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Buying a Home
Getting a home loan—the good, bad and ugly
Are you thinking of buying a home in Portland? It’s July, 2010. We’re now three years into our recession/depression/darn grim real estate market. This little update will keep you informed about the current climate for home mortgages if you are buying a home in Portland. Keep checking back here. This topic changes all the time. FIRST THE GOOD NEWS FOR HOME BUYERS Interest rates are the lowest they have been since the 1950′s! Home buyers take note: I know of several people who have locked in a spectacular rate of 4.375% for the next thirty years. Locking in a rate this low makes better financial sense than waiting a few months for a lower purchase price but...
Read MoreNew and Improved MLS Search
Returning visitors to Portland Home Source will notice a change as they search the MLS. That’s because we’ve changed to a new map based MLS search program from a local Portland company called Home Quest. After lots of testing and lots of soul searching, we decided Home Quest offers the best search capabilities for our visitors. We hope you agree once you get to know it. Yes, we know how hard change can be for you. And we’re sorry for any inconvenience. But we know you’ll grow to love Home Quest and its many features. Please feel free to phone Anne Kadin (503 320-3163) if you need help adjusting to the new MLS search. In the meantime, if you have...
Read MorePDX is on Forbes Top Ten List
Great news for Portland. Home owners in the Portland Metro area are in good shape compared with most of the country. We have low interest rates on our mortgages and low foreclosure and delinquency rates. This is according to a study by Forbes.com which names Portland in the top ten cities in the country that are best for borrowers. I would have to say that the information they used to do the ranking makes it one of the best cities for home sellers too. Forbes looked at which cities in the country had the lowest mortgage rates. Then they added the 1/2008 to 1/2009 change in percent of homes in foreclosure and change in percent of homes that were delinquent for 90 days or...
Read MoreExtension of First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit–for some
Many first time home buyers have just 18 more days to participate in the $8,000 federal tax credit program. But there’s a one year extension of the program for some members of the military and certain other federal employees. Service people qualify if they are: members of the uniformed services, Foreign Service and members of the intelligence community. They are eligible for this one year extension if they serve on qualified official extended duty service outside of the United States for at least 90 days during the period beginning after Dec. 31, 2008, and ending before May 1, 2010. spouses qualify if the service member is married For this special...
Read MoreMore help for buying a home in Oregon
As the First Time Home Buyer Federal Tax Credit Program winds down, other programs are cropping up to help home buyers. Here’s one for people wanting to buy a home in Portland or any other part of Oregon. Oregonians looking to buy their first home may qualify for an assistance grant from the Home Sweet Home Program (HSHP). The Oregon Association of Realtors and the Oregon Bankers Association have partnered to create grants for buyers who earn less than or equal to the median income in their area. (The Oregon median income in 2008 was $50,165. Link to Census Bureau info.) HSHP funds will be disbursed to eligible first-time home buyers in the form of $2,000...
Read More“Instant” debt relief???
Q: Hey Tim, one of my clients asked me about using one of those debt relief companies you see on TV. What do you think? A: Anne, I’d tell your client to beware of so-called debt services as advertised on TV! Here’s why: Any promise of “Instant” debt relief is likely to be a scam, especially if the service charges an upfront fee of several hundred dollars. No one can make your debt disappear. But there are ways you can lower your monthly payments. For relief, turn to a nonprofit credit counseling agency certified by the National Foundation for credit Counseling (nfcc.org/firststep/locator.cfn). It will act on your behalf to negotiate with credit card...
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