One of the hardest things to find is a small, inexpensive starter type home that has a shop. Most people have shops on acreage but not everyone can afford that. If you are that person that needs shop space for a home business, extra cars, storage, or for actual shop space, I have a house I want you to see.
Located at 2878 Livingston St NE, this home is located in the Lansing neighborhood. With the original hardwood floors, this home has that solid 1950's construction. I won't lie to you...the kitchen could use some cosmetic updating such as new counters and flooring, but it is very usable and it is a really large kitchen for the size of the house. The bathroom has been taken care of for you and is updated.
So...if you like the warm feeling of those 50's homes with the oak floors, want a nice sized flat yard, a smaller house, but an amazing shop, call me. I want to show you this house. You can mosey on to look at more pictures and get more information on this inexpensive Salem gem.
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I know the end of September is approaching and my market reports are out a bit late this month, but we had some good news, temporarily anyway, about the Salem and Keizer real estate markets.
With the MERS foreclosures heading towards judicial foreclosure and off the real estate market currently (which is about 50% of foreclosures in our area), we've had a dip in inventory that is temporarily helping our sellers. Facing fewer foreclosures to compete with and insanely low interest rates means that more buyers may elect to pick a house not in distress.
This is not a sellers market by any means, but make no mistake...we are in a temporary sweet spot for sellers where they actually have a shot at selling their house.
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A man in southern Oregon has been calling female agents up asking to see million dollar homes. He wants them to pick him up at his motel. He says he has cash, but when asked for proof of funds says his attorney says that he can't give it to a real estate agent. He used the name Matthew Fox in Medford, OR but his real name is Matthew Fuchs, a registered sex offender in Wisconson.
Thankfully three female agents were concerned enough that they called the local police about it, and they questioned him. Chances are he will move onto another city, so ladies...be careful out there.
The content of this blog is copyrighted so don't touch, reprint, republish, paraphrase, etc. That means if you want to cut and paste this article, even with attribution, you need my permission. My email address is right up there. No need to steal content without asking. Just remember that I'm not a morning person, so best to ask me mid-afternoon or evening if you want to use my content.
Oregon has long been a state that uses Trust Deeds for real estate transactions. With the ease and low cost of foreclosure for banks, it was the instrument of choice for many years here in Oregon...well as long as you follow the state laws. You've heard the terms, judicial foreclosure, non-judicial foreclosure, deficiency state, non-deficiency state. Like all things to do with law, nothing is black and white. There are some huge changes with serious implications headed the way of homeowners facing foreclosure.
I chatted about the MERS problem Oregon was having and the backlog of foreclosures this was going to cause. Not a good thing for anyone, in my opinion. In the Oregonian a couple of weeks ago, Brent Hunsberger wrote an article about the shift that banks were making, taking foreclosures to the courtroom. Left with little choice , due to legal issues, the lenders that can actually produce the original note are headed to chat with a judge about getting the property in a judicial foreclosure. I was curious to see if we would have any of these converted foreclosures head our way in Salem. Sure enough, I looked through the notices this week and there it was...a nice list of attorney names, including the firm mentioned in the Oregonian article, Kelly Sutherland. Salem homeowners that have been in limbo due to the MERS debacle are going to find their way into a courtroom and standing in front of a judge.
What this means is that the building shadow inventory will once again start working its way down the foreclosure pipeline as banks start to push their way through the system. There are so many implications with judicial foreclosures. A HUGE one for homeowners facing foreclosure is ORS 86.705(3). This statute can convert a residential trust deed to a non-residential one which allows for a deficiency judgment. This could be financially disastrous for many people out there who are facing foreclosure and end up in a judicial proceeding. I am personally appalled that banks could break Oregon laws by failing to record note transfers properly, then have an "out" for a judicial proceeding which may open up some families to deficiency judgments that they would have been protected from before. That just isn't right.
If all banks decide to follow Wells Fargo's plan for MERS held loans and go the judicial route, homeowners facing foreclosure MUST talk to an attorney before they move out of their home. It is imperative because the game just changed.
The content of this blog is copyrighted so don't touch, reprint, republish, paraphrase, etc. That means if you want to cut and paste this article, even with attribution, you need my permission. My email address is right up there. No need to steal content without asking. Just remember that I'm not a morning person, so best to ask me mid-afternoon or evening if you want to use my content.
