Comments on: West Linn Real Estate Market Activity – June 29 – July 5, 2009 http://www.move2westlinn.com/2009/07/06/west-linn-real-estate-market-activity-june-29-july-5-2009/ News, Statistics, and Commentary about West Linn Oregon Real Estate Wed, 23 Jun 2010 15:10:28 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Stuart http://www.move2westlinn.com/2009/07/06/west-linn-real-estate-market-activity-june-29-july-5-2009/comment-page-1/#comment-729 Stuart Mon, 13 Jul 2009 07:09:51 +0000 http://www.move2westlinn.com/?p=768#comment-729 Thanks dj - funnily enough I went to Starbucks on Salamo today and they had a sign up saying they will not be accepting personal checks any more. I guess like so many other businesses in West Linn that no longer take checks, there are too many rubber checks being written in this city. Like I said to the Baristas:"Your customer's BMW or Mercedes is probably leased, and he's probably behind with his mortgage and HELOC. I'd want cash too." Thanks dj – funnily enough I went to Starbucks on Salamo today and they had a sign up saying they will not be accepting personal checks any more. I guess like so many other businesses in West Linn that no longer take checks, there are too many rubber checks being written in this city. Like I said to the Baristas:”Your customer’s BMW or Mercedes is probably leased, and he’s probably behind with his mortgage and HELOC. I’d want cash too.”

]]> By: dj http://www.move2westlinn.com/2009/07/06/west-linn-real-estate-market-activity-june-29-july-5-2009/comment-page-1/#comment-728 dj Mon, 13 Jul 2009 05:05:15 +0000 http://www.move2westlinn.com/?p=768#comment-728 Absolutely hilarious, Stuart :) Mind you, a lot of people who own these large homes may could fall into the following categories: (1) business owners (2) executives of medium-to-large corporations (3) health care professionals (i.e. brain surgeons) (4) trust-fund babies/generational wealth (5) "Keeping up with the Joneses" wannabes. Point is, if one has the means to afford such a home, including all the carrying costs, and can manage the property even during an economic downturn, then bravo. The individual/family worked hard to get to where they are at (or even if its generational transfer of wealth - that's just the way the dice roll...). so they deserve to enjoy the fruits of their effort. On the other hand, if one is stretching themselves to the limit just to make the monthly payments, to the point where you have to decide whether to pay for car maintenance or pay your property taxes (i.e. house-poor), then that particular individual has no business owning a home that is beyond their means. Unfortunately creative financing the past few years helped people severely stretch their borrowing limits to crushing debt loads. While a lot of the blame for the mess is aimed at Wall Street, mortgage brokers, NAR/David Lereah, etc. etc., the homeowners, speculators and investors are just as much to blame for the bubble as the media-sanctioned villains. If you used your home as an ATM, well, the funds need to be paid back. It isn't 'free' money. It is for this reason that many buyers today are extremely gun-shy about pulling the trigger now because the prices are resetting, and the smart buyer is not convinced yet that homes have hit bottom. And guess what - even if we have hit bottom, we will stay there for a while, giving buyers even more time to wisely consider a purchase. And for those sellers that say "well, I NEED this price to break even or minimize my loss", well, sorry - that's not the buyers problem.... Absolutely hilarious, Stuart :) Mind you, a lot of people who own these large homes may could fall into the following categories: (1) business owners (2) executives of medium-to-large corporations (3) health care professionals (i.e. brain surgeons) (4) trust-fund babies/generational wealth (5) “Keeping up with the Joneses” wannabes. Point is, if one has the means to afford such a home, including all the carrying costs, and can manage the property even during an economic downturn, then bravo. The individual/family worked hard to get to where they are at (or even if its generational transfer of wealth – that’s just the way the dice roll…). so they deserve to enjoy the fruits of their effort. On the other hand, if one is stretching themselves to the limit just to make the monthly payments, to the point where you have to decide whether to pay for car maintenance or pay your property taxes (i.e. house-poor), then that particular individual has no business owning a home that is beyond their means. Unfortunately creative financing the past few years helped people severely stretch their borrowing limits to crushing debt loads. While a lot of the blame for the mess is aimed at Wall Street, mortgage brokers, NAR/David Lereah, etc. etc., the homeowners, speculators and investors are just as much to blame for the bubble as the media-sanctioned villains. If you used your home as an ATM, well, the funds need to be paid back. It isn’t ‘free’ money. It is for this reason that many buyers today are extremely gun-shy about pulling the trigger now because the prices are resetting, and the smart buyer is not convinced yet that homes have hit bottom. And guess what – even if we have hit bottom, we will stay there for a while, giving buyers even more time to wisely consider a purchase. And for those sellers that say “well, I NEED this price to break even or minimize my loss”, well, sorry – that’s not the buyers problem….

