Women in Real Estate

For some reason or another, real estate has always been one of those professions that women have had little trouble breaking into. In fact the National Association of Realtors puts the number of all female sales agents at 65%.

What is really impressive though is the number of women at the top of the real estate industry. The 2008 edition of the Swanepoel Trends Report is referring to management, and not even at middle management levels but executive levels. Women are taking over the very top spots of the real estate world, and this is just the beginning.

Hopefully this sets a great example for other industries and what women can achieve. The time has come for women to display how truly confident and financially savvy they really are.

http://nationalrealtynews.com/content/templates/contrib.aspx?articleid=809&zoneid=4

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Where To?

As we all know, Oregon is a fabulous place to live. Surprisingly, not everyone is aware of this fact. Of course not everyone is in the dark, Oregon grew by 33,314 people in 2006. 149,838 actually moved here and 116,524 moved away for some reason. In fact, so many people move here every year that half of us came from someplace else. But where are we coming from?

On the East coast they are still oblivious to our greatness so only 7,122 came here in '06. The Midwesterners are heading to the coast, either coast, but 13,702 chose the Oregon coast. In the South people are just trying to escape the heat, what better place than the Northwest, or so thought 17,979 Southerners. But the West coast by far is very much aware of what we have to offer. Of the 106,192 Westerners who moved to Oregon 51,295 were from California. The rest of the top five included Washington with 24,230, Arizona with 8,078, Texas with 4,580 then Colorado with 4,424.

When Oregonians do make the move out of state they tend to keep it in the Western family as well. Washington was first with 28,905 followed by California with 25,375, Arizona with 7,224, Idaho with 7,136 and Utah with 4,270.

The Oregonian - Saturday, February 16, 2008 - Living B1

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February Market Report

January Residential Highlights

Market activity appears to have slowed when comparing January 2008 with the same month in 2007. New listings jumped 11.9% compared to last January, but closed sales dropped 31.9% and pending sales fell 34.3% While an increase in new listings in January is common, a substantial drop in closed sales helped compound the inventory rate as the 13,904 active residential listings would last approximately 12.8 months at January’s rate of sales. This is the highest recorded level since the previous high of 10.1 in January 2000.

New Construction in 2007

The sale of properties listed as proposed, under construction or new construction increased 6% (5,370 v. 5,045) when comparing 2007 and 2006. The average sale price appreciated 6% ($387,200 v. $365,600) and the median sale price grew 6% ($318,600 v. $300,000).

Affordability

According to a formula used by NAR, the average Portland family household only had 99% of the income needed to purchase a median priced home ($276,500) in the Portland metro area in December. A family making the median annual income ($63,800 according to

HUD) would pay $1,340.46 a month for this home with a 20% down payment and a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with an interest rate of 6.1% (per Freddie Mac).

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Noisy WES

The Westside Express Service is coming and so far Tualatin is the only city who has expressed concern over noise that will be caused by the daily commuter train that runs between Beaverton and Wilsonville. Unfortunately if Tualatin wants a noise solution, Tualatin has to pay for it.

City officials have been looking for options to the noise problem and so far have come up with two. There could be quiet zones established where the horn is not required to sound when crossing the intersection. This could cost Tualatin about $600,000. It is about the same cost to install wayside horns. These are horns that are attached to a train station and sound while the train goes by, and can reduce noise by 98 percent.

Since Tualatin, not TriMet, would benefit from the implementation of one of these possibilities, it would be Tualatin that be expected to foot the bill. Especially since the horn is a safety measure that TriMet is not so sure they want to mess with.

http://tigardtimes.com/news/story.php?story_id=120174072218043600

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Design Trends

Since the internet has sped up the design migration, it makes it more important to keep up so you know what buyers want or are about to want. If you want to keep up on the next new design trends for the home experts have some ideas for where to look.

HOTELS Of course people love the feel of a hotel, it reminds them of being on vacation and a lot of thought and expensive designers go into the look. Especially new hotels are good for study because the most recent options are at their disposal.

FASHION RUNWAYS Design is Design. Creative people are not limited to only one medium. It is not at all uncommon for fashion to influence interior design color, fabric and shape, and vice versa.

MOVIES AND TV SHOWS The set of a show or a movie is very strategically planned and can create impressions on people who are renovating. Think of your favorite t.v. show and how many times you see that set, the repetitiveness might cause you to start liking the look because it is familiar. Also, it is sinking into your subconscious, you might not know it is influencing you.

THE STREET Teenagers influence design more than ever before. The Hello Kitties and skulls you see the kids wearing will be made into high-end jewelry and home accessories in the next six months to a year.

Realtor Magazine - February 2008 - Page 28

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Remodels That Payback

Those who are looking to add value to their home should be focusing outside. According to Remodeling magazine's 20th annual "Cost vs. Value Report". Realtors in 65 markets were given construction specs and costs on 29 upscale and midrange projects and asked to estimate the percentage return at resale. The only interior remodel to reach 80 percent recovery in 2007 was a minor kitchen remodel. Other projects that beat the 80 percent mark were siding, deck additions, and window replacement.

In general, remodeling returns have gone down due to rising remodeling costs and slowing home appreciation. Except, of course, for the Pacific region which includes Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon and California. In this area there were actually six projects that saw an estimated return of over 100 percent. Those remodels were wood deck additions, minor kitchen remodels, fiber-cement siding replacement, wood window replacement, and an upscale wood and vinyl window replacement.

While the report does give national numbers it also breaks it down by region because where you live clearly influences what is valuable to buyers. For example, adding on an midrange garage will see an estimated 88 percent return here but in West North Central, which includes the states of IA, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, and SD, they could only expect about 57.9 percent back.

Revamping an attic bedroom could get you 98 percent on the west coast while the national percent is around 76.6 percent. Adding an upscale bathroom to your home has an estimated national average of a 69 percent return but the Pacific region is thought to be more like 84.1 percent. Of all the areas in the country that a home owner could be doing a remodel, our area is certainly the safest bet if you are doing it for the resale value and not for yourself.

Realtor Magazine - December 2007 - "Payback Time" page 32

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Get The Most Traffic For Your Listing

Some common mistakes are made when putting up a new listing, and while they are things that may not seem like a big deal, can seriously hinder the possibilities of an offer.

First off you should not put a listing up that is overpriced. A study found that listings that never reduced their price received 97 percent of the initial list price. Homes that did have a price reduction before selling sold for 88 percent of the initial price. It is likely that the difference is greater than the amount of the price reduction.

Set up your selling price with price benchmarks in mind. A listing price of $355,000 will be viewed significantly less than one priced at $350,000 because people do their online searches with parameters of 250k - 350k, for instance. Using these price "bands" in your favor can make all the difference. If you are already close to the bottom of a price band, dropping it by that little amount could increase your online activity by as much as 7.1 percent.

Lastly, it is apparently a good idea to put your listing up first thing Friday morning. The web traffic can actually be improved by 7.7 percent. I would assume that people are preparing for house hunting on the weekend and I don't know about you but I find myself more attracted to brand new listings. It's that feeling that you found it first and could discover a deal.

These are probably not hard and fast rules but test them out, see if it's true for you.

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