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Displaying blog entries 91-100 of 117

Mint Juleps on the porch anyone?

Tuesday, April 24, 2007
by Rob Levy, Prudential Northwest Properties

When choosing to relocate to West Linn, recent clients of mine decided to "follow their hearts" this time. They believe that the large master bath and walk-in closets just don't provide the charm of an original historic home in The Willamette Historic District of West Linn. After an extensive search they chose a 1900 Victorian and were fortunate to find one that had much of the remodeling done for them.

They are looking forward to adding color and personality as well as new windows to their "designated historic district" home. They will need to be aware of making historically correct choices to the exterior but already love the friendly sidewalk atmosphere, the short walk for the kids to neighborhood schools and the Farmers' Market close by. It is even just a few blocks to stroll to the Willamette River. Small town America still exists right here in West Linn!

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Family Friendly, Great schools and Dog Parks Galore

Tuesday, April 24, 2007
by Rob Levy, Prudential Northwest Properties
Submitted by Bruce Hecht
I was working with my buyers last week who were moving to Portland Oregon from out of
state because of the unique northwest way of life, cost of living in Portland Oregon, and because the schools are better.  As they put it - and as they continue to say - "Family Friendly and lots of dog parks!"
 
As we were driving around Beaverton, Tigard and Hillsboro, Oregon they kept noticing "look there is another park!  There is that school I looked up on the internet that had a great report card and good scores."
They were so excited to find a home that was priced $20,000 lower than they were ready to pay, in better condition, in a better location and had a bigger backyard than they were expecting to get!  Needless to say, we wrote an offer for a few thousand dollars below the asking price, asked for the appliances to stay, the seller accepted it, and it closes in 27 days.  Both the buyer and seller are very excited, I know they are going to love living in the Portland area!
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1031 Exchange – Save your Tax Dollars!

Tuesday, April 24, 2007
by Rob Levy, Prudential Northwest Properties
 Submitted by Tammy LeMaire
1031 Exchange provides investors with one of the best tax strategies for preserving the value of an investment portfolio.  By using an exchange the investor is able to defer the recognition of capitol gain tax that would otherwise be incurred on the sale of investment property. The investor can then use the entire amount of the equity to purchase substantially more replacement property.  To qualify as an exchange the relinquished and replacement properties must be qualified “like-kind” properties and the transaction must be structured as an exchange.
 
Exchanges are most often handled by a “Qualified Intermediary” who provides the necessary reciprocal transfer of properties to create the exchange and the “Safe Harbor” protection against actual and constructive receipt of the exchange funds as required by 1031.
 
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Auctions in Real Estate

Monday, April 23, 2007
by Rob Levy, Prudential Northwest Properties
Submitted by Rob Levy
Last week I was invited to sit on a committee by the president of NAR ( National Association of Realtors).  This meeting was a 2 day event and in Chicago near the headquarters of NAR.  First, with 1.3m members I  was honored to be invited and I found it very interesting.
What they were talking about was using auctions to sell real estate.  While this is very popular in some countries, particularly the UK and Australia, it hasn't happened a whole lot in the USA - yet.  It seems with eBay becoming so prominent, that the buying public is now very familiar with the auction process, so the time may have come for this to be a viable part of the home sale process.
NAR will be exploring this more, but in the meantime you can explore some auction sites such as the National Association of Auctioneers and RealEstate.com.au in Australia.  Stay tuned for more to come on this topic......
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Free WiFi in Portland Now !

Tuesday, April 17, 2007
by Rob Levy, Prudential Northwest Properties

Check out our updated "Recommended Links" page at our main site www.RobLevy.com

We now have well over 100 links posted on our site with everything from mapping systems, lot sizes, all the way to sex offender sites and much more useful information to view. 

Our featured site of the month is for MetroFi, the Portland area's FREE wireless access.  They just increased the coverage by 140% and most of SE/NE and downtown is now covered.  MetroFi promises to have 98% of the city of Portland covered by 2008.

Also don't forget that Portland International Airport offers free wireless throughout most of the concourses too.  So bottom line, if you have a computer with a wi-fi connection, Portland is THE place to be.

In regards to our links, when you think real estate or anything related, go to www.RobLevy.com and click on the "Recommended Links" button at the top, most likely we have the link you are looking for.  Check back often too, we are always adding links as we find useful ones. 

If you know of a good link for our site, please email it to [email protected]

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Ranch Homes: The cool new thing?!

Tuesday, April 17, 2007
by Rob Levy, Prudential Northwest Properties

Ranch homes are currently regaining some of their popularity in the Portland real estate market. This is due to issues of affordability and more importantly because these homes fill the needs of today's home buyers.

