” It’s among the most common questions asked by a home buyer and the starting point for nearly every home search in the country.

Changing mortgage rates do more to influence home affordability than changing home prices.

If that seems strange to you, think back to the last two years. Quarter-after-quarter, home affordability stuck near all-time highs even as home values have recovered from “the bottom.” Home affordability didn’t improve because home prices were lower — it improved because mortgage rates were at their lowest.

Each time rates ticked lower, a buyer’s purchasing power increased. When mortgage rates reached their lowest in November of 2012 (3.35%), affordability had peaked.

Lately, however, the trend has reversed. Mortgage rates have pushed past 4 percent and the answer to “how much home can I afford” has changed as well.

Take, for example, the hypothetical home buyer in Portland who was pre-approved in May 2013 for a maximum $475,000 loan amount, assuming 20 percent down. While she’s been shopping, U.S. Mortgage rates have been on the rise. Unfortunately, with each 0.125 percentage point increase to rate, her maximum purchase price has dropped $7,200. Today, that same buyer can afford a home for $424,326.

Do You Know Your Buying Power Now?
Mortgage rates have had some ups and downs over the past few months. Today’s home buyers — pre-approved or not — should consider a re-pre-approval; a re-verification of terms and a re-qualification for a mortgage.

Interest rates and purchasing power affect home prices, too. Lower rates allow buyers to offer higher prices for homes. When affordability drops because rates rise, the number of buyers who can afford higher prices drops too, which of course reduces demand. When demand drops, there is less competition for homes. It is competition for homes that is driving prices up in the current market. In the past, when the competition for homes decreases, prices have “softened”, meaning the steep increases slowed, flattened, or even dropped some.

Ask me if you’d like to be professionally connected to helpful financial tools like Brent’s. You can interact with his mortgage calculator at  LucasLendingGroup.com. 

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Westmoreland — 1306 SE Yukon, right on the Bluff

$408,500 — 2 Bedrooms, 1 Bath — 1694 SF

On the bluff in Westmoreland! Fabulous rare opportunity for gorgeous, sunny view of Oaks Bottom Wildlife Sanctuary & river (river mostly in winter). 2 blocks to cafes. Watch abundant birds & wildlife from living & dining of 1915 cottage. Update & make it your own! Hardwoods in entry and maybe under carpet. One level + unfin basement. Sunny yard & decks. Estate. As-is price.

Listed by:  Laurie Sonnenfeld @ M Realty LLC

SOLD — 135 Days on Market

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Mt. Tabor — 2025 SE 58th

$386,000 — 2 Bedrooms, 2 Baths — 1910 SF

Bright and open English with bungalow-style details. 2 blocks to Mt Tabor Park. Full of character. Built-ins, hardwoods, original trim and windows. Skylights! Kitchen & dining room both open to sunny wraparound deck & garden. Updated kitchen. Treetop master suite w/2 separate sleeping areas, plus large main floor bedroom. Semi-finished family room down. Minutes to Hawthorne and Division cafes and New Seasons, too!

Listed by: Laurie Sonnenfeld @ M Realty LLC

SOLD — 4 Days on Market

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Woodstock — 6534 SE 41st

$298,000 — 2 Bedrooms, 1 Bath — 1632 SF

Light-filled Woodstock mid-century bungalow on quiet part of 41st, south of Woodstock! Original 40s charm and details. Lovely treed street near cafes, shops and Berkeley Park! Hardwoods. Classic fireplace. Many updates including furnace, central air and windows. Tall basement w office and potential for more living area. Beautiful yard with privacy, sunny raised-bed garden and patio. Detached garage with opener.

Listed by: Laurie Sonnenfeld @ M Realty LLC

SOLD — 3 Days on Market

If we are lucky we’ll see the neighborhood peacock!

Sweet back yard with patio and tall raised bed garden for tending plants without bending.

