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Mt. Hood Real Estate Blog

Liz Warren

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Displaying blog entries 1851-1860 of 1923

Local Weather Impacts Mt. Hood Sales

by Liz Warren

It's snowing again in Welches and for a late March date, this is a bit unusual. The weather has had a rather substantial impact on real estate this year. Access into the forest service cabins in the Mt. Hood National Forest, mainly from Government Camp to Rhododendron, has been limited since the end of December when the snow has been falling at record levels.

These National Forest roads are not plowed, except for Road 10.   Many cabin owners have not been able to use their cabin this winter unless they have a good  four wheel drive with high wheel based capabilities. Of course some owners have skied or snowshoed in. At last count a local towing company said at least 200 vehicles had been pulled off of forest service roads. The snow has reduced listing activity and sales activity for these cabins over the past three months. This has also delayed many owners completing their compliance requirements for the new permit set to start January 1, 2009!

Government Camp has been buried most of the winter. Snow plows have not been able to keep up with the load.. When trekking up for a showing this winter, not only could we hardly identify the cabin from the road, snow up to it's roof nearly, but there was no way we could scale the 20 foot bank that had been snowplowed toward the front of the chalet. I can only imagine some of the damage many of these properties have suffered this year from collapsing chimneys to crushed decks and other snow related issues. Bottom line, if you don't like to shovel snow, don't even think about purchasing in Government Camp.

The lack of accessibility has also hampered the Government Camp sales except for condos.. Under the strict appraisal requirements coming from lenders these days, I doubt a lender would even consider an appraisal until the snow melts further and they can eyeball the property.

Sales statistics will tell the story soon. Stay tuned for additional updates.

 

New Home Valuation Protection Code

by Liz Warren

Ever hear of this? New York state attorney general Cuomo has come up with a proposal that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae (the companies that buy most of the conventional loans) will be agreeing to. This Code will basically protect consumers from the "conflicts" where appraisers have been pressured into "over appraising properties-inflating values" which is one of the reasons we are in this mess of the housing/foreclosure market.

The requirements of the act are: that mortgage brokers cannot select appraisers, lenders cannot use "in house" staff appraisers and lenders cannot  use appraisal companies they own or control.

This takes the conflict out of the system and protects consumers. This is also one way  states may have slipped their toe into the Federally regulated bank, savings and loan, and credit union systems that are completely monopolized and regulated by the FEDS.

Hiway 26 is Widening in the Hoodland Corridor

by Liz Warren

If you've noticed lots of BIG TREES coming down in the Brightwood area, the highway widening is beginning now. Streams of florescent tape mark  the North side of Highway 26 near Wildwood Park. Not only is the visual impact going to be huge, I feel sorry for the homeowners who have lost a major noise and visual buffer from their homes along this stretch!

This is the beginning of a summer full of road construction  and paving in the corridor from Brightwood, Welches and Rhododendron.  Locals and second homeowners will need to be armed with lots of patience this summer.

HELOC FREEZE?

by Liz Warren

Many buyers of homes are familiar with HELOCS or Home Equity Lines of Credit. This has been a convenient way for homeowners with equity to borrow money against their homes for vacations, college expenses, home improvements, second homes, or just unexpected expenses. This convenient home ATM is going into "shut down mode" with the following big banks sending "freeze" letters out due to falling home prices in many areas of the country. Here is a list of some of the larger banks implementing this policy:

Countrywide

Bank of America - HELOC Freeze

Countrywide - HELOC Freeze

Chase - HELOC Freezes

CitiGroup - HELOC Freeze under review

National City - HELOC Freeze

Suntrust - HELOC Freeze

USAA Federal Savings - HELOC Feeeze

Washington Mutual - HELOC Freeze

The credit crunch is on and the impacts of this will be severe for many home sellers in our area. Our home values have not fallen as far as many parts of the country but this inconvenience will impact many second home buyers.

Is This a Great Time To Buy a Home or What?

by Liz Warren

Lets face it, the media has beaten down buyer confidence in the housing industry to small sized orange juice pulp. It's the herd mentality again. The rush to Dot Com stocks, crash, the run to real estate investing, crash, and now the touting of "it's going to get even worse in housing"  syndrome.

Opportunities are passing buyers by right now. Historically low interest rates, a huge glut of properties and many motivated sellers? Sounds like a buyers nirvana to me.

 

Government Camp: Golden Poles Condo Roof Is Giving Way

by Liz Warren

Huge amounts of snow has fallen locally and particularly in Government Camp. They received six and a half feet in six days!  The amount of structural damage is just now showing up as the snow melts. Today the roof started to collapse in the Golden Poles Units near Multorpor Meadows. Beams are cracking and chimney damage is occurring.  Once all the snow is gone there will probably be an even greater amount of damage uncovered. Here is the news story and video:

see story and video here

 

 

Oregon Trail School District Needs A New High School Desperately!

by Liz Warren

The Oregon Trail School District has formed a Task Force who has been working very hard on the high school issues at hand. They are recommending a November 2008 bond election to build a new 1,600 student high school and improve safety, security, and deterioration issues at other district facilities.

To read about the bottom line and outline of what is needed you can download this pdf file of information.    

click here

If you have ever visited Sandy High School, you will understand why this is an urgent need not only for area children but this will help maintain a more stable and desirable community for the entire area from Sandy and Boring to Welches and Government Camp.

 

Cumulative Days On Market

by Liz Warren

Gone are the days when agents would reenter a listing as new to draw attention to a property or to market it as "new" in the eyes of the public. The latest statistic for real estate agents straight from multiple listing is the "cumulative days on market" field.

Cumulative Days on Market  really tells the true story vs "days on market" since the property didn't sell the first time, this is the true marketing time. The true time from start to finish with a sale, with price adjustments, new agents or companies entering the picture: it's the whole enchilada.

Today's statistics show the inventory for Government Camp, Welches, Rhododendron, and Brightwood at around 87 properties for sale. We have a current 17 month supply of homes! Average days on market: 78 but cumulative days on market: 101. That's a 22% difference in perception.

Rather than going through the math at a painful pace through the history section, this simplifies the process.

Clackamas County Town Hall Meeting in Welches this Saturday

by Liz Warren
Here is the Welches Town Hall Meeting Agenda for this Saturday at the Welches Grade School
Clackamas County's
Board of Directors Town Hall Meeting
Saturday, February 16, 2007
Welches Elementary School Multipurpose room
Meeting: 9:30 am - noon
check in starts at 9:00

Agenda

1. Welcome & Board Introductions

2. Review and approve minutes, November 17, 2007

3. Resort at the Mountain: Upgrades and Plans for the Future
     -- Frank Casarez, General Manager

4. Presentation on "911" -- Hoodland Fire District

5. Clackamas County Report -- Christine Roth

6. Audience question and answer period

7. Adjourment



Snow Delays Inspections and Showings

by Liz Warren

Record snowfall in the area has slowed down home showings and scheduled home inspections over the past several weeks. Nearly the entire forest service cabin areas above Rhododendron are inaccessible by vehicles due to nearly three feet of snow in some areas. Local roads still have substantial snow banks at access areas making some less traveled roads difficult to access.

I recently took a client to Government Camp to see a chalet and not only was the home completely obscured by the snow plowed away from the road but the mountain of snow to climb to get to the front door was not negotiable.

Look for extended marketing times this winter due to serious snow amounts.

Displaying blog entries 1851-1860 of 1923

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