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Mt. Hood Real Estate Blog

Liz Warren

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Displaying blog entries 1321-1330 of 1933

Morning Coffee

Monday, March 7, 2011
by Liz Warren
Monday Morning Coffee

INSPIRATION FOR TODAY:

"If thou wouldst keep money, save money;
if thou wouldst reap money, sow money."
- Thomas Fuller


HOW'S THE FAMILY PURSE?

In George Classon's classic "The Richest Man In Babylon," he urges readers to "set your purse to fattening." His other advice? Pay off your debts - live debt-free. With those two simple bits of advice, he lays out a wealth of financial advice guaranteed to keep the wolf away from the front door - forever.

He has the audacity to suggest that a part of all you earn is yours to keep. Put $100 a month into your "purse" beginning at age 20. Invest it at 10%. At age 65, you will have a purse filled to the brim with $1,048,000. How difficult is it to convince yourself to put away $100 each month?

Poverty is not our fear. It is the insecurity of being vulnerable that we fear - of not being able to meet our obligations. The "fat purse" does not pay our bills. The amount we earn over and above the part "that is ours to keep" does that. The part we keep - our "fattening purse" - is what gives us the confidence that we are okay.

By the way, according to "The Millionaire Next Door," the "haves" spend twice as much time planning their financial success as the "have nots." Forget setting aside $100 a month, the "haves" set aside up to 40% of their pre-tax income for fattening their purse. That also means they live on just 60%. The "have-nots" are hyper-credit users who do no budgeting whatsoever.

Want to set your purse to fattening? Want to give your children a heads-up on being financially independent? Pick up a copy of Suze Orman's best-seller "The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom". More importantly - put her financial roadmap to work. Don't worry - be happy!

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Oregon Foreclosures Halted

Monday, March 7, 2011
by Liz Warren

 

Many foreclosures in Oregon have been halted due to recent court actions involving MERS. If you have a loan that was run through MERS it is highly possible your foreclosure has been stopped in Oregon as this gets sorted out in Oregon courts. What is MERS?

Read this article about recent foreclosures events in Oregon.

 

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Morning Coffee

Monday, February 28, 2011
by Liz Warren
Monday Morning Coffee

INSPIRATION FOR TODAY:

"If you don't know where you're going, you'll probably end up somewhere . . . else."
- David Campbell, PhD


WHO ARE YOU?

In the book "Unstoppable" by Cynthia Kersey, a cartoon appears showing a ship loaded with unkempt, bearded galley slaves rowing their life away at full-tilt. One of them says to another, "I always wanted to be somebody, but I should have been more specific!"

Chances are good that you work 8-10 hours each day, have 6-8 hours of discretionary time, and sleep 8 hours each day. Whether or not you choose to be specific about your direction in life, it's highly likely that the sun will come up and go down every 24 hours anyway. In other words, "If you don't know where you're going, you'll probably end up somewhere . . . else."

The alternative is really so much easier. In fact, it's downright exciting to think that you can be any "somebody" you want, just by deciding who that somebody will be. Really.

Instead of just fantasizing or daydreaming about the person you'd like to be, start acting like that person. Ask yourself how that person would act, talk, and walk. Begin taking on the characteristics of that person in your daily life, and then be passionate about it.

So often, we create our own limitations but simply fail to be more specific about our direction. We're like the farmer who placed a small growing pumpkin in a mason jar, then rediscovered it at harvest time. When the farmer broke the mason jar, he had a pumpkin which had grown to the exact (limiting) shape of the jar.

We are as limitless as our imagination will allow. When we break the mold - the mason jar - in which we have contained our growth, we will finally learn to fly. In the words of Richard Bach from his book Illusions, "In order to live free and happily, you must sacrifice boredom. It is not always an easy sacrifice."

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Wall Street, Banks and White Collar Crime

Wednesday, February 23, 2011
by Liz Warren

Baggage of the financial meltdown:

Mortgage loans are getting more difficult to get these days. Mortgage broker compensation is under attack by the Feds with difficult interpretive regulations. Community banks are failing left and right reducing a buyers choice for a lender. The big four banks are making the majority of loans these days. Less competition means less choice for the consumer.

Here is a recent statement made by the Kansas City Fed president at a financial meeting about our post economic crisis:

What is the Volker Rule? This link will give an explanation.

For the less squeamish, here is a new article on our financial mess and how Wall Street crime goes unpunished, here is a link to the latest Rolling Stone article Why Isn't Wall Street in jail? coming out in March 2011. This article is about compensation packages, investor fraud, accounting fraud, symbiotic relationships of the criminals and the enforcers and how nothing happens to the perpetrators.

