Real Estate Information Archive

Submitted by Bruce Hecht

Submitted by Kate Baldus

I don't know how it happens but every three-day weekend my friends like to get together and somehow I am responsible for choosing a location and making arrangements.  (I secretly love planning these kinds of outings 97% of the time!)  However, this year I asked that someone else take charge so that I could just come along, show up and have some fun without fretting over rides, food, reserving sites etc.  Well... it didn't happen.  Tuesday - four days before quite possibly the biggest camping weekend of the year - I found out we did not have a camp site reserved.  We hadn't even officially chosen a location yet either!  To the beach? To the Gorge? Detroit Lake? Mount Hood?  No one could decide!  I have never actually camped much in Oregon, mostly off-road camping during college in Idaho where there aren't nearly the number of people trying to get lost in the woods on Memorial Day weekend.   I quickly began scouring the web for any sites listing open campgrounds.  I actually was surprised to find a few, but none that seemed to accomodate the number of people or location we wanted, plus I didn't know in relation to Portland where all the campgrounds were until I found a great map of sites! 

 I also found a site that let me enter the number of people, location and dates and checked availability of all sites in that area.  The one I continuously heard my friends asking for was Detroit Lake (usually booked out at least nine months in advance.)  After four hours of refreshing the screen to see if there were openings - I had found it.  One campsite popped up and I clicked "Book Now" faster than I could imagine (I had to register to actually book the reservation which slowed me down... tip to you - register before you start searching so that when a campsite pops up you don't risk losing it!)  Even better, the campsite next to it opened up so I booked both - easily able to accomodate 15 people.  I was so excited to email all my friends and tell them the good news.  Two campsites for Saturday and Sunday night, actually located on the lake - you can't get much better than that... one of the best reasons to live in Oregon!  I am so excited for this weekend - I can't wait! 

By the way - some great off road camping about an hour away in Washington is up the Washougal River past Dougan Falls (23 miles up the river's winding road.)  There are usually a lot of people swimming in the falls but the furthur up the river the less crowded and you can find some great spots in the summer!

Submitted by Sandy Morley

Portland's weather is often known to be blah blah blah rain.  What most people don't know is that our average rainfall is less that Atlanta, Birmingham, Houston, Indianapolis or Seattle!  We do get cloudy days... and some with drizzle and others with a good rain storm - but it is truly the summers in Portland that make it all worth the while.  Even better - it is that we have GREEN summers!  Due to our 36.3" of rain on average each year, our trees stay greener longer and it keeps our environment healthy!  All the beauty of our surrounding nature helps Portlanders get outside, go hiking, and appreciate where we live.  We also get to enjoy summer days that are not too scorching hot, but just right.  When it does peak 100 degrees - the kids will love it, and we will know that it most likely won't last more than a day or two.  When the sun comes out in Portland, locals fill the streets downtown sipping mochas, cocktails and enjoying the great city we live in.

Submitted by Bruce Hecht

I found this great article by Dean Treftz from The Wall Street Journal Online to be very interesting discussing the national and local market trends.

The housing news isn't all grim. Even as prices sag nationwide, there are several cities in the country where home values are climbing smartly.

Portland, Oregon, Boise, Idaho, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Houston, Austin, and Charlotte and Raleigh, N.C., are among the cities bucking the national trend. Homes' appreciation there between the fourth quarters of 2005 and 2006 far exceeded the national average of 5.9%, according to the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight.

Most of the cities also have one or more strong industries to drive their economies, like Nike, Columbia Sportswear, Intel just to site a few examples. Their economies are strong and housing prices are still perceived as affordable, luring buyers into the market.

Today's declining prices nationwide are in part the result of an earlier explosion of short-term investors in Florida, California and other booming markets. Recently, both investors and long-term homeowners have been cashing in or cutting losses in formerly hot markets and settling in areas that avoided the boom, such as the Carolinas, parts of Georgia and Tennessee, areas of Texas, the Western mountain states and the Pacific Northwest.  The growth of Portland, Salt Lake City, Boise and Seattle can be attributed in part to an influx of former Californians and people opting out of slumping Las Vegas or Phoenix. The trend may have created smaller echo booms.

While some experts worry that a new group of states could face a boom/bust cycle, local real-estate agents and expert economists predict stable and steady growth for the near future. Since the cities have strong economies and builders, lenders and investors are increasingly cautious, homes are less likely to become extremely overvalued than in booming markets in the first half of the decade.

On Sunday 60 Minutes, one of the most respected names in television journalism history produced one of the most one sided, articles I have ever seen.  As a long time viewer and admirer of the show, I was shocked at what they did.  I have listed the information I and others - including the National Association of Realtors (NAR) - feel they have done wrong...

All I can say at this point is there is always a need for all type of companies in helping consumers buy and sell real estate, and I for one welcome them.  But whats fair is fair, and 60 minutes needs to present BOTH sides of the story.

Here are some examples of the misinformation:
Error: The six percent commission is "sacrosanct."
Fact: All commissions are negotiable. The average commission rate is not 6 percent, but 5.1 percent, according to Real Trends, a national industry magazine.

Error: NAR is the industry's "governing body."
Fact: NAR is a trade association. It does not govern the industry.

Error: In 2003, NAR issued new rules of its own that threatened to block Internet discounters' access to the MLS.
Fact: The Virtual Office Website policy did not block access to MLSs for discounters or any other brokers who are members of the MLS. Discounteres listings ARE shown in the Portland MLS

Error: The MLS is the database that lists virtually every home for sale in the country.
Fact: There is no single national MLS. Rather, there are more than 900 local and regional multiple listing services. These are not simply "databases" but private exchange of offers of cooperation and compensation between real estate brokers.

Error: Eight states have "minimum service laws" that require REALTORS® to provide a level of service many Internet discounters can't afford.
Fact: "REALTOR®" is a trademarked term and should never be used synonymously with "real estate agent." The intent of minimum service laws is to ensure consumers receive a minimal level of service from licensees.

Error: The brokerage industry has a powerful lobby. Eleven states flatly prohibit rebates.
Fact: The intent of anti-rebate laws is to prevent kickbacks in real estate transactions, not to limit brokers' incentives to attract customers. The brokerage industry does not lobby for anti-rebate laws.

Other key points 60 Minutes misrepresented or overlooked: