(Cindy's Blog about Portland Real Estate & Stuff) HGTV..Reality or does it make things look too easy? Like many of us, I enjoy watching HGTV (Home and Garden Television)now and again. While watching though, I can't help but wonder if many of these shows just gloss over the buying and selling process making it look very easy. Perhaps this is a good thing as it might help those buyers and sellers get off the fence and take that first step, but can your average seller really only put $2,000 towards updates and repairs to have 3 offers  after that first open house reveal? Shows like Designed to Sell preach this, and it does go over what the buyers are looking for today. The reality though is that those same updates and repairs would cost a homeowner quite a bit more with all the contractor... 03/14/2011

Tualatin Oregon Real Estate Market Trend Report for February 2011, posted 3/13/11 (Cindy's Blog about Portland Real Estate & Stuff) Here is the latest 12 month Market Trend Report for Tualatin, Oregon. We are always one month behind so these are the statistics for February, 2011. It looks like the inventory inched down slightly from 8.1 months to 7.9 months. What this means is that it would take 7.9 months to sell all the current active homes on the market. An average inventory would be around 5-6 months, so anything above that would be a buyer's market, and anything below that would generally be a sellers market. Inventory in months is calculated by dividing the active listings at the end of the month in question by the number of closed sales for that month. What's the difference betwe... 03/13/2011

How much is my home worth today? Take a video tour of the Property Investment Profile. It's that time of year when many are getting ready to put their homes on the market in the Portland Metro area..and buyers are starting to come out more and more. If you have no idea on the current value of your home, I have a great tool to give you this information right into your e-mail box. Created by Prudential NW Properties, this valuable program gives you a comparable market analysis each month showing you detailed information of the active, pending and sold homes directly to YOUR neighborhood. To get set up to receive this free program, the only information I will need is the home address, the e-mail address that you want it sent to, and the criteria you would like. An example of criteria would... 03/09/2011

(Cindy's Blog about Portland Real Estate & Stuff) Where is it Wednesday...somewhere in Tualatin, Oregon Each week I'll be posting a new picture on Wednesday morning. The title of the blog will have the City where the picture is taken and I'll post the answer Wednesday evening...not only here on my blog, but on my facebook business page as well. Feel free to go to my facebook business page to add yourself there and comment. Do you know where it is? Care to guess? Comments are welcome. I'll post the answer tonight. Hint: ( although I think this one is pretty easy) 1. Tall tales can be found here.. The answer is: The Tualatin Public Library The Tualatin Public Library is one of the great hangouts of Tualatin offering many things to so many. One of the great things about the libraries in Wa... 03/09/2011

Yes, I know you want to be a soprano, but you really need to be a contralto to sell your home. When I was in elementary school, my music teacher tested our vocal ranges. As someone that loves to sing the melody of most songs, I was very disappointed when I was told that my by voice was a contralto..ALTO you say??? This meant that in the choir, I always had those boring singing parts while those sopranos and mezzo-sopranos got to sing the good parts. What does this have with selling your home? Well, most sellers want to be those sopranos singing the melody..aka a higher price range. They want the higher price but yet in reality, there price range falls in that contralto range. Lower. Yeah, I know this stinks, and I know you SHOULD get more for your home with all those upgrades you put i... 03/08/2011

(Cindy's Blog about Portland Real Estate & Stuff) Here is a Tualatin real estate market snapshot as of March 6th, 2011. I've broken it down into price ranges for easier reading. The solds stats are going back to January 1st 2011. As you can see, the most activity is between is in the starter home price ranges from $50,000-$300,000 where there are condos, attached as well as detached homes in all three categories. The pendings and solds are the most active in this price range as well.   Homes between $50,000-$200,000:                      Active          Pending              Sold_____________    Condos & Attached Properties:                                  19                   6                         3 Of the Active Condos & Attached:   11 are Regular sales, 4 are Bank Owned, and 4 ar... 03/06/2011

(Cindy's Blog about Portland Real Estate & Stuff) Where is it Wednesday...somewhere in Tualatin, Oregon Each week I'll be posting a new picture on Wednesday morning. The title of the blog will have the City where the picture is taken and I'll post the answer Wednesday evening...not only here on my blog, but on my facebook business page as well. Feel free to go to my facebook business page to add yourself there and comment. Do you know where it is? Care to guess? Comments are welcome. I'll post the answer tonight. ******Here is the Answer to this weeks location: If you guessed Rolling Hills Community Church, you would be correct. (my hubby guessed it, but he technically doesn't count right?) Here are two hints: 1) It has a flock ...or congregation 2) It's close to circles and corners....... 03/02/2011

