Portland Real Estate Blog

Million Clicks For Make-A-Wish

Thanks to everyone that participated. It took only 10 days to reach 1 million clicks and for Make-A-Wish to receive $5000 donations from us and Kaiser.

Make A Million For Make-A-Wish

Today is the K103 Radiothon for Make-A-Wish. We'll be on the air at 1:30 as part of the kick off for A Million Clicks for Make-A-Wish. Make-A-Million for Make-A-Wish started out as a drive to raise 1,000,000 pennies for the Foundation. That's $10,000 and the average wish cost is up over $7,000. This is the first year of A Million Clicks for Make-A-Wish and we are one of the ifive sponsors. Now it is up to you to help hit the goal of 1 million clicks on the special Make-A-Wish logo on the K103 website in the next month. When the goal is met, we will write our $5,000.00 check to Make-A-Wish along with the four other sponsors for a total of $25,000. It's us, not Prudential Northwest Properties as a whole, that are the sponsors.

Make-A-Wish Radiothon

Regular readers know that I am on the Junior Board for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Oregon and that we support them with our charitable dollars. This Friday is the K103 Radiothon being held at the Macy's from 5AM-7PM in the Clackamas Town Center. It is also the kickoff for your opportunity to spend $5000 of ours! Stay tuned.

What Makes Portland Special, etc.

I put this under the "Because I Can" category instead of "Real Estate General" mostly because I can.

1) The Portland Trail Blazers- who would have thought? I could attempt to weave some comparison to our real estate market but the Blazers should get to stand alone on this one. Both could hit a wall.
2) Andy Rooney does his 60 Minutes segment on Sunday on how great of an invention the umbrella is. I don't know where my umbrella is and most Portlanders would agree.
3) For the 37th MSA market, Portland is still is getting national attention and it isn't even the New York Times this time. Bon Appetit does Portland in the travel section on page 30 of the Feb 2008 print version. I can't find it online. Some of the mentioned are the Ace Hotel, Lovely Hula Hands, Toro Bravo and Rocket.

On a different note, this is interesting: Win a $2.1M house in a raffle or take $1.7M cash. Unless I am unclear on the concept, you'd have to finance about 50% to pay off the IRS.

If Portland is so green, why don't we see more hybrid cars? When I went to visit my dad in the hospital (doing fine and home now after 7hrs of elective back surgery) in Marin on Friday, I drove his Prius. At the traffic light there were two other Pri-i in front of me and one behind me- four in a row. Anybody seen that in Portland? I was surprised that our neighbors hadn't realized that the TurnerRealtor vehicles are Lexus hybrids.

I'm showing the one LEED Certified single family residence listed in RMLS on Saturday. That should be interesting. Its unfortunate (or fortunate depending on how you look at it) that the Earth Advantage program is so busy that they can't certify remodels, only new construction. We tried with our current project.

So there you have it. Some real estate crept in there: occupational hazard.

Make-A-Wish Foundation of Oregon Wishful Putting

Regular readers know that I am on the Jr. Board for the Oregon chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Our anual event is Wishful Putting and it is on August 9th at the 200 SW Market building in Downtown Portland. Did you know there is a nine hole putting green two floors up?

It is a public event and a lot of fun but RSVPs are requested. No golf skills required. Food and drink is included in the $25 admission.

Click on the image to enlarge.

Why there is a Portland Real Estate Blog?

In the last few weeks I’ve been the punching bag more than once on this site. I’ve had my ethics questioned, had my words twisted around and then been called out on other websites. All by people that get to hide behind the anonymous veil of the Internet. I’m thinking to myself that I didn’t sign up for this. But I did and in retrospect, even the negative, is probably doing good. It has clearly weeded out some people that will not seek my services and I am sure I will be happier because of it. I am one Realtor out of 1.3M so painting me as the industry is what it is. I have never been so righteous as to say my opinion is right and I have modified my opinion when it has been constructively shown that I’m wrong.

Anybody that tells you that there isn’t a marketing component to a Realtor’s real estate blog is full of it. Of course there is and to say there wasn’t would be a lie and to believe otherwise would be (this space left blank to those that might be offended). If I was an auto mechanic, I wouldn’t host this blog. That being said marketing is not the sole point of this blog. I don’t advertize my listings here, I have a website for that but I have added some links and tools here to direct you there if that is what you are looking for.
The other component is education; mine and yours. Whether it is last week’s biodiesel post where Ralph enlightened us on B20 as heating fuel or me writing what we have learned through a transaction we all end up better. Our personal experience is what allows me to write this. If it wasn’t you might as well subscribe to a real estate news feed.

I practice what I preach. Dual agency (one agent representing both buyer and seller) in existing construction should not be legal (I don’t have that issue with new construction). This view is not popular with the industry. Last month we gave up the buyer’s side of the transaction on one of our listings so that the buyer was represented by another Realtor. Yes, we did get a referral fee but I could have written the offer standing there at the kitchen counter and taken all the commission.

We own real estate and are actively participating in the market. We have a pending transaction that will close as soon as title is cleared by the signatures of 13 people (one in New Zealand) and five death certificates. If you own real estate and need a reason to get a will, this is it. The house will be a “flip” (gasp) and I have no intention of losing money but where there is risk, there is the potential for reward. It is a fully CCB licensed and city permitted project. I’ve said before that real estate investment based on appreciation is speculation. It’s just one fundamental. If the others aren’t there it is still a bad investment.
We have three local rental properties; two of those purchased with 1031 Exchange funds. We lived in an owner occupied triplex. I looked into using a self directed IRA and decided against it. Hands on past experience isn’t something you get by being the agent in the middle. I have not lived in an HOA setting though I sat through about a dozen meetings at the Riverpark Condominiums after their litigation was complete .

So, that’s my story. We’ll return to our regular postings soon.

Dishes for Wishes

What does this post have to do with real estate? Nothing. I am on the Junior Board for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Oregon. This Thursday is the inaugural Dishes for Wishes presented by Sysco. Please join us at one of the participating restaurants by making a reservation for Thursday night and let them know that you are dining out for Dishes For Wishes.

The following restaurant have made a flat donation or a donating a portion of their proceeds for the night:

Al Amir Restaurant

223 SW Stark

Portland OR 97204

503-274-0010


www.alamirportland.com



Driving Directions



Bluehour

250 NW 13th Ave

Portland OR 97209

503-226-3394


www.bluehouronline.com



Driving Directions



Ringside Steakhouse

2165 W Burnside

Portland OR 97210

503-223-1513


www.ringsidesteakhouse.com



Driving Directions



The Old Spaghetti Factory - Tanasbourne

18925 NW Tanasbourne Dr

Hillsboro OR 97124

503-617-7614

www.osf.com



Driving Directions



The Old Spaghetti Factory - Vancouver

730 SE 160th Ave

Vancouver, WA 98684

360-253-9030

www.osf.com



Driving Directions



The Stockpot Broiler

8200 SW Scholls Ferry Rd

Beaverton, OR 97008

503-643-5451


www.stockpotbroiler.com



Driving Directions



Urban Fondue

2114 NW Glisan

Portland, OR 97210

503-242-1400

www.urbanfondue.com



Driving Directions