The ranches of yesterday were typified by single level living and open floor plans, a bonus in the NW sometimes grey environment. Large windows bring in light and attached garages provide families with convenience. With land more available then, the larger lots provide a more spacious yard. These "ramblers" are seen in most older neighborhoods as in-fill homes and in suburban neighborhoods such as Raleigh Hills and Arranmore.  The Rob Levy Team is well-versed in appreciating the benefits and locations of this, until now, under-appreciated market.

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Buyers For Your Home Are Everywhere

Tuesday, April 17, 2007
by Rob Levy, Prudential Northwest Properties
On Saturday while at a birthday party for Kate, our marketing assistant for the Rob Levy team I realized as a Realtor in a social environment how much real estate comes up as a conversation subject.  In fact, I recently read that in the USA real estate has now surpassed sex as the most talked about topic at social gatherings. 
This lead me to thinking that our home sellers also are always talking about their homes too, and in response we developed a "home card" for all our sellers to carry around with them so they can give it to prospective buyers they meet from time to time.  This is perfect for both social environments as well as co-workers etc, or wherever real estate conversations come up.
Check out our home card at the link above, and if you are thinking of selling your home, contact us today about creating a home business card for you.
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The Benefits of a Virtual Tour

Tuesday, April 17, 2007
by Rob Levy, Prudential Northwest Properties
 Submitted by Aaron Levy
Virtual tours are considered to be a major advantage when listing and marketing a property on the internet. They can help sell a property rather quickly and easily by giving the home the maximum amount of exposure necessary. With a virtual tour, a property is available for viewing 24 hours a day, 7 days a week--ideal for buyers who live out of the area. A buyer can inspect and re-inspect properties at will without an agent at hand, which means less hassle for the agent and seller, and also less traffic coming through the house.
The virtual tour is a great tool for the buyer who doesn’t want to waste valuable time viewing every single property of interest. A real interest of an on-site inspection is developed with the virtual tour. This way, the buyer will be more informed when it comes down to making the decision of which properties he/she wishes to view. When it comes to making such a major purchase, it is always nice to explore a prospective new home in person, and having viewed the virtual tour will give you an advantage that others might not have.
In some rare situations, a buyer has even purchased a home without ever setting foot in it!
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Great homes, great schools, great sites, great opportunities!

Tuesday, April 17, 2007
by Rob Levy, Prudential Northwest Properties
Submitted by Bruce Hecht:
I was working with some buyers this past weekend, they had some pretty specific goals in
mind for what they wanted in a home.  2400+ sq ft, 4+ bedrooms, OK sized backyard, newer construction, 3+ car garage, things like that.  It started to sound like there would be no chance to find them what they wanted.
 
But as we began our search and tours, another hidden, very important requirement floated to the top of the search requirements, the schools.  They have 3 kids that are in elementary school or will be starting in the near future.  We stopped searching for homes immediately and chose to focus on looking for schools first.
 
Great school sites can be found from our team website, these really narrowed the home area(s) that my buyers were willing to look in.  They drew the line at 7 out of 10.  This was the lowest score they were willing to accept for the elementary school that the home they would buy, feeds into.

With this information in hand we continued to search for two full days and found a beautiful NEW construction home in an outlying suburb of Portland Oregon.  The home has 2600 sq ft, with ALL of the nicest upgrades you could want - for $15,000 less than my buyers wanted to spend.  This new subdivision is also close to the Oregon beaches, by a nice lake where my buyers can take their kids to go fish and plenty of walking trails, and a really deluxe park that is in the sub division.
 
We are writing the offer up now.
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Downsizing can be liberating!

Friday, April 13, 2007
by Rob Levy, Prudential Northwest Properties
 Submitted By Cathy Hill
While selling my house in Sherwood, I was searching for just the right condo in the West Portland area.  I looked in Hillsboro, Tigard, Tualatin, and Beaverton.  I settled at The Courtyard at Progress Ridge, which is west of Hwy 217 and just south of Scholls Ferry Road.  In my community, there are townhouses (rowhomes), condos, single family homes, and even some apartments.  There is a 40 acre lot across the street where a new mixed-use retail/business complex will be constructed.  New Seasons Market, one of my favorite stores, has signed a lease with Gramor Development and will be open in late summer 2008.  I'll never leave home!
 
Leaving 2400 square feet for 1000 seemed daunting, and I must admit the adjustment took awhile.  I've found creative ways to use space, and great storage solutions at simple stores like Ikea, Home Depot, West Elm, Target, andLowe's.  For me, having less 'stuff' means I get to enjoy more of Portland whenever I want to - I am literally in and out, and I still have a garage, room to barbecue, and room to plant!  I would never have imagined how liberating it was going to be when I downsized, but I wouldn't trade the simplicity for yardwork, frozen pipes, gutter cleaning, and moles!  If you're considering condo living and want some insight into the options, please call us at The Rob Levy Team.  We sold 4 condos this past weekend alone!
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Displaying blog entries 91-100 of 117

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