The Best Of Portland

Portland, Oregon ranks 2nd, at 2.55% for the nation's lowest multi-family vacancy rental rates

....second only to New York City's 1.8%. The NAR (National Association of Realtors) is projecting that vacancies in the apartment rental market are likely to drop from 4.7 percent in the first quarter of 2012 to 4.5 percent in the first quarter of 2013. Multifamily vacancy rates below 5 percent are generally considered to indicate a landord's market with demand justifying higher rents.

Click Here to read the full article on Mortgage News Daily.

If you're interested in exploring duplex and tri-plex investment opportunities in the Portland metro area contact Earline Penson, Principle Broker with Coldwell Banker Barbara Sue Seal's Uptown Office at 503.804.8781.

Fool you once shame on them....fool you twice shame on you! How to check-out a mortgage broker to ensure you are getting the best advice.

 

Hop on one of the Internet sites devoted to home financing or start poking around your neighborhood for a residential loan, and the chances are good that you'll end up in the arms of a mortgage broker, hopefully it's not one with a history mortgage broker like Matthew Cox.

That hasn't changed since the hay-day of the housing bubble. Back then, brokers with no training, little knowledge and, in some cases, criminal histories helped foist all manner of exotic and ill-fated mortgages on the masses.

Click Here to read the full article on what to look-out for compliments of MSN.com.

Meritage Homes is revolutionizing the residential new construction industry by delivering "Net Zero" new construction! Where does one sign-up in Oregon?

 
In Arizona, Meritage Homes, the nation's ninth-largest homebuilder, has introduced the first production "net-zero" home, which means the house produces as much energy as it consumes, resulting in zero electricity bills for the homeowners.

It’s pretty cool to watch your meter spin backwards," Bruce Ploeser, a restaurant franchise owner, told the Phoenix Business Journal. He and his wife and four children moved into the first Meritage net-zero home.

The Ploesers' new 3,400-square foot home in Buckeye, Ariz., a suburb of Phoenix, has five bedrooms. Homes with significant energy-saving features, such as solar panels, have in the past been reserved for the rich. Usually they're custom-built, at a higher than normal building cost.

They Ploesers' only paid $326,000 for the house, which comes with a host of energy-saving improvements in addition to solar panels -- built at a cost of less than $100 per square foot. 

"The market is terrible," Herro told the North County Times. "You've got two choices: You can be a commodity and build as cheap as you can and compete against bank-owned, or you can do something that's worth more and has more value to the buyer than what's in the market. The second's a lot more fun."

Click Here to read about this revolutionary new home builder compliments of Teresa Mears and MSN.

Click Here to go directly to Meritage Homes website.

35 of the most popular home remodeling projects and average cost and return on their investment, compliments of Home Remodeling Magazine.

 
Remodeling Magazine's website has taken all the work out of  comparing the average cost for 35 of the nation's most popular remodeling projects with the value those projects retain at resale. Click Here to locate your state and data for one of 9 regions and choose any one of 80 U.S. cities to download a PDF with local data.

Thinking about moving? Ready to buy? Or just curious how your neighborhood stacks-up against it's competition? Then don't miss Portland Monthly's annual residential real estate focus issue "120 Neighborhoods By The Numbers" on news stands now.

 
Portland Monthly's comprehensive guide to 95 neighborhoods and 25 suburbs provides you with up to date information you need to know about Portland, Oregon's housing market.  Click Here to review Portland Monthly's data for 2011.

TheBestOfPortland's votes have been tallied for 2010's most memorable "His & Her's" stocking stuffers. Our selections are guaranteed to knock some socks off this holiday season!

 

For Her

 
Keep her purring and looking haute with a quality fur trapper hat. Trapper style hats are on every "It Girl's" wish list this holiday season.  Click Here to trap one of the hautest gifts the girls are wishing for in this year's stocking!   Faux fur trapper hats starting at just $24.95!

 

 

 
 
Speaking of haute....let's talk about Vosages La Parisienne Couture Cocoa.  Bittersweet velvet on her tongue.  Watch her delight as she takes a sip and watch the chocolate vapors rise from the corners of her mouth, penetrating the air with an intoxicating deep cacao combination. C'est la Vie! A Parisian style chocolat chaud, intended to be savored in tiny sips. La Parisienne Couture Cocoa: Madagascar vanilla bean pieces + dark chocolate.  Click Here for a package that serves 5–7 depending on the chocolate density preferred. Only $15

 

 

And while you're on Vosages website,  step- it-up another notch by ordering Vosages Exotic Caramel Collection - a smaller 4 piece lavender box of caramel bites. Choose from the three different flavor combinations in a mini box to share with friends or give away at your next party. Each box comes with pairing/tasting notes inside. Click Here to select from the Exotic Caramel Flight for $9.50, a 4 piece box in assorted parfums:

