Portland Oregon Rose City Blog

Real Estate is a funny thing. We all know that the purchase of real property can be a great hedge against inflation. Most of the savvy investors follow a game plan in the Stock Market of by low and sell high.

Yet when it comes to the purchase of real estate we often see emotions rule the day neglecting what seems to be a sound business strategy.

Have you been sitting back watching and waiting? Are you missing that great opportunity in the purchase of a home or investment?

Don't let your emotions rule your world. Purchasing homes when others are sitting back waiting for the news to tell you it is time to buy will only put you in competition and cause you to pay more for what may be a great price today.

Call me today at ( 503 ) 515-8889 or sign up for those free emails at www.househuntportland.com 

I know I know, today is a perfect day. To perfect to talk about the gloomy subject of foreclosures and short sales. But in fact many people will be getting those lender letters notifying them of the lender's intent to collect. Still many more have already received those letters and do not know where to turn.

You have choices. Dan a buyer of a great Mt. Tabor home came across this very problem. The potential for foreclosure or a short sale opportunity had just come to light as we reviewed the Title report on this Victorian fixer upper in Mt. Tabor a neighborhood of Portland Oregon.

Now folks this is not my first dance. I have been down this road many times before. I assured Dan I would do every thing in my power to procure the sale of this house for him. But it would take hard work, and as the Listing agent was really inexperienced at this I would have to solve the issues for all parties. After a few brief phone calls all were on board and we had a desire by all parties to work this out. To view the rest of this story follow the link to Dan's Short_Sale_Nightmare and how we worked it out.

Tuesday Morning after Memorial Day Weekend. Did you have a good weekend. Did all your plans go the way you hoped?

Well Get ready, because summer is Coming. Yes here in the fabulous Pacific Northwest we still will get those occassional days of cool weather and a few rain drops. But that is just the way it is and Summer is on its way so Buck up and get ready.

Don't forget to check out the Rose_Festival_Calendar_of_Events for the 100 year anniversary of Portland Oregon's annual event in the Rose City. All the action and activities begin in just a couple of more days.

The weather today is beautiful with a Bright Blue sky and temperature's are expected to reach upwards to the mid to high 80's and remain that way for the entire week.

Yep summer is coming. are you ready? Lets get after it.

Mass Transit has always been the pet project of Portlander's every since the days of the Monorail_at_Seattle_Center  built in the 1960's for the Worlds fair in 1962.

Today's Transit system in Portland Oregon is constantly expanding with the use of Street cars     and the recently completed completed Yellow Line below which runs North on Interstate ave.

Tri-Met's Max Light rail system's Yellow line on Interstate avenue also includes many Sculptures along the way. See pictures below.

These pictures of the Art Work on Interstate avenue in Portland Oregon are Close ups and do not depict the full size of the work.

A couple of more examples of the fascinating art work to be found along the way while commuting on Tri-Mets Yellow Line in North Portland.

There are a lot of things to enjoy in Portland Oregon. Certainly our love of art is among those.

Good Morning from Portland Oregon. I hope today turns out to be a great day for you wherever you may be.

Yesterday as the title of this article and the opening line to a great song from the Beatles, talks a little about the past.

Two days ago I made mention of my intent to begin taking pictures of portland Oregon and placing them on my web site. I did just that. I then wrote what I thought was a pretty great article ( patting myself on the back) about those Portland_Oregon_Photo's_of_Mt._Tabor  neighborhood.

I guess I was about half way done with the article when the sun which was on the rise started to hit the window just right and I for a moment was typing blind. The next thing I know the Laptop had frozen up as I must have pushed the wrong button some how.

I turned and left the Laptop for a couple of minutes and went off to get a fill-up on the coffee. When I returned the Suns glare had lifted and the cursor was blinking.

So presuming all was right with the world I finished my fabulous creation and bundled everything up and went out to greet the day. Most days I have a very busy real estate schedule and yesterday was no different.

It was late evening yesterday before I got back on the computer and found that the glitch in the sun was a fatal error. The fabulous article ( more words of self appreciation ) did not save.

Ehh! What are you gonna do? Write it again and go on. For Yesterday is Yesterday.

This morning as I stir for the last time from that slumber that is so sweet I notice a brightness to the room. What time is it. Wholly Crow it is a full on Bright busting through the Skylights into my Bedroom.

Are you kidding me. It is only 6:05 AM. Wow, okay then. I guess we can say that the shift in time is official. The dark dreary mornings are past in Portland Oregon.

I think today I will do something that I have been wanting to do for some time. Along with the business of tending to my very busy real estate schedule, I am going to start cronicleing the neighborhoods for my web site rite here at www.portlandrealproperty.com . For those of you have checked out the web pages provided herein. You will notice over the last few months a constant change.

About a month or so ago I started to add neighborhoods to the web site. I am now going to start taking and adding the photo's and links to those neighborhoods. I will also create some local flavor shots that should be real interesting. Stay tuned for that.

And welcome to the Sun in fabulous Portland Oregon.

I don't know about your but I hate this time of year in Portland Oregon. Last week we have beautiful weather all week long in the low to mid 70's. Then the weekend hits and brings in the overcast Grey Clouds and eventual rain. Temperatures drop to the 50's and everything slows down.

This morning as I sat in my favorite chair at the University Coffee house I couldn't help but notice the dour mood displayed on the patrons faces. Indeed, at that time of the morning when the sun is shining the line for coffee would be fairly long and those in line would have plenty of bright and cheery things to talk about.

