In my last installment regarding regarding Choosing_The_Lender_or_Title_Company  that is right for you, I covered the 22_Questions_&_There_Answers_for_Lenders . In this installment I will cover the answers to the 21_Title_Company_Questions  that I ask when interviewing a Title Company and Escrow agent.The Title Company Questions :How long have you been an escrow officer?In general I just want to know if They have any closing experience. Most Escrow agent will be more than willing to share there experience both as an escrow officer and as an assistant. Length of time on the job is important but not primary.Do you have an assistant? Are they familiar with the files?It is imperative to me that I will be able to reach someone when I call that is familiar with the file. However to many assis... 04/11/2007

Portland Oregon Loves Farmers' MarketsBy Wayne B. Prunerhttp://www.yourhomeinportlandoregon.com/ Wayne's Portland Oregon area Real Estate blogwww.activerain.com/wayneprunerPortland residents are noted for their healthy living lifestyles. Saturday was the opening day of the Portland Farmers' Market and 10,000 people were there, in spite of the rain. (And this is not the largest market in our area. The Beaverton Farmers' Market is the "big daddy".) The Portland Farmers' Market is held every Saturday through December in the South Park Blocks, which is within walking distance of the heart of downtown Portland. The Oregonianis going to have a map of area farmers' markets in their FOODday section on May 1. http://www.portlandfarmersmarket.org/ Local farmers' markets are the fastest growing se... 04/08/2007

Portland Oregon: 5 Things To Do in May  By Wayne B. Prunerhttp://www.yourhomeinportlandoregon.com/ Wayne's Portland Oregon area Real Estate blogwww.activerain.com/wayneprunerPortland Rose Festival - One of Portland's signature events, is celebrating its' 100th year starting May 31. This event features a parade, amusement park rides, family entertainment, and scores of different food booths. Rose Festival AssociationPortland Indie Wine Festival - Oregon is becoming noted for its' wines and this festival acknowledges the lesser known craft wineries. Taste the best wines, meet the winemakers, and sample food from top chefs.  Indie Wine FestivalReach the Beach - One of Oregon's premier cycling events raises money for the American Lung Association of Oregon. Reach the BeachPortland Saturday ... 04/08/2007

In the small town of Coos Bay Oregon where I first began practicing Real Estate the Choices for Lending and Title services was limited. Although there were aproximately 21 Real Estate Brokerages, most were one person offices. Principally there were the Top 3-5 agencies and then all of the rest. Long before I began practicing Real Estate, the Title companies had pretty much devided up the business. Making a choice as to Title and Escrow services was basically pre-ordained. Lending on the other hand was minimal. In fact of the very few lenders in the community most were not interested in doing Home loans at all. I remember my conversation with one of the Local Banks ( there were no Mortgage Bankers in Coos Bay at that time ) that had been reccomended to me by another agent in my office. I... 04/08/2007

So all is going well when I call my Title gal to check on a few transactions.  I am told that she no longer works there and that Susie has taken over her files. They are quick to reassure me that Susie will do a fabulous job and that I will like her.Susie did not do a fabulous job and neither me nor my clients liked her. So begins the process of searching for a new Title and Escrow service. Something that every Real Estate Sales person will have to do at sometime or other.Here is the list of questions I use to qualify my Title company and Escrow officer as they pertain to mine and my clients needs. The very first Item of importance to me before the questions begin is the face to face meeting. I want to know that the person I intend to work with will fit my personality and reflect well o... 04/07/2007

If you are a Real Estate Agent like I am we often times will pick up a buyer through a sign call or an open house. Many times that Buyer will already have started a pre-qualification for a loan with a lender of their choice.For those times when they are not or if we feel that it might be beneficial to the Buyer we may be asked or volunteer to provide a recommendation for a Lender. These are the questions I use when interviewing a Lender in Portland Oregon for my clients.Are you a Mortgage Banker, Broker or both?What are your current rates including a break down of your costs?Do you have any in-house lending programs and or portfolio loans?What loan products do you specialize in?Do you have or know of a loan product for Fixers?What is your policy towards Flips?Have you made any loans to ... 04/06/2007

Don't use your home like an ATM.  By Wayne B. Prunerhttp://www.yourhomeinportlandoregon.com/Wayne's Portland Oregon area Real Estate blogwww.activerain.com/waynepruner  I have noticed a trend here in Portland Oregon, however, I suspect that is happening elsewhere also.  People are refinancing the equity in their homes and spending it on every day living expenses. When the local real estate market takes a big jump, they refinance.  I know of people who have done this two or three times.  This shortsightedness can have long-term effects.  I believe that one of your paramount financial goals is to have no personal mortgage payments when you retire on a fixed income.  At retirement, your quality of life will be diminished if you have to take mortgage payments and everyday living expenses fr... 04/06/2007

