Special offer

Tigard, OR Real Estate News

By Wayne B. Pruner, Tigard Oregon Homes for Sale, Realtor, GRI
(Oregon First)
Contingencies are Safeguards for the BuyerA contingency is a stated event that must occur before a contract is binding. There can be many contingencies in a contract (sales agreement) to buy a house, but the two most common are the Financing and Inspection Contingencies.The Financing Contingency allows you cancel the contract if you cannot obtain a mortgage. You generally need to be somewhat specific about the mortgage you will obtain and agree to apply for the mortgage within a certain time frame. This contingency is meant to protect the buyer in-case financing can't be found. This also allows the buyer some protection if, for whatever reason, the loan fails to fund at the last minute at escrow.The Inspection Contingency gives you the right to have the home inspected, within a certain ...
Comments 3
By Wayne B. Pruner, Tigard Oregon Homes for Sale, Realtor, GRI
(Oregon First)
Tigard: Coyotes are in Cook ParkAs Tigard grows and subdivisions impact wildlife habitat, wild animals are often attracted to live in open space areas, parks, undeveloped parcels of land, river bottoms and on or near bodies of water.  In most situations humans and wildlife can co-exist.Coyotes share Cook Park with humans and other wildlife. Coyotes have not attacked any humans in Cook Park, but they have startled a few early morning joggers. However, when an area cat goes missing, coyotes are quick to be blamed. Officials think coyotes are keeping the non-native nutria in check, resulting in less damage to streams and ponds. Coyotes will eat just about anything and are attracted to compost piles and pet food.Coyotes and other urban wildlife, such as raccoons, skunks, opossums, and squir...
Comments 5
By Tony and Libby Kelly, CRS, ABR, ePro, SRES, CLHMS, CDPE
(Keller Williams Realty Portland Premiere)
Some common mistakes are made when putting up a new listing, and while they are things that may not seem like a big deal, can seriously hinder the possibilities of an offer.  First off you should not put a listing up that is overpriced.  A study found that listings that never reduced their price received 97 percent of the initial list price.  Homes that did have a price reduction before selling sold for 88 percent of the initial price.  It is likely that the difference is greater than the amount of the price reduction.Set up your selling price with price benchmarks in mind.  A listing price of $355,000 will be viewed significantly less than one priced at $350,000 because people do their online searches with parameters of 250k - 350k, for instance.  Using these price "bands" in your favo...
Comments 0
By Tony and Libby Kelly, CRS, ABR, ePro, SRES, CLHMS, CDPE
(Keller Williams Realty Portland Premiere)
Taking effect at the beginning of this year, escrow is now responsible for making sure you are paying your income taxes. What this means to you is that if you sell a house, depending on how you fill out the proper forms, escrow can hold up to 4% of your proceeds. There are three forms that apply to this, the first being a preliminary form to determine exempt status. This statement can mean the seller is to get all the profits, or fill out more forms.If the seller does not meet exempt status then they move on to form WE-40. This form includes some other possible exemptions like a sales price of under $100,000, an individual resident of Oregon, or sale of a residence with under $250,000 in taxable gain per owner. Still not exempt? Last is form 40-CW which determines how much escrow needs ...
Comments 0
By Tony and Libby Kelly, CRS, ABR, ePro, SRES, CLHMS, CDPE
(Keller Williams Realty Portland Premiere)
December Residential HighlightsThe year 2007 ended with a continued decrease in the number of transactions, but sales prices carried on with a slow, but steady rise. The number of closed sales was down 29.4% and pending sales also declined 32.5% when comparing December 2007 with December 2006. New listings also dropped for the third straight month, down 3.1%. At the month’s rate of sales, the 12,786 active residential listings would last approximately 8.5 months. Month-over-month, the average sale price increased 8.3% when comparing the month of December 2007 with that of December 2006 and median sale price increased 1.1%.2007 SummaryComparing market activity in 2007 with that of 2006, the Portland metro area saw an 8.1% increase in new listings. However, pending sales decreased 15.7% a...
