Herb's Portland Oregon Real Estate Blog your RE/MAX Agent

Yesterday while showing one of my Listings_For_Sale_in_Portland_Or  the Buyer asked me " Do you think the Seller would be willing to take less "?  Now I have answered this question thousands of times over the last 19+ years that I have been in business usually with a simple answer like" I don't make decisions for my Seller's ".

However because of the tone in the Buyer's voice, a tone that gave me the impression that he deserved the reduction in price I asked " What causes you to ask that "? His straight up answer was " Because it's a Buyer's Market ". What an interesting statement to make. In Portland Oregon over the last year we have had an 11% increase in the market which is down slightly from the 14% of the previous 2 years. Certainly though it would be hard to categorize that as a Buyer's Market.

It was a pleasant showing but the question started me to thinking about the differences in a Buyer's Market and a Seller's Market. I had already touched on this subject early yesterday before the showing on my Portland_Flips_Business_Blog  .

So what are the elements? Well certainly over the last several years as the market has continued to expand, one would have to conclude that was a Seller's Market. Prices were constantly going up, speculation was often the name of the game and Seller's were reaping relatively quick rewards for their properties.

So then to be a Buyer's Market the opposite must be true? One of falling sales prices, rising inventories and strong competition to make your property the most attractive with little or no profits at all for the Seller's perhaps even selling at a loss.

In this type of market you would conclude that Buyer's following sound business principles of Buy Low and Sell High would then be in a Feeding Frenzy. Especially in areas that have been notoriously expensive to purchase. While interest rates are relatively low and prices are down you would think that all of the people who had hoped to purchase and were unable to during the Seller's Market would be all over this Buyer's Market. The pent up demand for those who have wanted to buy and had been priced out certainly would propel the amount of sales in a Buyer's Market well past any number done in a Seller's Market.

That however is not the case. In fact it has not been the case at all in the last 19 years that I have watched as markets went through there normal cycles of highs and lows.The reality is that Buyer's tend to make more purchase's in a Seller's Market often times competing for the same homes while driving up the prices even further.

So what about this Buyer's Market then? Well if Buyer's don't or won't take advantage of the conditions then by it's own default there can be no Buyer's Market.

Do you Agree or Disagree?

Let_Your_Next_Home_Find_You  Automated search for Portland Oregon Real Estate using Your Criteria.

Investor's_Real_Estate_Search_Engine  Take advantage of this a true Real Estate Investors dream tool.

We all work hard. Sometimes you just need to take a little break.I write 3 real Estate Blogs. On one of my Blogs Rose City Blog I often write about_local_Portland_Neigborhood_topics  of interest. This mornings post was just for fun. In the Post I Chronicle  the_adventures_of_Benny_My_Cat  and our day out for Coffee at the University Park Coffee house on Lombard in Portland Oregon. For_a_bit_of_Fun_Follow_the_Adventure_here  , as Benny and I take time out to smell the flowers and Go for Coffee In Portland Oregon's North Side.

Herb's Blogs :

Rose_City_blog  a local real estate blog about local neighborhood issues lots of Pics and fun stories.

Portland_Flips_a_Blog_about_Fixers_&_Flips  for Investors interested in the mechanics of Fixers and Flips.

My_Activerain_Blog_Site_For_Real_Estate_Oriented_People 

It seems that not everyone understands my post about_how_technology_isolates_us_from_our_clients. At least from the comments that I have received.

Believe me, I do like all your comments. I even like the comments that seem to somewhat disagree with me. Although I do not disagree with the comments. So now I have confused everyone. Let me try to explain what I mean.

I truly love technology, as any one would know if you have read any of my articles like Technology_and_the_upward_slippery_slope  a story about how I have always been on the side of technology, almost to where I am trapped in it. Or the article that I wrote about_a_Free_Investor's_MLS_Web_Site  of mine designed to help Investors of fixer uppers or flips in Portland Oregon, technologically. And of course the article I wrote detailing the business I was able to do because of My_new_Toshiba_Laptop_Computer.  And many other stories as well as it relates to me and technology. 

