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Mt. Hood Real Estate Blog

Liz Warren

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Displaying blog entries 1911-1920 of 1923

Market Statistics for Mt. Hood

by Liz Warren

Mid February has shown an incredible slowing of listings and sales. Only two properties have closed this month and inquiries are down. On the other end of the spectrum, listings are not exactly hitting the market. It just seems to be a total slowing of the entire process. Interest rates aren't bad at all but with the home equity faucet turned off, spending is down and sales have drastically slowed down.

Traditional Four Bedroom Home New On Market

by Liz Warren

If you're thinking about moving to Welches, here is a great home that just hit the market. It's a four bedroom, two and a half bath traditional style home built in 2001. Features include a bonus family room with woodstove, fully fenced back yard, arched hallways, walk in master closet, fruit trees, fire pit and garden area. You can walk to shopping from the house and it's very close to the Welches Grade and Middle School.

Take a tour here: http://www.visualtour.com/show.asp?T=896856

Steiner Cabin Historic Tour

by Liz Warren

H. Steiner was a reknowned log cabin builder on the mountain. His cabins are scattered throughout Brightwood, Welches and Rhododendron. Hand crafted with unique features, his cabins are sought after and rarely hit the market for sale.

The original Mt.Hood Steiner Cabin Tour scheduled for Dec. 16th was cancelled due to a wind storm and is rescheduled for March 17th. Tickets are $15.00 per person and can be purchased by calling 503-272-3301, Thursday through Sunday 10-5.

Hit this link for more info on Steiner Cabins.

Portland Monthly Magazine Features Second Homes In Oregon

by Liz Warren
Check out the February edition of Portland Monthly Magazine which features five top vacation areas in Oregon including Mt. Hood! The article features Marty and Marla Callaghan, who are clients that started out with a forest service cabin and moved up to deeded land on the Sandy River.  They LOVE their Mt. Hood getaway.

Snow In Welches!

by Liz Warren

Another snow filled day in Welches!

What kind of a Market does the Mountain have?

by Liz Warren

There's a lot of talk of doom and gloom out in the media of massive foreclosure rates, mortgage fraud, over saturated markets and other issues.. Recently the National Association of Reatlors is seeing stabilization in the national market with some areas still trying to absorb the excess inventory.  Let's face it, real estate is a "local" market and can't be dictated by sweeping "national trends". Take a look at current statistics for area "153" the mountain market straight from the Multiple Listing Service. This area serves statistics  from Cherryville Hill (half way between Brightwood and Sandy) to Government Camp.

The market has a general two month supply of homes. Naturally, many sellers take their homes off the market in winter thinking there are few buyers but recent listings with multiple offer situations prove that there are many active buyers waiting for any new listing to hit the market. Rates are fantastic and with predictions of nearly 7% fixed rates by the end of 2007, NOW is a GREAT time to BUY or SELL!

 

STOP THE PRESS!

by Liz Warren

I'm not kidding!

The press is a beating drum of negative publicity about the current real estate market. The fact is 2006 is on tract to be the third best real estate market in HISTORY!

We are getting back to a "NORMAL" market. The sky is not falling. Homes are taking on an average six months to sell vs. days to sell. This is a normal market with an equal number of buyers and sellers participating.

Interest rates have been coming down over the last several months. It is a great time to buy.

Our local market does not have the speculators and flippers that have desended on the new construction of Florida, Las Vegas, and San Diego. As the investors bail out these markets need to absorb the extra inventory and that is why their markets are weaker than our local market.

Please don't be manipulated by sensational stories from the press. Things are actually very good! 


How To Prevent Frozen Pipes!

by Liz Warren

Predictions are that we will hit the low 20's this evening so just a few tips on this link on how to prevent frozen and broken pipes: Hit this link: to get the low down and STAY WARM!

Mt. Hood Top Five Requests For Purchasers

by Liz Warren

What are the top five characteristics of properties requested by buyers on Mt. Hood?

