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Displaying blog entries 101-110 of 136

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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Portland's Top Neighborhoods!

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

Submitted by Kate Baldus

 

Each year Portland Monthly magazine releases their Top 20 Neighborhoods:

  • South Waterfront
  • Pearl District (extension)
  • Damascus
  • North Bethany
  • Ladd’s Addition
  • Portland Heights
  • University Park/John’s Landing
  • Sauvie Island
  • Orenco Station
  • New Columbia
  • Richmond
  • Piedmont
  • Sellwood-Moreland
  • West Linn
  • Northwest District
  • Mount Tabor
  • Alberta Arts
  • Pearl/Downtown
  • McMinnville
  • Multnomah Village

Portland's unique layout, divided by rivers and highways, has created over 90 individual neighborhoods within these main "sections" of town.

Each community has something special to offer and local shops and restaurants to explore.  Choosing your favorite neighborhood is almost as difficult as choosing your favorite color.  It can be difficult to separate the officially name neighborhoods and those that Portlanders call home.  The Portland Monthly magazine should help buyers identify these neighborhoods and learn more about the "culture" of these great places to call home!  If you have specific questions about Portland neighborhoods check out the Rob Levy Team relocation guide or send an email! 

Neighborhoods within the Portland area!  This can be a great resource for home buyers relocating to the city or even simply considering a move to a new part of town. 
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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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Japanese Culture in Portland

Friday, April 13, 2007
by Rob Levy, Prudential Northwest Properties

Submitted by Cathy Hill

Born in Japan near my mom's family and raised largely in Hawaii, I'm accustomed to a wonderful cultural mix in my community.  Here in Portland, I'm pleased to say I've found lots of Japanese culture - everything from memorable sushi to impressive landscape and furniture stores.  In particular, my mom and I have located our favorite sushi restaurant, Sinju.  Not only are the portions hearty, but the atmosphere is a nice blend of contemporary and traditional.  Sinju has locations in downtown's Pearl District, as well as the ever-growing shopping center, Bridgeport Village.  Mio Sushi is also a favorite, with locations from Hillsboro clear out to Northeast Portland.  Without question, Uwajimaya market is the culmination of all things Japanese; food, books, appliances, greeting cards, stationary, pharmaceutical products, and even dinnerware!  I make several visits each month, as the fresh fruits and vegetables are also seasonally updated.

Perhaps the most impressive display of Japanese culture in Portland is located in Forest Park, just west of downtown.  The Japanese Gardens, visited 1988 by His Excellency Nobuo Matsunaga, Ambassador from Japan to the United States, declared it as "the most beautiful and authentic Japanese garden in the world outside of Japan." The gardens are breathtaking, and change with the seasons.  There are a multitude of gardens, including a Flat Garden, Strolling Pond Garden, Tea Garden, Natural Garden, and sand and Stone Garden.  Guided tours are available year-round.  The Japanese Garden is a not-for-profit organization funded entirely by donations, membership, memorials, grants, and gate admissions.  If you're looking for Japanese culture in Portland, you won't be disappointed.  Call me at The Rob Levy Team - I recommend Uwajimaya and The Japanese Garden to all of my friends and clients who are looking for new and interesting things to do in Portland!

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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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Rob Attends 2007 Prudential Real Estate National Convention.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007
by Rob Levy, Prudential Northwest Properties
Submitted by Rob Levy
I just got back from the PREA convention in San Diego, California where I attended my 10th annual convention, every year since our company became a Prudential franchise.
 
This year was particuarly interesting as it was in San Diego, right in the middle of a real estate market which is dropping in price, vs Portland Oregon where our prices are appreciating and have every year since 1986.  Of course, our market hasnt had the up and down gyrations of the SoCal market, but we are now seeing a lot of our market fed by both people "cashing in the chips" in California and moving to Portland, and  also  investors looking here for a good and steady 5-8% expected appreciation - per a recent article in the Oregonian.
 
If you are thinking of moving here from California ( or anywhere else), contact us today at www.RobLevy.com and we can show you how your home can be both a great investment, and also a great place to live. I should know, after all I moved here from Los Angeles in 1984 to raise my family and have never looked back.
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SW Portland: Biking, Schools, Homes!

Tuesday, April 10, 2007
by Rob Levy, Prudential Northwest Properties
Submitted by Bruce Hecht
I was working with a out of town buyers last weeknd, showing homes and condos all around town. This couple had done their homework and were really prepared, mainly from links from our website.
 
These folks could move to any city they wanted, they chose to move to  Portland, Oregon . As we drove around and looked at homes  they quickly honed in on the RaleighWood / Raleigh Park /Broadmoor/Montclair areas of SW Portland.  They liked the areas due to the Raleigh Park school, Raleigh Hills Schools.  They also liked the lower taxes of Washington County as well as its proximity to downtown Portland.  The style of homes, bigger square footage and large mature lots was also a big draw to them.
 
They were also drawn to the fact that the SW part of town had so many great bike lanes and bike paths.  These paths and trails could link them to many parts of town and easy access to the 100's of other great ways to get around Portland Oregon on a bike.  These websites have many links to great rides and maps.  
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Displaying blog entries 101-110 of 136

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