Regardless of how clients originally come to me, if it is by sign call or through one of my 4 Web Sites or 3 Blog Sites I make every effort to move them into a technology oriented contact management system. And generally most people today prefer that way of communicating. It frees us all up yet keeps us well informed.

However, the article I wrote does not speak to the everyday rigors of daily, weekly or monthly contact management and communication. What it does speak to is communication at the time of action. That of Showing Property, Writing Offers and or Taking Listings. It is at this very moment when personal face to face communication will have it's greatest impact.

An example of what I mean :

Bob and Cindy have been thinking about a home to buy that they had seen and fallen in love with. The home is new to the market and priced very competitively. The price range is one of tremendous competition.There will no doubt be multiple offers on this home. After a brief conversation they decide to give there favorite Realtor a call to have you write up the offer. Bob picks up the phone then turns to Cindy and Say's "I don't want to write a full price offer though". Cindy immediately asks why? Bob's only response is because all my friends say that it's a buyer's market and no one is paying full price anymore.

Your cell phone rings and it is Bob. He informs you that he and Cindy have talked it over and want you to write an offer. After the initial excitement, Bob begins to dictate the terms to you. You question him about his decision to write less than full price given its price range and it's potential to have multiple offers. Bob stands to his guns. Not wanting to alienate them at this sensitive time you decide to let technology take over thinking that surely you will get your offer in first and then work on a counter from the seller which is surely to come .

Your offer is quick and most importantly legible. Off it goes to the the listing agent in a wink of the eye. Bob and Cindy are very impressed at your quick response and ability to use technology.

A couple of hours later you hear from the listing agent. He received your offer and 3 others as well all at full price and or above. Your offer has been rejected flat out.

Now getting back to what I was talking about in my previous article about_communication_and_technology . A face to face encounter and conversation with your clients could have eliminated this flat out loss. No I am not suggesting to you that you should try to convince your client to offer above what they are willing or able to do. In stead I am saying that face to face communication allows you to discuss the merits of the offer before writing it. It also prevents one party or the other from taking a hunker down in the bunker mentality for the sake of some altruistic argument and eventually losing sight of the goal during the heat of the chase.

No one can deny that face to face communication is King. Have your technology standing by ready to pounce once the face to face has produced a realistic well thought out strategy.

Portland_Oregon_MLS_Home_Search_For_Buyer's  A free web site for the Portland oregon metro Home Buyer.

An_Investor's_MLS_Web_Site_for_Portland_Oregon_Properties  Defined investment search portal.

Portland_Oregon_Information_and_Property_Searches  Full of local Portland Oregon information.

Rose_City_Blog_with_Local_Portland_Or._Stories_and_Photo's  Catch the local flavor provided on this Blog.  

The Internet is a fabulous venue for promoting Real Estate. This last week as many of you may or may not know there has been a long protracted dialogue on the_Community_Update_Post_on_Activerain  to the tune of 160 comments and counting.

At first the entire dialogue was about a decision to stop points for listings. That was subsequently worked out and points were restored. A full decision on how it will be monitored has not been verbalized or written about as of yet. The dialogue on the other hand has continued on spawning several side issues.

One such side issue debates the merit of chastising those that steal content visa vie listings of others for thier own use without the permission of the originator. It is an interesting dialogue and has merit on several sides of the issue.

The question about the use of ones own information specifically an exclusive listing and  its promotion by others with or with out permission caused me to start wondering where I might find information on my listings like  437_NE_Webster_as_seen_on_Homes.com  for instance.

Subsequently for the past few days I have been doing some searching to find out just how many places I can find this little gem of a home ( 437 NE Webster ) in Portland Oregon. I am sure there are many more sites than these few that I have initially found. Boy of boy was I surprised at what I have found so far.