]]> By: Stuart http://www.move2westlinn.com/2009/07/06/west-linn-real-estate-market-activity-june-29-july-5-2009/comment-page-1/#comment-727 Stuart Sat, 11 Jul 2009 16:39:03 +0000 http://www.move2westlinn.com/?p=768#comment-727 Cascade Terrace is an OK buy if you have to have the lot size and gated community notion inside the West Linn city limits. Like dj, I wouldn't want the holding costs though. Almost $1000 a month in property taxes? Nearly as much as my monthly mortgage payment and yet I can walk to Starbucks on Salamo too :-) That's a seriously illiquid real estate liability hanging around your neck unless you are extremely wealthy and can carry the property without a problem even if you need to move in an economic downturn like now. Which leads me to wonder..... The pitch is "relocating", but what does that really mean? Is it "I've made my 25th million and I'm relocating off to retirement and a massive estate property because I can pay cash and my investments passively make me $1M a year spending money." Or is it "My highly paid and over-bonused job went buh-bye and now I can't make the payments on my 1st, 2nd, and HELOC, so I need to relocate to Oregon City...." I know, I'm cynical. Don't hate. :-) Cascade Terrace is an OK buy if you have to have the lot size and gated community notion inside the West Linn city limits. Like dj, I wouldn’t want the holding costs though. Almost $1000 a month in property taxes? Nearly as much as my monthly mortgage payment and yet I can walk to Starbucks on Salamo too :-) That’s a seriously illiquid real estate liability hanging around your neck unless you are extremely wealthy and can carry the property without a problem even if you need to move in an economic downturn like now. Which leads me to wonder…..
The pitch is “relocating”, but what does that really mean? Is it “I’ve made my 25th million and I’m relocating off to retirement and a massive estate property because I can pay cash and my investments passively make me $1M a year spending money.” Or is it “My highly paid and over-bonused job went buh-bye and now I can’t make the payments on my 1st, 2nd, and HELOC, so I need to relocate to Oregon City….” I know, I’m cynical. Don’t hate. :-)

]]> By: Ron Ares http://www.move2westlinn.com/2009/07/06/west-linn-real-estate-market-activity-june-29-july-5-2009/comment-page-1/#comment-726 Ron Ares Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:06:05 +0000 http://www.move2westlinn.com/?p=768#comment-726 Pete, Bank-owned properties are tagged as such in the MLS. Public-facing real estate broker websites that show listings have a pre-defined set of fields that can be displayed on the internet, and the bank-owned field is not one of them. However, an agent can set up a custom search set to deliver to their clients which can either filter out, or include only bank-owned properties. Pete,

Bank-owned properties are tagged as such in the MLS. Public-facing real estate broker websites that show listings have a pre-defined set of fields that can be displayed on the internet, and the bank-owned field is not one of them.

However, an agent can set up a custom search set to deliver to their clients which can either filter out, or include only bank-owned properties.

]]> By: Pete http://www.move2westlinn.com/2009/07/06/west-linn-real-estate-market-activity-june-29-july-5-2009/comment-page-1/#comment-725 Pete Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:41:17 +0000 http://www.move2westlinn.com/?p=768#comment-725 When a property is bank owned, will it be listed as such on RMLS? When a property is bank owned, will it be listed as such on RMLS?