Comments 1
By Wayne B. Pruner, Tigard Oregon Homes for Sale, Realtor, GRI
(Oregon First)
Tips for Choosing the Right Home in TigardWhen you're in the market for a home in Tigard, it's wise to have an idea of what you need in your new home.The home buying process can become overwhelming. With a little pre-planning you can lessen your fears and doubts and obtain the home that's best suited for you. Do not enter the market unprepared.Buying your own home is one of the smartest financial decisions you will ever make.  It is the foundation for building personal wealth.  Before deciding which house to buy, think about your lifestyle, your current and anticipated housing needs, and your budget. Know how much of a loan you qualify for and how much you can afford to pay for house payments. What factors are important to your specific needs?First-time homebuyers should not be thinking...
Comments 2
By Tony and Libby Kelly, CRS, ABR, ePro, SRES, CLHMS, CDPE
(Keller Williams Realty Portland Premiere)
I participated in an episode of "My House Is Worth What" earlier this summer.  You can see the fruits of my labor this Sunday, January 20th at noon or Saturday, January 26th at 7pm.  It was a lot of fun to do and I hope you all can catch it, or Tivo it!  For local listings here is the program guide for HGTV.  http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/program_guide/ PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR NEW PODCAST ON THE HOMEPAGE OF OUR WEBSITE www.TonyandLibby.com& OUR NEW PORTLAND METRO BLOG AT www.TonyandLibby.blogspot.com (make sure you leave comments) 
Comments 2
By Wayne B. Pruner, Tigard Oregon Homes for Sale, Realtor, GRI
(Oregon First)
How can I be sure I'm getting the Best Loan for me to Buy a Home in Tigard?Many potential Tigard home buyers I talk with are wondering if today's lenders can be trusted and how they can tell if the loan they are getting is suitable for them. Lenders have received much bad press and their past relaxed loan standards are accused of causing much of our current housing crisis. The majority of lenders have always been reputable, honest, and ethical.Undoubtedly, there were ill-advised lending practices going on. The upshot of this crisis has put the industry under intense scrutiny and these practices have been cleaned up and dishonest players have been exposed. The public is much more aware of the distinction between different types of mortgages and the consequences of each type loan. Lenders...
Comments 5
By Wayne B. Pruner, Tigard Oregon Homes for Sale, Realtor, GRI
(Oregon First)
Now is the Time to Profit from the Mistakes of OthersLet's list some bad real estate ideas from the last few years.Lenders made some big mistakes that lead to the current housing crisis. They relaxed their loan standards and made many unwise loans. Loaning money to people who have a history of not paying their bills, the Sub-Prime crowd, was a really bad idea. These high default rates started this crisis.Flippers, people who counted on continuing appreciation to make them money, instead of using sound investment principles, have also contributed to this crisis. Many are defaulting on their loans.Homeowners, also counting on continuing appreciation, constantly refinanced to take equity out of their homes to buy cars and big screen TVs and go on vacations, have contributed to this crisis....
Comments 4
By Wayne B. Pruner, Tigard Oregon Homes for Sale, Realtor, GRI
(Oregon First)
Buying a Home is better than Paying Rent in Tigard, Oregon.  Even though the news is filled with the dire straights of the current housing market, buying a home in Tigard is still a smart thing to do. Buying your own home is part of the "American Dream" and one of the smartest financial decisions you will ever make.  It is the foundation of building personal wealth and one of the safest investments you will ever make.  For an individual or a family, a home is generally the most significant asset owned and serves as their primary wealth-building vehicle. Home ownership builds wealth in many ways. You know that you are have to pay to live somewhere.  The rent you are paying is building someone else's wealth, not your's. This is wasted money that is providing you no benefit.  Put this mone...