• Portland_Or_Homes_for_Sale_on_Homes.com  This is a subscription web site for my Portland Homes.
• Portland_Oregon_Real_Estate_For_Sale_by_Herb_Hamilton  My Sellers Web site for listings and info.
• www.househuntportland.com  My Web Site, A sign up site for all Portland MLS homes for sale.
• www.Portlandflips.com  Another sign up web site of mine for Investors of Real Estate in Portland Oregon.
• Hot_PDX_Home_URL  A secondary URL points to my main web site at Portland Real Property . com
• Portland_Oregon_Mls_Public_Web_Site  An easy limited use public site for searching Portland properties.
• Real_Estate_Agents_and_Affiliates_MLS_Web_Site  For use by only authorized users.
• RE/MAX_._COM_Web_Site  This is RE/MAX International's Web Site featuring Millions of US Properties.
• http://www.realestate.msn.com/  This is MSN's Web site for Real Estate Listings and homes for sale.
• http://www.realestate.yahoo.com/  Famed Yahoo also has it's own search for Homes in Portland Oregon.
• http://www.realestate.com/   A subsidairy of Lending Tree.com a very big player in Portland Real Estate.
• http://www.realtor.com/  And of course the National Association of Realtors(c) has Homes for Sale.
• 437_NE_Webster_on_Point_2_Homes  Sign up for a free web site, displays lots of photos of homes.
• ActiveRain's_Portland_Oregon's_Localism_Web_Site  features Listings for the Greater Portland Or. area.
• http://www.portlandflips.wordpress.com/  My Business blog where I promote Portland homes for sale.
• Rose_City_Blog  My blog on my web site at Portland Real Property . com for Portland homes and Info.
• Google_Base  A free advertising site for real estate professionals advertising listings for sale.
• Oodle_._Com  An advertising medium which accepts properties for sale through link relationships.
• http://www.trulia.com/  Another advertising site with link relationships to web sites for Realtors(c).
• http://www.craigslist.com/  Everyone knows about Craigs List a great outlet for your real estate for sale.
• http://www.backpage.com/  Another site similar to Craigs List for Real Estate and Homes for Sale.
• http://www.wweek.com/  Willamette Weekan online Local Portland Site similar to Craigs List for Real Estate.

These are just a few of the ones that I have found although because of my relationship with Point 2 Homes they additional find exposure through Live Deal, City Cribs, Vast, Edgeio, Prop Smart, Real Estate Advisor, The Housing Pages, Video Homes.com, House.com, World Wide Real Estate.com, Hot Pads .com, and Condo .com. I am also sure that some of my other web sites have reciprocal links as well.

In fact my Alamode site at Portland_Real_Property_._Com  has a button on the home page that links to  Out_of_State_Homes_For_Sale. There I link to several States that display my listings on their web site as I display their listings on my web site.

So have you gone searching for YOU ? Have you found yourself somewhere that surprised you? I have. How about YOU?

Web Site Url's from above :

www.homes.com                              www.portlandrealproperty.com           www.househuntportland.com 

www.portlandflips.com                      www.hotpdxhome.com                      www.rmls.com     

www.rmlsweb.com                            www.remax.com                               www.realestate.msn.com 

www.realestate.yahoo.com                www.realestate.com                          www.realtor.com    

www.herbhamilton.point2agent.com   www.localism.com                             www.portlandflips.wordpress.com 

www.portlandrealproperty.com/rosecityblog                                               www.base.google.com

www.oodle.com                                www.trulia.com                                 www.craigslist.com

www.backpage.com                          www.wweek.com                                AND OTHERS MENTIONED ABOVE

Every since  CBS_News  hired Anchor_Katie_Couric  speculation rather she was right for the job or could even do the job has been bantered about the Media. The continued Katie_Couric_Controversy  shows no sign of slowing down. Right for the Job or wrong for the Job is not the focus of this article.

I wonder though how many of us are Katie Couric's. Do we often jump at the opportunity to take jobs that are over our heads or outside our true field of expertise. Certainly it is flattering to be considered by those around us who want so much to believe in our abilities.

