tigard realtors: Grand Hotel
- 10/09/09 12:14 PM
Was anyone besides me wondering what in the world they've been building behind the Bridgeport Whole Foods? Well the Tigard Times tells me that it is a new hotel. Someone didn't get the news about the economy. But sometimes a down economy is the perfect time to act. A family-run Salem company called VIPS Industries opened up the Grand Hotel in August. They used to own a restaurant on this same spot but it did not work out. Then Bridgeport Village moved in and an opportunity arose. VIPS Industries always knew this location would be great, that is why they held … (2 comments)
tigard realtors: Hollywood Calls On Tigard
- 07/15/09 06:54 AM
“Public Enemies,” the movie which just opened Wednesday, Johnny Depp’s plays John Dillinger who holds up banks and fights off FBI agents. If you find yourself admiring his sleek gun holster, it's because it was made in Tigard, Oregon. Ted Blocker Holsters produced the leather holsters worn by Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Jason Clarke and several others. Don and Shelley Brown have owned the holster company since 1999 and produced props for several other movies. So it is nothing new for them but it does make them proud to see their products out there. California prop house Independent Studio Services contacted … (1 comments)
tigard realtors: New Rules Could Cost Oregon Sellers
- 03/18/09 11:45 AM
According to this article, when a home's soil is test to see if the oil tank is leaking they are testing for a carcinogen call benzene. If too much benzene is found the oil tank has to be decommissioned. This just means making sure that chemicals are not leaking to the home or groundwater. Most of the time this does not require much soil removal to comply with guidelines but two new chemicals have been deemed carcinogenic by the Environmental Protection Agency. Naphthalene and ethylbenzene are now considered carcinogens and are a part of the updated screening test for leaky oil … (6 comments)
The Portland metro area market improved in February compared to a record low January, but remains slow compared with February 2008. Comparing February 2009 with the same month in 2008, closed sales dropped 38.1%. Pending sales also fell 30.5%. New listings decreased 19.7%. On the other hand, when comparing February 2009 with January 2009, closed sales grew 17.1% (857 v. 732) and pending sales were up 3.3% (1,276 v. 1,235). New listings, on the other hand, dropped 17.3% (3,471 v. 4,196). At the month’s rate of sales, the 14,188 active residential listings would last approximately 16.6 … (1 comments)
tigard realtors: Negotiate Your Rent
- 01/26/09 10:10 AM
It seems that economic crisis has caused an opportunity for some. (besides buying up cheap properties) Apartment vacancies are on the rise putting people in a mighty good bargaining position. Managers are starting to get desperate to get and keep people in their buildings all across the country. The Portland OR area is one of the biggest rent drops of -3.2%. So if your lease is up, now is the time to talk to your landlord about a new longer and cheaper lease. http://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/article/106480/Rents-Drop-Nationwide-as-Vacancies-Spike PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR NEW PODCAST ON THE HOMEPAGE OF OUR WEBSITE http//:www.TonyandLibby.com & OUR NEW PORTLAND … (6 comments)
tigard realtors: Taking Matters Into Their Own Hands
- 01/22/09 10:34 AM
Toll Brothers Inc. is a luxury homebuilder who is tired of watching buyers sit on the sidelines waiting for mortgage rates to hit bottom. They are now offering on their new-home inventory a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage at an interest rate of 3.99% with no points paid up-front. The idea is to get those teetering on the fence to finally jump off and buy. This is a brilliant idea on their part and the phone has been ringing off the hook. Now they are even locking that rate in for nine months for those who want to buy a new, built-to-suit … (3 comments)
tigard realtors: Do You MeetUp?
