Located in the center of Forest Heights Neighborhood this park features trails, a pond, and some very nice picnic areas and play structures. Have a quick look. This is a great place to spend the afternoon.
If you have never been up the Columbia River Gorge to Maryhill and seen Stonehenge I suggest you do so. This is a 90 minute drive from Portland stright up I-84 and there is a lot to do there including the MaryHill Museum and the replica of Stone Henge. This is a great day trip to hit here in Portland. You will also want to visit Mary Hill Winery and Amphi Theatre and Horsethief lake while you are in the area. Check out the pics here.
Check out this great footage of Multnomah Falls in Oregon in the Columbia River Gorge. This is Video I shot again with my Nokia N-95 Telephone. If you dream of living in Oregon where you can Snow Ski or go to the Beach within just a few minutes than you will want to give this a look. Call us at 503-799-8383 when your ready to reserve your piece of the Oregon Dream or if you are looking for help in any Real Estate Matters.
One of Portland Oregon’s best Custom New Home Builders is Olsen Homes. You will definitely want to take a quick view of these tremendous new homes just minutes to down town Portland. These classic homes have all the upgrades and a are located on NW Old Quarry Road in Washington County. Just a short walk to the new Bonny Slope Beaverton Elementary School. Large Lots, Custom features, in a lush green setting with Southerly Exposure and Views. Check out the Video we just shot including two young Deer that visited the site while we help it Open in May of 2008! We have two homes from the $700’s and one lot left to sell. Hurry and get yours now!
This is a must see for the whole family! If your in Portland and want to see a great Exhibit come and see the awesome Exhibit of Chinese Dinosaurs! Man are the Enormous! There is so much to do at OMSI..Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. This year in 2008 there are some great shows at the Planetarium and we caught an awesome IMAX show on the Rain Forest in South America as well as there is a super show on The Grand Canyon! We even bought a scale model Solar home for a science project at the Gift Shop! OMSI is right in Downtown Portland on the East bank of the Williamete River. Check them out at www.omsi.edu .
I stopped the other day for a quick look at Cedar Mill Park at the Corner of 102nd and Cornell Road next to the Cedar Mill School. This is a park that I have passed by many times but have never spent any time at. I arrived in late April to find the Tennis Courts hoping and that there was an awesome stand of second growth Doug Firs bustling with tree squirrels! There were several picnic tables and huge open areas for throwing the ball or playing with a Frisbee. I could see this was a favorite of the locals…..but the parking lot was pretty empty. This is a cool stop if you are looking for a place to picnic or meet a friend. No playground but plenty kid friendly!
 Check out the field of Daisies I was in. This is a neat thing for sure. Watch my mini broadcast from my new Video Phone! Look for mor eloacl broadcasts as I am doing a series here at NW Home Center on Neighborhood Parks for oyur enjoyment! Ciao.
By Inman News, Monday, March 10, 2008.
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RE/
Century 21 Real Estate’s century21.com and
Realtor.com continued its reign at the top of the list, with 5.16 percent of the market share of all unique visitors to real estate sties. But that market share had fallen compared to its 9.08 percent market share in January. Second-place remax.com had 2.61 percent of the market share in February, followed by Yahoo Real Estate’s realestate.yahoo.com at 2.35 percent, Zillow.com at 2.34 percent and HomeGain.com with 2.32 percent.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s hud.gov Web site sank from 10th on the list in January to 14th on the list in February, and Homes.com dropped from 14th in January to 17th in February.
About 24.1 percent of all visits to real estate Web sites went to the top-10 sites in that category in February, compared to 27.4 percent in January.
Hitwise reported that real estate site 21online.com joined the top-100 rankings in February, in 87th place, and Cincinnati.com also joined the list, rising from 110th in January to 95th in February. Rentals.realtor.com moved from 34th in January to 153rd place in the rankings in February, while RedWeek.com moved from 99th in January to 107th in February.
“Realtor.com” was the most popular search term for the four-week period ending Feb. 23, Hitwise reported, followed by “remax,” “real estate,” “zillow.com,” “zillow,” “apartments,” “homes for sale,” “realtor.com,” “century21,” and “realtor,” in that order.
Among the fastest-moving Web sites tracked by Hitwise for the four months ending in February: RogerFazendin.com, up 266 places; SonoranGMAC.com, up 180 places; SignOnSanDiego.com, up 161 places; HomeInsight.com, up 146 places; Myazland.com, up 129 places; PruCalifornia.com, up 113 places; RealEstateForeclosures.net, up 85 places, CapeMay.FNISMLS.com, up 58 places; and CarlsonRE.com, up 39 places.
