The majority of home searches today start on the internet and buyers today want to see lots of photos!  It's true that a picture is worth a thousand words because nothing provides a potential buyer with more information than the photos.  And yet it is still WAY too easy to find examples of bad pictures, or even worse, no pictures on some listed properties.  But if you give a little extra attention and focus you can have some eye catching photos that will make them stop and stare. One common problem is too much light.  I know this seems counter intuative but if you have tons of light coming in and you are pointing your camera right at the windows, then the camera thinks you have more than enough light and will leave you underexposed.  Try framing up your shot, then point your camera away... 06/27/2008

  When it comes to real estate, we are living in different times than we in 2005.  There was all the reason in the world to trade-up back then.  Today though, people are either nervous or don't have the option of changing to a new house so what does one do?  Learn to love the house you're in. So if you are able to swing it, now is the perfect time for some home improvements, not necessarily to up your resale but more so that you can love the home you're stuck with.  This could be the perfect time to give your home the features you've been pining for. Realtors from around the country have said that buyers are looking for more space, modern conveniences and luxury touches.  For more space, the way to go could be creating the illusion of size.  The future of homes are that getting smaller ... 06/24/2008

  May Residential Highlights In May, sales activity in the Portland metro area picked up over last month. Compared with last May, however, activity continues to trend downward. From April to May this year, closed sales were up 17.8% (1,863 v. 1,582) and pending sales grew 2.6% (2,124 v. 2,070). New listings dropped 2.1% (5,182 v. 5,295). Comparing May 2008 with May 2007, new listings were down 12.1%. In addition, pending sales and closed sales were down 30.5% and 33.5%, respectively. See table below. At the month’s rate of sales, the 17,066 active residential listings would last 9.2 months, down from 10.3 months in April.   Year-to-Date Comparing January-May 2008 with the same period in 2007, new listings were up 2.1%. Closed sales were down 35.2%, while pending sales were off of the 20... 06/13/2008

Lenders are burdened with unprecedented numbers of foreclosed properties in their inventories.  To help unload they are discounting prices which sometimes starts a bidding war.  This could be an indication that we are nearing the bottom, or may just be wishful thinking.  This is happening the most in places where the bubble burst was the largest.  It's true that the higher you rise the farther you fall so now everyone is looking for the lowest price.  This is bad news for the average home seller who has to move for a job relocation or other reasons.  All the foreclosures and other distressed properties are going to have to go first because all the buyers on the market right now are bargain hunters and only interested in a deal. The slashed prices are bringing in multiple offers which is... 06/12/2008

A report released yesterday stated that the number of homes that went pending in April this year were higher than anyone expected.  The Pending Home Sales Index from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) rose to 88.2 in April, up 6.3% from March's reading of 83 and the highest level since October.  This is good news since economists had thought there would be a small decrease in sales.  This is still down from last year but obviously we are in a whole other situation this year.  This has caused NAR to revised its existing home price outlook for 2008.  They are still predicting falling prices but not quite as far.  The same goes for the number of sales, where they had predicted a 4.7% decline, they are now saying it will be more like a 4.5% dip.  Of course this is only one month and... 06/10/2008

The Tony and Libby Kelly Group | Keller Williams Portland Premiere | 503-753-7300 12755 SW 138th Ave, Tigard, OR Charming Rose Meadows traditional on very quiet street. Great home, great neighborhood, great price! 3BR/2.5BA Single Family House offered at $327,500 Year Built 1995 Sq Footage 1,678 Bedrooms 3 Bathrooms 2 full, 1 partial Floors 2 Parking 2 Car garage Lot Size 5,662 sqft HOA/Maint $0 per month DESCRIPTION Charming Rose Meadows traditional on very quiet street. Great home, great neighborhood, great price! Lovely homes features hardwood floors, custom interior colors, wainscotting in dining room, skylights, central air, open great room floorplan, large kitchen w/ center island & walk-in pantry. Very efficient use of space w/3 bedrooms & large bonus room. Private backyard w/pa... 06/03/2008

Please, No More Catalogs! Our mailbox is stuffed each week with unwanted catalogs. My wife occasionally buys something mail-order, but now she sometimes gets 8 different catalogs a week. Around Christmas, that number can swell to 20. I would estimate that recycling these catalogs generates up to 25% of our paper waste each week.  A tremendous waste when multiplied by millions of addresses. I hate waste! There is a new free website that helps cut down on this waste. You can register at www.catalogchoice.org to be removed from mailings of participating companies. The only drawback is that you have to opt out of each individual company, and there are thousands. A better option would be that you have to opt- in to get catalogs, but that will never happen. I'll do my little part to save some... 05/23/2008

