Here are excerpts from the report that the Oregonian provided regarding the possibility of minor league baseball returning to Portland:

“After the Beavers left Portland, the Northwest League approached Hillsboro to consider building a stadium to host a single-A team. Those discussions started about a year ago, but Hillsboro officials didn’t officially announce their intentions to pursue the idea until last week. The Hillsboro plan calls for a new 4,000- to 6,000-seat stadium at the Gordon Faber Recreation Complex on Northwest 229th Avenue. City officials estimate it to cost $13 to $15 million that would be financed with full faith and credit bonds.

In the meantime, Milwaukie decided to seriously evaluate whether the city could bring a team to the north industrial area of the city along McLoughlin Boulevard. The city completed a public outreach phase and is now working with a citizen task force to figure out what residents would want from a baseball stadium. Milwaukie’s plan calls for an estimated $25 million stadium that would double as a community events center.

It’s unclear, though, if those two plans conflict or if the Northwest League would allow two teams in the Portland market – the biggest area in the region without minor league baseball.

A potential roadblock is a league rule that no two teams can exist within 50 miles of each other. Both teams would encroach on the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes’ territory and each others. Usually, that can be resolved by the intruding team paying a fee to the existing team. However, Richmond said that is one of the issues that needs to be resolved.

“We’re interested in working with both sides and see what happens,” he said.

“We think, for single-A baseball, there’s room for two teams in this market,” Asher said. “Especially at that distance.”

Asher said the Milwaukie site is better because of its proximity to the future Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail line and Milwaukie’s downtown. Mayor Jeremy Ferguson also said the extensive and transparent public outreach campaign positions the city in a better place to get voter approval for funding the project. He compared Hillsboro’s approach to Clark County’s bid to bring the Yakima Bears to Vancouver, which failed because residents were unwilling to pay for it.

Projects were estimated at the midrange and upscale value. Below are the top ten midrange projects that recouped the most value in the Portland area.

1) Minor kitchen remodel, 91.5% cost recouped Job cost: $20,947 Functional but dated 200‐sq. ft. kitchen, leave cabinet boxes in place but replace fronts with new wood doors and drawers, including new hardware. Replace wall oven and cooktop, laminate countertops, install midpriced sink and faucet. Repaint trim, add wall covering, remove and replace resilient flooring.

2) Garage door replacement, 88.4% cost recouped Job cost: $1,732

3) Entry door replacement (steel), 85% cost recouped Job cost: $1,473

4) Deck addition (wood), 81.9% cost recouped Job cost: $12,938

5) Window replacement (vinyl), 81.4% cost recouped Job cost: $13,504

6) Window replacement (wood), 79.5% cost recouped Job cost: $14,432

7) Attic bedroom, 76.9% cost recouped Job cost: $61,066 Convert unfinished attic space to a 15‐by‐15‐foot bedroom and a 5‐by‐7‐foot bathroom with shower. Include a 15‐foot shed dormer, four new windows, and closet space under the eaves.

Basement remodel, 76.4% cost recouped Job cost: $76,393 Finish the lower level of a house to create a 20‐by‐30‐foot entertaining area with wet bar and a 5‐by‐8‐foot full bathroom.

9) Major kitchen remodel, 75.9% cost recouped Job cost: $64,209 Update outmoded 200‐sq. ft. kitchen with semi‐custom wood cabinets, including island, laminate countertops, standard double‐tub stainless‐steel sink, energy efficient oven, cooktop, ventilation, microwave, dishwasher, garbage disposal, custom lighting, new resilient flooring.

10) Deck addition (composite), 75.2% cost recouped Job cost: $17,358

The report, a joint effort between Remodeling Magazine and the National Association of Realtors®, compares the average cost for 35 popular remodeling projects with the value those projects retain at resale.

PMAR eNews; March 2012

• The number of Portland Metro homes sold increased 17.5% vs. Feb. 2011
• The number of Portland Metro homes that are pending increased by a staggering 32.5% vs. Feb. 2011
• The average sales price rose 4.3% vs. Feb of 2011, while the medium price dropped 1.3% for the sale time period
• Inventory levels reached a 5 year low for Feb, with 6.5 months of inventory (homes on the market)
• New Portland Metro home listings dropped 13.6% vs. Feb 2011

Some key points from these stats are:

• As inventory drops and demand for homes increase (higher sales) prices may begin to rise on a consistent basis
• March is expected to be a very strong month for Portland as pending sales surged in Feb and inventory dropped
• Higher end homes are starting to sell (as indicated with the medium price drop) – more expensive homes are selling.
• All these factors indicate a stabling real estate market in Portland

To View the full RMLS report click here

Home prices at lowest point in more than 10 years

Unfortunately, that option is not yet available to home buyers. So, how many homes should you see in your quest to find just the right property?

There is no special number that is right for everyone. We can’t just say, for example, that buyers should see at least twenty homes before making a purchasing decision. Some buyers find just the right home with their first viewing. Others go through dozens of properties and still come up empty-handed. So what’s a home buyer to do?

You may want to tackle a home search similar to the way a job hunter launches an employment search. The prospective employee doesn’t rush from one business to another filling out applications or requesting interviews. Instead, he or she methodically researches available positions according to a set of specific criteria:

• job title
• duties and hours
• location
• pay range and benefits

After a list of job openings is generated, the job hunter scales down the list by more detailed criteria, like company size, history or reputation, and prospects for promotion or skill enhancement.

To avoid house hunting burnout, consider a parallel approach.

• type or size of house (i.e., 3-bedroom colonial)
• structure and features (two-story with full basement and attic)
• location (preferred or acceptable neighborhood/community
• asking price (plus taxes and insurance)

After generating a list of possible homes through the MLS or other resources, you can then narrow your search by defining additional features that the house should have, such as family room, fireplace, two-car garage, etc.).

