7 surefire home staging tips

7 surefire home staging tips

by Ingrid Cummings

"Only 10 percent of people shopping for a new home have the vision to imagine their own belongings in another house," says Maureen Bray, owner of Portland, Ore.-based Room Solutions Staging. Bray is one of two highly rated professional home stagers we consulted, who both agree that staging helps prospective buyers make that imaginative leap. "Homes that have been staged sell faster than those that haven't," Bray says, citing her company's own s

uccess rate. "Twenty-eight days versus 125 days."

Expect to pay $150 to $500 for a home-staging consultation, and an additional $1,500-$2,500 to provide the furnishings and accessories necessary to stage four main rooms if the home is vacant.

Jump for more information or call our team for a FREE pre-listing review and staging tips checklist.

7 surefire home staging tips

Actual Foreclosure Help for Oregonians, or just research?

It's hard to say if this help will actually trickle down to homeowners.  The help might take the form of a refinancing project (for which it appears the State has a request for proposals in Deschutes and Jackson Counties.  For those Oregonians in trouble, the State of Oregon has 2 hotlines: SAFENET (1-800-723-3638) or HOPE 1-888-995-HOPE (4673). You can also contact our team at 503-770-0707 for more information on options.

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Oregon gets $82.7M for foreclosure prevention

Portland Business Journal

Oregon will receive an additional $82.7 million to help struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure. The money, announced Thursday, comes from the U.S. Department of Treasury's Hardest Hit Fund targeting states with the highest rates of foreclosures.

Oregon is one of 18 states and the District of Columbia to receive assistance. Oregon will add the funds to its already approved Oregon Homeownership Stabilization Initiative programs to be implemented beginning early next year.

The state has already received $138 million from the Hardest Hit Fund.

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Good News! It's a buyers market.

The below article published in the Business Journal recently, would probably more appropriately be: "Great buyers market, with best interest rates since World War II".  By the way many media sources are reporting, you would think that there are NO homes selling.  In reality, Portland saw 1,381 sales in August 2010 (this is many months after the tax credit expired).  We now have lower interest rates (in the 4's or better) and a lot of great inventory to chose from.  When you hear of friend, family and coworkers purchasing homes, please give our team a call 503-770-0707.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010, 10:12am PDT

Portland home prices tumble

Portland Business Journal - by Wendy Culverwell Business Journal staff writer

Portland home prices tumbled in July as overall home price growth slowed nationwide.

Falling prices in half the markets tracked in Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller Home Price Indices showed negative annual growth. Portland home prices fell 1.2 percent in July compared to a year ago. Seattle fared worse, with prices down an average of 1.6 percent, according to figures released Tuesday.

The decline offers further proof that the April expiration of a federal home buyer tax credit worth up to $8,000 is dampening the market.

Nationally, the composite of 20 U.S. cities rose 3.2 percent. San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles led the nation for rebounding home values, increasing 11.2 percent, 9.3 percent and 7.5 percent, respectively. Las Vegas continues to post the most significant drops, down 4.9 percent compared to a year ago, a new market bottom.

David M. Blitzer cautioned that a swift return to market high prices is unlikely.

“Judging from the recent behavior of the housing market, stable prices seem more likely,” he said in a press release.

wculverwell@bizjournals.com | 503-219-3415

All contents of this site © American City Business Journals Inc. All rights reserved.

Portland home sellers continue to cut prices

Home sellers are slashing prices by record amounts. Of the homes currently for sale in the U.S.'s largest cities, 26 percent had their prices cut in August, according to real estate research company Trulia.com. The average price drop nationwide was 10 percent and equaled $33,892.

In Portland, 32 percent of homes on the market as of Sept. 1 experienced at least one price reduction. The average price cut was 9 percent and the total value of the reductions was $48.70 million. Those numbers are in line with July's results and rank Portland No. 19 on Trulia's list of price reductions in America's 50 largest cities.

Minneapolis home sellers topped the list, with 43 percent cutting home prices. Just 16 percent of homes for sale in Detroit experienced price reductions, ranking it No. 50 on Trulia's list.

See also:

Portland homes sales down again

Oregon foreclosure activity up 4.85 percent

RMLS Market Action: August 2010 now online!

Portland Home Sale Values August 2010 Courtesy Listed Sold

Zillow Survey: Homeowners pessimistic about home values

About two-thirds of homeowners in the West told a survey that their home has decreased in value in the past year, and more than a quarter expect their home’s value to decrease in the next six months.

According to a new survey by Seattle-based online real estate company Zillow.com, nationally, about one in every three homeowners say house values in their market haven’t reached bottom. Zillow divided the country into four areas, and 65 percent of homeowners in the West said their home has decreased in value in the past year while only 20 percent said their home’s value increased.

Also in the West, 26 percent expect homes in their area to decrease in value, and 38 percent said they expect values to rise.

Here’s a link to Zillow’s release on the Homeowner Confidence survey.

Read more: Homeowners pessimistic about home values: Survey - Portland Business Journal 

Oregon USDA Financing fully funded again! Great news.

All USDA Rural Development Loan Programs are Now Fully Funded

USDA 502 guaranteed and Direct Loan programs are fully funded and ready to serve your buyers

This year USDA has invested over $370,000,000 in Oregon’s rural housing communities. The demand for the program has never been greater. USDA is excited to announce that all of its single family housing programs are fully funded and ready to serve you and your clients. The 502 Direct Loan is an incredible program that targets low and very low income borrowers. USDA is offering 100% financing, 1% interest rates, 38 year loan terms, no mortgage insurance and no minimum credit score. To learn more about USDA's other housing products such as Guaranteed loans offered through approved banks and mortgage brokers, and 504 Repair Grants and loans, please view this downloadable flyer. 

What this means:  USDA 100% financing was so popular that it ran out of funds early in 2010.  Now that those funds have been replaced, the buyer community will now have a viable option for purchasing rural land, homes in smaller communities (like Sherwood, Newberg, Cornelius, etc).  This also applies to manufactured housing and new construction with allowances for seller contributions making buying a home with no money down possible.