]]> By: dj http://www.move2westlinn.com/2009/07/06/west-linn-real-estate-market-activity-june-29-july-5-2009/comment-page-1/#comment-724 dj Tue, 07 Jul 2009 00:39:44 +0000 http://www.move2westlinn.com/?p=768#comment-724 I agree - if one has the means, Cascade Terrace is looking quite attractive. It's in a gated community which exudes exclusivity, and probably has a bit of unique charm that stands apart from the cookie-cutter McMansions that have gone up around West Linn in the past 8 years. Unfortunately for me, it will be a while before I can come close to affording a home like that. The annual carrying costs alone (utilities, taxes, maintenance etc) must be astronomical... The DR Horton homes on Winkel Way seem to be anticipating the market, and are trying to price their homes ahead of the competition. They are asking around $160/sqft, but selling for $140-$150/sqft. $140/sqft is reasonable, but not a great deal given the closing costs and length of time for any recovery to help with housing appreciation. $130/sqft makes more sense to give the buyer a cushion in case they have to bail out. $120/sqft would be something to jump on if the buyer likes the property. I agree – if one has the means, Cascade Terrace is looking quite attractive. It’s in a gated community which exudes exclusivity, and probably has a bit of unique charm that stands apart from the cookie-cutter McMansions that have gone up around West Linn in the past 8 years. Unfortunately for me, it will be a while before I can come close to affording a home like that. The annual carrying costs alone (utilities, taxes, maintenance etc) must be astronomical… The DR Horton homes on Winkel Way seem to be anticipating the market, and are trying to price their homes ahead of the competition. They are asking around $160/sqft, but selling for $140-$150/sqft. $140/sqft is reasonable, but not a great deal given the closing costs and length of time for any recovery to help with housing appreciation. $130/sqft makes more sense to give the buyer a cushion in case they have to bail out. $120/sqft would be something to jump on if the buyer likes the property.

]]> By: Ron Ares http://www.move2westlinn.com/2009/07/06/west-linn-real-estate-market-activity-june-29-july-5-2009/comment-page-1/#comment-722 Ron Ares Mon, 06 Jul 2009 23:46:24 +0000 http://www.move2westlinn.com/?p=768#comment-722 The home on Cascade Terrace is not highlighted as a short sale, but rather as a corporate relocation. It would appear to be quite an opportunity for a buyer in that price range. The home on Cascade Terrace is not highlighted as a short sale, but rather as a corporate relocation.

It would appear to be quite an opportunity for a buyer in that price range.

]]> By: David http://www.move2westlinn.com/2009/07/06/west-linn-real-estate-market-activity-june-29-july-5-2009/comment-page-1/#comment-721 David Mon, 06 Jul 2009 23:18:36 +0000 http://www.move2westlinn.com/?p=768#comment-721 Sorry for the spam. Look at 3410 CASCADE TERRACE. I just checked the CMAP web site. It shows that this house was sold for 1,050,000 in 6/22/2005! The LISTING price is already close to the loan amount (assuming that they put down 20%). This got to be a short sale. So million dollar houses are in trouble as well. David Sorry for the spam. Look at 3410 CASCADE TERRACE. I just checked the CMAP web site. It shows that this house was sold for 1,050,000 in 6/22/2005! The LISTING price is already close to the loan amount (assuming that they put down 20%). This got to be a short sale.

So million dollar houses are in trouble as well.

David

]]> By: David http://www.move2westlinn.com/2009/07/06/west-linn-real-estate-market-activity-june-29-july-5-2009/comment-page-1/#comment-720 David Mon, 06 Jul 2009 22:52:06 +0000 http://www.move2westlinn.com/?p=768#comment-720 Forgot to clarify. By Peter I meant Peter Dillingburger the listing agent. Forgot to clarify. By Peter I meant Peter Dillingburger the listing agent.

]]> By: David http://www.move2westlinn.com/2009/07/06/west-linn-real-estate-market-activity-june-29-july-5-2009/comment-page-1/#comment-719 David Mon, 06 Jul 2009 22:51:00 +0000 http://www.move2westlinn.com/?p=768#comment-719 About 889 Hoffman, I actually spoke to Peter regarding this property. It's a short sale. The owners took out home equity loans and couldn't handle the payment. I would be very curious about what the final price is also. It's a price that the bank has settled for. David About 889 Hoffman, I actually spoke to Peter regarding this property. It’s a short sale. The owners took out home equity loans and couldn’t handle the payment. I would be very curious about what the final price is also. It’s a price that the bank has settled for.

David

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