Tag: Oregon REALTOR®

One and DONE!

Posted on by Jessica Ward

As many of us know the market in the Portland metro can be a bit hectic for buyers. Fortunately, when your able to dial in with your realtor on specific needs in conjunction with a timeline that can ease much of the stress and pressure of the market.
CONGRATULATIONS again to my wonderful clients- The Mejias on closing their first home!
They were open, upfront and honest with me about their needs/wants. With active listening and clear communication we were off to the races together.

In just ONE short week we were able to find the perfect home, put an offer in and have it accepted! Yes, the market does move fast, which is why it pays to be properly prepared and have quick feet so to speak.

Easy Breezy Living in Vancouver

Posted on by Living Room Realty

This lovely home is ready for its next adventure!

On the main level the living room has a gas fireplace that is oh so inviting as the days get colder. Use the open space to create a beautiful dining space with  sliders that open to the patio while the open kitchen that looks over it all. Separated from the living area is a half bath and an office/den/bonus room. Upstairs the primary suite includes a full bathroom and walk in closet, and the other two bedrooms have a shared Jack/Jill style full bathroom. 2 car garage. Close to the neighborhood park, easy freeway access. Low HOA $39/mo

Is Now the Time to Sell?

Posted on by Living Room Realty

Sometimes we get to that moment of warmth in the realization that we’ve finally landed in a place where we can settle in, grow some roots, and really get to living. Then sometimes life gets in the way. If 2020 wasn’t that year for you – congratulations!

For some recent clients it was work that surprised them with a forced move across the country. So in the middle of a pandemic they needed to make some minor repairs, paint the entire interior of the house, and have some landscaping taken care of. All while working from home with two small children – one who needed constant supervision so he didn’t break himself (again) and one who required a parent to be their teacher for the majority of the day. No problem!

“No problem,” became a mantra in 2020. It was a year full of new challenges, but in the end it was better than could have been expected. We found new, socially distanced, ways to do business, came up with new solutions to what were now unique scenarios, and ultimately made things happen. Lots of things. Portland real estate was bustling through the first 9 months of the pandemic – and we’re still going.

A lot of people have been on the fence about selling for reasons that are completely understandable, but if you’re willing to be flexible and think out of the box now could be a great time to sell your home. We’ve been in a strong seller’s market for quite awhile, but now more than ever. The combination of historically low inventory in conjunction with great interest rates has left buyers competing for homes across the Portland Metro and Vancouver areas.

If you’re interested in talking about this more feel free to reach out!

Official Nut

Posted on by Living Room Realty

Oregon is all about its nuts – hazelnuts!

Call them filberts or what you will, but drive almost anywhere in the Willamette Valley and you’ll pass hazelnut orchards. According to the Statesman Journal some 70,000 acres of Willamette Valley farmland are planted in hazelnuts trees and farmers are expected to plant 8,000 more acres each year. The 2018 harvest yielded about 47,000 tons, but by 2025, the yield is expected to be 90,000 tons annually.

I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised when I found out my client worked in the hazelnut industry, I mean, 47K tons is a lot of nuts to deal with. As many of us do, I had forgotten that when I reach for my favorite agricultural products, hazelnuts or otherwise, that a lot of people have worked very hard to make those available to me.

It made  sense that he found the perfect house in Salem as it’s centrally located in the Willamette Valley and I hope he’s going to love his new home for a good long time.

 

Fun Facts from the Oregon Hazelnut industry:

  • The hazelnut became Oregon’s official State Nut in 1989.
  • About 800 Oregon farm families grow hazelnuts on 70,000 acres.
  • The total value growers received for their hazelnut crop has averaged nearly $70 million during the last five years. This translates into a total economic impact of more than $150 million in Oregon.
  • Hazelnut trees can produce until over 100 years of age.
  • The hazelnut is unique in that it blooms and pollinates in the middle of winter. Wind carries the pollen from yellow catkins to a tiny red flower, where it stays dormant until June, when the nut begins to form.
  • The nuts mature during the summer months, turning from green to shades of hazel nestled in a protective husk, and are harvested in late September or October after they have fallen to the ground.
  • In 1858, the first cultured hazelnut tree was planted in Oregon by retired Hudson’s Bay Company employee, Sam Strictland in Scottsburg.
  • In 1903, George Dorris of Springfield started the first commercial orchard with more than 200 Barcelona hazelnut trees. Barcelona is the most prominent variety grown in Oregon today. The Dorris Ranch is now a living history filbert farm with thousands of visitors annually.

Also, if you made it this far and love to bake please make some of these cookies and write to me about how darn delicious they are!

 

 

A Dream Refined Through Fire

Posted on by Living Room Realty

When we met Patricia we prepped her for what she may be competing against in Hillsboro with homes that met her home search criteria. She wasn’t afraid and put on her warrior armor to prepare her for the battlefield of real estate. Hillsboro for the most part, is still in a seller’s market. So when a home checks all the boxes as far as location, amenities, and price they go extremely quick and buyers have to fight hard to be chosen. And sometimes one just has to walk away when the bidding war goes above one’s comfort level. After competing in multiple bidding wars Tricia was determined to use all the “no’s” to her advantage and when we found the right home she resisted the gravity of the circumstance and quickly used her experience as momentum to swing her into contract. We found the home now it was time to dig in.

Patricia did not shy away, hers was a mantra of “Never Give Up.” We stood by her side cheering her on. We all pulled together as her team and her fantastic lender Erik Liu w/ First Tech, was able to make one final tweak which upped our closing time an impressive 16 days setting her offer a part. When we got the call that Patricia was the chosen one, the smile on our faces was contagious and we immediately celebrated with Tricia.

The uphill sprint commenced and we fought hard to schedule inspections immediately and had thorough reports back to Patricia within 24hrs of our first counting business day. In our ascent, we gathered all the information needed to negotiate concessions and what seemed like a easy climb quickly showed its difficulty. Hinging on the end before falling off, we mustered all that we had to hold it together. She negotiated a substantial concession and with a Home Warranty and was excited to move forward. This was an incredible accomplishment.

Patrica’s dream came to life. It is a joy to see the smile on her face and the light that shined bright within her. She is a true testament to never loosing hope. We look forward to celebrating this great accomplishment by her side. In the end, what started as dream was refined through the passage of fire.

Erik Liu w/ First Tech Credit Union,  Mortgage Loan Officer
NMLS #461446
Intel Ronler Acres Onsite

Erik.Liu@firsttechfed.com | 503.720.1645 Mobile  | Text