I am sure as well the allure of money and ego most likely plays a large roll in the choices that we make. Speaking purely from a state of representation though can we all honestly answer Yes emphatically to a question about our ability to represent our clients best needs.

Some time back I was called to the home of a very well to do individual. This man was in his late 70's and was the steward of his family's fortune. He could trace back the beginnings of that fortune to his Great Great Grandfather who started out by acquiring land and timber rights. It was the family's first time ever considering selling a home.

The property was in disrepair and was functionably obsolescent. They had come to the conclusion that a sale would be in there best interest. Someone had told them to_give_Herb_Hamilton_a_call  and so they did. The long and short of the meeting was that the building was in no way finance-able and at that time there was not a lot of people running around with that much cash. The decision was made to sell on contract.

Everett was agreeable and said that he was sure that his attorney would want to draw up all of the documents on a Land Sales Contract. I told them that in Oregon it would be much better if they used a Deed of Trust and Note. Everett gave his attorney a call and the attorney confirmed his desire to use a Land Sales Contract.

The following day I Sent to the attorney for his review all of the listing documents including a explanation as to the differences between  a Land Sales Contract and a Deed of Trust and Note. I attached a simple request. After reviewing this please advise your client as to which you feel that they should use.

A couple of days had gone by whenby Everett gave me a call and said that the attorney was extremely impressed. His new recommendation was to use the Deed of Trust and Note. From that day forward not only did I have all of Everett's business, but everyone he could think of to refer me to.

I often see Commercial listings for sale here in Portland Oregon and listed by residential agents. I know they are residential agents because that is what they typically will sell year after year. Yet every once in a while they seem to go a little far of field. Perhaps we may begin to call it going a little Katie Couric on us. Is that you?

Portland_Oregon_Real_Estate_Broker's_Web_Site

MLS_Search_for_Listings 

Let_Your_Next_Home_Find_You_in_Portland_Oregon 

Are we truly marketing our selves on the Internet to our best ability? An AR member  Judy_Cicalese  recently emailed me asking for some advice, well actually not. She had read a comment that I had left somewhere about the fact that My_Portland_Oregon_Real_Estate_Web_Site  was an  Alamode_Real_Estate_Web_Sites . A template type Web site and she wondered how I liked it and was I getting any leads from it. Judy has an Alamode site as well that she has had for 2 years. The Trumbull_Ct_Real_Estate_Web_Site  of Judy's is a straight out of the box Alamode Template style web site.

So I could not answer Judy's original question without looking at her site. We exchanged a couple of emails, hence this post. The flaws that are in Judy's site are the same flaws that many of us suffer from in regards to web sites and marketing.

                                               HOW DID WE GET THERE?

Web Site Sales people always play on our ego. That is why you will always here the following.

• You Need to Market You
• You Need to Distinguish your self from the Crowd
• You Need to Stand out from the Competition

Sound Familiar? After that they hit you between the eyes with " You own your own Name Don't you? " Of course many of us don't or didn't. They look at you as if you are crazy and you start to believe that you are. The next thing you know, you have just bought your self a website full of Jazzy Pages with a Kick Butt Intro Page all Neatly packaged under your new Domain Name " Herb Hamilton".

What is wrong with this you ask? Simple, how many people in the world are there that might want to buy a home in your fair city know  Herb Hamilton? Honest I like me but I am just not that famous. Perhaps if I was a celebrity or well known figure and I was well known for Real Estate then it might make sense. But just because your popular in your town does not mean you are popular on the Internet.

Should you get rid of your name domain then? No! But it should be a secondary URL that Points to your primary URL. My New web site name is http://www.portlandrealproperty.com/  I have additional URL'S that I own and point to it. It allows me then to advertise that specific URL like http://www.hotpdxhome.com/  which points to my web site . I might use it in an ad something like this. Are You looking for the Hottest Listings in Portland Oregon? Check out http://www.hotpdxhome.com/  . I could also use that in a group of URL's where Buyer's might be looking for something that stands out. Of course there are many ways to use URL's creatively and better ways to use ALT Tag text but that is for a different post.

