Landlords are starting to call again! - 04/28/08 08:57 AM
Recently I have been flooded with calls from landlords wanting to buy more investment properties. Why? Because here in the Washington County, Oregon area we have been seeing rent increases of upwards of $200 a month as the apartments are telling people that they have no vacancy.
The problem is for investors is the prices they could have bought these duplexes and triplexes for six months ago, have increased in price by $50,000 and now they are scrambling to find more.
If you are an owner of a duplex or a triplex in the Washington County, Oregon area and would … (6 comments)

Why can’t life always be so grand? - 04/27/08 04:12 PM
You have heard of the phrase why not when life hands you a lemon, make lemonade, right? Well, my 3 year old will be a big four on Monday, but while on vacation, she wasn't going to let the fact that it was raining spoil her fun! She made her own fun and why can't we all?
You see life is always throwing things at us, a flat tire, a down market, bad neighbors, sick, whatever it may be. So, why not turn those in to a positive and do something fun, and live life like no one else is watching, … (8 comments)

Life in the 80’s with the Coreys “You know who I’m talking about” - 04/27/08 10:08 AM
If you lived in the 80's, the two Coreys really couldn't be avoided. They seemed to be everywhere! But, since this is the Inspired by Movie Song contest, I thought I'd better step it up and bring out a Corey and Steven Spielberg for this contest!
Then to take it up from there, I decided to end my vacation by going to the houses where these next two films were made. I even added a 90's movie set for our younger viewers today.
What movie that you can't forget brought Corey Feldman and Steven Spielberg together in the 80's? Of course it was … (7 comments)

Day five of vacation – What do you mean I have to go back? - 04/25/08 10:25 PM
Part 1 (6:50am)
Since I got up before the rest of the family, I saw that the sun is out yet again. So I seized the opportunity and have grabbed my fishing pole and headed to the lake again, hoping to catch some not so awake fish.
Part 2 (6:58am)
Looks like the fish are safe, at least from me. The lake was not open yet. Who has ever heard of a lake having hours? I didn't see the hours, but the gate was closed to the lake. So, I guess I get to blog until everyone else is up and … (7 comments)

Washington County, Oregon home sales week in review by neighborhood (4/25/2008) - 04/25/08 07:48 PM
Today is Friday, April 25, 2008 and it is time for another breakdown of homes sales in the WashingtonCounty, Oregon market. This week was a little slow for sales, but we still had some movement in the market. I am now adding stats for expired listings to the weekly pages for each neighborhood because of the increase of over priced homes that are not selling.                                         
While this is not news, but if you price your home correctly, you still can have a quick sale.
Here is a breakdown of homes sales for the week by neighborhood. Just click on the link to … (1 comments)

Day Four of Vacation – What a Dismal Nitch - 04/25/08 02:30 AM
Part 1 (7:30am)
Mother Nature has decided to wake me up early again with sun coming through the sun roof, but I'm not going to let it get the best of me today. I got up and started breakfast and got the kids eating immediately!
Part 2 (8:30am)
The sun is still out, we are heading to the beach to have fun and since it is only a minute and a half away, we should beat any rain that should try to sneak in on us.
 
 
                                                                             
 
Part 3 (10:00am)
It's still sunny, so we are going to … (10 comments)

Day Three of Vacation – Mother Nature You Are Tease! - 04/24/08 10:54 AM
Part 1 (7:00am)
I'm a blogaholic! If you have read the previous posts about this vacation, you know we have seen snow and rain on the Oregon coast. Well, we are staying in a yurt with a skylight so we can look up at the sky and see the weather. This morning we got up early thanks to a surprise guest, the wonderful sun!
The kids' weren't up yet, so I decided to take the laptop to the beach and get my blog addiction out of the way, do some comments, and post about day two of our vacation.
Upon getting done at … (3 comments)

Day two of vacation – Maybe I can confuse the fish? - 04/23/08 10:05 AM
Part 1 (8am)
Well day one was a real bust as it snowed on the Oregon coast. What is up with that? We did have lots of fun watching the storms on the ocean from the car and the yurt. We also had to buy a space heater to keep the yurt around 65 degrees. That made sleeping last night a lot better than Sunday night where the yurt was at about 45 degrees!
So day two is being attacked with a whole different mindset. Since it is no longer snowing but is raining very heavily, I'm going to go the lake with … (6 comments)

I love my target market and here is why! (First time home buyers and families) - 04/22/08 11:32 AM
I thought about my target market recently, and I really have two, the first being family and the second is first time home buyers. Both of these groups involve more work, but the work to me is more satisfying.
You see, with kids I get the enjoyment of getting them to smile, as they know they are just as much a part of this as mom and dad. The first time home buyer is someone who I get to educate and teach the ins and outs of the home buying process.
I've targeted these two groups and I really enjoy them. … (17 comments)