Good News for Buyers and Sellers: March 6, 2008I know you’ve all been waiting for some relief to our current market conditions, and it arrived today: the new FHA and Fannie Mae- Freddie Mac conforming loan limits have been released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. To find out the new limits in your area, simply click on this link: https://entp.hud.gov/idapp
http://www.realtor.org/GAPublic
As NAR research points out, increasing FHA loan limits will help an additional 138,000 Americans achieve the dream of home ownership and will allow nearly 200,000 homeowners to refinance and potentially keep their home. In addition, NAR believes that increasing the loan limits for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will bolster the housing finance market, which continues to be severely stressed, by providing an immediate infusion of much needed liquidity to the nation’s mortgage market.
An economic impact study conducted by NAR in January 2008 estimated that increasing the GSEs’ conforming loan limits would result in as many as 500,000 refinanced loans and could help reduce foreclosures by as much as 210,000. In addition, over 300,000 additional home sales could be generated, housing inventory would be reduced and home prices would be strengthened by two to three percentage points.
HUD was mandated in the Economic Stimulus Act to publish new loan limits within 30 days of the bill’s signing by President Bush on February 13. This is going to stimulate the lower end and in many Communities that crucial move up market that allows the log jam of home equity to get moving once again. I strongly urge any of you that may have been denied access to credit to come back to the table and meet with us and one of our preferred Lenders to get things moving again.
There has never been a better time to buy in recent memory. Rates are Great and now we have this new Loan Limit increase and access to funds! Prices…well prices are off the hook and we have some awesome buys for people right now!
Call us and lets take advantage of this Market together!
Best wishes;
Dirk Knudsen
Re\Max Metro
503-799-8383
U.S. real estate a ‘bargain’ for foreign buyers
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Two years ago, while attending a home-builder convention in Orlando, Fla., a top-producing local real estate agent was bubbling over the interior design features of a vacation home.
“All of my international buyers are just going to love this,” the agent said. “I can’t wait to tell them what’s now available.”
I was intrigued. How many international buyers did she have?
It turned out that more than 60 percent of the agent’s clients were buyers from overseas. And, she is not the only real estate professional cultivating the foreign market. According to the National Association of Realtors, 65 percent of Florida Realtors had at least one international customer, and the trade group’s “Profile of International Home Buying Activity” indicated that at least 7 percent of home sales in Florida were to foreign purchasers.
“When you consider how the U.S. dollar has slid in value compared to other international currencies, you begin to understand why investors are purchasing real estate in this country,” said Mitch Creekmore, senior vice president of Stewart Title Co. “Real estate prices here are a bargain compared to many areas in western Europe and Asia.”
The currency environment probably played a major role in the proportion of foreign buyers who paid cash for their homes. The cash group (28 percent) was much greater than that of the general U.S. home buyer population (8 percent). In addition, international buyers who can afford a home abroad often are from wealthier households with higher monthly incomes and cash reserves. Also, the tax benefits of mortgage-interest deductions may not apply — depending on the buyer’s home country’s tax code — which lowers the incentive to take out a mortgage.
Buyers come from around the world to buy different types of properties at various prices. They plan on using the U.S. property for different reasons. Here are some common factors from NAR:
see the rest of this story here:Â http://www.inman.com/hstory.aspx?ID=65870
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
The unscheduled and dramatic cut in short-term interest rates announced today by the Federal Reserve will provide immediate relief for borrowers with home-equity loans or facing interest-rate resets, mortgage market experts say.
But long-term rates — which were at 2 1/2-year lows before today’s 75-basis-point reduction in the discount rate and the target for the federal funds overnight rate — could move in the other direction if bond market investors get nervous about inflation.
For now, the Fed seems to have decided that the threat of a recession far outweighs the risk of inflation, making in a single day cuts in short-term rates some observers had expected would be stretched out over months.
“Just a few weeks ago, the consensus was that the Fed would cut no more than 75 basis points, and 3.25 percent would be trough,” said Freddie Mac’s chief economist Frank Nothaft. “We’re there already. So are we at the low point? It’s really hard to say.”
Nothaft said the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee could cut rates again when it holds its scheduled meeting Jan. 29-30. Or its members may want to wait and see how to today’s dramatic move affects economic indicators.
The rate cuts are “certainly good news for people who have mortgages, or are shopping for a mortgage,” Nothaft said. For those with adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) indexed to the prime rate or home-equity lines of credit (HELOC) loans, “this shows up right away in terms of lower interest rates,” as banks follow suit and lower the prime rate to 6.5 percent. For ARM borrowers facing interest-rate resets, Nothaft said, that translates into a smaller increase in payments, and “maybe even a decline.”
Get the rest fo the story: http://www.inman.com/hstory.aspx?ID=65863
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