1. Waterfront of any kind. Some buyers prefer the larger rivers but others with kids are more pleased with creeks. Pick your waterfront just to mention a few: Salmon River, Sandy River, ZigZag River, Still Creek, Clear Creek, Henry Creek, Boulder Creek, Rockway Creek and more!

2. View properties. Mt. Hood views are few and far between and only available up the LoLo Pass area. The surrounding hills of Hunchback mountain, Zig Zag Mountain and Sugarloaf are popular too.

3. Acreage. Any property with over an acre of land is high on buyer's lists. Most parcels over three acres are located off of Country Club, Barlow Trail and LoLo Pass Road. Due to surrounding Mt. Hood National Forest, BLM land and timber parcels, existing acreage for sale is difficult to find.

4. Seclusion. Yikes! Very difficult to find. If passing through on Hwy 26 you would think you were out in the woods when reaching the Hoodland Corridor. A community group is active in looking for a name change to be called the Villages at Mt. Hood. http://www.villagesmthood.us/ It's deceptive when driving by but once you get off the beaten path you will find a plethora of many dirt and gravel roads that take you to hidden homes and cabins. On deeded lands in tall stands of firs the typical mountain lot will be less than a quarter of an acre. In Government Camp lots are mostly 50 X 100. Many prefer the leased land cabins (560) in the Mt. Hood National Forest spread out along many creeks and rivers giving a feel of more seclusion and isolation.

5. Fireplaces, Knotty Pine, and Log: Yes, it's back to the old days of and the roots of Mt. Hood. in the 20's 30's and 40's! When families would treck to the mountain for their summer stays in their family cabins which usualy had a riverrock fireplace and lots of knotty pine. Steiner Log cabins were always at the top of any buyer's list too. There are even Steiner Log Home tours offered through the Government Camp Museum. This link will take you to a new web site for Steiner Log Homes with photos: http://steinerlogcabins.com/index.php?name=coppermine

What ever type of property you're looking for I have been working with buyers for 22 years and am well aquainted with what is available. Be sure and send me an email and I can help you find your  dream home or cabin. [email protected]

Ragging River On Mt. Hood

by Liz Warren

Ragging rivers and flooding hit the mountain on Monday, 11/06/06, with lots of damage to area homes and plenty of erosion. Sources say at the higher elevations 30 inches of rain hit within a 24 hour period. Lower elevations in Welches had 8 inches of rain in the same time. Eight foot waves carried huge trees and boulders down rivers. 

On Monday night the Sandy River was running at 4,000 cubic feet per second which is high and on Tuesday morning, it was running at 17,000 cubic feet per second. This was a much worse mountain event than the 1996 flooding.

 

Pictured below is a home located on Riverside Drive in Timberline Rim. The shot is taken from the Sandy River Lane side of Timberline Rim. Half of this home went in to the river during the night. A couple of homes down from where this shot was taken a home was evacuated on the bluff due to river erosion below taking out their deck. The force of the river is eating away at their bank.

 

This home below is located on LoLo Pass Road between the first two bridges. Luckily a log jam helped divert water away from the house. Many log jams formed along the Sandy River.

 

One nearly million dollar  home at the upper Barlow Trail Road area had the entire second floor taken out by the river. Unfortunately, their Lexus was in the river too. The owners were away at the time it hit.

LoLo Pass Road was shut down all day as the river ate away part of the road. It's now open again but only one lane at this time.

To top this all off, both roads in to Mt. Hood Meadows ski area are out of commission.  Highway 35 at the Robin Hood Camp ground area is totally out.... shades of 1980 flooding when the entire highway was taken out from flooding and closed for the season. The White River Canyon side, Portland side access, let loose with debris and water. I'm sure the pressure is on for this area to get roads open for their pending ski season!

We are all hoping the weather calms down so damage can be assessed and life returns to normal.

 

Displaying blog entries 1911-1920 of 1923

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