Day one of vacation, we may be spending it in a blanket - 04/21/08 04:39 PM
My family and I decided to take a small vacation to the Oregon coast to go camping. When we planned this in February, we thought for sure it would be a lot warmer and dryer than it is on day one.
The latest snow fall ever recorded on the Oregon coast was in mid April 1956 and guess what it is doing here, right now, as we are camping!
Yep, snowing! Here is a picture, the Oregon coast is still beautiful, but I was hoping for about 20 degrees warmer!
                                              
Todd Clark - brokerKastings & AssociatesPhone: (503)524-9494Fax: (503)622-8739
 
… (15 comments)

Have you ever listed a home with perfect curb appeal? - 04/19/08 09:39 AM
The MLS said this home had amazing curb appeal. It also said the owners required a 2 hours notice to clean up before showings, which seemed a little weird to me, but if it helped sell the home then I was all for it! We already had a bunch of other homes to check out anyway.
We drove up and sure enough this home had curb appeal, but I wasn't sure what to say to my clients. I thought the MLS public comments and the house said it all, but when we got out and saw this, we now knew what … (21 comments)

How do I sell my home fast in this market? - 04/18/08 12:38 PM
I get this question a lot and I'm going to give you my secret question that I ask my clients  hat gets them their home sold quickly in any market!
If all other things are equal then ...?
If you ask this question it can get your home sold more quickly!


If all other things are equal, then if you landscape the yard it will sell faster.
If all other things are equal, then if you clean the carpet it will sell faster.
If all other things are equal, then if you include the appliances it will sell faster.
If all … (8 comments)

Washington County, Oregon home sales week in review by neighborhood (4/18/2008) - 04/18/08 12:22 PM
Today is Friday, April 18, 2008 and it is time for another breakdown of homes sales in the WashingtonCounty, Oregon market. This week was a little slow for sales, but we still had some movement in the market. I am now adding stats for expired listings to the weekly pages for each neighborhood because of the increase of over priced homes that are not selling.                                         
While this is not news, but if you price your home correctly, you still can have a quick sale.
Here is a breakdown of homes sales for the week by neighborhood. Just click on the link to … (0 comments)

OH, it is going to be a long week because of my new custom blog look - 04/14/08 11:41 PM
I love the new look you can give your blog, but with it, I am having to update every one of my posts, one by one! You see, I had formatted them for a full screen and the old blog format. Now it slightly shrinks each of my posts and they look a little bit off. The wording doesn't match the pictures and some lines jump early.
So, even though I'm known for writing a lot of posts, I may be taking some time off to fix things that this great new look has ruined for me!
See you soon,

… (18 comments)

Pizza Caboose… I haven’t been there since age 12, but my kids enjoyed it as much as I did when I was their age - 04/14/08 10:13 AM
Pizza Caboose is a great little pizza place in Tigard, Oregon and has been there as long as I can remember. It is owned by the same people that own the Tigard Bowling Alley. Both places are great, and when you combine them, it even makes it better!
Yesterday, I decided to let my kids experience the fun time I had as a kid watching the train go around the restaurant while we waited for our food. The wife and I looked at all the train memorabilia and pictures around the restaurant, that was a little more exciting to us.
But, as a … (1 comments)

The Three Little Pigs – Make sure your investment portfolio doesn’t blow down - 04/14/08 01:11 AM
I'm going to try to tie the Three Little Pigs story in to a story of three investors that I've watched over the past few years. Two are my clients and the third is one that another agent in my office works with. I will let you guess which ones are mine.
If you remember the story of the Three Little Pigs, the first one made his house of straw and when the big bad wolf came along, (for this story the wolf will be the slowing real estate market) he huffed and puffed and blew the pig's house down.
This … (6 comments)

I was secret shopped and I passed with flying colors - 04/12/08 07:48 PM
I don't know if you know what a secret shopper is, but it is a person that is paid, usually by the owner, to go in to a store or restaurant, pretend to be a customer and evaluate the service, and if a restaurant, the food.
I got a call the other day from a potential buyer for one of my listings and they asked the usual questions that buyers ask when they are shopping for a home. Of course, I asked them questions as well, just to get a feel if they were serious.
I got all her information before proceeding, but … (15 comments)