No long lines this morning. Patrons straggled in dressed warmly in coats and sweaters. Moods were as damp as the streets from the constant drizzle. The only bright spots were provided by those infectiously happy folks who tried their best to paint the glass half full.

As I bring up the news a glimmer of hope begins to come across my face. The weather forecast for the week hopes to be warm again. But for now we have the drizzle to contend with, in this Slow Moving Blues of Spring in Portland Oregon.

This is the perfect day to take a little time out to smell the Roses here in Portland the City of Roses. Enjoy your Sunday.

Portland Oregon the City of Roses will celebrate its Centennial Celebration this year. With a gala events schedule Event_Calendar  like none other.

A fireworks display will be held on Friday June 1 at about 9:45PM at waterfront park. The Starlight Parade an annual event held in the evening will begin at 8:30PM the following day on June 2nd.

The Granddaddy event of all the Grand Floral Parade Begins at 10:00AM at the Memorial Coliseum and winds its way across the Broadway Bridge and into down town Portland.

OF course the Fleet of visiting Naval ships will be in and tied up at Water Front Park for tours and your viewing pleasure. Don't miss this years Sailing Ships, and as always the Grand Prix racers   at Portland Oregon's International Raceway on June 8-10. Races throughout the day see event Schedule for times and prices.

So come one come all to Portland Oregon as we celebrate 100 years of Tradition in the City of Roses.

Good Morning Portland. Ahhhh today is one of those days. The skies are clear and full of Blue. There is not a breeze in the air. Chances are this is going to be a great Golf day.

Portland is blessed to have many fine Golf Courses public and private. My son in law has the freedom in his work to take extended lunches. In fact is company actually encourages his involvement. New to golf this last year they try to encourage him to golf often for great deals are often struck on the golf course.

I will do my part and take one for the team. Glendoveer  golf course located in Portland's eastside at 141 and NE Glisan is a 36 hole public golf course. It is one of my favorite places to golf. The west 18 is a fairly easy course and the East 18 is much more challenging. You can tune up in the driving range before you go out. A full service restaurant and bar is on site to wind down afterwards.

So it looks like it's going to be a mid day 9 to me. I hope you enjoy your day as well in Portland the City of Roses.

New to the scene in North Portland's University Park is University Park Coffee house located at Fiske and Lombard. A pleasant open space with lots of light is catching on fast.

Located in the University Park Building this Coffee house is perfect for Locals and students of the University of Portland as well with its wireless internet connection comfortable seating and friendly people.

Some years ago while still in College I worked occasionally for a day labor organization for extra cash. You could go to the little warehouse and stand in line with others to await a job. Some jobs would last a day some would last a week or more. Many of the jobs were door hanging jobs.

My first job with them was to hang soap samples on the front door of all the homes in a neighborhood. I was paid for how many samples were handed out. That is when I found out that Portland Oregon was a test city for corporations and others for the US.

Because Portland has such a diverse community, Portland had become a sounding board for the rest of the nation. Businesses would give there product to the community. If it was received well the the product would be launched nation wide.

Spring time in Portland Oregon a time when glimpses of summer and shades of winter mix. This week the weather promises to be warm and sunny.

It is the diversity of the weather that drives some people mad while others take it with a grain of salt.

Much like other things in our life. Take for instance Gas prices. They go up and they go down. They do not remain constant for very long and there does not seem to be any rhyme or reason why they change.

Yet as I look around, I do not see any less cars on the road. I do not see any crowds of protestors. We all just seem to take it with a grain of salt because we are the test guinea pigs. The pulse of the nation. What we take is what you will get.

Recent reports flying around the newsways in Portland Oregon is that an Investment group spearheaded by Magic Johnson is looking into opening a Sports and 24 hour Fitness center On Martin Luther King Blvd at Alberta Street at the head of The Alberta Arts District.

The Proposed center would be built in conjunction with the Vanport Square Phase III development featuring 47000 sq ft with a NBA size basket ball court, retail and office space. An offstreet parking facility is also planned. If aproved construction is to begin early 2008 with completion set for the end of the year.

See www.portlandrealproperty.com/437 for a real estate investment opportunity 1/2 block from proposed above development.

Around the Water cooler the following topic was raised. What is up with consumer confidence? In terms of purchasing property we should just be over run with Buyer's. After all buying low and selling high is everyone goal Right?

The American psyche is a funny thing. I will give you a little historical perspective. I started selling Real Estate in 1988 in a small town in Oregon. At the time interest rates for a home purchase were at about 10.5%. Over the next 12 months interest rates continued to fluctuate between 10% to 10.5 %

Home purchases remained fairly steady during that period of time. As the economy began to improve the interest rates began to fall. The faster they fell the slower the market got. It seemed as if the buyers at one point had completely dried up. In fact what was happening was that buyers were reluctant to buy as long as interest rates were falling.

How low will they go seemed to be the mantra. When interest rates bottomed out at 9.5% and began to rise, consumers felt that it was a temporary thing and they chose to wait to see if the rates would resume there downward trend.

They Did not. In fact they began gaining by leaps and bounds. When interest rates climbed above 10.5% on there way to 11.5% I had so much business I could not handle it all.

From a business standpoint, the consumer does not always follow what would normally be a logical buying pattern. Instead like most things in life people are motivated by emotion rather than business logic.

Portland is truly a beautifull City to live in. For years it has been known as the City of Roses. Known for its many Parks, renown Rose Gardens and its summertime gala event the Rose Festival.

Through out this web site you will be able to find links to all kinds of Portland acitivites. The web site is in a constant state of additions and revisions in order to keep the content up to date. Please stop by often, wont you?

The focus of this blog will be on local real estate happenings and community events.