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Come to the Joanne Rand concert at Bamboo Grove

“Rand’s voice raises your hair, elegance and fierceness in the same deep breath” Gary Snyder

 Joanne’s music brings an uplifting sense of possibility and community. Here’s what another fan had to say:

“this woman changed how i listen to music. her voice filled my soul like no instrument ever. and every time i see her it is the same. ….brave, and full of passion and joy….and a great musician as well….if you ever get the chance to see her….DO SO…”

Come celebrate the release of Joanne’s 13th CD, The Nashville Sessions, in an intimate setting at Bamboo Grove. Friday April 26, 7:30 pm., SE 2nd and Taylor with entrance on 2nd.  See videos of Joanne below!

Dubbed “Psychedelic-Folk-Revival,” California singer-songwriter Joanne Rand comes to Portland, OR for a Concert on Friday, April 26 at 7:30 PM, celebrating the release of her 13th CD, “Stories from the Inside Out, The Nashville Sessions.” Her music spans environmental activism, earth-based spirituality, traditional folk, and more.

Details here and reserve your spot here or contact me at 503-750-1630. Videos below.

Donation, sliding scale $10 to $15. No one turned away.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lzA51XMnxg[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcQgt4enNvg&list=PL-TL7Lh8NZN_UZ1hV4JRudI-bzNkZURrX[/youtube]

 

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Hawthorne — 1820 SE 44th

$269,000 — 2 Bedrooms, 1 Bath — 1382 SF

Exceptional deal in Hawthorne! Bring your vision and energy to renew and update this home and make it your own. Charming 1903 bungalow in ideal location near cafes and bikeways. Wood floors, 10 foot ceilings, vintage woodwork, clawfoot tub. Pantry/mudroom opens to deck and back yard. New fiberglass windows. Roof about 6 years old. Good storage in basement

Listed by: Laurie Sonnenfeld @ M Realty LLC

SOLD — 2 Days on Market

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Got books? Share with our Little Free Library

Outside of a dog a book is man’s best friend. Inside a dog it’s too dark to read. –Groucho Marx

Have you seen a Little Free Library in your neighborhood? Neighbors walk by, and who can resist checking to see what is new in their own neighborhood library?

This one is in Sunnyside, not far from Sunnyside Environmental School. My friend who started it is really enjoying watching the books come and go. She loves knowing that she has contributed something very positive to her neighborhood. Some people leave a book, others browse and then take a book. The contents changes all the time. It gets neighbors talking to each other, too.

My friend started with a big load of books collected by a voracious reader, my late husband Jim Andrews. The supply is now dwindling. To keep the library going, she needs more books. All kinds of books are welcome, as long as they are in good condition. If you have books to share, please contact me, laurie@cascadiahomes.com or 503-750-1630.

The mission of Little Free Library: 

To promote Literacy and the love of reading by building free book exchanges worldwide. To build a sense of community as we share skills, creativity and wisdom across generations. To build 2,510 Libraries–as many as Andrew Carnegie–and keep going!

 

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Summer Selling Starts in January

It’s hard to believe, but selling your home by summer 2013 can mean starting at the beginning of the new year. Starting preparations in January helps create an easy and smooth selling experience so you can focus on the next step. On average, it takes about 4 to 6 weeks to get your home ready to go on the market. That might include two to four weeks for minor repairs and freshening to get top value, and another two weeks for our marketing team in the M Media Truck to capture the story of your home and create all of the amazing materials to show your home to its best advantage. Professional staging needs to be squeezed in there too.

That means your home would be ready for the market in February or early March, which is an ideal time to start marketing a home in Portland. Buyers are usually waiting eagerly for new listings in the late winter and early spring. Sellers who wait until May or June to list their homes have a lot more competition in the marketplace, which can sometimes mean a lower sales price.

Based on the average days on market for homes in Portland, your home could receive an offer in two to six weeks, depending on a variety of factors. That gets us into April. The transaction could close by May, and you would be ready to move on to the next step by June.

Starting in January allows you to take the time you need to sell and prepare for what comes after. Let’s strategieze about the best timing and how to sell your home in 2013.

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What’s happening with home prices

The Year in Review:

What a wild year it has been in Portland real estate. In popular neighborhoods, we’ve seen multiple offers and many homes selling in a week or less. So many homes sold last year that a shrinking supply of listings led to even more competition among buyers. Sellers thought it was a bad time to sell, so most people held off on listing their homes. Skinny inventory resulted in rising prices.

