Lockbox Activity

I saw this graphic on our Portland MLS system and thought it was pretty encouraging. For everyone that isn't a Realtor, here's the little explanation. Every time we are showing clients homes, we use our realtor key to get into the potential homes. Once we use our key on the lockbox it sends a signal so you can track who is going into your listings.

So basically this means that there have been 13.3% more people out looking at houses for the week of 5/11/09 - 5/17/09. I have seen this on my listings as well. There has been a completely different buzz over the last couple of weeks. The rates did go up slightly though so this could be incentive to make a move. Get in before the rates aren't at record lows anymore.

Pearl District Community

As I walk around during the day, I have to give props to the Portland Development Commission, and the developers that envisioned what the pearl district has become today. I see the community atmosphere at places like Tanner Springs and Jamison Square every day. There are kids all over everywhere, splashing around and loving every minute of it. Meanwhile there are professionals, moms, dads, and just regular people sitting around and just taking in the nice weather. It's so nice to be able to take my laptop over there and get work done while having a park feel in the middle of the city.

I also love how they created wide sidewalks so that restaurants can have outside seating. It's not just bars having happy hours, but great little restaurants like Piazza Italia that create the community atmosphere. If you want an adult beverage, there are all kinds of options and you can walk from place to place in 2 minutes. By throwing in a grocery store, Safeway, and all of the small shops, there is no need to go anywhere else. If you are coming into the area, there is a great new Smart Park right at 9th and Lovejoy. It's sort of hidden behind the Station Place Tower, but it's there. My brother was in town a few weeks back and I think he only paid like $4.50 for a whole day! From there you're a block from the streetcar and can ride that anywhere in the city.

Overall, I just appreciate what they have done to turn a run down industrial zone into the hippest area in the city. If you ever want recommendations on happy hours or places to go, feel free to ask.

Sales Trends

Like everyone else, I've been reading all kinds of stats and figured in the news. Some have to do with housing, some with the stock market, and a little bit of everything in between. The one trend that I have been seeing lately is much more local. Every week we have a sales meeting on Tuesday. This week, we were showing month to date sales figures and 1 stat continues to stick out to me. Over the past 3 months we've had almost twice as many pending listing sales as we've had new listings. For example this month we have 61 pending listings, and only took 31 new listings.

I look at this as a very positive trend. Inventory has been a problem, and there were a lot of people scared to sell in this market. If we continue to see twice as many homes selling as coming on the market it will be a great trend. It will get us back to where we need to be regarding number of homes on the market.

I'm also seeing another odd trend which is multiple offers on homes. I've actually seen this several times over the last month. What's really strange is that I'll see homes that have been on the market for months and suddenly they have 3 offers in a weekend. This trend I can't explain. That's just the wackiness of real estate.

Overall, I just continue to see positive numbers coming out. I hope this trend continues and will continue to pass on all that I see.

iPod Robots

I think I need to find someone to do a study on how listening to your iPod removes all human qualities. I'm sure you've all seen it. Here's an example:

Yesterday I was walking down to the grocery store and I see a person walking directly toward me from about 1/2 a block away. Being that I'm a social person, I'll traditionally make eye contact and give a quick hello or nod. However, this on coming person has their iPod on, walked by me stiff as a board, head fixed, eyes staring 1000 miles away, and marched past me as if I wasn't even there.

So my question is this: why does an iPod make all of your other senses go away??? Obviously you can't hear as well, but how is it that you can no longer see, smell, touch or taste? Now I'm not positive this person couldn't taste, smell or touch, but they obviously could no longer see me or hear me.

I just think that this is setting a bad trend. This happens a half dozen times every time I walk around downtown. I'm not asking for every random person to stop and have a conversation with me, but acknowledge my presence. I'll give you a quick smile and hello or something along those lines, and we will both continue on our merry way. Portland prides itself on being a friendly city and a great community feel. I have no problem telling people from out of town that this is a great welcoming city. However, people like this make it difficult.

At times I too like to sport some tunes while I walk around town. Just because I am listening to music doesn't mean that the rest of the world doesn't exist. I can still give a wave, nod, and acknowledge other people. I don't think that's too much to ask. So, if you are walking around town with your iPod blaring, enjoy that music! Get into your music and dance and sing to it if you'd like. Just don't use it as a license to be rude as you pass by other people.

Frugal Portland - NY Times Article

I recently read the article 'Frugal Portland' by Matt Gross and thought it was pretty fascinating. It actually does give a pretty good account of the atmosphere I see as I walk around Portland on a daily basis. While I'm not convinced that a bike is the way to go, a stroll through the streets on a nice day is always solid.

This article does show how spoiled we are in Portland, though. I've been to a lot of other cities and it is not always easy to find good food. More importantly, if you do it is usually fairly expensive. In Portland, there are a handful of places you can go at any time and get a quick meal for under $10. While this writer thinks $25 is a bargain, that is expensive for a guy like me. I guess I do epitomize the 'frugal' Portlander. I'm always looking for a good happy hour, or a cheap meal. To be fair, I usually eat at home so I know what's going into my meals, but that's another story.