- 01/20/09 09:48 AM
I was going through the Realtor magazine and found a page about people connecting. With all the blogs and facebook pages and ways people are getting together on the internet this article was letting people know that you can still meet face to face. Apparently there is this website called http://www.meetup.com/ where you can start or join a group of like minded people who want to meet up and get to know new people. So I got on there and looked up my city and found all kinds of cool groups! People who meet to hike, play poker, talk about Buffy … (5 comments)
tigard realtors: October Market Report
- 11/24/08 03:02 AM
October Residential HighlightsMarket Activity continues to be on the decline when compared to 2008. Pending sales fell 39.6% when comparing October 2008 with October 2007. The number of closed sales and new listings also fell, 21.4% and 21.6% respectively. Comparing October to September, we also saw a decline across the board, although not as intense as the comparison above. There were 25.6% (1,268 v. 1,705) fewer accepted offers in October. Additionally, there were 14.2% (3,605 v. 4,200) less new listings added to the inventory. Further, there was a 10.7% (1,465 v. 1,640) drop in closed sales. At the month’s rate of … (2 comments)
tigard realtors: New Bank of America "Bailout" Program
- 10/07/08 10:34 AM
Bank of America announced today that they will be taking the most aggressive foreclosure prevention effort ever in the U.S. Don't be giving them their props just yet, it is court ordered due to a law suit filed by 11 states for predatory lending practices. Luckily all 50 states are eligable. Actually it is Countrywide who done wrong but they were just acquired by BofA. Starting in December, financially strained borrowers who got their loan between January of '04 and December or '07 can try to get their monthy housing payment cut so that it is no more than 34% of … (1 comments)
tigard realtors: WES Stalled
- 10/03/08 06:53 AM
WES, or Westside Express Service is the commuter railway system that was scheduled to begin service this November but now has been pushed back to February. The manufacturer, Colorado Railcar Manufacturing LLC, seems to be having money problems. Also, more time is needed for saftey testing, especially after that commuter rail crash in Los Angeles. Apparently CRM has been having financial issues for months and when Tri-Met realised that CRM's suppliers were not being paid, Tri-Met stepped in and paid them directly, putting the project $3 million over budget. Buying from another manufacturer is not an option because CRM is the … (0 comments)
tigard realtors: Are Some Housing Markets Bulletproof?
- 05/06/08 10:26 AM
Some of the best housing markets, the ones who kept on appreciating while the rest of the country plummeted have actually started to see some bad times of their own. Charlotte, NC, Salt Lake City, Seattle and Portland Ore. all posted home price gains during 2007, even as more than half of the 150 markets tracked by the National Association of Realtors registered declines. But now it's looking bad for everyone. The markets that were first and hardest were the ones who had seen the biggest boom prior, whose prices were unbelievably inflated and therefore had nowhere to go but down. The … (0 comments)
tigard realtors: March Market Report
- 04/16/08 06:18 AM
March Residential HighlightsMarket activity in March showed forward progress for month-to-month comparisons, but remains slow compared with the level of activity a year ago.When comparing March to February 2008, closed sales were up 22.2% (1,691 v. 1,384) while pending sales also increased 5.5% (1,938 v. 1,837).On the other hand, comparing March 2008 with March 2007, closed sales were down 39.1% and pending sales decreased 36.9%. New listings also dropped a slight 1.8%. Also notable in March was a decrease in the level of inventory from February. At the March rate of sales, the 15,412 active residential properties would last 9.1 months.First … (0 comments)
tigard realtors: How to Improve Your Listings Appeal
- 04/16/08 06:13 AM
1. Increase curb appeal. It's nothing new. HGTV has a whole show devoted to curb appeal. It is quite easy to over look the outside of the house but you can't forget that not only is it the first impression but you need people to want to come in. Perhaps try driving around and take note of what attracts you to other homes and try to include that in your own listing. Look at the landscaping, paint, roof, shutters, front door, knocker, windows, house number, and even how window treatments look from the outside. You need your listing to stand out … (0 comments)
In this forum we will offer discussions on a wide variety of subjects, but focus on Portland Metro and real estate. Hopefully our insights and experiences will inform, educate, challenge and entertain our readers week after week.
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