Template sites are okay. They just need to have there content changed. Here is why. A recent discussion I had with BradCarroll  after reading his Post  Setting_The_Record_Straight  where we began to talk about search engines and how they look at pages. Duplicate Pages are not necessarily bad it just means that they fall in a Hierarchy of when they were created. So if you buy a Template site and you are the 37,000th person to buy one of these sites and you do not change the web page here is what will happen.

The First person that used that page will be indexed as number 1. If you copy it you will be number 2. So if you are number 37,000 that is where you will be found indexed ( if they go that deep ). Hence it is imperative that you create new content for that reason. Original Content is King!

Another reason for creating your own Content is, if I am searching the Internet looking for a Home in Portland Oregon and perhaps 2 or 3 other cities around the US, and I come across 3 websites that are a template site with duplicate content. I will immediately have the impression that this web site is just some sort of a large conglomerate or something. I won't say wow this site is unique. Which is our goal isn't it?

Template Web Sites may or may not Rank High in regards to Page Rank. That should not be your major concern. Traffic is. A great way to get traffic is to use your Blogs which are frequently crawled by the search engines looking for relevant content. This is where you should be providing links to your web site. Not just to the home page but to deeper pages within. Let's say you have a web page about a subdivision in your town. Like www.portlandrealproperty.com/mttabor  . I then would create a blog that talks about Mt. Tabor and I would keep it friendly maybe talking about a new coffee shop or something that was interesting to people wanting to know more about the area. By providing links scattered throughout this article that go back to my Web Site, I start to create Traffic.

Post is getting to long . So Good luck and Happy Blogging I wish us all Tremendous Success!

Search_the_Portland_Oregon_MLS_For_Homes

Let_Your_Next_Home_Find_You

Portland_Oregon_Rose_Festival_Information

This year in Portland Oregon the City of Roses, we are celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Rose Festival. There are many events scheduled including but not limited to the Grand Floral Parade held on 6/9/2007, and a Fireworks show. There are many other events provided here on this Rose_Festival_Events_Calendar  as well.

Two events that always draw large crowds are The_Navy_Ships_in_Portland_on_the_Willamette_River.  And the  Carnival_at_Waterfront_Village_at_Tom_McCall_Waterfront_Park . Good times are always had by all.

Kids and Adults alike enjoy the festivities at the Carnival. All at Tom McCall Waterfront Park in Downtown Portland next to the Willamette River.

The Walk along the River will also provide a excellent viewing station for the Fireworks display featured later in the evening.

See the Events_Calendar  for a complete list of all activities during the Rose Festival Celebration.

Pictured above is a small section of the Carnival at Waterfront Park in Portland Oregon.

The Walking and Bike Path along the East Bank of the Willamette River. In the Back ground you can see a portion of the Fleet in for the Rose Festival Celebration with Downtown Portland Oregon in the Background.

The Stern Wheeler Tied up at the Sea Wall on the Willamette River at Tom McCall Waterfront Park becomes part of the festivities.

For additional Photo's_of_The_Navy_Ships_on_the_Willamette_River_in_Portland_Oregon  and more Local information about Portland Oregon and the City of Roses follow this link.

For more information About_Portland_Homes_For_Sale  and or  Searching_for_Portland_MLS_Properties  then stop by here.

For the past several days I presume for some time to come Paris Hilton has taken a dominant position on most newscasts. Some of it albeit is tongue and Cheek while others are fervently and diametrically opposed to there counter parts.

But this post is not about Paris Hilton or even if you agree or agree about what is going on. It is more about Getting your Just Deserts.

What do you think you deserve? What positions or circumstances are you in today and how or why did you get there? Did you plan for the event or did it just happen?

