“Doesn’t it rain in Oregon, like 365 days a year? Someone told me you guys only get 30 days of sun a year.” I hear this constantly from people looking to relocate to Salem, Oregon. Concerned about the massive downpour of rain that they think we get here, they don’t think they can handle the…
I took my 7 year old son today to open his first savings account at the bank. He had managed to save $23.50 so far from his allowance. As I was going through the process with him, explaining how the bank knows to put the money in his account vs. another one, what he was…
Purchasing a home in West Salem has always been frought with concerns over the bridge. There is only one bridge connecting the two parts of Salem and when there is a traffic accident or a jumper, the bridge can be closed for hours, reeking havoc on the city. As a real estate agent, I have…
100% financing allowed many home buyers to get into homes in the past few years. With the mortgage markets in turmoil and home prices plunging, banks are having to go back to more conservative methods of lending in order to maintain liquidity. After March 31st, no MI company including MGIC, PMI, RMIC, Radian, UG or…
This video was posted about 11 months ago before the dig dip in the real estate market. The maker of the video took the yearly data for real estate and set the data points to a roller coaster. It certainly puts the market into perspective and reminds us that the market has always had its…
As I was getting my son from school today, I noticed that several kids were riding their scooters without helmets. Now in Oregon, if they are under the age of 14, that is against the law. This reminded me of a Parents Magazine article that I recently saw online. Parents Magazine just rated the top…
Normally in Salem, Oregon, we get drizzle, but today it poured in sheets on and off. It reminded me of mid-west rain. I always liked a really good rainstorm…well from inside my house anyway. As I was driving to get my son from his school today, I was seized with panic. My heart throbbing, I…
I was recently on another forum answering questions for people about our area, when someone commented about the overuse of certain descriptors in real estate. In real estate, we have a term calling puffing. This is where a real estate agent promotes their listing with a verbose use of adjectives that makes most consumers head…
The calls are starting to come in with sellers looking to get their homes listed starting in April. As with all of my listings, I am brutally honest about our market conditions. People are hiring me to sell their home, not just list it. Here is what is occurring in our local Willamette Valley…
Reuters is reporting that Countrywide is being investigated by the FBI. Here is a link to the Reuters article. http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/080309/countrywide_inquiry.html?.v=1 Several states have already launched investigations against some appraisers, and so it is not surprise that lenders are going to be investigated for the housing mess as well. With lenders having lax practices, investors purchased…