This is a series of blog posts about real estate in Salem Oregon written by Melina Tomson of Tomson Burnham, a small boutique real estate brokerage in Salem Oregon.  The blog has articles about local real estate market conditions from Salem, Keizer, Independence, Monmouth, Dallas, Stayton, Aumsville and Silverton.

The blog covers topics from market conditions to happenings inside the real estate industry that might impact consumers to new technologies that are housing-related.  Community information for home buyers looking to relocate to Salem is also housed in our blog as we discuss our local favorites.

What are buyer closing costs?

Buyer Closing Costs You are ready. You have been watching house hunter on HGTV and stalking Redfin and Zillow in your spare time “for fun.”  You’ve been browsing refrigerators. You’ve been looking at dining room sets. You even have a new espresso machine picked out that would go perfectly in the corner of your new-to-be…

What is a buyer agent worth to you?

What would you pay for a buyer agent? All industries have systems that have evolved over time for a certain workflow.  Sometimes these flows make sense to consumers and sometimes they don’t.  Most consumers don’t spend a lot of time following real estate events and more specifically lawsuits.  Right now, there are several lawsuits, one…

3d Printed Homes are here

3D Printed Homes in Oregon? The first 3D printed homes were completed, put up for sale, and sold. 34 Millbrook Ln in Riverhead, NY was the first 3D printed home that was made to sell.  The house was made with concrete walls and the exterior was printed in about 48 hours. Now, ICON and Lennar…

Introduction

Introduction to my podcast I’m going to be doing a regular podcast that merges all things real estate with construction and investing.  Having been in the construction industry for 22 years from building custom homes, to being a landlord, to doing flips, I’m going to share my knowledge with you via my short video clips…

So you want to sell…

Ways to sell without being homeless The real estate market in the Salem metro area is hot. With about a half of month of inventory (how long it takes to sell every home on the market), sellers are often leery of placing their homes on the market.  Selling a home in a hot market often…

Hot market paralysis

Buying in a strong seller’s market I get it.  You are feeling gouged.  The market so strongly favors sellers that you can’t help but feel it is grossly unfair.  Buying in a strong seller’s market might feel like your hard-earned money being thrown away due to bidding wars.  I am not without empathy for those…

MCMs in Salem Oregon

Mid-Century Moderns in Salem Generally, the conversation goes something like this… “I don’t want a cookie-cutter house.” Period, end of story. As the conversation flows, inevitably a potential client sends me a link to a mid-century modern home; that is what they are looking for in the area. Homebuyers looking for mid-century moderns in Salem…

DOJ VS. NAR

DOJ VS. NAR impacts on Salem Oregon real estate agents   Recently the DOJ announced an anti-trust lawsuit against the National Association of REALTORS for anti-competitive policies.   At issue were the lack of transparency around buyer agent commissions, telling buyers their buyer agents are “free,” non-MLS agents not having lockbox access to show homes, and…