A couple of weeks ago I had received a call from a fellow who's home/listing had just expired. It appears as if it had been on the market twice in succession with different real estate companies. Obviously both without success. He was calling me because I have properties_on_the_market_in_Portland_Oregon   close to his home. In fact I have had several properties on the market close to his home during the two time periods he had his home listed. All of those listings have Sold and Closed.

So Bob ( I will call him ) wanted me to come out and talk to him about marketing. I prepared in the usual way running the comps and looking at the previous marketing done by the other Agent's. There were similarities in the two other Agent's that I could not help but notice.

• They both were Agents who specialized in downtown Portland upscale Condo's ( his house was not )
• Both Agents Contact information was by Message only ( no cell phone numbers available )
• Both Agents showing instructions were By Appointment Only and Call Agent First ( the House is Vacant)
• Both Agents expired to sold ratio was extremely high ( some 35 % of there listings did not sell )
• Both Agents List price to market price was normally 15% or more above true value

At the time of presentation the Seller asked two questions? Cost of sale (Commission ) and How much (Price). As I went over the information I noticed his eyes were glazing over. I took a new tact. I went over the 5 points above by asking him questions.

• Do you want your next Agent to be a Residential agent or someone specializing in Condo's?
• Would you expect your next Agent to be available by phone to interested buyers or agents?
• Would you be apposed at having the home available by lock-box for showings 24/7?
• Should your next Agent have an above average Closed Sale Ratio?
• Would you agree that Buyer's want to pay a fair price and that no one can force them to pay what the market indicates any home is worth?

To my surprise the Seller agreed with each of these questions. Responding positively and firmly to each question asked. I proceeded then with my marketing plan and laid out each of my credentials which corresponded to the positive feed back that he had given before.

At the end Bob said that he would like to take the information with him to look over more this evening and call me back tomorrow.

For the next three days I did not receive and was unable to contact Bob whose phone was set to message only.

On the Fourth day his Home showed up Active as a new Listing. The Agent he chose was a cookie cutter to the previous 2 Agents. In fact this new agent probably had a poorer track record than the other two. In fact the listing price was a Good $10,000 above the previously 2 expired listings.

The picture I think of Paris Hilton in the back of the squad car with tears running down her face could be many of us. Do we create our own miseries? Do we ignore the signs pointing to disaster? Are we Getting our Just Deserts?

Let_Your_Next_Home_Find_You

Portland_Oregon_Photo's

Today I received a Comment from a reader on my Wordpress Blog Portland_Flips. The post that I had written yesterday talked about The_Portland_Oregon_Metro_Real_Estate_Market_Report  and how Portland Oregon had pretty much been left unscathed by the poor market conditions plaguing the rest of the country for the last 2 years.

In my article I suggested that this was A_Great_Time_To_Buy_Real_Estate_In_Portland_Oregon. The Commenter was obviously shocked by that statement and retorted with " are you kidding me ? "  The answer to that is an emphatic NO, I am not kidding you. Here_is_What_I_Mean !

Buy_a_House

Portland_Oregon_100_Year_Cellabration_of_the_Rose_Festival  

The Residential review of the Real estate market in Portland Oregon ending in April of 2007 shows mixed reviews.

The Market Activity in the Portland Metro area from April of 2006 compared to April of 2007 .

• Closed sales increased 1.4%
• Number of new listings rose by 23.1%
• Pending sales dropped by 7.2%
• There is enough inventory on the market for 4.4 months
• Sales for the past 12 month period show a 11.15 Average sales price appreciation
• While Median sale price appreciated by 11.2%

The average sales price was up from $296,600 to $329,400 for the last 12 month period.

While the Median home price was up from $ 249,900 to $277,900 for the same period.

          Area              Average Sales Price      Avg Days on market  For the Month of April

North Portland               $273,200                   46

North East Portland        $312,500                   46

South East Portland       $281,700                   44

West Portland               $449,700                   57

Lake Oswego/West lynn $582,200                   66

All figures are compiled from RMLS and are a synopsis only.

Presented by your Portland Oregon RE/MAX Broker. Portland_Oregon_Information_&_MLS_Search RMLS