Agent Profile
The Jackson Group is a team of dedicated professionals who have the right connections, know-how and experience for all your real estate needs.Click on icon below for Jackson Group PDX Website
Distressed Property- Rent, Short Sale or Foreclosure?
With the decline in the real estate market, many home owners are now upside down on their mortgage. They may have over borrowers and over paid related to what our market can produce today. There are many options for homeowners to consider. You should also consult your financial or tax advisors when making these significant investment decisions.
Foreclosure- the option that everyone should try to avoid and only use it if it is your last resort. A foreclosure on your credit history can drastically affect how you can borrow and spend money in the future. It can lower your credit score up to 200-300 points. It is not the choice to take unless someone has lost everything else and has no other options.
Renting- a homeowner might need to change their thinking about their home. Real Estate is a long term investment. During the fast days of 2003-2007, people were buying and selling so quickly because the market was shooting up so fast. Those days are gone and so real estate appreciation has slowed to a steady level once again. The value of your home WILL go up again but it might not be at the level you purchased for quite some time. If you can consider a rental and stomach covering the additional amount of the mortgage, taxes and insurance- then you might not lose your equity, it would have no affect on your credit and you could move and rent another home that is within your budget. You might have to change your thinking about her mortgage payments- think of it as a payment into an IRA. You might have to tighten your belt a bit but at least you won’t lose your equity.
Short Sale- we are doing a lot of short sales now. Short sales are a good option for home owners that have lost a lot of equity and now owe more in their mortgage than the home is worth. The paperwork and length of time it takes to get a reply from the bank takes a lot of patience so you have to be prepared to make it wait once you submit the paperwork. The bank assigns you a negotiator and then you work with them to lower the loan pay off amounts and release the debt deficiency. Often, there is none or very little affect on one’s credit score. The bank is usually more willing to work with people that are in some type of financial distress- job loss, income reduction, etc. But I have seen sellers will high net worth’s have success with short sales. If you are considering a short sale- you will need a real estate agent with short sale experience that can assess your situation and see if a short sale is a viable option.
Loan Modification- this is also an option but a difficult one to obtain. Your bank might be willing to work with you to modify your mortgage to decrease your monthly payments if you are in a financially distress situation. Contact your mortgage holder’s loss mitigation department for more information.
Priced to Sell and Show Well
The direction of pricing in our current market is no longer “priced right and looking food.” Rather homes that are “priced to sell and show well” are compelling buyers to take action.
What I have seen a lot of in this ‘recessionary’ market is that buyers have become even more demanding than they ever were before. They almost have an attitude of entitlement – like it is their turn to be the winners in negotiations. They take it for granted that they are going to get a good buy and wait and they have no compunction about making low offers and standing firm.
The problem is that with all the choices and the many houses on the market these buyers are often successful with their posture, and if they are not it is not uncommon for them to wait on the sidelines for a better deal on the next one. Sellers- do you want to wait for a better market or sell now in the market you have? All homes for sale get “priced” in the marketplace, and the ones we see selling are priced at very compelling values. Otherwise, there are many houses on the market that are waiting for something to change. And the problem is that we have learned that change in this market has mostly been moving lower, not higher.
Value seems to be the primary focus of current buyers and can you blame them? With the present fear in the financial market- everyone is acting more conservative with their investments. Property condition has become secondary to property value. Perhaps this market has allowed buyers to seek more potential in their home’s condition rather than the appreciating value of the home.
How to Winterize Your Home
You’ve pulled your sweaters out of mothballs & your mittens from the bottom of drawer. What about your house? Is it prepared for the cold? Our experts have boiled down your autumn to-do list to 10 easy tips!
1. Clean the gutters– once the leaves fall remove the leaves and other debris from your gutters by hand, scraper or spatula. Use a good hose rinse to see if there are any cracks in your gutters.
2. Block the leaks– Seal any leaks on the inside and outside of your home using door sweeps or caulk.
3. Insulate– Spend some money to add additional insulation to your home. You’ll get it back in the form of lower energy bills. Have at least 12 inches of insulation.
4. Service the Furnace– HVAC specialist to service every 1-2 years for approx $120.
5. Get your ducts in a row– Central heating ducts can lose up to 60% of heated air before that air reaches the vents if ductwork is not well-connected and insulated. Check your ducts in the attic and crawl space, repair places where the pipes are pinched and fix gaps with . . . . . . . duct tape!
6. Face your windows– Take down window screens and put up storm windows. Consider upgrading to new windows which will help lower your energy bills.
