Okay, granted: a new family home won’t fit under the tree…

This year, Portland TVs have been filled with commercials that mix Santa with new

automobiles.  If you believe the ads, a number of automakers apparently offer models that will fly

like reindeer onto driveways for big boys and girls who are sufficiently nice.  One do­gooder is

portrayed stitching up Santa’s ripped tunic in an act of selfless un­naughtiness that earns him a

new sedan on the big day.

We are pleased to say we haven’t seen a National Association of REALTORS

Santa and elves flying a new home onto a surprised family’s driveway, but the idea is no more

divorced from reality than Santa’s barnful of vintage Mercedes (it looks like he loves the red

coupe best).  If you’ve never thought about shopping for a home during the year-­end holiday

season, you might be surprised to consider that in some cases this is a very fortuitous time of year

for home sales.  Aside from the few who can actually give such a fantastic gift (it actually

happens!), there are a couple of other reasons why holiday Portland metro area home sales do […]

At holiday time, Portland homeowners can count on being flooded with decisions.  For everything from the extent of front yard decorations to the menu decisions for family gatherings, more than anything, ‘tis the season for organization and planning.  Homeowners have done their best to minimize the likelihood of travel-related scheduling emergencies—never mind the weird weather patterns that make that a coin-toss.  They’ve either succeeded or failed in syncing their gift-shopping to take advantage of sales—although this year, 1-day sale announcements seem to be popping up and disappearing as fast as Whack-a-Moles.  2014’s calendar also reduced the number of days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, so there’s been less time to get everything done…
Given all that, Portland metro area homeowners can scarcely be faulted if they haven’t given a lot of thought to holiday tip giving: who, how much…the usual conundrum.  We thought we would do some current research and offer everyone some guidance, but we should warn you: we didn’t find much.
We thought the answer would lie with Dr. Wm. Michael Lynn, the tipping universe’s reigning academic expert.  In case you never suspected there […]