Ahhhhhh,                     The Sights......                           The Sounds......                                  The Smells......... of Spring                                         Nature's beautiful reminder that Winter is over and Spring is finally HERE !!!I love going to Portland this time of year. The flowers are all in bloom and the city is gearing up for the Annual Rose Festival. The Portland Rose Festival celebrates 100 years beginning May 31st, 2007. My family and I will be in attendance as this parade is too spectacular to miss. You can also read more about this year's festival activities in this wonderful article by Valerie Harvey. Just one more reason to live in beautiful Oregon. Credit for photographs to Madison Fronabarger, age 11. Kelli Fronabarger- Central Oreg... 04/04/2007

The best thing that ever happened to my Real Estate Career was my Geographical Move. I will admit that it was a bit scarry at the time. After all I was the Number 1 agent in the Number 1 office for the entire County. Folks this was not your typical I'm number 1 advertising ploy used by every agent that comes down the Pike.No these were accountable statistics. At that time the Brokerage that I was affiliated with had a 35% market share. I was there Number 1 Agent. Life was Good but not Great. As I began to look around I could see that there was more to Life.  I could also see a pattern of complacency. My wife and I ( were now married for 35 years ) and our children were not growing or exploring all the wonders that life had to offer.I remember that Friday afternoon as clear as day. I had... 04/04/2007

The following statistics were compiled from a synopsis of Data presented by RMLS the local MLS in greater Portland Oregon Metro area. Although the RMLS is a regional wide MLS covering most of the State of Oregon and parts of South West Washington state, this highlight of activity will cover the Marketing area that I am most familiar with, Residential properties in the core area of Metro Portland Oregon. Figures are deemed accurate but not guaranteed. Due to potential inaccuracies use of the information should only be used to analyze trends.Residential Sales Prices over the Last 12 month time period from Feb 2006 through Feb 2007 :Average sale Price appreciation was up      12.8%   from $288,300 to $325,100The Median sale price appreciation was up 13.6%   from $241,900 to $274,900 During... 04/04/2007

Portland Oregon: What Sellers should never say to Buyers.  By Wayne B. Prunerhttp://www.yourhomeinportlandoregon.com/Wayne's Portland Oregon Real Estate blogwww.activerain.com/waynepruner  Many potential sales in Portland Oregon have been killed by Sellers inadvertently saying the wrong thing.  It is best to tell your Realtor® everything about your home and avoid discussing issues with the Buyer or the Buyer's agent.  It is best to leave the house when the Buyer and their agent show up.  If that is impractical, thank them for viewing your home and excuse yourself because you have something important to do, such as; you have an important phone call to make, paperwork to catch up on, need to help your children with homework, or you are getting ready to leave.  This avoids saying something... 04/02/2007

It was just one of those beautiful Portland Oregon days. Clean air, Warm Sunshine, (no rain ) and a couple of Open Houses. AHHHHH! All is right with the World.Now these two Open Houses are the very two Homesthat I have been talking about in my last couple of blogs about FIXERS, FLIPS, and REHABS, in the Alberta Arts Neighborhood, here in Portland Oregon. And when I say Fixers that is what I mean. I have only had these listings for a few days and today was the first opportunity to get inside or even to show them to a prospective client. I don't no about where you live but the Fixer market in Portland is Hot. In fact it has been Hot for the last 18 years that I have been in business and most assuredly before that as well.Because of the pent up demand for buyers wanting to get into these t... 04/01/2007

Portland Oregon: What Sellers should know about their front door.By Wayne B. Prunerhttp://www.yourhomeinportlandoregon.com/Wayne's Portland Oregon area Real Estate blogwww.activerain.com/waynepruner It's a well-known real estate maxim that houses with good curb appeal sell faster and for more money than houses with a tired or flat look.  It's important to make a good first impression.  Buyers start forming their opinion before they even walk in the front door.  Improving curb appeal is usually inexpensive and gives you a great monetary return on your efforts.  Buyers are looking for a place to create new memories and you want them to do it in your house.To help your house make the most favorable first impression, look at your house objectively with the eyes of a buyer seeing your house ... 04/01/2007