Comments 2
By Tony and Libby Kelly, CRS, ABR, ePro, SRES, CLHMS, CDPE
(Keller Williams Realty Portland Premiere)
Construction was originally scheduled to begin construction in July 2007. There has been a 6 month delay in the start of the project but TriMet said Tuesday that it would not delay the scheduled opening of the commuter rail. The Westside Express Service, or WES as it will be called by commuters, is a $117.3 million 14.7-mile commuter rail that will run between the cities of Beaverton and Wilsonville.  This project has been in the works for 11 years and as we finally wound down to go time Haggen Food & Pharmacy started to speak out about improving the design of the station that would sit next to them. They had, had concerns about traffic, parking and pedestrian safety and rallied the neighborhood for support.  Five months later they succeed in getting a new design proposal drawn up by Tr...
Comments 0
By Todd Clark - Retired, Principle Broker Oregon
(eXp Realty LLC)
My best friend, dad, is always giving me great advice. Sometimes that advice doesn't apply at the time, but then something will happen in your life, and wouldn't you know, dad's voice is in my head, and now it makes complete sense. My dad told me that the day that I realize I am old, is the day that I look around and start seeing people I went to school with dying of things other than accidents. Boy was he right!This week has been particular hard week for me. I'm not sure why, but events from the past couple months have suddenly added up and put me in to a funk and my dad's words starting to creep in to my head and I'm started thinking about myself, my family, and what happens if I'm gone tomorrow.What got me in to this funk? A couple months ago, I got in contact with one of my best fri...
Comments 16
By Tony and Libby Kelly, CRS, ABR, ePro, SRES, CLHMS, CDPE
(Keller Williams Realty Portland Premiere)
The sale of new homes took a nose dive in November from October, down to the lowest level in 12 years!  It is just another example of how different the housing market is from a few years ago, when the housing boom was crazy.  Economists did expect the drop in sales but they were predicting a drop closer to 1.8 percent, not the 9 percent that we did see.Of course we are in the West, the only area of the country where sales still rose.  It was only by 4 percent but in the South sales fell 6.4 percent, 19.3 percent in the Northeast and 27.6 percent in the Midwest.  This only makes sense since the West was the last to see the housing boom of 2001-2005 so we did not have as far to fall.  We are also in the fortunate position of having people still continuing to move here.  Naturally, with th...
Comments 0
By Wayne B. Pruner, Tigard Oregon Homes for Sale, Realtor, GRI
(Oregon First)
Tigard Homes for Sale: Metzger Market ReportBy Wayne B. Prunerhttp://www.yourhomeinportlandoregon.com/ Wayne's Portland Oregon Real Estate blogwww.activerain.com/wayneprunerAs of Jan.1, 2008, first time home buyers do not have many choices for housing in the Metzger neighborhood. My usual criteria for most first time home buyers is a house less than $300,000, which ideally would make their house payment less than $2000.00 per month. The idea is to find any suitable home you can afford and then trade up after a few years when you have some equity.I've done a computer search and there are 3 condos and 2 detached (houses) homes for sale in Metzger. Both houses seem to be ideal for first time home buyers and one of the condos was priced at $115,000, (2 bedroom, 1 bath, 776 square feet), whi...
Comments 5
By Wayne B. Pruner, Tigard Oregon Homes for Sale, Realtor, GRI
(Oregon First)
 Tigard Homes for Sale: The Metzger Neighborhood By Wayne B. Prunerhttp://www.yourhomeinportlandoregon.com/ Wayne's Portland Oregon Real Estateblogwww.activerain.com/wayneprunerHenry Metzger, a German immigrant, platted Metzger in 1910. Parts of the neighborhood of Metzger are located in the northern part of the City of Tigard and parts lie in unincorporated Washington County. The area is noted for older homes on larger lots and has been the target for infill homes for the last 10 years. One of the main attractions of Metzger is that it is ideally located close to freeway access and the Washington Square Shopping Center while many parts of Metzger have a rural feel. Metzger Elementary School is in a new building and the 7 acre Metzger Park is a community meeting center and an ideal loca...
