Homeowners’ Tips

Some of Portland’s senior residents will verify that The Reader’s Digest was once flat-out the most popular magazine in the country. I don’t know how far back that began, but at one point at least, it was the time-saving way Americans kept up with what was being published in the other magazines (there were lots of them). RD boiled lengthy articles down to a couple of pages.

TV is probably what spelled its decline. The internet almost finished the job—but the Digest is still going in various forms. When you come across it online, it never fails to show a whole lineup of almost irresistible Click Me sidebars. A few weeks ago, for instance, local homeowners might have been snared by “20 Secret Hiding Places for Valuables in Your Home” (if your home will host an open house anytime soon, that one would be fortuitous); “Prepare to Be Amazed By the […]

2016-08-05T22:47:44+00:00

July Maintenance Checklist

In addition to our Independence, the Fourth of July also marks a sort of mid-year pause. Families with kids have by now shuffled them into summertime activities. All graduates have graduated; the gardens have all been started (and some parts of it, even harvested!). This used to be the season for television series reruns, resulting in measurably less TV-watching; but cable programmers have obliterated that notion—and this year, the Rio Olympics will draw much attention back indoors.

But for the most part, the beginning of July marks OTY: the undeniably Outdoor Time of Year. It’s the sunny, healthy time of year; time to get out of the kitchen and see how much outdoor cooking can get done. It just feels healthier—even if there are just as many calories in a burger cooked outdoors as in the kitchen.

For northwest homeowners who have been telling themselves they would get around to the annual home maintenance chores pretty soon, it’s also the time of year when […]

2016-07-05T19:17:07+00:00

Capitalize on Energy Savings

It’s been a welcome relief for northwest homeowners as the Bad Old Days of the energy crisis recede from memory. $4+-a-gallon gasoline, huge electric, propane and fuel oil bills that were the subject of national outrage have faded from the headlines. We’re now busy attending to the current challenges of daily living—and OPEC’s machinations aren’t front and center!

But for those Portland Metro area homeowners more attuned to what’s likely to be headed our way sooner or later, now is as good a time as any to prepare for the next spate of energy price surprises. And there are many new products—some in development, some already on the market—that soon could put a serious dent in the damage tomorrow’s energy bills might wreak.

Some of the interesting innovations:

  • Bladeless Fans. These are already out there—the weird-looking magnifying-glass-shaped electric fans that suck hot air in through the base and push a steady stream of air out via an impeller. The no-blades design promises to make them safer, […]
2016-06-21T01:58:02+00:00

Homes for Sale? Think Food!

It’s interesting to look into how many ways the universe of food —be it restaurants, markets, cooking, gardening or eating—intersects with the world of real estate. The connections are many and important. That’s true from the moment a future Portland Metro Area homeowner begins to look into the current crop of local homes for sale.

We commonly think about residential real estate predominantly in terms of shelter. The listed homes for sale are vying to become the roof over our head; the place where the family will be blissfully protected from the elements. But since it will also be the place where we prepare our meals, store the groceries, and experience the holiday celebrations and feasts that will be remembered forever as key moments in our family’s life together.

Food is central to all these things—it’s why homes for sale that can claim superior kitchens have a clear advantage over those with cramped layouts or dated appliances. The popularity of formal dining rooms may be waning, but the […]

2016-06-17T15:47:26+00:00

One Tactic for House Flipping Success

Most house flipping veterans can look back on their successful projects and place them in either of two columns. Either they were intended to be quick flips—turnarounds where speed was a prime ingredient because of an original tactical decision—or they were not.

The quick flips depend on speedy, focused action in three of the four phases a house flipping project entails. In the opening phase— lining up the capital—speed is not important. Of course, nothing else will materialize unless financing for the property is obtainable when needed—but there is no timer ticking away. Once it is likely that funding will be obtainable, that’s when the clock starts.