A quick cute story. I had taken a Sign call fairly early in the morning some years ago on a Home that I had Listed in the Piedmont Neighborhood of Portland Oregon. The call had been placed by a fellow that I would guess was about 35 years old or so. He had asked if I could pick him and his Grandmother up and take them to see the house.Beaming over the phoneI said that I would be Delighted. I went right into my qualifications spiel asking them my standard set of questions. Amongst the questions that I like to ask is " would you have time to look at other properties as well. " I generally would pick a couple of more homes close by. The man said that he thought that would be a great Idea. Promptly at 3pm I picked up the man and his Grandmother and took them to the house. As we walked throu... 03/30/2007

With all the negative press about Real Estate sales across this great country of ours it has caused some what of a stagnation. The interesting thing is that Prices did not slide here in Portland just the amount of Pending Sales and Closed Sales.While Real Estate Agents have been working as hard as ever the listing inventory has also soared. If you do the math that is not a good thing for Seller's. More inventory less sales. That was until about 6 weeks ago. It was about the same time one of my Long term Clients was discussing putting one of his rentals on the market.I researched the comps throughly and we discussed them at length. Now my Seller is no idiot and has been involved with Real Estate Sales for a good 20 some years. He tends to analyze well and normally will price his properti... 03/29/2007

So? What did Rhonda have to say? Chris stared at the ground for a while. Finally he blurted out, Ok Ok let's flip the Cosmetic Fixer! The Big old Burned house with the potential for a huge profit margin was just to good to turn down. Without the flip there would not be enough money to do the work.Gearing up to sell a flip house without the Seller doing a thing requires planning and execution. The Closing on the Cosmetic Fixer house was just 2 days away. When executed correctly a seamless transfer can happen on the following day. These type of flips are much better than the ones that drag out for a month or so. The longer you own a property the more justification it seems the lender wants as to the disparity in what you just paid and now want to get. Odd as it may seem, when you flip a h... 03/28/2007

Portland's Rose Festival celebrates 100 years this June.  This eleven day event is a local favorite for many generations.  This year the festivities kick off on May 31, 2007.Each year all of the local Portland high schools select students to become a part of the Rose Court to represent their school and compete for the coveted Rose Queen title.  This creates quite a buzz among the high school girls during the spring every year.There is the Starlight Parade, the Junior Parade and the Grand Floral Parade.  All parade routes run through Downtown Portland and you may want to get there quite early (one day before) if you want to have a good view of the festivities.  many people have a tradition of getting on the routes the night before and "camping" out to reserve their traditional spots.The ... 03/28/2007

Standard and Poor's has reported that Portland Oregon has the 2nd highest increase in home value as reported  in the Portland Business Journal. While an increase of 8.7% isn't exactly setting records, it is much better then most of the rest of the nation. Nationally, according to the report, our 20 largest markets have seen a decrease of .2%. Interestingly enough, our RMLS system shows Feb 06 to Feb 07 numbers at 12.8% appreciation. I asked fellow blogger Ron Ares to help me with this as he has a breakdown that shows numbers during this time period at 6.5% and median price appreciation at 5.9%. According to Ron the RMLS uses a 12 month rolling average. He disputes the validity of those numbers as he feels that a median number is more accurate. Here's a link to his blog with a breakdown ... 03/28/2007

Has it been a Month already. I can't believe how time flies. It seems like only a day or two ago since I had met Chris and Rhonda. The Fixer market in Portland Oregon has always been pretty good. But there are times when the fixers seem to dry up. Finding a good project is hard (_See_Finding_The_Right_Project_) you may look for months without seeing anything and then Bam, 2 or 3 will show up all at once. Today looks like a good day, there were several prospects on the HOT SHEET, and Chris is raring to go. When I picked him up I asked, so how did it go with the Lenders. Good news he said, I have been talking to a hard money lender, Toby Smith (name changed to protect the innocent) do you know him? Yes I do as a matter of fact. I have done a few deals with him, and I have had several clie... 03/26/2007

On February 17 & 18, 2007, I had the opportunity to attend the model train show at the Portland Expo Center.  There were 200 vendors and children, young and old, enjoying the world of the model railroad.  Many parents and grandparents were there with their children creating lasting memories.Vendors form almost any model railroad manufacturer were on hand to answer questions, display the latest innovations and sell their wares.  I was impressed with the detail that some of these sets had.For the youngsters, there was a Thomas the Tank Engine play area with tracks and engines to build and play with.  There was even a large Thomas ride on that went on a large track.  The kids just loved this.This train was actually in a suitcase!  A lot of time is put into this hobby by the folks who set u... 03/26/2007