Have we seen the bottom of the market? It sure looks that way. Especially in the close-in neighborhoods, and many of the popular neighborhoods farther out, too.

On the other hand, despite the rising competition among buyers, some homes stayed on the market a long time, as you may have noticed.

Why?

the house didn’t have what most buyers wanted, or
it wasn’t marketed well, or
it wasn’t staged or priced right, or
it had some quirk or oddity or location issue.

For these reasons, it didn’t sell. It stayed on the market for a couple of months or many more, and if the sellers were motivated, they made the necessary adjustments, and they stuck with it until their turn eventually came up.

A divided market. The market this year has been divided into homes that sold almost immediately (quick-sellers), and homes that didn’t sell for months or longer (lingerers). In my 25 years in this business, I’ve seen divided markets before. The good news is, I know quite a few ways to turn a lingerer into a quick-seller.

What’s it been like for buyers? Buyers have had trouble finding homes to look at. There are very few homes for sale. My buyers keep a close watch on the Looking Glass home searches I send them. They are looking day and night. When a house is new on the market, the house show “green” for 24 hours and they jump on those first. When they see something good, guess what? A bunch of other buyers have noticed it too, and we line up with other brokers and their clients waiting to get in for showings. It really is like that. Multiple offers? We are talking 4, 6, even 10 offers if the house looks like a good deal. Of course this drives up the price. It can be a roller coaster for my buyer clients, but more often than not, if my buyers write an offer they get the house.

For sellers? The quick-sellers were of course very pleased and grateful to have a good offer from an earnest buyer, or even multiple offers.

Prices. We are in a rising market. The prices of the quick-selling homes are rising. In fact, it’s important to be careful not to under-price.

For the lingerer houses it’s still been a rough ride. With the right adjustments, those houses have sold in 2012 too. I have outstanding tools to identify the factors that have created a lingering house and turn it into a quick-seller. One difficulty, perhaps not obvious to people outside of the real estate profession, is that homes that stay on the market longer tend to sell for less.  There are many reasons, but a home that sells quickly usually sells for substantially more than a home that is on the market a long time. That’s why we evaluate pricing very carefully. Having the right price encourages buyers to make offers right away.

So there is your (very) short course on the answer to “what’s up with prices?” I’d love to tell you more. Let’s talk about your plans for 2013. Contact me if you’d like to learn more about your home’s value or making a purchase, or any other real estate questions. Happy 2013!

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Progressive in Portland, December Events.

Warming December Events:

Friday, December 7, 2012: 15th annual Portland Clowns Without Borders Benefit Show!

Clowns Without Borders Benefit Dec 7

Hilarious comedy-circus variety show. Clowns Without Borders strives to relieve trauma through laughter in areas of crisis around the world. 7:30 pm, Da Vinci Middle School Theater, 2508 NE Everett, Portland 97232

Tuesday, December 11, Friends of Family Farmers

At their next InFarmation & Beer, Friends of Family Farmers is presenting a screening of the latest rough-cut of Gaining Ground, a documentary film about food justice by Elaine Velazquez and KBOO talk show host, Barbara Bernstein. 5:30 to 8:30 pm at Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison.

The feature length documentary shows how growing healthy food can be a catalyst for igniting hope and empowerment in rural and urban communities. Here’s a clip: 28554508

Saturday December 8, OCCUPY Portland Holiday Free Store! 1-5 pm.

Contribute and/or attend the Occupy Holiday Free Store at St. Francis Church, 1131 SE Oak just north of Stark Street (in the basement room). Bring/get anything that would make a nice holiday gift – tins of cookies, fruit cakes, knitted mittens, crocheted throws, books, DVDs, CDs, flower vases, games, puzzles, toys, stuffed animals, earrings, necklaces, frisbees.
Write a personal gift certificate for: skills, hours of work, consultation, empathy, concert tickets, whatever you want to offer for a gift. Email freestorepdx@gmail.com for more information or if you want to volunteer or have things to donate. Thanks!

MORE on FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/events/389008361181853/