7. Inspect and clean the chimney– See reverse for our recommended contractors.
8. Make sure your crawl space or basement is properly vented– Keep your crawl space vents OPEN during the winter months so the space will be properly vented when it rains or snows. If you have a sump pump– make sure it is working properly and the vapor barrier is properly graded for optimal water drainage.
9. Wrap pipes and hose bibs– Install a Styrofoam cup around hose bibs and wrap all un-insulated pipes in unheated areas of your home.
10. Check alarms systems– Change batteries and check the operation of your home’s smoke detectors, carbon-monoxide detectors, and generators.
Businesses and People We Recommend For Help Winterizing Your Home
Gutter Cleaning
CJ’s High Climbing Services 503-228-9278
Metro Gutter Service 503-771-5529
Chimney Repair/ Inspections
Oregon Chimney 503-231-2588
Paramount Masonry 503-260-3911
Drainage Contractor
John’s Waterproofing 800-810-5883
HVAC Specialist
AAA Heating and Cooling 503-284-2173
Ron Hardy Heating 503-222-9654
Insulation Contractor
All Weatherization 503-649-6542
Alpha Energy Savers 503-658-2212
Tree Trimming
Rich’s Tree Service 503-465-2133
Wind Thin Tree Services– 503-481-4628
Window Installer
Alpha Energy Savers 503-658-2212
Oregon Window Installers– 503-829-8117
Celebrating “The Village”
We recently wrote about a transaction that we closed for our buyer that “took a village.” All of the parties really worked well together and in everyone’s best interest. By everyone I mean that both the buyer and the sellers took each other’s best interest into consideration when making requests and performing tasks. The buyers stayed reasonable with their requests and the sellers consistantly took challenges with stride and performed without hesitation. I knew from seeing the subject property that it was going to be a difficult transaction. The unknowns were the parties involved. So I truly feel that it was because the parties worked together that this transaction came together.
As a testiment to the village’s accomplishments, the new owners hosted a get together for everyone involved in the transaction. Both listing agent and selling agent, the entire buyers’ family and both of the sellers, and the lender and his team were all there to celebrate. We toasted each other with champagne and once again acknowledged that everyone deserved a pat on the back.
What happier ending could you ask for than a Kodak moment with everyone involved in the transaction. It made my year and I thank everyone once again for all of their hard work!
Buyers and Sellers CelebrateEveryone Cebrates
SOLD! . . . to the highest bidder . . . Atwater Place
By Becky Jackson
The Atwater Place auction was fun and crazy. I have renamed the auctioneer “Accelerated Chaos”! They have their systems, and they are working with many newly-hired and un-trained people, but there were so many confusing and contradicting rules and statements going into the auction and a million small, redundant steps for everyone to follow. Seems like they wanted to foster chaos along with the hype.
The auction was active, fast – but not uncomfortable, and sales were generally well above the minimum bids, consistent with recent market results and at substantial discounts from the recent price lists. Many of the sales were at prices which can be negotiated from developer price lists if a buyer is brave enough to ask and push for it, so in the end we reach the real market price, one way or another. Sellers can set asking prices, but Buyers determine value by offering and paying what they will. Tonight 40 people offered and agreed to buy which made a vigorous market happen where there had not been one before. Some may have paid a bit more than they expected, having gotten caught up in the bidding, I don’t know, but the overall average is a sales price of $291/SF, a substantial discount from most current price lists on A-grade new condos.
There appeared to be numerous willing bidders for all units, except the penthouse which had no offers, and which is fully valued at their ‘minimum’ in my opinion and validated by the buyers tonight. There were also very few bidders for the two townhomes, which is consistent with current market demand for townhomes and reflected in the much lower price/SF for those homes.
This auction was certainly not a cheap process to pursue, but it did lead to sales of 40 homes in a months time – a significant jump in velocity for condos sales for sometime. Now, the challenge is how they follow that up and sell another 100+ high end homes with the same level of urgency!
Atwater Place To Auction 40 Homes!
The owners of Atwater Place in South Waterfront announced recently that 40 homes in the building will be sold at auction on September 20th. Many of you have called or emailed with comments and questions, so I thought I would speak up about this to help others understand what is happening, what it means for the marketplace and what you need to know if you want to participate.