I can also say I've started to enjoy the availability of mass transit as well. When I was living in the suburbs, it was very easy to look at it as a waste of money. However my tune has changes somewhat. Not only is it convenient for people that live downtown, but if all of those people were driving around, it would make it even harder for everyone else to get around downtown and more importantly park! Parking always seems to be the issue when you drive downtown, and if there are fewer cars, at some point it will become easier. Now they just need to get the interstate bridge done, and find a way to widen I-5 through the rose quarter. I'm not going to hold my breath on that though.

Overall though, I would say Portland is a fairly inexpensive city to live in. You can always find exceptions, but if you take a little time to make yourself familiar with the city there are bargains to be had.

If you ever want recommendations, just ask as I'm full of them.

Common Mistakes Made By Sellers

- Not qualifying your real estate agent

Without an experienced real estate agent who is familiar with the ins and outs of the sale process, your home may languish on the market. These days I see a lot of agents that are only doing the job part time. If you are not a full time agent, you cannot keep up with the trends in the market. Be sure you have an agent that is familiar with the market and works at it full time.

- Starting too high on price

Your first 3 weeks on the market are going to be when your home gets the most traffic and interest. If you are too high to start, you will have buyers pass it by and they will never come back. The old adage of starting high and correcting it when it doesn’t work will not produce the results you are looking for. In many cases you will continue to chase the market down and lose more money than if you just started at a reasonable price.

- Waiting for a market rebound

The thing everyone needs to understand is that you are buying and selling in the same market. If you are waiting for your house to increase in value, the house you buy will have increased as well. So while you may get an extra $10k, $20k, or $30k, you will pay an $20k, $30k or more for the new home you are buying. The key is to try to maximize your dollar when selling, and make your money when you purchase your new home.

- Not making repairs

When a buyer looks at a house, they always assume that everything will cost $5000 or more to fix. A paint job is $5000. Getting the hardwood floors done is $5000. The list goes on and on. In actuality, these repairs can be done for a fraction of that cost, but most buyers are uneducated on the actual cost and secondly, want to use it as a tool to knock down the price. Either way, you could spend a small amount early on, or lose a lot of money down the road.

- Taking offers personally

No matter what the offer, remember that it’s not a personal attack on you or your home. Most people I have worked with over the years get insulted when someone comes in low on their house, but do the exact same thing when they are buying. You have to try to take the emotion out of the offer and look at it as a business transaction. If an offer is not what it should be, sit down, look at it, and figure out something realistic that can work. These days, you don’t want to let any buyers off the hook.

- Making your home hard to show

Anyone that has ever sold a house knows that it is an inconvenience. You have to keep it clean all the time, leave at inopportune times, and have people intruding on your personal space. It really isn’t an ideal situation for anyone. However, if you don’t allow people to come into your home, it will never sell. Try to do whatever you can to accommodate buyers getting in your home. Like a band aid, it’s easier just to get the process over quickly than to let it languish for months and months.

Economy News Headlines

Today I was looking at cnn.com and I see a headline that says, '20% of homeowners underwater '. In reading the article, it basically sites Zillow.com statistics that say 20% of homeowners owe more on their house than it is worth. Ok, that's a pretty simple and probably fairly accurate statistic. I would say that most people who bought their homes between late 2006 and early 2008 are probably in that boat. However, I have seen an increasing trend toward shock value vs. actual news, and it does bother me.

You could throw out statistics like this all day long. For example, 98% of car owners are underwater! Of course they are, cars are losing proposition from the beginning and most people know that going in. It doesn't , though, because people need their cars to get around. Just like homes! While homes are almost always a person's 'largest asset', they also serve a purpose. Values will start to climb and people will start to see equity again. That's not the important, though. What's important is that a home has a different kind of utility from other assets. You don't sleep inside of your stocks, bonds, or mutual funds. You sleep inside of your house. Once you have had life experiences and created memories, your house becomes your home.

When you look at it this way, it doesn't matter if you are slightly upside down in your house. Like stocks, you haven't actually lost the money unless you sell. If you have no reason to sell, then enjoy the utility your home brings and just wait for the value to return. If you do have to sell, just realize that you are buying in the same market. So while you may lose $30,000 on your house, the people you are buying from are in the same exact boat. Traditionally, I always like to think that if I lose $30,000 and the people I’m buying from would lose $50,000 so I'm actually $20,000 ahead. That's just a side note though.

The moral of my little rant is that the headlines are put out there to sell papers, advertising, or whatever, not to actually give you the news. Just be weary of what you read and just a little critical thinking to read between the lines before you chalk it up to gospel.

Consumer Confidence

As I always do, I was going through and reading articles about the economy and stumbled across this little fact:

On Tuesday, April 28, the Conference Board reported that its consumer confidence index rose 12.3 points to 39.2 in April. Economists had expected the index to increase to 29.5. It is the highest level since a November reading of 44.7 and is the largest jump since a gain of 13 points in November 2005. The index was benchmarked at 100 in 1985, a year chosen because it was neither a peak nor a trough in consumer confidence.

Once again, it may just be that I like to throw my rose colored glasses on once and a while, but I think the economy really has hit bottom and is starting to come up. I've seen activity in Real Estate starting to build, and I've also just seen the negative stories in the news start to dry up. Now I'm not sure if it's just because of the good ol' 'Swine Flu' giving them something new to talk about, or if the media really just can't find negative economic news. Either way, I'm ok with it and we'll just have to wait and see if it continues.