As most people have heard, one of the hardest hit housing markets is Florida so to hear that things could be turning around is very good news. It seems that lower prices might finally be luring back buyers, who had previously been waiting for the dust to settle. In the Naples area of Florida, Realtors had their busiest month of the year. Home sales rose 6 percent to last year while pending home sales increased 25 percent. Some Naples Realtors even think they may have hit bottom. That is just the kind of positivity the housing market could use right now. In a year the median home price fell from $390,000 to $300,000. All the homes that went into foreclosure on now on the market making it very competitive and driving down prices. Prices that had been inflated to begin with. Buyers have th... 05/22/2008

   Who's looking for you? Stalkers or your graduating class? Google has a new telephone number search feature. Type a phone number in the Google search bar, and the owners' name comes up with the ability to generate a map directly to their house. This is like a national reverse directory. For free. If your child gives out their phone number, they can be mapped directly to your house. Not all cell phones are immune. My home and cell phone pop up all over the place. I want people to find me, but some may not want to be found. It is a bit disturbing how easy it is to find someone. There are times that I look up a number for business reasons. I always Google a person's name and phone number if I am, or a client, is going to do some business with them. I like to have whatever advantage I can... 05/21/2008

In response to the housing market taking a nose dive mortgage companies and been making many changes that I would call... reactionary. Because it would be crazy to prevent these sort of situations at expense of loosing the quick buck. One of these changes was to up the downpayment percentage required of a Fannie Mae guaranteed loans. This was back in December and now that people are concerned about the lack of home sales, not just defaulting loans, the percentage requirement has been brought back down to 3 to 5 percent. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24665862/ PLEASE CHECK OUT OUR NEW PODCAST ON THE HOMEPAGE OF OUR WEBSITE http//:www.TonyandLibby.com & OUR NEW PORTLAND METRO BLOG AT http//:www.TonyandLibby.blogspot.com (make sure you leave comments) 05/20/2008

April Residential Highlights Comparing April 2008 to April 2007, market activity remains slow. On the other hand, month-to-month activity (March v. April) showed growth in some categories. One area of growth from March to April was pending sales, which grew 6.8% (2,070 v. 1,938). This is the first increase in pending sales from March to April since 2005. New listings also grew 2.7% (5,295 v. 5,155). Closed sales dropped 6.4% (1,582 v. 1,691). This drop is on par with the last three years, though, as closed sales have dropped an average of 6.7% from March to April. On the other hand, when comparing April 2008 with the same month in 2007, transactions were down across the board. New listings fell 2.9%. Closed sales and pending sales decreased 39% and 31%, respectively. At the month’s rate... 05/15/2008

A West Bull Mountain advisory committee met last week and decided on the concept plan for a community to be made from the ground up, and concluded that it needs to include language about job creation and more diverse housing than some had previously expressed. Also studied was the disparity between what people now living in the areas inside the West Bull Mountain perimeter envision for the community which include parks, walkways and lots of trees and grass, versus the realities of the marketplace. At the first of a series of community forums held in April had expressed a desire for neighborhoods that were similar to Lake Oswego or Sherwood. This basically solidified the goals already set. All the discussion and planning is helping to create a community that truly reflects it's citizens ... 05/09/2008

Some of the best housing markets, the ones who kept on appreciating while the rest of the country plummeted have actually started to see some bad times of their own. Charlotte, NC, Salt Lake City, Seattle and Portland Ore. all posted home price gains during 2007, even as more than half of the 150 markets tracked by the National Association of Realtors registered declines. But now it's looking bad for everyone.The markets that were first and hardest were the ones who had seen the biggest boom prior, whose prices were unbelievably inflated and therefore had nowhere to go but down.  The solid markets who caught the tail end of the boom but much less severe are feeling the downturn effects but for the normal economic reasons.   In Charlotte, prices have fallen about 3.4%, through February, ... 05/06/2008