Washington County, Oregon home sales week in review by neighborhood (4/11/2008) - 04/11/08 11:14 AM
Today is Friday, April 11, 2008 and it is time for another breakdown of homes sales in the WashingtonCounty, Oregon market. This week was a little slow for sales, but we still had some movement in the market. I am now adding stats for expired listings to the weekly pages for each neighborhood because of the increase of over priced homes that are not selling.                                         
While this is not news, but if you price your home correctly, you still can have a quick sale.
Here is a breakdown of homes sales for the week by neighborhood. Just click on the link to your … (1 comments)

Short Sales, Bank Owned and the Notice of Default Lists - 04/09/08 11:38 PM
More than just investors are now looking at these lists. Just a few years ago, only the hardcore investors looked at these lists for a possible way to buy a house. But, now I'm finding that more and more first time home buyers, move ups, and move downs are also looking at these lists and the competition is getting intense sometimes.
I agree that sometimes these homes can be a great deal, but you have to know what to look for and a lot of time it really is "buyer beware". The reason that it worked so well for investors when … (3 comments)

How to ensure your house won’t sell even in the best of markets - 04/07/08 02:02 PM
This is my list of top 10 things you can do to help your agent not sell your house. Why do I publish this list? Personally, I think it is important for sellers to know that these things are needed to sell a home. There is a possibility that your agent is afraid to offend you, so they aren't going to mention the things you need to do to get your home sold.
This is the list I give people when I take their listing after it has expired with another agent. If you don't know what the expired list is, … (14 comments)

I Live and Die when Spring arrives, but I wouldn’t change a thing - (Spring Inspiration & Positive Views) - 04/06/08 11:25 AM
I love spring, I mean, love spring! The sun comes out, yet it isn't too hot to do things at 3pm. The rains that are associated with the Pacific Northwest winters disappear, and the beauty that all that rain promises, starts to bloom. This is also where I start to die, for you those of you who have allergies, you know what I mean. The noses starts to run, the eyes start to itch, but you just can't help going out in it. You have too!
Then at the same time of year, baseball starts up and we get to go … (20 comments)

Don’t delay an offer or you will lose out! - 04/05/08 09:17 AM
"The house has been on the market 2 months, we can wait!" "We want to think on it." "I know you have time today to show that new listing and I agree it does look like a good price, but we would just rather go out Saturday."
These are all quotes I've heard in the last 3 weeks and every one of these quotes costs my buyers a home that they wanted! I love my clients and when I sit down with them in the office, I tell them if you love a home...DON'T WAIT or you could lose it.
You … (6 comments)

I was lucky enough to meet Princess Jennifer (She is just as sweet in person) - 04/04/08 05:08 PM
OK, for you who don't know who I'm talking about, I'm talking about Jennifer Bukaty. And though we live in the same area, have talked on the phone a few times, chatted via e-mail and via posts, and are only about 5 minutes apart at times, I was never lucky enough to meet her in person.
Well, yesterday I had an inspection that had me driving right past her office, so I took a chance and pulled in. She was a whole five minutes away and said she would be right back so we could meet.
Jennifer comes across as one … (10 comments)

Washington County, Oregon home sales week in review by neighborhood (4/4/2008) - 04/04/08 09:40 AM
Today is Friday, April 4, 2008 and it is time for another breakdown of homes sales in the Washington County, Oregon market. This week was a little slow for sales, but we still had some movement in the market. This week, I've started to add stats for expired listings to the weekly pages for each neighborhood because of the increase of over priced homes that are not selling. 
While this is not news, but if you price your home correctly, you still can have a quick sale.
Here is a breakdown of homes sales for the week by neighborhood. Just click on … (1 comments)

Put yourself in my shoes, what would you do now? - 04/02/08 11:25 PM
As I walk down the street, I see many people in many different professions, but have I ever thought about them and what they do and how they do it? Have they ever looked at me, saw my name badge and thought about what I do and how they could do it better?
So, put yourself in my shoes and tell me what would you do now? This really isn't for other real estate agents, this is for everyone else in the free world. Why? Because today I was told about a networking group and they were giving the task of … (20 comments)

My most special and beautiful date - 04/02/08 12:34 AM
This Friday, I will have my cell phone off and be out on a date with someone very special. I wasn't very popular in school, I was skinny and kind of a nerd. There I said it. I was never asked by a girl to a dance... I'm not even sure I could dance if I wanted to.
So, my choice to meet girls and avoid the dancing was to become the Disc Jockey. Girls would come and talk to me because they had to if they wanted to hear their favorite song. I guess it worked, as that was how … (30 comments)

 
Helping Families Home is a blog set up to help families find that perfect home for them. I have a family and I understand how hard it can be to find a home that everyone is happy with. Let me help you find that home and help your family home.


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