With your updated short list of properties that have pretty much what you are looking for, you can now schedule viewings to see the ones that look most promising. Try to see those that are located in the same area, which will reduce driving time. After seeing them, if you are still unsure and would like to see more homes, weigh out your reasons for uncertainty with the houses you’ve just seen, and add those reasons to the next list you should make after waiting a few days, to avoid burnout.

Gathering information about desired homes, making lists, and viewing only properties that are close to what you are looking for can reduce time spent shopping for a home. When you find a house you want to buy, it will be for the right reasons, not because you are burned out and make a hasty decision.
About The Author: Hughes Real Estate Group is a team of real estate agents that work throughout Idaho providing solutions to buyers and sellers all over the state. Kevin Hughes’ primary focus remains Boise real estate, Nampa real estate, Meridian Real Estate, and Eagle Real Estate.

Buyers Are Now Starting to Climb Back Into the Housing Market: Portland Metro home buyers have gone into hiding over the last few years due to the fear of unemployment, bottomless home prices and the challenge of obtaining financing for a home. That is all changing and the buyers are starting to come down off the fence. A better job market, home prices bottoming and banks loosening their purse strings has given home buyer the confidence to get back into the housing market. Employment is the key driver in strong housing recovery and locally we are staring to experience that. With the flight to home buying, real estate agents are starting to see multiple offer situations (competing with other home buyers) again. I’ve personally experienced the multiple offer battle 6 times in the last 2 months, in one case there were 19 offers on one home.

Where Are All the Homes – Its Time to Put Your Home On the Market: I’ve preached over the last couple of years that now is not a good time to sell, but rather a good time to rent your home. I still contend that it is a good time to rent your home, but if you do not desire being a landlord you’re in luck – the housing market needs your home. January 2012 saw just over 8000 homes on the market which is the lowest level since May of 2007. As mentioned before, multiple buyers are putting offers on the same homes since the supply of homes is so limited. Even the time to sell a home is starting to drastically shrink (down 15%) and by March I would anticipate we’ll be at levels closer to a normal market (80-90 days to sell as opposed to the 160 we saw in Dec 2011). Many buyer are spending more time searching for homes because they are either getting bought up too quick or the inventory that is out there is stale – homes that have been on the market for an extended period of time.

As the supply shrinks and the buyer demand increases, the housing market will start to see the prices of homes slowly climb back. The price rebound is usually the last part of the real estate market that recovers so while we wont see a price rebound just yet, the indicators are…. that its beginning.

Pending Home Sales Are Up 22%: Pending home sales is a great indicator for the future as it usually takes a month or two for a home purchase to close. January saw a huge spike in pending sales and will lead to a jump in home sales in February and March. Looking at the RMLS numbers for February, so far I’m seeing the same things happening in February. Homes are going pending at an alarming rate.

A Healthy Job Market Drives Housing: When people are working they can afford to buy homes – plain and simple.  Unemployment in the Portland Metro area has shrunk considerably from it’s high of 10.7% to 8.6% in Dec. 2011, the lowest rate in 3 years. If the unemployment rate continues to drop we will see more people enter the housing market.

It’s Nearly Impossible To Find A Rental Home:

www.deptofnumbers.com

Good or bad, Portland has the 2nd lowest vacancy rate in the country, only behind the perennial vacancy leader, New York.  Low vacancy is helping to drive up the rental rates and in turn drive renters into the home buying market. Portland is getting closer and closer to being at a point in which the buying is a cheaper option then renting. This has also helped spark off an investor rental craze. If you’ve ever wanted to be a landlord this is the time – you have your pick of the liter as far as tenants are concerned and the rental rates are continuing to increase.

So what does all this mean?? Hang tight, the Portland Metro housing market is on its way back.

People who manage to stay organized have never experienced this sense of panic, and they are lucky. But how do they do it? What is their secret? Well, a select few are just naturally good at keeping things in order, but most require the helping hand of a self-storage facility. Renting a self-storage unit is by far the best way to keep your home clutter-free.

Right after you move into a new home, even after you have rearranged, there is still never enough room to put all your belongings, due to the fact that people don’t have the heart to throw away items that were once precious to them. Even though you are living in a mess, you still can’t find it in you to throw anything out. That being the case, most people’s best scenario is a clutter-less home with an overstuffed garage.

Instead of spreading the mess of a renovation all over your house, or in your garage, rent a small unit from one of your local self-storage companies. Keep all of the things you can’t get everyday use of out of the way until you have found a purpose for them. Placing your unused items in cheap storage units can help cut down on the visual chaos of a messy house, and it also gives you an opportunity to take a mental break from the stress.

Listed below are a few tips for achieving home AND garage organization, the divide and conquer way.
• Step One. Before you can conquer, you must divide. This means separating the “keepables” from the “unkeepables” and using a judicious eye to identify belongings that should be given or thrown away.
• Step Two. Conquer. Identify what you need and segregate what you don’t need. These are the items you’ll be putting into storage.
• Step Three. Pack things logically. Don’t just throw everything into a box. By packing things in an organized manner and labeling boxes, you’ll make it much easier to find something.
Putting the home you’re living in in order can be one of the most stressful things you do as an adult. However, you can minimize the chaos and relieve some of the tension in your home by taking advantage of cheap storage units.

This article was written by Matt Schexnayder. Matt is on the SpareFoot marketing team and writes for the SpareFoot blog. SpareFoot is the largest online marketplace for self-storage with more than 5,000 self-storage facilities listed nationwide. SpareFoot offers consumers the most complete comparison shopping experience in the storage industry and has been a big part of the national moving and storage industry for over 3 years.

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