Idea #2: Learn Some History the details Common Courage: A century of women’s history in Benton County Oregon location: Benton County Museum 1101 Main St. Philomath, OR, Oregon 97370 541-929-6230 time: 10 AM - 4:30 PM, Tues. - Sat. price: Free parking: Parking Lots great attraction for: Families, History Buffs website Visit the Benton County Museum online: visit website   01/10/2012

$5 movies at Ninth St. Cinema All Day, All Shows! Location: Ninth St. Cinema 1750 NW 9th St.   Corvallis, Oregon 97330 541-758-1028  See what is playing 01/10/2012

If you want to have drama and a home loan die, make a few of the mistakes we want to outline for you. One will likely do it, actually. Over the course of the last year, we have observed some of the things that are causing the most trouble for people and their mortgage financing. In plain English, we will spell it out for you. Share it with friends and family and save them disappointment and frustration.   1. Job change/loss. You can’t really do anything about an unexpected job loss, but you could wait a little longer to make that leap to another employer. It would be an expensive decision to change employers because underwriters don’t like seeing that. It makes the file feel less sure because the steadiness of the employment history is disrupted.   2. Any increase in debt could be an u... 01/09/2012

1: Have the house spotless, clean your heart out, do not just put stuff away in the closet (or store things in the oven or the dishwasher) and then barely close that door,  everything that can be opened will be opened by buyers (built ins, kitchen cabinets etc) and should be as good looking inside as outside 3: Take care of the little things that were on the Honey Do list forever, fix that kitchen cabinet door hinge, cover that outlet, caulk the toilet, clean the windows and blinds, look behind doors, ceiling corners, power wash the deck and patio, plant fresh flowers, mulch flowerbeds etc. People will pay more for a house that makes a very groomed and maintained impression 3: Stow everything away neatly, have nothing laying around , kids rooms as tidy as possible, no paperwork of any k... 01/05/2012

Ever noticed that when you have a medical issue, want to buy a car or are selling or buying a home and you talk about it, everybody around you has an opinion and advice for you, regardless of whether a person had any expertise or insight? How many times have you noticed that when you have a problem to solve, nearly everybody around you knows just what to do? It is the same with Real Estate! For whatever strange reason, there is a little expert sitting in all your neighbors, relatives and friends, waiting to emerge and give his 2 cents. Nobody wants to answer: "sorry, not my field of expertise", even if that is really the truth. And for this very reason we as the true experts have an amazingly hard time to root out false information and convictions out there. My husband, a family practit... 01/04/2012

All the Christmas stuff is gone, the New Year’s Eve hangover is history, the phone starts to ring again. I took two listings in the week before Christmas and three more are in the near future, so plenty of good work coming my way. This morning I looked at our MLS for properties in Corvallis, OR and what is new, had a price change and what has expired. Three listings are standing out to me that are on the market for a very long time, same agents, no change, no improvement, just a slow decline in price. All three of those should have been sold a long time ago, they all have great features, great locations, are decent homes. But what they all lack is GOOD MARKETING! One is just about 2 miles from OSU, is now a really good deal, a bit dated but solid. But there is absolute lack of any kind ... 01/02/2012

Corvallis           Price Range Active Listings as of 12/30/2011 Sold Listings Last 6 Mos. Average Sold Per Month Months of Inventory Av. Days on Market Solds $0 - $99,999 6 3 0.50 12.00 217 $100,000 - $149,999 6 11 1.83 3.27 138 $150,000 - $199,999  21 38 6.33 3.32 111 $200,000 - $249,999 41 85 14.17 2.89 93 $250,000 - $299,999 23 65 10.83 2.12 117 $300,000 - $349,999 12 32 5.33 2.25 172 $350,000 - $399,999 28 20 3.33 8.40 127 $400,000 - $449,999 7 10 1.67 4.20 132 $450,000 - $499,999 10 4 0.67 15.00 192 $500,000 - $599,999 6 5 0.83 7.20 130 $600,000 - $699,999 3 2 0.33 9.00 200 $700,000 + 4 3 0.50 8.00 186   167 278   3.60 151 12/30/2011

Would it be helpful to you to have a list of ideas for Corvallis New Year's Eve? Maybe you have not yet decided whether you want to stay in or head out on the town. There are a number of local events happening, and this link will take you to an overview of all of them. 12/28/2011

12/28/2011

As 2012 creeps up on us, let me first wish you a happy New Year celebration. I thought you might find it interesting to know what Corvallis real estate brokers are saying right now. "I am running out of listings" is a common one. This is because the number of homes for sale now in Corvallis is significantly fewer than what I saw in June, July and August (350 vs. 460 roughly). That is a 24% decrease for those of you who like numbers. There are some charts below I want to share with you to better illustrate what is happening now (month end November, our last full month of data) in  our market. If you have any questions about the information, please do not hesitate to contact me. You may have already gathered that now actually is a good time to sell with things moving quickly and with fewe... 12/28/2011

