Selling your home? Get a free Home Value Report   Buying a home? Search all homes for sale Today, we’ll discuss what’s happening in the Portland real estate market. We did see our seasonal slowdown this winter, but so far in 2016, the amount of market activity is staggering. Right now, we have a 1.2 month supply of inventory. That means if no other homes came on the market, it would take just over a month to sell all the homes that are currently listed. Buyers are having a hard time finding homes, but the low inventory puts sellers in a great position, especially if they are priced between $300,000 and $350,000. Homes in that price range are selling extremely fast.   Looking at the latest numbers for December, it’s clear that Portland had the best December in the real estate market since 1992. There were a ton of closings, and that inventory level of 1.2 months is the lowest we’ve seen since 1999. The total number of days on market did increase to about 56 days, but homes are still selling incredibly fast. In fact, November 2015 had 2 months of inventory, which dropped to just over 1 month of inventory in December. Also, prices have risen significantly over the past 12 months. From 2014 to 2015, the average sales price rose 6.5% from $333,000 to $354,000. The median sales price rose by 7.9% from $285,500 to $308,000. We expect that prices will continue to increase in the near future. Ultimately, if you’ve been waiting to put your home on the market, now is the time to list your property! If you have any questions about today’s video, give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you!

 Selling your home? Get a free Home Value Report   Buying a home? Search all homes for sale If you're thinking about selling your home, here are some things to consider. We've seen a slight shift in the market since 2015. Now is a great time for Portland sellers. Here's why. We only have one month of inventory on the market. There are few homes on the market now. As a seller, that puts you in a great position to sell quickly and for top dollar. It's a matter of supply and demand. Your home will be in high demand, and you will have little to no competition.   Pricing has gone up significantly over the past year. Since we've just come through one of the worst economic downturns ever, many sellers are stuck in the mindset that their home is not worth very much. That is simply not true. We've seen a real rise in home values over the past five years or so. If you've been on the fence about selling, your home is probably worth a lot more right now than you think it is!   The spring selling market is just about to start. Seasonality does have an effect on when you should put your home on the market. We did sell a lot of homes in November and December, but inventory right now is even lower than it was then. That's because most people wait to list their home in the spring. In the next 90 days, we will experience a surge in inventory. Beat the rush and list now, while you still have the competitive advantage!   If you have any questions, give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you take advantage of this hot market!

.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; height: auto; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } Selling your home? Get a free Home Value Report   Buying a home? Search all homes for sale Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:8.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:107%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} If you’re a buyer in our market, it’s likely that you will face some bidding wars on your path to the perfect home. If you want to win a bidding war, you’ve got to make yourself as desirable as possible as a seller. Today, we are going to give you 4 tips on how to do just that. Here they are: 1.  Get a pre-approval When you come to the table with an offer and a pre-approval, you are definitely going to be more appealing in the seller’s eyes. Not only do you want to have a pre-approval, you also want to have your offer underwritten as well, which greatly strengthens your position in a bidding war. 2.  Have a 20% down payment if possible If you can put 20% down on a home, your offer will be much stronger than those putting down 5%, or offering no down payment at all. This will show the strength of your offer, as well as eliminate private mortgage insurance.  3. Have all your paperwork in order You want to have a nice, clean contract that a listing agent can quickly go through. This will definitely play in your favor. 4.  Forget about lowball offers In a seller’s market like ours, lowball offers just won’t work. Homes that are positioned well are receiving multiple fair offers, so they won’t even waste their time listening to a low ball one. A bonus tip for you is to eliminate contingencies when you go into a bidding war. Waiving the inspection and appraisal is not ideal, but it could help you out if you really want the home. If you have any questions for us, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. Can’t wait to hear from you!