Phase Two—finding, negotiating, and closing on a suitable property—is a real foot race. A quick flip only materializes after a suitable property has been identified. “Suitable” in this context means a home that can be made attractive in the Portland Area market without requiring extensive and time-consuming rehabilitation—cosmetically challenged, but not structurally unsound. If it is already on the market, it’s probable […]

2016-06-09T15:55:58+00:00

Loan or Line of Credit

There’s a reason the English language’s greatest playwright was called “The Bard of Avon” and not “The Bard of Portland.” In Hamlet, for instance, despite the fact that Shakespeare’s Polonius character is supposed to be a wise counselor, he gets at least one piece of advice wrong when he tells his son, “Neither a borrower nor a lender be.

This is flat-out terrible advice—at least for many northwest homeowners.  

The thing about borrowing is that if done prudently, borrowing can free some of the value a given local residence represents. There are two different ways that happens:

First off, there is the property’s stored value (the equity). As each monthly mortgage payment whittles down the amount owed to the lender, that equity builds—more so if the value of Portland Metro real estate happens to be growing in general, which has been true lately. Unlike the other daily living expenses a family incurs, the dollars […]

2016-05-28T21:22:30+00:00

Springtime Inspiring Home Décor

There is something about spring that gets everybody at least thinking about fixing up the house, and it’s that time of year again. Throughout the length and breadth of the area, home décor decisions are being pondered. Ambitious landscaping and fix-up plans are being laid, budgets drawn, and troops assembled (the troops will be armed with paint brushes and rollers, hedge clippers and rakes).

Perhaps it’s the weather; perhaps the angle of the sun—or maybe it’s prompted by the spring cleaning—for whatever the reason, this time of year is when we look around the house and decide changes will be made!!

It’s also the time of year when occasional disagreements between husbands and wives have been known to crop up. The Home Improvement section of the realtor® web site just ran a feature titled “When Couples Disagree About Home Décor,” which promised to tell who the winner is in such arguments. […]

2016-04-16T15:27:01+00:00

Home Inspection or Offer? Which Comes First?

A reasonable question posted recently on a real estate website can open an interesting discussion. It’s one that touches on a fundamental component of most northwest real estate sales.

The question was, “Can I request a home inspection before I make an offer on the home?

The answer from the moderator was, “I can’t think of one good reason why you would do this.” The moderator should have thought a little harder! And the truth is, for any would-be buyer who has never been involved in buying or selling a home, it’s a pretty logical question.

Take a fictional example. We have a young couple who have no previous real estate experience. Their parents never walked them through how they had gone about buying the homes they’d been raised in, and although both husband and wife have college degrees, neither has been exposed to the first thing about buying and selling a house (this is a hole […]

2016-04-07T00:08:53+00:00

The Future of Home Automation

Home automation is going mainstream.

There: I said it. We all knew it would happen, but some of us hoped it would happen later. The prospect of our house being smarter than we are has been out there since as far back as when the first Terminator movie hit VHS (or was it Beta? Or Betamax?)…

Anyway, the “Smart House” idea has always had such a science-fictiony patina, it allowed many homeowners the valiant hope that the whole thing might be delayed—at least until there was a flying car parked in every garage. Now it looks like our hopes are soon to be dashed. At least, that seemed to be the news coming out of Spain last week.

According to reports from last week’s Mobile World Congress assembled in Barcelona, “the IoT was pervasive.” If you haven’t heard what “the IoT” is, maybe you’d better sit down—

The IoT is short for “the Internet of Things.” It’s a logical development. For home automation […]

2016-03-03T23:31:36+00:00

A ‘Moving’ Experience

When a Portland home seller tallies the total financial impact of selling the old and then buying the new home, in addition to the closing and brokerage costs, the expense of the move has to be reckoned, too. It may seem like an afterthought, but especially for larger homes and families, it’s a cost significant enough that it bears some economy-minded preparations.

Although doing the lion’s share yourself is the surest way to bring that price tag down, it will also add a load to an occasion that’s already stressful enough. “Moving day” can prod your already surging emotional stress meter further into the red if you are trying to do everything yourself (or relying on friends). Since this is such a common hurdle, a good deal of wisdom has developed that can keep potential Portland moving day misery to a minimum. Here’s a few of our tips we’ve gathered over years of real estate work:

  1. Gather ye boxes while ye may…far ahead of time. Yes, you can certainly […]
2016-01-18T17:46:20+00:00