Crema: Argentinean dulce de leche + Costa Rican cashews + milk chocolate

Sunshine: tupelo honey + milk chocolate + bee pollen

Maple: Canadian maple sugar + maple syrup + walnuts + dark chocolate

Tarte: blood orange + Campari® + dark chocolate + hibiscus powder

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And for the apple of your eye, what’s Christmas without peppermint fresh kisses? A fresh, juicy Jumbo Apple is dipped in dark and white chocolate and rolled in frosty peppermint candies. A treat not to be missed. Why wait? Order one today! Available for a limited time. Net Wt. Approx. 1.25-1.5 lbs. Serves 8-10.  Click Here to order one at only $22.95

 

 

 

In the glamorous and ego-driven world of advertising, everyone is selling something and nothing is ever what it seems. Set in 1960 New York, Mad Men reveals the lives of the ruthlessly competitive men and women of Madison Avenue's "Golden Age", where key players make an art of the sell while their private world gets sold. And no one plays the game better than Don Draper, the biggest ad man - and ladies' man - in the business. Click Here to buy seasons 1-3 today!

 

 

 
DL & Company Candles Angel's Trumpet Candle is guaranteed to ignite the most difficult of fires.  This is an unusual and rich scent which offsets the heady scent of Angel’s Trumpet Absolute and French Tuberose against an earthy and delicate scent of Woodland Mushrooms.  Click Here to order the sweet and earthy blend, Angel’s Trumpet, which has been a best-selling signature scent since it was introduced because of its unusual balance, richness, and exotic notes. 40+ hours of burn time. $80

 

 

 
Life is full of unforgettable moments.  Surprise your loved one with a custom designed Pandora bracelet.  Each personally designed creation is uniquely beautiful.  Click here to begin designing a bracelet especially for your favorite elf!

 

 
Want to really knock her socks-off?   Imagine the look on her face when you hand her the keys to a upscale, close-in 4 bed / 2.5 bath, 1,961 sq. ft Craftsman style home with over-sized double car garage on a low maintenance lot, loaded with all the "Bells and Whistles" and located in Boulder Creek, a secluded boutique enclave of newer homes nestled in a desirable close-in established walking westside neighborhood. Two blocks to Center Street Park and Max Transit.  Urban living at it's absolute best!

For more details and/or a private showing of this hidden little gem Click Here or contact Earline Penson Principal Broker at Hasson Company Realtors at | 503.804.8781

 

For Him



Give him a shaving experience he'll never forget with a bottle of Pre-Shave Oil in Mandarin & Patchouli from St. James of London for only $12.50!  Click here to order a bottle now.

 

 

 

Put your Tri-Corders down girls.  TheBestOfPortland's found the perfect gift for the Star Trek Fan in your life.  A Star Trek Enterprise Pizza Cutter!  It won't break your wallet, it's clever, useful and guaranteed to rock his planet!  It's only $25 and can be ordered now by clicking here.

 

 

 
Imagine your very own super hero in a body-hugging pair of Batman Trademark Batman Boxer briefs for men.  Click Here to give him a little extra "umph" to get through the day.

 

 

 

Want to really bring your boy home the bacon as far as his stocking stuffers are concerned? Check-out Vosages Mo's Milk Chocolate Bacon Bar - applewood smoked bacon + applewood smoked salt + deep milk chocolate weighing in at 3 oz's of cacao and perfectly priced at $7.50.  Click here to order a bar now.

 

 

While your on Vosages website consider taking his gastronomical trip one step further, by ordering Vosages newest member of the bacon and chocolate family combining Mo's Bacon Bar with fluffly flapjacks.  These pancakes are spotted with chunks of Vosages most exotic candy bar, which combines applewood smoked bacon, Alder sea salt with deep milk chocolate.  Treat your family and/or weekend guests to these wonderfully decadant pancakes for breakfast OR dinner! Click Here to order 3 packages of this decadant mix for only $32.

 

 

 
 
An unprecedented documentary series featuring thirty films from some of today’s finest storytellers. Each filmmaker will bring their passion and personal point of view to their film detailing the issues, trends, athletes, teams, rivalries, games and events that transformed the sports landscape from 1979 to 2009.  Only $79.  Click Here to order yours now!

 

 

 
Greubel Forsey's finished inventions are the result of years of stringent development and exhaustive testing. One common denominator of all Greubel Forsey's inventions, besides their sublime beauty, is that they all reliably improve timekeeping precision.

The 'Double Tourbillon 30°', Greubel Forsey's first invention, features two tourbillons, one rotating inside the other.

In the second invention, four asynchronous tourbillons independently contribute to the extremely high accuracy of the 'Quadruple Tourbillon

The third fundamental invention, the 'Tourbillon 24 Secondes Incliné, masters positional errors using a single ultra-light inclined tourbillon cage rotating with high angular velocity.