I think most of us have been burned at one point or another when hiring a contractor to do some work. I've been there in the past when working with a contractor that my neighbor recommended. Bad decision. The end result ended up fine, but I had to be on top of the contractors every day and through out the day (did I have time for this?) I thought the owner of the company that I spoke with would be doing the work..or at least there supervising occasionally...wrong. I can still see Felix Unger from the odd couple writing on a chalkboard that to assume makes an ASS out of U and ME. Instead I had two very skilled men that spoke NO english and we had a very hard time communicating. The one contractor who was the "demo" and "prep" guy wanted to cut corners at every chance and tell me I didn't... 02/28/2011

  Yes, I know, this is such fluff...but hey, who doesn't need to relax and just think about the Academy Awards. Don't lie, I know you're dieing to sit back and critique those red carpet snafus. So grab your popcorn..wine and cheese, or whatever, and watch the show. So for full disclosure, I'm going to say that the only movie I've seen that is on the list is The Social Network..and only cuz it was on the airplane coming back from vacation. Lately, going to the movies has been more of a bother to me...so I usually wait until they all come out to video. So with that, I'm going on guess work here and on who some of my favorite actors are. Of course I've seen enough trailers for all of these movies ..so know a "little" about them. I'm also only gonna pick the three top choices...do you real... 02/27/2011

  Seems like lately every where I turn, I see Justin Bieber on the TV, this kid is everywhere! The young girls just really love this guy..he's right up there with Donnie Osmond, David Cassidy and Bobby Sherman..whom I had plastered all over MY wall. So, the other day I open up my Facebook, and there is this picture of Justin Bieber..again! Now he's on my Facebook page!! Ok..so after close inspection, it's not Justin Bieber...it's my oldest son Justin.....aka the Bieber. Of course I had a really good laugh. Then yesterday, I was downstairs, and I get this text on my phone with just a picture. It would seem my dog had to get into the act as well...snuck in and played dress up (well..not really..I have a feeling Shadow was minding her own biz..before she wigged out). *This is not a wig as... 02/10/2011

(Cindy's Blog about Portland Real Estate & Stuff) Each week I'll be posting a new picture on Wednesday morning. The title of the blog will have the City where the picture is taken and I'll post the answer Wednesday evening...not only here on my blog, but on my facebook business page as well. Feel free to click the link below to go to my facebook page to add yourself there. Do you know where it is? Care to guess? Comments are welcome. I'll post the answer tonight. Here's the answer for Where is it Wednesday 2/9/11: So..while out and about I snapped this picture..which is somewhere in Tualatin, Oregon...or technically Tigard, but on right there on the border of Tualatin, Durham, Tigard, and Lake Grove. I really don't understand out the Trail Blazer training facility that is right across t... 02/09/2011

(Cindy's Blog about Portland Real Estate & Stuff) Buying a house ..the initial first steps you need to take to buy a home in Portland Oregon You are at that point in your life where you're finally thinking about buying a new home. You most likely fall into three categories: * First Time Home Buyer: Your excited but yet nervous, you might know a little about the process from either reading online, or hearing about it through family & friends. You have questions...and lots of them!  This post is mostly about you, * Move up Homeowner: Your house is probably getting too cramped..perhaps another child on the way. You now want to have that larger kitchen, bigger yard, or just need a different layout then your first home. *Downsizing Homeowner: Your kids are all grown and out of the house and ... 02/06/2011

(Cindy's Blog about Portland Oregon & Stuff) Tualatin Oregon Ibach Park..answer to Where is it Wednesday 2/2/11 Each week I'll be posting a new picture on Wednesday morning. The title of the blog will have the City where the picture is taken and I'll post the answer Wednesday evening...not only here on my blog, but on my facebook business page as well. Feel free to click the link below to go to my facebook page to add yourself there. So..while out and about I snapped this picture..which is somewhere in Tualatin, Oregon. Hint..if you've read any of my blogs, you'll know that you'll pass where this is to get to one of my favorite places to visit..especially in the spring! One of my favorite places to visit in the spring is The Garden Corner..and I pass right by Ibach Park to get there. Of... 02/02/2011