Many people are talking about this auction as if it were a sorry situation, but that is absolutely not the case. The best thing for the marketplace is to have these condo buildings with many unsold homes have an auction to sell condos at prices that buyers are willing and eager to pay, rather than continue to sit with unsold homes that are priced as if we are going to go back to $400/SF! Well, that ain’t happening any time soon, and when the owners of condos understand that, we will have a healthy and active market again. The best thing for the current owners of homes in these buildings is that the rest of the homes get sold and the buildings get fully occupied by new homeowners who move in, shop in the nearby retail, take walks in the neighborhood and help make the building and neighborhood a vibrant place to live.
Atwater Place Condominiums at South Waterfront
The auction for Atwater Place is the first to happen in Portland’s downtown area so we will be learning on this one how the marketplace will respond. I believe it is a terrific opportunity for condo buyers to buy premium homes in a stellar building and a top quality neighborhood. These are all good features of A-grade property, the kind that every homeowner seeks, and the only reason these homes are not already sold is that they are priced too high on the builders’ price lists. The auction should give buyers the chance to set prices they are willing to pay, which may not be as low as the minimum bid, but which will be appropriate for the current economy and today’s market environment.
Here’s what you need to know if you are interested in attending the auction – and The Jackson Group is well prepared and available to assist you with any specific needs, from plain old information to full blown representation for a purchase. The seller will pay the fee for our services to represent you to buy at the auction, though there are some rules attached to that. Call us if you have questions, and plan to have one of us accompany you to visit the Auction Showroom to register you as our client.
Facts to know:
Auction Date and Location: 4:00PM Sunday, September 20, 2009
Marriott Portland Downtown
1401 SW Naito Parkway
Portland, OR 97201
40 Homes are offered for sale at the auction, with pre-set minimum bids which, if offered, will be accepted. The seller reserves the right to change the units offered at the auction and may do so based on buyer interest. The homes range in size from a 931SF 1-bedroom to a 2355SF premium home with minimum bid prices from $169,900 to $899,000. We have the complete list of homes plus floor plans, so call us if you want more details.
All potential buyers must be prequalified with one of the pre-approved lenders (Bank of America or MetLIfe Home Loans) prior to the auction – even if you intend to use your own lender. Cash buyers must provide proof of funds prior to the auction.
All buyers who wish to participate in the auction must be registered by submitting a completed written form by 7pm on September, 18th. On auction day, bidders must have a cash equivalent (cashier’s check payable to yourself) of $2500 for each home they may purchase. Upon successful purchase, buyers must endorse their cashier’s check to Ticor Title Company and agree as part of their purchase agreement to increase their deposit to 3% of the sales price, which must be paid with a personal check payable to Ticor Title that evening.
Closing of all successful purchases shall happen by October 19th, unless an extension is agreed to in writing with the seller.
There are at least a dozen other special conditions, so if you need more information, please call us and we can go through all the fine print with you. Again, we believe this is a positive event for the marketplace and we encourage people who may be interested in buying a downtown condo to get involved if only to learn and then determine if there is a positive possibility for them in this auction.
Have a great holiday weekend!
Becky
March Statistics for Portland area Home Sales
Here is the latest march-2009-market-action report from the RMLS. This is the monthly summary of the real estate sales statistics for our region published by the Regional Multiple Listing Service.
In February both the increase in sales and the decrease in listings relative to last month (January) had a positive influence on the amount of inventory for the Metro area. Inventory now is just over 16 ½ months, down from the record breaking high of 19.2 months in January. While this is both good news and a positive change, we are still in a market that is hugely biased in favor of buyers due to high inventory and very low demand. Until this imbalance changes we can only expect that pricing pressure will continue to be on the downside. This means that for selling listings our strategy must continue to hold to these tenets: very competitive pricing, excellent condition and showing preparation, showing convenience for buyers’ brokers and multi- focused marketing strategies for reaching all possible prospects. We also keep clients well informed by offering regular reports on the number of showings for properties and feedback from the brokers or buyers about those showings, plus the competitive picture specific to each listing.
Another report we provide is the “market analyzer” which shows market demand and inventory absorption in a specific property area and type, among other things. This report is key to understanding why pricing much be considered in terms of demand as well as property comparison. For example, we may be able to determine that a property is priced competitive to all other listings, but still have sales challenges because there simply is such light demand.
For buyers we provide all the same detailed information for the areas and specific properties that are of interest in their home search. Knowledge is power!
Our intent is to provide legitimate statistical information that i useful to you for taking care of your plans for moving. We know that a big decision like buying or selling a home cannot be done without the analytical information possible to help with those decisions. There are a lot of good things about our business that are emotional and subjective – we need to have personal and emotional connections to our homes. Added to that ‘emotional connection’ I welcome the ‘proof’ of statistics to help us with strategies and decisions. This is true for both buyers and sellers alike.