Click Here to keep your favorite boy on time.

Lessons one can learn from a 97 year old real estate agent - more than 7 decades in the business have given Seattle real estate agent George W. Johnson wisdom. Pay close attention, because he's willing to share a few gems with you!

 

George W. Johnson is reluctant to call himself America's oldest real-estate agent — he says he just learned of a 99-year-old broker in Florida — has seen his share of housing booms and busts since he hung his first real-estate shingle 74 years ago.

"I've been through a lot of these ups and downs," he says, remembering the property boom that followed World War II, as well as the deep downturn in the 1970s when Seattle's biggest employer, Boeing, laid off thousands of workers.

Through it all, Johnson says he has learned many enduring lessons. Chief among them: After every housing recession, the market has "gone higher than the one before." You have to have the stomach to hang on through all of the twists and turns, he says. 

Tip #1)

Buy a house today if you can, but don't sell one if you don't have to, says George W. Johnson, a 97-year-old real-estate agent who has been working the Seattle market since 1936.

Click Here to read the full article compliments of MSN.

Study finds street trees increase the value of residential real estate in Portland, Oregon by $8,700 on average and reduce a home's days on market to approx. 1.7 days!

It's not unusual for a home buyer to mention a tree-line street, when reciting the criteria on their residential real estate "wish list" to their realtor. A recent study of the positive impact ($8,700 increase in value combined with an average of 1.7 days on market, isn't shabby!) trees have on a home's value can be read in today's OregonLive newspaper.  Click here to read the full article.

Homebuyers & investors can score great deals through Short Sales & REOs if they do their homework, are persistent, patient and don't lose sight of what's involved. Shari Gray, Broker Gray & Associates Portland, Or

The residential real estate market provided a hay day for innovative real estate investors, home sellers and smart home-buyers for many, many years. But with that incredible expansion, that was in part spurred-on by incredibly affordable home loans and creative financing which included ARMS (Adjustable Rate Loans) that enabled some home buyers to "move-up into a larger home and/or more desirable neighborhood, many of the adjustments without buyers having refinanced into fixed rates occurred at the same time home builders and lenders began seeing and responding to corrections that began appearing across the nation in almost every market. Some economists in retrospect state that the "housing bubble" was inevitable based on the theory that "what goes-up must always come down".

But as with every dark cloud comes a silver lining.  For residential real estate that silver lining came in the form of a turning of the tides for home-buyers, once the underdog in residential real estate transactions and in the form of more reasonable opportunities for real estate investors, through the addition of a landslide of real estate opportunities now being negotiated, not in the traditional means as had been over the past six years i.e., negotiating directly with the homeowner and /or his/her broker but now in involved REOs and Short Sales, which some now estimate to be every third house listed for sale on the market.  Through these opportunities home-buyers who had previously been "priced-out" of what they felt were reasonable home buying opportunities can now experience incredible housing acquisitions if they are: prequalified with a strong lender that has the ability to perform, they have done their homework and fully understand what they're getting into +/- (REOs and Short Sales aren't for everyone, particularly those with tight deadlines and acquisition expectations) and if home-buyers have the patience and persistence to "endure" what can be an incredibly long and arduous process, with no guarantee in the end, that the "process" on a given property will actually result in a closed transaction.

I ran across a great article on REOs and Short Sales by Kiplinger which provides a concise, broad summary of both home purchasing avenue. Click here to read it in it's entirety.

Tired of your home but not in a position to sell? The answer then is to refresh your home's surfaces. Check-out the great ideas that can be found on HGTV's "Rate My Space"

TV and newspaper reports list the residential real estate markets in most states as having tanked with the bottom still yet to come.  No one has a crystal ball.  We real estate brokers still see activity and interest but it's coming from the investor/buyer side of the spectrum.  If you have an attractive offer from a qualified buyer on your current home, you've been qualified for another and have found a little jewel somewhere at a great value, that is not overextending your means, than go for it!  But if that is not the case, you have a manageable current home loan, and do not have a pressing need to relocate than the best advice is to stay put and ride the turbulence of uncertainty out from the comfort of your current home.

Sometimes people are just movers and shakers and find it intolerable to stay put in any one place for more than than a few years.  If you're one of those, than do something about it!  Lost that loving feeling? Than get it back by refreshing some of your home's surfaces. 

Start-out by getting inspiration from HGTV's "Rate My Space". 

Here's a "suite" example of a surface bedroom make-over that made a luxurious difference. Click here to check-out episode 106 - Chic Hotel Master Bedroom and watch Angelo Surmelis reveal the high-style hotel suite to the homeowners. They loved it, what do you think? Did he hit the mark?