View from the kitchen.

I’ve worked on this transaction several months off and on, for an out of town buyer looking for a second home here in Portland, the sometimes intense negotiations going back and forth between the purchaser, 937 and myself. Besides just negotiating a sales price, I also was involved in poring over the (often) daunting sales agreements that new construction sales offices produce and insist on using- often to their benefit, and locating and deleting possibly damaging clauses. In this day the condo developer is more forgiving of changes to their contract.

I’m pleased to say that I have negotiated $105,000 off of the sales price. The developer and their bank are also offering $18,000 in closing costs which can be used for a substantial buy down of the interest rate the first two years before going into a 30 year fixed rate, substantially reducing the payments the first two years. And  did I mention a complete blind system for the gorgeous floor to ceiling windows?

The only problem is the buyer is now gone.

The 937 has a great location, at 9th and Glisan and some of the best natural light from just about any condo I’ve been in. The building is working towards Platinum LEED certification, the highest and best use of the materials available today with the building using 40% less energy than condos built before 2001. Low VOC materials and paint were used in the interiors for healthy air with Caesarstone slab used on the countertops in the baths and kitchen surfaces. The finishes are all first rate.  Windows are gorgeous- floor to ceiling- and often open to the surprising red decks. Many have gorgeous views of the west hills, bridges or Mount Hood. Review of 937 by Brian Libby of Portland Architecture.

While the buyer may be gone- the opportunity is not- so please give this a forward this to someone interested in buying a beautiful condo for a great price. The unit has two bedrooms, two full baths and is 1300 plus square feet and includes a secure parking space.

We- like so many, love the ubiquitous perfect hot sauce known as Sriracha, or “Rooster Sauce”. My kids and I were curious how fast we would go through a whopping jar of it, purchased at the amazing Uwajimaya in Beaverton, so I “sharpied” a date on the sauce which we just finished almost exactly a year later.All the while the same little dribble of Heinz ketchup sat shoved up in some corner of the refrigerator collecting that icky water on the top. This article from the NYTimess came to mind, which was published awhile ago, but was so good I’m happy to have any excuse to share it, a mixture of sauce trivia with a great American success story.  This stuff is so popular it has more than one Facebook page. High end chefs use it. Appleby’s serves it. One person even mailed the Bay Area company a photo of the rooster tattooed on his leg. He was from Portland. I wouldn’t go quite that far, but do think it has great flavor with a very respectable amount of heat that will doctor up the dullest bowl of emergency dinner ramen that I buy about once a year.  The NYTimes article.

Tilde

Wandering though Tilde in Sellwood, I just marveled at all the clever things I had never seen anywhere else. The editing is top notch. From jewelry to handbags vases, cards and ceramic decorative objects there has got to be a gift here for just about anyone that has any taste at all, but especially if they tend towards mid-century or scaled down. The price range is wide as well. I knew my husband J, would be pretty darn excited (that’s how strong his language gets) about these Pantone cups- it was like shopping for my favorite crayon colors.

Pantone Cups

Even better, the store is located next to a great bank of food carts so you can feel absolutely absolved from your little spluge when you can buy lunch for two so inexpensively. Bruce Lee’s food cart suffers a bit signage wise, but the owner has an amazing full size gas range inside and whips up a mean red curry stir fry as good as any I’ve had in town at a sit-down restaurant.

I must say, I do not some of the antique stores of the past making way for an updated neighborhood feel.

Bruce Lee's SE 13th and Lexington

8305 SW 30th Avenue

It seems like most buyers I take out now are looking for a community to live in and a town center to be able to walk to- and a move-in ready home- and something they can fall in love with. This listing of mine hits the trifecta with the easy walk to Multnomah Village, a home that’s been remodeled yet with all it’s vintage charm intact. And did I mention it’s on an almost quarter acre lot? Plenty of rooms to hang out in, with a sunporch, den and an upstairs play/media area with the always appreciated three bedrooms together upstairs. The dining room and living room share one great space together reflecting in the glow of the CVF (clear vertical fir) original floors. Imagine having a fire here in the winters while enjoying your dinner.  The home has a garage that has been converted on one side to a shop and a studio on the other. There is off street parking, but if you must, go ahead and convert back to a garage. The level yard is used for play, gardening and a sport court. $399,950 View more pictures.

That’s what neighbor, Bill Blass remarked to Joan Rivers when she announced her intention to buy a property near his country home in Connecticut. Yet Joan did buy the home on 84 acres and converted it into her ideal getaway, a place to bring her grandson and “friends having nervous breakdowns.”

Like many homebuyers with vision, Joan overlooked the fact that the current home on the lot “looked like a Denny’s” and instead saw it’s potential in it’s sweeping views. In the meantime she figured she could “just stand at the front door and hand out menus”.

I don’t care how much surgery Joan has had- she makes me laugh. Read the NY Times article and watch a slide show of the home.

Schoolhouse Electric's Restored Facade

When clients Andrew and Yellena James recently gave me a gift certificate to Schoolhouse Electric, I was thrilled. Besides being a generous gift, I had always wanted to visit- and as a triple bonus, the talented Yellana has been chosen as the first artist in a series of exclusive designs and her work was not only prominently displayed in the store, it graces the front of their most recent catalogue.