Ok, I'm off my soapbox for today!

 

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Home Affordability Numbers

Wednesday, February 23, 2011
by Liz Warren

Did you know that the last quarter of 2010 had the greatest home affordability for the US in the past 20 years when records were started for this index! No misprint! Taking the average income of a family, this is the most affordable time to purchase a home. It looks like 2007 was the least affordable time to purchase a home. Indianpolois-Carmel, Indiana is the most affordable location in the US to buy a home today with 93% of the average income earners in the area able to purchase a home. At the other end of the spectrum, Santa Cruz, California was the least affordable for the average income earner at a 45% rate able to purchase. If you can qualify for a loan, this is the best time to purchase a home!

Mt. Hood Home Affordability chart

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January Multiple Listing Stats for 2011

Wednesday, February 23, 2011
by Liz Warren

The regional multiple listing service has released the numbers for January 2011. The glaring number is the 50% increase in pending sales from this same month last year. This reflects the huge decrease in sales at the end of 2009 that would have been closing in 2010. The days on market is an eye opener at 253 days. This shows it's much better to have your home priced competitively on the market rather than churning up marketing time which will produce a lower price in the long run.

Listing and Sales chart for January 2011

 

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Mt. Hood Sales for January 2011

Wednesday, February 23, 2011
by Liz Warren

The numbers are in for January 2011. Six sales closed this past month. Only one foreclosure in the group. Most sales this month were second home buyers.

Mt. Hood Sales for January 2011

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Fantastic Welches Acreage 1.44 for sale

Wednesday, February 23, 2011
by Liz Warren

This is a great lot with a great location. The best water on the mountain, Welches water, comes with the lot, septic approved for a four bedroom home. Just down the street from the recently renovated Resort at the Mountain with a 27 hole golf course. It's only a block from the Salmon River and has a cleared building area with sun and woods surrounding the property.

Only 20 minutes to the slopes and one hour from Portland. The price is now $110,000!

Play VisualTour
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Morning Coffee

Tuesday, February 22, 2011
by Liz Warren
Monday Morning Coffee

INSPIRATION FOR TODAY:

"The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt
the impossible - and achieve it, generation after generation."
- Pearl S. Buck


REMEMBER YOUR YOUTH!

Ever watched a healthy smiling child try to walk? For each step attempted, a dozen result in miserable failure and a bump on the head. Does the child admit defeat and stop trying? Never! The child doesn't know enough, doesn't have enough information or experience, to understand the concept of quitting. The child attempts the impossible, and succeeds.

So - what happens over the years that stops us from attempting the "impossible?" Og Mandino reminds us in "The Greatest Miracle In The World":

"You weep for all your childhood dreams that have vanished with the years. You weep for all your self-esteem that has been corrupted by failure. You weep for all your potential that has been bartered for security. You weep for all your individuality that has been trampled by the mobs. You weep for all your talent that has been wasted through misuse."

To paraphrase Og's words, we let our life's experiences rob us of the innocent optimism of our childhood. We come to know too much about life's hard knocks - making us prudent, cautious, afraid, and wary of trying. We avoid failure by not attempting.

OK - so it's too late for us to return to the innocence of the cradle. So . . . what now? We must identify the source of and overcome our fear of failure. By developing courage and faith, we can deny fear a foothold in our lives. As someone once commented, "Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. No one was there!"

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More Flooding Meetings Announced

Thursday, February 17, 2011
by Liz Warren

Good afternoon,

MEETINGS -- The Interagency Flood Response Group that we’ve pulled together – including Clackamas County, Department of State Lands, US Army Corps of Engineers and the National Marine Fisheries Service  – met with residents from Zig Zag Village last week.  Now we are working on scheduling similar meetings with groups from two more areas – Autumn Lane/Lolo Pass and Timberline Rim – during the week of Feb. 28.

We have sent letters to people in both those areas – if you are in one of the areas and have not yet received a letter, please let us know.

PERMITS -- Please remember – for your sake and the sake of your neighbors and community -- permits are required for work on structures, on the riverbank or in the river, and no blanket permits have been issued.  Work done without permits is subject to fines and/or required to be undone.

We appreciate the cooperation we’ve received so far.  If you have questions, the key contacts continue to be Steve Hanschka ([email protected] or 503.742.4512) or Rebecca Ceniga ([email protected] or 503.742.4505) in Clackamas County Land Use & Zoning.

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Displaying blog entries 1321-1330 of 1933

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