Comments 0
By Tony and Libby Kelly, CRS, ABR, ePro, SRES, CLHMS, CDPE
(Keller Williams Realty Portland Premiere)
The City Council on Dec. 18 declared its intention to form a local improvement district in the Tigard Triangle to upgrade streets and infrastructure.  There was a meeting of the minds and it was decided that an LID would be best for facilitating traffic decisions for the future.   The Tigard Triangle is the Pacific Highway, Highway 217 and 72nd Ave where a 2002 Tigard Transportation System Plan figured out will host the majority of future traffic problems.   The LID area will be outlined by Dartmouth Street to Baylor Avenue from 68th Avenue to 69th/70th avenues. Included in this improvement plan will be sidewalks, ramps, curbs, signing and striping to support a proposed traffic signal at the intersection of 68th and Dartmouth Street. There will also be some streets that could be upgrade...
Comments 0
By Todd Clark - Retired, Principle Broker Oregon
(eXp Realty LLC)
The Walnut Grove neighborhood of Tigard, Oregon starts at 121st and goes east to Pacific Hwy, then south starting at Walnut street to Gaarde Street.As of 3/7/2008 here are the stats for the Walnut Grove NeighborhoodTotal number of homes for sale:          32Average List Price:                                 $351,317Average Days on Market:                       62Total Pending home sales:                     4Average List Price:                                   $252,350Average Days on Market:                         46Total sold in the last 30 days:                1Average list Price:                                   $419,000Average Sold Price:                                 $410,000Average Days on Market:                         39If you are looking to sell in in the Walnut Grove Ne...
Comments 0
By Tony and Libby Kelly, CRS, ABR, ePro, SRES, CLHMS, CDPE
(Keller Williams Realty Portland Premiere)
On T.V. there is a never ending supply of news stories about the horror that is the real estate market.  Except that the P.S. of all these stories seems to be the areas and cities that seem to be weathering the storm.  Portland is one of these cities.  In fact, the slow down here has just brought us back down to what would considered a "normal" year.  To give you an idea of the ups and downs, in January of 2000 there was 10 months of inventory (number of months it would take to sell all homes currently listed) available in Portland.  2005 saw 2.2 months of inventory while October 2006 was 4.6.  Back to present day, October of this year was back up to 8.4 months of inventory, quite the roller coaster.  Ken Gertz of Gertz Construction said he's always measured the housing market by whethe...
Comments 0
By Todd Clark - Retired, Principle Broker Oregon
(eXp Realty LLC)
The Tigard neighborhood of Tigard, Oregon is a triangle with it's borders being Pacific Hwy, Hall Blvd and McDonald Streest. The only park in the neighborhood is Fanno Park off Hall Blvd.As of 3/7/2008 here are the stats for the Tigard NeighborhoodTotal number of homes for sale:             20Average List Price:                                    $341,373Average Days on Market:                         69Total Pending home sales:                        5Average List Price:                                     $254,370Average Days on Market:                          75Total sold in the last 30 days:                    1Average list Price:                                      $318,999Average Sold Price:                                    $313,000Average Days on Market:                      ...
Comments 0
By Tony and Libby Kelly, CRS, ABR, ePro, SRES, CLHMS, CDPE
(Keller Williams Realty Portland Premiere)
November Residential Highlights For the second month in a row there was a slight decrease in inventory in the Portland metro area. At November’s rate of sales, the 14,435 active residential listings at month’s end would last approximately 8.3 months. The number of new listings dropped again, the second time since February 2006, decreasing 3.1% when comparing November 2007 to November 2006. However, the number of transactions also continues to drop. When comparing November 2007 to November 2006 closed sales decreased 19.9% and the number of accepted offers fell 27.8%. Despite it all, sale prices appear to remain strong. Average sale price increased 6.9% comparing November 2007 with November 2006 and median sale price increased 2.5%. Average   2006 2007 Year-to-Date Trends Comparing the ...
Comments 0