As always, if you have any questions or want to discuss something specifically, please give us a call at 503-416-4177.
Becky
Becky has three great properties for rent!
All three are vacant and sparkly clean and ready for your stuff.
In the Pearl: An edgy loft in The Streetcar Lofts building. 10 foot ceilings, exposed concrete and ductwork, hi-style and hi-tech lighting and a double door balcony. This loft is perfectly located at 12th and Lovejoy where it is steps from Safeway, on the Streetcar line for commuting and a short walk to Jamieson Park. The rent is $1195.
Streetcar Loft
At Uptown in Northwest Portland: A killer view of the city of Portland, Mt Hood and Mt St Helens from a remodeled one-bedroom condo at the Hilltop Condominiums at Uptown. This is a great Northwest Portland location near 23rd and Burnside. You can’t beat the view for $1245/mo.
Hilltop View!
And finally, a three-bedroom townhouse at The Brownstones at Forest Heights, This one has 3 beds and 3 baths, vaulted ceilings, skylights, a gas fireplace, a deck from the living room overlooking the greenspace and a private patio with roses. The location is a winner! It is just a short walk to the elementary school and a short bit further to the neighborhood center with a Starbuck’s, the Prime and Vine deli, a bakery and Postal Annex amoung other great merchants. Easy bus access to downtown is also handy, Rent is $1595/mo.
Brownstone Living Room
Call me if you or someone you know is looking for a rental in Portland for immediate or near-term occupancy.
Becky at 503-680-1440.
Here it is . . . the Market Action Report for January
Bottom line – lot’s of homes for sale, prices down about 13% from January of 2008. Buyers are moving back into the market with pending sales up 52% in January over the snowy December of 2008. The total homes for sale is now over 14,000, which at the current rate, means a supply that will take 19 months to sell.
“Priced right and lookin’ good “ is the mantra to attract one of the savvy buyers looking to take advantage of a buyer’s market!
Check out the full story market-action-2162009 and find the numbers for your area of Portland. And call us if you have questions interpreting this real estate market. 503-416-4177
Becky
Best of Tour 2.10.2009
Today’s selection for “Best of Tour” is a project in Portland’s Pearl District. There’s no seduction in the name – Block 90 – so fortunately the condos on the top floor of the four story renovation of the Pearl District’s block 90 (Flanders to Glisan between 13th and 14th) has way more panache than the name suggests. You may remember this building as the Reed Harris office and distribution center, but no more. True to the high style of conversions for old buildings in The Pearl, this block is now ‘made over’ as commercial and residential lofts. It now home to the new Aveda Institute Portland, the essence of cool in salon schools, and 50 Plates, a restaurant with, well, 50 plates of delicious American food. This is all good!
We’ve determined now that the neighborhood and neighbors are first rate, so how about the condos?
Block 90 residential lofts are very modern with clerestory windows opening to large terraces and city views. The finishes are high-tech and high-style and the floor plans are mostly open and airy, taking advantage of the sleek design and the wide open views. Lofts range in size from approximately 800SF one-bedroom homes to almost 1800SF corner units and prices range from $379,634 for a studio to $999,768 for the southeast corner wth wrap around terrace.
Recent Blog PostsTo Stay Sharp – Sharpen the Saw
Tuesday, June 8th, 2010
The association I have with other ambitious business people at The Aji Network - people who are seeking competitive knowledge - helps me continually improve the services The Jackson Group offers to clients so that we can help them succeed with their property objectives in spite of a challenging marketplace. Greentree Circle – in Lake Oswego’s Palisades Neighborhood
Tuesday, June 1st, 2010
A super traditional family home in a most ideal of family neighborhoods, this new listing at 1462 Greentree Circle is a perfect place to settle. An open floor plan with warm hardwood floors, fresh updates and a bonus room over the garage. The home has four bedroom home including a sexy master suite that has [...]John Ross Auction Results!
Monday, April 12th, 2010
Yesterday The John Ross Condominium in South Waterfront held an auction to accelerate sales of the remaining developer uFirst Thursday is Back!
Saturday, April 3rd, 2010
We stopped in last night at the opening of a new showroom for Kalkhoff Bikes at 11th and Glisan and it was deja vu all oPennoyer Street Townhomes at South Waterfront
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010
Our property focus this month is Pennoyer Street Townhomes. these homes are a special offering the marketplace for seveSearch Portland Real Estate