.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; height: auto; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } Selling your home? Get a free Home Value Report Buying a home? Search all homes for sale Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:8.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:107%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} A lot of you may not know this, but I started my career in real estate in new construction sales 6 ½ years ago. I've worked with one of the largest builders in the state of Idaho and my family has been building and developing for the past 30 years. Today I’m going to talk to you about the four biggest mistakes to avoid when buying a new construction home. Here they are: 1.  Not hiring a real estate agent When you go into a new construction project, what they don’t tell you is that the sales agent on site is typically an employee of the home builder. So if something were to go wrong in the transaction, the reality is they are going to protect the builder. That’s when you want somebody on your side (an agent) representing your best interests. 2. Not doing your research When you don’t do background research on the builder you are working with, you open yourself up to a lot of things that can go wrong. This is a big investment, so you want to do your due diligence making sure you hire the right person.  3. Not reading the fine print Builders’ contracts are the most complicated contracts in the real estate industry. Builders spend a lot of money on these contracts so that they protect their best interests, so you want to be able to know exactly what the contract entails. 4. Not having a professional inspection done Buyers we work with think that because a home is new with a warranty, an inspection is unnecessary. That’s an optimistic way of viewing things, but you still want to make sure you have an inspection done because little things come up all the time and whether they are intentional or not, you want to make sure you are buying a fully functional home. If you have any questions for us about buying new construction, please give us a call. Like I said, I have a lot of experience dealing with these types of transactions, and would be glad to lend you a hand.

.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; height: auto; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }   Selling your home? Get a free Home Value Report Buying a home? Search all homes for sale Today, I want to cover a topic I'm passionate about outside of real estate: getting healthy. I'll explain what you need to do in order to eat healthy and how to find a local gym that's right for you! If you're like me, you probably make a new work out plan every week. You try one, but can't stick to it, or you're always running out of time to get started in the first place. The best place to start is finding a local gym that meets your needs. Find one and get a coach who will hold you accountable!  When you have a coach who holds you accountable to accomplishing your goals, you greatly increase the probability that you'll make progress. Since I got a coach, I feel so much better. I've been good about going to the gym and I'm eating better too. Also, when I'm not in the gym, I'm keeping more active than I would have if I never hired a coach. Another thing I did was get a Fitbit, which helps me stay motivated and holds me accountable.  I know this is a bit off topic, but I'm not just here to help you with real estate; I want you help you live well. Everyone struggles with getting healthy, but it's just a matter of finding someone or something to push you. Trust me, it gets easier the more you do it and you'll feel a lot better after! If you have any questions about this topic, or if you need real estate assistance of any kind, I'm always available to chat. Give me a call or shoot me an email at any time - I look forward to hearing from you!

.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; height: auto; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } Selling your home? Get a free Home Value Report Buying a home? Search all homes for sale As you're beginning your Portland home search, I have one very important thing for you to look for in a home.  What I'm talking about is the macro area, or the location. What is the city that you could see yourself living in? Different places offer different lifestyles, so choose a city that will suit your needs. Are you looking for more parks? Do you want better transportation? Or would you prefer more walkable cities? Once you have narrowed down the city that you want to live in, start searching the different neighborhoods within the city. After that you can really start digging in and looking around for the best homes within those neighborhoods.  If you can't find a suitable home within the neighborhoods that you like, I suggest that you be patient. A home will pop up sooner or later. You don't want to make a quick decision on such a large purchase.  If you need assistance buying a home in Portland, please don't hesitate to contact me. I would be more than happy to help you find a good home in a great neighborhood!

.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; height: auto; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } Selling your home? Get a free Home Value Report Buying a home? Search all homes for sale The Portland market is awfully competitive right now, so working with a real estate professional is highly recommended. To help you out, we want to discuss what you need to know before hiring an agent! There are thousands of agents in the Portland area, so it's crucial you know how to identify a great agent. When the market gets tough, most agents leave the industry, so it's important to find an agent who is experienced enough to help you through any situation.  Most agents don't do much to market your home; they simply put your home in the MLS, place a sign in your yard, and pray that another agent comes along to sell the home. We are not a reactive real estate company, we are proactive. We price watch, looking at the market daily to see if we need to make any adjustments necessary to get the seller an offer in a very reasonable time frame. Our goal is to always sell within 30 days! We prospect with two full-time sales prospectors whose sole job is to find buyers for our sellers' homes. They are constantly on the phones, door-knocking in neighborhoods, and jumping on any and all leads within five minutes. We are proactive about getting homes sold, and the results are there to prove it!  If you want a better idea of what we can do to help you accomplish your real estate goals, reach out to us via phone or email with any of your questions or to set up a free consultation. We would love to hear from you!