A glowing recommendation. It's what everyone wants in their business. Who doesn't want to be acknowledged as being good at what they do? Gallup released their latest poll about feelings about different industries. What's up with this touchy-feely stuff anyway? Feelings, schmeelings... I'm incredulous that in this current time of real estate turmoil, that the real estate industry didn't make the top 5. What's up with that people?
The top 5 were
Computer Industry
Restaurant Industry
Internet Industry
Farming and Agriculture
Grocery Industry
The bottom 5 were:
Banking industry
Health-care industry
Real estate industry
Oil and gas industry
Federal Government
I have to say that I was surprised that the banking industry was thought of more positively than the real estate industry. Seriously? I didn't think an industry could sink lower than the banking industry these days, so I guess congrats to the real estate industry for rising to new lows. Only 23% had positive thoughts about the real estate industry. Sweet, I was tired of working weekends anyway. I think at this point we just need to figure out how to get people to hate us more. You know really go for broke and try and be thought of as worse than government. This is not a challenge easily won people. This will take a true group effort.
So here are my suggestions about how to keep consumers from liking us more.
Continue to have low entry standards. Why pay a dime a dozen when you can get agents for a mere penny per thousand? Forget about going through the effort of requiring more from real estate agents when everyone hates us anyway. Revel in our mediocrity, I say. By the way, I think mediocrity goes well with a nice Chardonnay, maybe with some hummus and tortilla chips.
Continue with bad marketing. Let's face it, it is much more fun for consumers to guess what is in the photos than it is for them to be helpful. I mean if we take a good picture of the kitchen, what are we supposed to say when we walk into the kitchen with a buyer? I much prefer the current method of "remember that super dark blurry blob on the MLS. That is what we are looking at now, the kitchen. Bet you never would have guessed that, huh." It gives me something to chit chat about with my home buyers instead of standing there looking like I have nothing to say, so I appreciate that some of my peers are looking out for me that way. I like being an expert.
Continue to over solicit. There is nothing more refreshing than a Facebook or Twitter stream filled with self promotional goo. Goo isn't just for amoebas anymore. I feel so loved to have listings shoved in my face all the time. Who can resist the charms of such enchanted engagement? Personally, I'm thinking of using the water balloon slingshot method of delivery for my business cards to people that have never heard of me. They say that the first impression is the most important, you know.
Continue to offer nothing of value. Why learn to calculate current inventories when pulling numbers from down under is so much more fun? I'm calling 3 months inventory in Salem Oregon just because I can. I think it sounds impressive to say "Salem has 3 months of inventory." If I lower my voice when I say it, I'll sound more expert-like too. Cool, huh. Taking the time to calculate trends and such...eh, that's for people who know how to use a calculator. I just figured out where the kitchen is in a house, don't ask me for more than that. Sheesh.
Whatever, this list is too long anyway and I'm tired.
So in summary, I'd like to thank the Academy for this incredible opportunity to be thought of so poorly. I couldn't do this without you guys. I'm touched beyond belief and rest assured I will give it my all until we are thought of more negatively than the government sector. You can count on me.
Go Team REALTOR.
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The content of this blog is copyrighted so don't touch, reprint, republish, paraphrase, etc. That means if you want to cut and paste this article, even with attribution, you need my permission. My email address is right up there. No need to steal content without asking. Just remember that I'm not a morning person, so best to ask me mid-afternoon or evening if you want to use my content.
Back in the boom, MERS was a cornerstone of the real estate market offering a way to offload mortgages to investors allowing banks to continue to originate loans and make bundles o' money. Apparently, my strategy of waiting at the end of the rainbow for my pot of gold wasn't a good one: should have been a lender. Lots of green, just not in the form of little people with funny hats. Now, lenders wouldn't have been able to meet the demand of the American consumer for housing loans without sending loans off into the netherworld to be split up and chopped up into bite sized fare for investors. This MERS legacy is the gift that is contributing to the ongoing hell that is real estate these days.