  Got a sweety? Looking for a nice place to go for Valentines day in Portland? Look no further! My friends and musicians Aaron Meyer and Tim Ellis are teaming up once again with the Portland City Grill for a special Valentines Day...er evening event..."Valentines in the Sky" I've had the pleasure of not only hearing them both play live in several venues. I've also enjoyed hearing the known rock violinist Aaron Meyer in his home while we enjoyed dinner prepared by a well known Thai Chef. A great evening! Tim Ellis, an amazing guitarist is one of the partners of a recording studio here in Portland called Kung Fu Bakery as well as part of the Tim and Jim duo that play at Haydens Lakefront Bar & Grill in Tualatin (a hang out of mine). Both Aaron and Tim regularly donate their talent each y... 01/31/2011

Tualatin Community Park, answer to Where is it Wednesdays...somewhere in Tualatin, OR Alright...so since Monday, I've posted a couple of pictures to give you hints..and just uploaded this last one to this blogpost. Each week there will be a different location and I will post the city the picture was taken in...this week is Tualatin. Hope you find this challenging..I might have made this week too easy! So, Here is the last picture and hint of this location..can anyone tell me where this is in Tualatin? Answer: Let me know it you guessed it correctly! I was at my dentist the other day, Dr. Candace Peterson, DMD (great dentist by the way), and attached to her parking lot that is on Boones Ferry Rd. is this bridge that leads over to the Tualatin Community Park.  Look for next weeks Where is... 01/24/2011

We made an offer on a home....now what happens? I am always asked this question, so I've put together a breakdown of the home buying process from the time an offer is written. 1. Your offer has been submitted to the Seller. One of three things will happen, you will either get a completely signed copy back with an accepted offer, you will get a completely signed offer back with a check in the box that says they do not accept and are making a counter offer, or you will get it returned with the box checked that they are not accepting your offer, with no counter. You will need to sign the area that acknowledges this.  2. You can agree to the counter or make a Buyer's Counter of your own. This can go back and forth until an agreement is either reached or one party terminates.  3. Once mutua... 01/12/2011

(Cindy's Blog about Portland Oregon Real Estate & Stuff) Here is the latest 12 month Market Trend Report for Tualatin, Oregon. We are always one month behind so these are the statistics for December, 2010. It looks like the inventory inched down slightly from 7.9 months to 7.8 months. What this means is that it would take 7.8 months to sell all the current active homes on the market. An average inventory would be around 5-6 months, so anything above that would be a buyer's market, and anything below that would generally be a sellers market. Inventory in months is calculated by dividing the active listings at the end of the month in question by the number of closed sales for that month. It looks like the median cumulative days on the market went from 79 to 89 days and the sold per listed... 01/11/2011

I have always been fascinated by the whole "social class" structure that has existed forever. When traveling with my husband, I get the benefit of his perks while flying since he is a platinum member which give him elite, priority and first class status. Lucky me right? Ever see the movie Up in the Air with George Clooney? My husband is almost like that..travels ALOT. I don't travel that much..not my fave thing to do hanging out in airports, squeezing my body in those tiny seats getting really up close and personal with a total stranger while the flight attentants crash into your elbow with the food cart before they throw you that super tiny bag of nuts. I don't like running through terminals until my lungs burn trying to catch a connecting flight..only to miss it by a couple of minutes... 01/11/2011

    I was sitting there on my patio enjoying my first cup of coffee when I looked over to the next building and saw this handsome devil just hanging out. Perhaps just catching some rays but gives new meaning to the cat iguana on a hot tin roof. There was one the other day that hopped onto someones beach chair just sitiing there..I tried to get a pic of that one but he was quickly surrounded by people so hopped back down and took a stroll along the beach. They really are very cool looking! 01/08/2011

While sipping a tradicional cuban daquiri (spelled correctly the cuban way with passion fruit & vanilla bean..yummy), I got to thinking about customer service and how we do what we do all the time, but our clients only move a couple of times. The thought started creeping into my head when I sat there thinking about the day. My hubby and I have come to St. Thomas for vacation at least once a year for the past 25 years. We walked into one of our favorite art galleries (Jonna White) and as soon as her husband and main salesperson Eddie saw us, he came right over and said hi..even remembering my husbands name. Now to me, this is very impressive. Yes, we have bought many pieces of artwork through the years, so he knows we do buy, but when you think of the thousands of people that walk throu... 01/04/2011