Click On Picture.

Key Words: Portland Real Estate, For Sale Portland, Real Estate Portland, Homes for Sale

SOLD

finding their perfect new home.

 Moving Forward to 2012 with several Pending Listings

Great Condition 4 Bedroom

$269,900

Property Description

This home is in great condition inside and out with lots of hardwood floors on the main level. Roomy kitchen is open to the family room & large breakfast nook. Located on a beautiful tree lined street and the yard is private with many trees behind the lot. Back yard is being re-seeded. Side parking next to garage suitable for small rv or boat

http://1123se56th.epropertysites.com/

 All banks, that I know of, place their inventory of homes on the market the regular way when they’re ready to sell the homes they’ve foreclosed on.  Normally, after the foreclosure occurs, the bank determines the value of the property, and puts the home on the market for the amount they consider to be market value.  However, sometimes the bank is wrong and the home is priced too high and it sits on the market.  Other times, they price their properties too low, and there are multiple offers above list price.  In other words, they have the same challenges that any other seller has!

 Because of these occasional super good deals, many home buyers or real estate investors follow bank owned homes as part of their property finding strategy.  A quick search of the rmls data base will yield a number of bank owned homes in just about any area. Normally, these are pretty picked over and not too enticing.

However, there is a secret opportunity that I have been using with some of my clients.  Oftentimes the bank takes awhile after the foreclosure to calculate how they would like to price the property, and the home is not on rmls during this time.  Fortunately, I have found a way to develop a list of properties that have been foreclosed upon but are not yet on rmls. 

Earlier this year I helped a client buy a bank owned lot that was located in a premium gated neighborhood.  We got a great deal.  After we completed the purchase a number of agents called him up and asked how he was able to purchase this lot, they had been waiting for the lot to come up on rmls, but it never did.  We were able to purchase the lot before it ever showed up on rmls.

Now, even though it is a little extra work to develop this list, I’m opening up this opportunity to all my clients.  If you’re considering looking for a home, investment property, or other real estate to buy, give me a call and we can discuss some ways to move forward that other agents may not be aware of!

Danger by Michal Marcol

Let the Healing Begin

Over the past few years as I’ve worked with home sellers who find themselves in the position of needing to short sell their homes, there is one common mistake that is the most troubling, and unnecessary. This mistake is that many people drain all their savings before deciding to sell a home they can’t afford.

The scenario often goes something like this. One or both spouses get a cut in pay at work, or one of them loses their job. Maybe there is commission based employment, and it has just been harder to make money. All along, they hope that things will turn around, and the house that was maybe a stretch to get into a few years back, is now completely unrealistic to hold on  to for the long term. They don’t want to admit it, and as a result, their savings gets depleted and eventually disappears. Finally, when their bank  account is down to zero, they stop making their house payment, not out of choice but because there was nothing left for a payment.

Maybe a way to look at it would be like a mountain climber, who pre-determines a turnaround time before things get too sketchy up on the mountain. After a certain time in  the day, conditions will be expected to deteriorate just too much to safely continue. Once the clock gets to that turnaround time, the climber heads back,  even though the summit may not have been reached. In the same way, a homeowner who is experiencing a financial shortfall might pre-determine that when their savings drop to a certain level, it’s time to sell the house and move on. This way, they’ll have time to investigate their options, other ways to make money,  or perhaps a loan modification.

Don’t be too emotional when facing a financial shortfall. Take some quiet moments and consider your options. Make investigating your options like your second job.  Many people have successfully been able to obtain good loan modifications with their lender, that can definitely be worth a try. You can still short sell your  house while you have money in the bank; you don’t need to be down to zero to do a short sale. I’ve never met anyone who is glad they spent all their money on  house payments before finally deciding to take action. Start early, when you start sooner you’ll be done sooner and you’ll be glad you took action.