Getting real on Salem Oregon Foreclosures
I almost didn't write my quarterly foreclosure post because the data, or lack thereof, isn't an accurate reflection of things to come. So, I pulled a NAR this quarter and extrapolated my data a bit for you. I wrote last quarter about the impact of MERS in Oregon, and in particular Salem. I doubt most of you care what is happening in real estate in Topanga so we'll just chat about Salem. What you need to know but don't really care about is that in the second quarter of this year, not one MERS held foreclosure notice was filed in Salem. This is significant because last year 48% of foreclosure notices were MERS held.
Why aren't they filing? Well that has to do with the 5 lawsuits that have occurred in Oregon this year, with the latest one the judge rescinded the foreclosure as the title transfer wasn't properly recorded per Oregon laws. As these loans were fractured and sold, Oregon law requires the transfer be recorded at the county level. Due to the massive costs associated with doing this, the banks decided "eh...what the heck with Oregon laws. Those people are up hugging trees anyway. They won't notice." This cavalier attitude works as long as the seller doesn't default and transfers the title directly. It isn't so pretty when foreclosures happen oh say such as circa real estate 2007 and beyond.
I might need a cocktail
What does it matter? Well, if you are a home seller right now, what you are seeing is a reduction in inventory. Huge price drops on homes happened in the first quarters this year so buyers are out. The reduction in inventory is a sign of stabilization, for now. This is the gift of MERS present. Incompetence on the part of the big 8 in following those pesky state laws has caused a temporary stop in those properties hitting the foreclosure market. So potentially 48% of homes that should be hitting the foreclosure market aren't. That is causing a nice drop in inventory.
But you know that old adage, all good things must end up in annihilation...or something like that. Anyway, what is building is of concern for our local market. See my pretty picture? I worked really hard on it so say it is pretty or my feelings might be crushed and I'll have to go drown my sorrows in one of @RobDrinkenstien's amazing cocktails at La Capitale.
Notice of Defaults in Salem
We had a dip at the end of last year and it looks like there is a dip this year, but this is where I pulled a NAR. MERS notices aren't getting filed, while those cases work their way through the Oregon legal system. What this means is that we really should have 48% more foreclosures each quarter than we really do (assuming that the percentage stayed the same as last year). So I created a special bar for the ghost of MERS. These are the potential notices that should be out there but aren't. Why is this a concern? Because they are building up, and at some point in the future when the MERS situation gets resolved there will be a tsunami that hits Salem as the notices hit the county. Right now we have a regular flow of foreclosures hitting the market so we can, in theory, have some sort of stabilization. If this buildup continues and those homes get dumped on the market in a short period of time...do I need to tell you that would be bad?
What we are looking at is the ghost of MERS future, and it sure doesn't look like Casper.
The content of this blog is copyrighted so don't touch, reprint, republish, paraphrase, etc. That means if you want to cut and paste this article, even with attribution, you need my permission. My email address is right up there. No need to steal content without asking. Just remember that I'm not a morning person, so best to ask me mid-afternoon or evening if you want to use my content.
Are you a fan of this old house? If so, then consider this house. All the charm of this old house without the work.
Renovated kitchen
Renovated bathroom, including refinishing the clawfoot tub
New electrical
New plumbing
Asbestos abatement
Refinished hardwood floors
New vinyl windows
New roof on the garage
And serious charm.
This property is located in Fairmount Hills right around the corner from the governor's mansion and an easy walk to Bush Park, or maybe head to the Konditori for dessert and coffee.
The content of this blog is copyrighted so don't touch, reprint, republish, paraphrase, etc. That means if you want to cut and paste this article, even with attribution, you need my permission. My email address is right up there. No need to steal content without asking. Just remember that I'm not a morning person, so best to ask me mid-afternoon or evening if you want to use my content.
A client emailed me a link to a recent news article about the 5 worst real estate markets in the country for Q1 of 2011. Salem, Oregon was listed as number 3. They based this article on the NAR data that was released. Any of you that have read my blog know I am by no means a Pollyanna on this market and I expect good data when talking about anything. I also expect it to be put into context for the average consumer who doesn't live and die by real estate data.
How the NAR collects data has been controversial and CoreLogic called them out on the inaccuracy of their data before. Unfortunately this is no exception. NAR takes samples of MLS data and then has a "drift" calculation they use to "correct" for their sample error. The problem this creates is that most consumers don't understand the way statistics work, but tend to believe what they read. So here is the real deal about that data released by the NAR.
The data is for the Salem metro area, not Salem proper. This is defined by the census bureau as Marion and Polk counties.