The building itself was more recently a storage area for the nearby Miller Paint Company- thankfully the current owners removed the brick covering the lovely facade and brought the room back to life. Schoolhouse lighting is made completely in the United States, the designs originating from vintage molds as well as designed in-house here in Portland. The components are finished and assembled just two blocks up the street. The era runs from historic to mid century.

Yellena Andrews Graphic Design Applied to Lighting

I’m so looking forward to hanging my light- and to spending more time in this delightful local resource known as Schoolhouse Electric.

See more of Yellena Andrew’s work. Yellena has an upcoming solo show in Barcelona this year, has designed snowboards for K2 that are in stores now,  and is working on some “kicks for Keds”.

Keller House: 3028 NE Alameda

Some of his neighbors have perhaps thought he was a nut case when Doug Decker has knocked on their door- just to share with them a historic picture of their home. Alameda has an amazing history and Decker, resident of twenty years has uncovered a trove of it. He has looked up census information, permits pulled, and hunted down previous owners of many homes. He’s researched microfilm, old Oregonian ads, and has conducted countless interviews with now and past residents. And he has a day job with the Department of Forestry.

Today in a packed presentation at the AHC, Doug brought Alameda alive. Starting with a plat map showing Alameda before it’s existence, the site of trees and a dairy farm at the city limits of Portland (then at NE 33rd St), he presented a pictoral history with the developers first buying the property in 1909 and bringing in the streetcar line and infrastructure. By 1934, most of it’s homes had been constructed, with some prominent builders such as Frank Read, Harry Phillips and Ken Birkemeier involved in multiple homes in the neighborhood. Several of those homes including the pictured Keller House are on the National Historic Register.

Decker’s information gleaned from early census materials showed the neighborhood’s inhabitants changing fortunes. While many homes in the 1920’s had live in servants such as Irish maids and nannies, the 1930’s ousted much of the paid help and brought in boarders and older relatives into their homes. Oregonian ads revealed more information- when the area was first being developed, there were was no Broadway Bridge, roads, or streetcar to get to the site, so the developers offered potential buyers “a ride in our autos” and writing enticingly about Alameda- as if it had already been built. Later, the neighborhood having been designated as strictly residential got up in arms when a church tried to build within the neighborhood boundaries. The Alameda Park Community Church was forced to move just beyond the outskirts but eventually won over the neighborhood by running youth summer camps popular with Alameda’s children. The church is now known as the Subud House, still on Regents Drive.

Alameda Park Community Church, completed 1921

Visit Decker’s comprehensive website, Alameda History. He hopes to write a book on the history of the neighborhood, and accepts research projects on behalf of homeowners looking to their home’s past.

While many people are aware of the first time home buyer’s tax credit of up to $8,000 and that it was extended recently. What most people aren’t aware of is a tax credit for homeowners who currently own a home now. A credit for 10% of the purchase price, up to $6,500.

A few caveats: You must have lived in your current home for five out of the last eight years, and there are income qualifications- up to $225,000 for a couple of their adjusted gross income and $125,000 for single filers. You also must be in contract by April 30th and close by the deadline of June 30th of this year.

If you or a friend are considering selling this year, it may make sense for you to sell now and take advantage of keeping some major money in your hands.

First Time and Step Up Buyers Tax Credit (Full Document)

Certified Negotiation Expert

What does a former executive from Proctor and Gamble have to teach me as a realtor? It turns out- quite a lot. During his twenty five year stint with Proctor and Gamble, he negotiated billions of dollars worth of contracts up and down their supply chain, ended up teaching negotiation skills internationally for ten years and eventually developed a course for the real estate industry.

When I had the opportunity to attend a two day small class with him, I couldn’t pass it up. Today’s real estate market, as everyone well knows, has gotten a lot tougher. While everyone is aware of fewer sales in a depressed market, what most people are not aware of is how tough negotiations can be from the smallest home to the largest. Both buyers and sellers have much at stake right now, and that makes negotiating one of the skills one has to bring to their clients for a successful transaction.

Topics covered included creating opportunities to interact and dialogue with the other side, ascertaining the best techniques with which to persuade and influence, and understanding different types of negotiation and when to use them.

While my husband commented that “he may never get his way again” I believe most of my clients will appreciate my new designation of CNE.

We’ve experienced a pretty steady inventory in Portland- for months we’ve stayed around seven months worth and December had us at 7.7. Month to month, December 2008 to 2009, sales were up 52%. However, last year showed an average of 12% loss of value for the year, which of course means some areas suffering more and others less so.

Nationwide, our market is also somewhere in the middle, with Las Vegas at a 26% decline, but San Diego with a 2.7% yearly decline in the latest Case-Schiller report.

Digging in a bit deeper, DOM (days on market) in Portland seem to be a mirror of the average sales price with SE Portland having the most closed sales with an average price of $237,00 at just over 100 days on market. West Portland follows with an average sales price of $400,000 and 185 DOM, with the leader in both areas at 235 DOM for West Lynn and Lake Oswego with a average sales price of $538,000.
Interest rates are still historically low and buyers need to see good value to bring a home from “active” to “pending”.  Price well and prepare well if listing.

Read the full Market Action Report.