We want to raise children who aren't brats, who value what they receive and display self-control. Our sons biggest and really only wish for Christmas was an X-Box. Now, I have to say that I am really against electronic toys and my first reaction was: NO! But my husband had some self-interest here so I caved and bought it, BUT, it had a caveat: I asked my husband to play along and then asked the boys what they would want if they did not get an X-Box. One wanted a certain book, the other one a new comforter. Good enough. I bought those and on Christmas morning, that is what they found under the tree, not much else. We carefully observed what would happen now. Did we raise spoiled brats? Would there be expressed disappointment? Even a tantrum?                                               ... 12/26/2011

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A VERY HAPPY, HEALTHY, AND PROSPEROUS 2012 to all my fellow Active Rainers and my clients, colleagues and friends... Annette   12/24/2011

LIST YOUR HOUSE RIGHT NOW! Presenting your property at or right after Christmas has a lot of advantages. 1.     Less competition: because a lot of sellers withdraw for the holidays or are not listing until the New Year there are only a handful of new listings, if one of the is your home, it gets a lot more attention   2.     Between Christmas and New Year people have time to browse: When the turkey/goose/roast or whatever we stuff ourselves with over the holidays is eaten, all family conversation are had and the surfing starts, your listing is right there, new and shiny   3.     People who actually want to see a house during these days are more serious: It is neither the weather nor the time of the year to just leisurely house “window shop”.  Buyers who make appointments now until the N... 12/20/2011

http://money.cnn.com/2011/12/15/real_estate/mortgage_rates/?hpt=hp_t1 If you are in the market for a home in Corvallis, OR or anywhere else where you experiences extremely reasonable home prices, NOW is the time to act. I just got an offer accepted that will allow the buyer to live in a nearly 3000sqft home in move in condition with 20% down payment for $1900 per month INCL TAX and INSURANCE. YOU CAN NOT RENT FOR THAT!!! We are experiencing multiple offers again. If you get a mortgage of under 4% for 30 years, folks,  it is time to ACT! Could the property loose again in value. Absolutely! But you have to live somewhere. And if you rent for the same time frame the money is completely gone and in most cases the rental will NOT be your dream home. So get going! Get a really good Market Ana... 12/15/2011

Have invested less in your business lately? Not earning enough to pay for extra services? Here you are caught in a downward spiral, the CATCH 22 of Real Estate!   My Dad, a very successful RE developer, was nearly caught in it in the early 80s in Germany, when all trends went to offer homes cheaper. He went in the other direction, adding features and beefing up the quality. Sold nothing for a while BUT, then it took off and he established himself as the North Star. His name was the synonym for quality homes that are worth the price. THAT is where I want to be! What gets you business, first and foremost? Referrals from past clients. NOTHING is more powerful than a recommendation from a friend or family member. And based on what do you get these, more or less? Mostly not because you are “... 12/14/2011

    June 2011 July 2011 August 2011 September 2011 October 2011 November 2011 Avg. Sales Price $276,624 $275,707 $268,395 $270,390 $270,769 $270,541 Avg. Price Per Sq. Ft. $148 $147 $146 $147 $146 $146 Avg. Days On Market 132 128 128 132 129 159 Currently Active 374 360 333 315 275 253 12/09/2011

The First Time Home Buyers Credit, remember that one? Last year it created a little frenzy. Everybody quickly wanted in on the tax credit and for a short time eligible properties flew off the shelf. But in hindsight (and with a little thinking in foresight) this was again nothing else than a market distortion, creating demand where it was unnecessary. Most people who bought houses at that time would have and could have bought “regularly” and because of the frenzy they very often paid more than the property was worth before and after the tax credit period.   In short, this was nothing else than a bubble! And it has popped! I bet that most people who bought during that period have by now lost more in value than they received in tax credit!         But hey, free money, right? Nope, not fre... 12/08/2011

  I had a great year! WE had a great year! 2011 was (and still is) a very successful year for us. My husband’s practice is well established and he enjoys his patients very much. He has arrived and loves his work.   I am back to top performing and have reached my 2011 production goal in October, not bad for the second year in business here.   That said we have allowed ourselves a mudroom, something so necessary in Oregon, especially with dogs, cats and children, but something our house lacked so far. After a short planning phase we dove right in and while at it we thought about some new lighting and changing something in the 4th bedroom, making it more of a family room type room for multiple uses.             And thinking about lighting we decided to splurge a bit and went to “Radiance b... 12/05/2011

12/01/2011

12/01/2011