The NAR uses samples. So if they pull an uneven sample and say pulled more homes from Woodburn, Dallas, Stayton, Jefferson, or Mill city area which have been harder hit, the data will skew the wrong way.
I have no idea what raw data the NAR used but it doesn't jive with my data set which is a complete set of WVMLS data.
So, the article reported that Salem (which you now know means the Metropolitan Statistical Area, not Salem proper), had a median home price drop of 20.6%, first quarter of 2011 from first quarter of 2010. Here is what you really need to know. Using the full data set and not the samples/drift combination of the NAR, the first quarter dropped 14.9% year over year. Salem proper, which is how many consumers are reading that article, dropped 11.3% year over year, first quarter. These price drops are not at all unexpected because as many of you many remember the first and part of the second quarter of 2010 had the federal tax credit associated with them. We had a disproportionate amount of sales early in the year last year as the housing market was temporarily propped up. Prices had to come down and this is the market reaction to that event. A completely expected event, in my opinion.
Anyone that has been around me will hear me consistently say that we are still in a declining market here in Salem Oregon. There is nothing wrong with accepting the reality of our economy, but I do expect the NAR and the news media to propagate data that is true and accurate for our cities. That is their function, is it not? If I wanted inaccurate information, I can always pick up the National Inquirer to find out which celebrity had the latest alien baby or I can encourage Sarah Palin to start her own history channel for television. The news media has a responsibility to help to interpret that data for readers if they are going to propagate it. Seriously, news media and NAR, you blew it.
The content of this blog is copyrighted so don't touch, reprint, republish, paraphrase, etc. That means if you want to cut and paste this article, even with attribution, you need my permission. My email address is right up there. No need to steal content without asking. Just remember that I'm not a morning person, so best to ask me mid-afternoon or evening if you want to use my content.
Oregon seems to be a place where people have toys. Lots of toys. And I'm not talking about Elmo here. Boats, Harley's, trucks, jeeps, trailers, on and on. Having a house that has RV space is a big selling feature around here. Our access to the great outdoors means we all need a place to store our stuff.
I know of such a place.
New on the real estate market, this home on Rivercrest (sorry not on the river for those of you waiting for one to come on the market), has a two car garage by street appearances when you drive by, BUT stashed nicely behind the gate is an additional detached two car garage/shop. Did I mention, that there is serious room there for a boat, RV, trucks? So 4 spaces worth of car space, AND the house is nice too.
A traditional floorplan with 4 bedrooms and 2/5 bathrooms, open kitchen into the family room. The seller did gorgeous landscaping work with a slate patio and pergola with wisteria that just finished blooming. Mature trees and a nice fountain in the corner make it really serene in the yard. I have the urge to hang one of those IKEA hammock chairs off the pergola and grab a good book, but I'm supposed to sell the house, not start making myself comfortable in it. That is what you are supposed to do. So, check out the floor plan and photos, then call me to see it.
Did I mention the nearby community pool and two parks? Willamette Manor Park and River's Edge Park are a short jaunt away as is the Holiday Community Pool.
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The content of this blog is copyrighted so don't touch, reprint, republish, paraphrase, etc. That means if you want to cut and paste this article, even with attribution, you need my permission. My email address is right up there. No need to steal content without asking. Just remember that I'm not a morning person, so best to ask me mid-afternoon or evening if you want to use my content.
The first quarter ended in the world of real estate. I can tell you that personally I saw an increase in buyer activity on my listings and other agents reported the same thing. The proof is always in the data though.
Salem had the best first quarter in three years in terms of home sales. Supply met demand as home prices dropped this quarter and buyers responded.
The content of this blog is copyrighted so don't touch, reprint, republish, paraphrase, etc. That means if you want to cut and paste this article, even with attribution, you need my permission. My email address is right up there. No need to steal content without asking. Just remember that I'm not a morning person, so best to ask me mid-afternoon or evening if you want to use my content.
Neighborhood real estate at its best delivered to you by a Principal Broker licensed in the state of Oregon. Get a peek into my inner data geek with my extensive Salem Oregon real estate trending graphs, or stick around to see if my sarcastic wit rears its ugly head. Either way, read, hopefully enjoy and find it helpful, then you know the drill...call/email/tweet me for help with your real estate needs.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
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