Commercial Leases: Negotiating Personal Guarantees When entering into a commercial lease, the Landlord often requires a personal guarantee from the business owners, even if they have formed a corporation or LLC, and may refuse to rent the space without one. This means that the guarantors will make the lease and other payments if the business fails. Landlords often ask for a personal guarantee from start-ups and other small businesses. This is a risk for small business owners because the company is usually their sole source of income. Bankruptcy becomes a very real option, because if the company cannot meet its expenses, it is unlikely that the owner can continue to pay them. However, if you are a credit rated business with experience, demonstrated growth, and a strong balance sheet, you... 05/03/2008

March Residential HighlightsMarket activity in March showed forward progress for month-to-month comparisons, but remains slow compared with the level of activity a year ago.When comparing March to February 2008, closed sales were up 22.2% (1,691 v. 1,384) while pending sales also increased 5.5% (1,938 v. 1,837).On the other hand, comparing March 2008 with March 2007, closed sales were down 39.1% and pending sales decreased 36.9%. New listings also dropped a slight 1.8%. Also notable in March was a decrease in the level of inventory from February. At the March rate of sales, the 15,412 active residential properties would last 9.1 months.First Quarter/Year-to-DateComparing market activity through March 2008 to the same period in 2007, the first quarter also shows slowing in the number of ... 04/16/2008

1. Increase curb appeal. It's nothing new.  HGTV has a whole show devoted to curb appeal. It is quite easy to over look the outside of the house but you can't forget that not only is it the first impression but you need people to want to come in. Perhaps try driving around and take note of what attracts you to other homes and try to include that in your own listing. Look at the landscaping, paint, roof, shutters, front door, knocker, windows, house number, and even how window treatments look from the outside. You need your listing to stand out from those around it. 2. Punch up color. Paint is the biggest bang for your buck when trying to alter a rooms atmosphere. People are moving away from the boring white and you should too.  That doesn't mean suggesting to your sellers anything like ... 04/16/2008

Pizza Caboose is a great little pizza place in Tigard, Oregon and has been there as long as I can remember. It is owned by the same people that own the Tigard Bowling Alley. Both places are great, and when you combine them, it even makes it better!Yesterday, I decided to let my kids experience the fun time I had as a kid watching the train go around the restaurant while we waited for our food. The wife and I looked at all the train memorabilia and pictures around the restaurant, that was a little more exciting to us.But, as a kid, the train was the only important thing, but now that I'm an adult, the taste of the food is more important and I have to say, it was one of the best tasting pizzas I've had in years. The crust was crisp and sturdy, yet soft on the inside, just like I like it.I... 04/14/2008

Builders now-a-days are trying their hardest to appeal to what they believe truly attracts today's buyer.  There are different ideas of what people want which gives the consumer a nice variety of home types that fit their personal needs.  Here are four builders and a look at each of their strategies.  Arbor Custom Homes.  Arbor's latest and greatest creation is the bungalow style that has been interpreted rather broadly that appeals to first-time buyers and borrows from multiple architectural styles.  Although they have a variety of floor plans to choose from, there are some common elements that Arbor feels are key.  First they have their master bedroom on the main floor, either that or a den on the main that could be a bedroom.  This is very popular right now because buyers either like... 04/10/2008

Some say a recession is coming, depending on who you ask, it is already upon us.  Some day the economy will improve again and it will be time to act accordingly, but how will we know when that is?  Here are some key indicators from the housing market.New Jobs vs. New Housing.  In the past there was about one new home owner for every two new job openings.  If your market has builders scaling back, like we do, but new jobs are still being created then at some point the builders will have to pick it back up to meet the new demand.  That is a good sign that we are on our way back.Fewer Builder Concessions.  Times like these it is easy to get all kinds of free stuff and offers from home builders just trying to get rid of their abundance of inventory.  Concessions like free mortgage payments ... 03/27/2008

The IRS will help you get your Economic Stimulus RebateThe IRS is offering free tax help to those who do not normally file a tax return so they can receive an Economic Stimulus Rebate this spring. More than 300 IRS offices and hundreds of free tax preparation locations nationwide will open March 29, 2008. There are two Portland locations for this event: 1220 SW 3rd Av., at the IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center Walk In Office, and the time is from 9AM to 3PM; and the other location is at 2201 Lloyd Center, #2010, and the time is 10AM to 4PM. For more information, go to this IRS link.Wayne B. Pruner is a Realtor® at Oregon First, who works in the Portland and Tigard, Oregon area. He is ready to help you with all your real estate needs. His phone number is 503-891-0795. Here are links to his ... 03/25/2008