Our Sunday Adventure in the Mountains of Oregon, Mt. Hood to be exact Our First View of Lost Lake Sunday, a hot day in the valley, my husband, my dog Henry and I decided to drive up in the Mt. Hood National Forest  to an area called   "Lost Lake".  We had a guide book and decided to go with what it said.  You know I think the people who wrote the book had no idea of how to calculate the mileage as they were off by about 35 miles.  We were going the back way as we had no idea there was another route, a little more direct, but not as interesting. The road has lots of twists and turns, became very narrow, indeed a one lane, potholed, dirt road climbing higher and higher into the Mt. Hood National Forest. There were times when we wondered if we were on the right road until we came across a ... 08/25/2011

As part of the Federal Governments efforts to assist homeowners who are potentially facing foreclosure a refinancing program has been created called HOPE.  This FHA program allows homeowners having difficulty paying their existing mortgages to refinance into FHA secured mortgages that they can afford.  For borrowers who refinance using this program, lenders will be required to "write down" the size of their mortgage to a maximum of 90% of the homes new appraised value.  Only owner occupants with no second homes are eligible for this program.  Additionally, the following criteria must be met: Their mortgage must have originated on or before January 1, 2008; They cannot afford their current loan; They must have made a minimum of six full payments on their existing first mortgage and did n... 10/16/2008

I have to wonder where the belief began that the only great deal in Real Estate is a bank owned property.  Granted, the bank does not want homes sitting on their books endlessly, however, they are not so desperate that they are going to sell it for pennies on the dollar.  I often find that typically one of the first questions a new buyer will ask me is: "do you have any bank owned properties?"  Do you know how I answer?  "Why is that important to you?" Interestingly, as I drive around previewing homes and showing clients I am seeing much better pricing in the private sector.  I realize that the media purports the numerous people who are upside-down in their homes, many of which are handing their homes over to the bank.  However, there are just as many people who simply want to move.  Th... 10/09/2008