So how's the real estate market doing? (Portland: short sales, to rent)

[BLAZER PROPHET]

Originally Posted by t03033

would you recommend getting a buyer's agent to find foreclosures for you? they seem difficult to locate...


oh, also, 25% off seems steep... can you elaborate on your position a bit more. prices per square foot, as i mentioned, are around 100-140 (depending on the specific area and school district)... 75-105 per square foot seems extremely low, but again i don't know much about portland's history.

You may want to try a buyer's agent, but some real estate websites have features to locate foreclosures. You may want to try that first.

It's not so much the price per square foot anymore, but whatever people can get. What I mean by that is in the same general neighborhood there might be 12 houses for sale- 3 by people with equity that want a higher price as they can afford to wait, 3 by people just trying to get out (less per square foot), 3 on a short sale (usually even less per square foot) and 3 foreclosed (even less per square foot). In other words, there are no more buy ins via square foot for any area anymore. It's simply get the best deal you can.

[Daisy32673]

My husband works in realestate and says prices are falling but have nowhere hit bottom yet. I would wait a year to buy, maybe more

[Nell Plotts]

The problem with short sales is the lenders aren't responsive, my concern about foreclosed properties is neglected maintenance and imperious lenders. It is hard for a family ready to move in to negotiate those deals.

Personally I would look for older homes where the seller needs to move to a retirement facility. They usually have taken care of their home, it was where they raised their family. Often the home is paid off, they aren't upside down on their mortgage. Yes there will be updating to do but you just budget for that. Construction defects are evident.

[Mt-7]

Stay out of the condos

[sueisme]

I think it's so hard to generalize if/when a market has hit bottom. I say see a whole bunch of places and, if you see something you like at a price that seems good, compared to what you've seen, go for it. If there are lots of places in your target area, take your sweet time.

Interest rates are low and there are a lot of houses out there, but in some areas houses seem to get snapped up fairly quickly. In my area (Sellwood/W.Moreland -- I realize that's not where you're looking) it seems that houses go really quickly. One day there's a "For Sale" sign and the next (or a few days later), one that says "Sale Pending." Of course I also see an occasional house that's been on the market a long time (including one that's been up for over a year.) I assume that if a house is priced fairly in a desirable area, it goes quickly.

[t03033]

Originally Posted by sueisme

I say see a whole bunch of places and, if you see something you like at a price that seems good, compared to what you've seen, go for it. If there are lots of places in your target area, take your sweet time.

well, that's the rub - I haven't lived here long enough to know what a "seems good" price is We come from a place where the local real estate market is relatively expensive - what looks like a steal at 400k for a 2500 sqft house to us may be massively overpriced for Portland.

Sure, you can get a sense by determining how fast the house sells, or by comps in the neighborhood, but then again, you're getting that sense while the deal train goes whistling by or, for an unsold property, you begin to question if it's something other than price that's keeping the house from being sold. And, with each parcel of real estate being completely unique, it's hard to tell if that house that sold at price x in 5 days did so because the price was priced to sell, or if the house had specific appeal to a buyer, or if the house had 0000s of upgrades spent on it, etc.

FWIW, I understand that the natural remedy here is to hire a professional who knows the market, but I'm just not that fond of a buyer's agent arrangement; that's why I asked here, sometimes qualitative musings by numerous people leads itself to good info! Thanks for your input

[t03033]

Originally Posted by Mt-7

Stay out of the condos

why? other than the concept of sharing a wall (which i am loathe to do), what's the issue here? low occupancy rates --> high HOA dues for those who are actually in the unit? poor construction? murky resale future?

[davemess10]

I'm kind of confused as to why you are looking to buy a house after having lived here a week? Especially when you state that you clearly don't know the area. I guess you have the advantage of not wanting to live in Portland and learning it's neighborhoods, but it still seems like the prudent thing to do would be to rent for a while and learn the area (especially if you want to proceed without an agent, which is a bad idea IMO). If you can't trust your agent (to where you have to get an inspector before an agent), then you have not found the right agent. Get someone with a low amount of clients who actually takes the time to understand you, and doesn't wear a nametag!

Check out zillow or realtor.com they have filters for foreclosures. We put an offer on a short sale and actually only had to wait 2.5 months (which isn't too bad), but by then were under contract for another house.

Beaverton/Hillsboro is a pretty different market from Portland. Portland is a little more stable, while the western suburbs have a much wider swing of properties and prices.

[t03033]

Originally Posted by davemess10

I'm kind of confused as to why you are looking to buy a house after having lived here a week? Especially when you state that you clearly don't know the area...

A buyer's agent who doesn't have clients is actually worse from a principal-agent problem, imo. If they're hungry, they will push you into a house without much regard for anything. I don't need them for any of the negotiating and/or paperwork, and I can find listings on my own. Their knowledge of the market is about the only thing that I value - however, their goals out of an agency relationship are markedly different than mine, as I've mentioned, so it's not entirely trustworthy analysis. Hence my thread.

I'm not above renting a while (and I'm not hell bent on buying the first two weeks I'm here), but I find the assertion that people shouldn't buy a house soon after relocating to be kind of funny - it's not like I'm following an unconventional path. As to specifically why in my case, I'd prefer to live in my own house without a roomate/landlord and not build up someone else's equity in their piece of real estate. However, if prices have the potential to fall again, of course I'll stick to renting longer Again, hence the thread.

[Nell Plotts]

Portland's housing bubble blog just talks big picture data, I don't think it is particularly useful but here is the link: Portland Housing Blog

The closest forum to Seattle Bubble's style Seattle Bubble • local real estate news, statistics, and commentary without the sales spin. is the RedFin Portland forum: Portland - Redfin Real Estate Forums It looks like they have a finding a home inspector link.

Oregon realtor's assn successfully convinced the legislature to prohibit fee rebates (unlike WA and CA) so you don't gain much unless the property isn't listed on MLS. I think RedFin donates part of their fee to a charity of your choosing in an effort to keep their discount business model. RedFin also has a home buyers class.

FYI, realtors loathe RedFin because they shift most of the work to the selling realtor.