Oregon

I LOVE Happy Short Sale Endings! This Oregon Short Sale was a bit of doozy! Mostly because it was a very rural property consisting of 2 homes and a shop on 50+ acres in Glendale, Oregon. Because the land was more valuable than the structures, it was nearly impossible to obtain buyer financing, with the exception of a hard money loan. Trying to find an all cash buyer for this Oregon property was like trying to find a needle in haystack. We knew we needed a miracle.

A Miracle Indeed. After several months of marketing, along came an all cash buyer, and she was totally patient too! As most of you know, there's rarely anything short about a short sale, except what the bank is willing to accept as a payoff. And because many banks take an exorbitant amount of time to process the necessary short sale paperwork, buyers often become impatient and walk just before you receive 3rd party short sale approval.

Fortunately, this Buyer wanted the property real bad, so she was willing to wait the 10 weeks it took to get bank approval. God bless her! And 30 days later, we closed another successful Oregon Short Sale. One happy Buyer plus one Happy Seller equals two Happy Realtors! Thanks to my fellow colleague Blanche for doing a fantastic job in calming the Short Sale seas. And a very special thanks to my Negotiator, Lillie, who knew the right buttons to push and had the persistence necessary to keep pushing them. Oregon Short Sale miracles never cease!

I LOVE Happy Short Sale Endings, don't you?

We often see tiles that are tattle tales.

You know the type -- the ones that scream - "I was built in 1980 and custom! People should love me forever"!

Often the culprit can be accent tiles -- strategically placed to bring color into the room. Now they bossily influence the decorating scheme and to home buyers shout "change me I'm dated"!

A Salem Oregon home seller had this dilemma. Their bathroom wouldn't be attractive to home buyers because of the current tile and decorating scheme. When buyers compare this bathroom to new construction, they would think it needed an expensive face lift. Instead of being an positive selling point, buyers will think negatively about this room.

How can you change dated tile without spending a lot of money?

Paint the tile!!

These seller didn't have the budget to replace the tile or to hire someone to epoxy the tiles to a contemporary color. They were unwilling skeptical at first, but once they got started painting the tiles themselves they saw it was well worth the effort.

By using the correct products and techniques the tile now looks fresh and attractive and will be durable too.

Creative Concepts Home Staging and Contracting added some new art and decor ---- now this bathroom really is marvelous!

Lisa Sanders, M.D., is an Assistant Clinical Professor at the Yale University School of Medicine and a clinician educator in Yale's Primary Care Internal Medicine Residency program. She writes the popular "Diagnosis" column, which appears monthly in the New York Times Magazine. This column was the inspiration for the award winning medical drama House M.D., on which she currently serves as technical adviser. Dr. Sanders' presentation will discuss physician-patient relationships as illustrated in her best selling book, Every Patient Tells a Story. There will also be a public reception beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Dr. Lisa Sanders
03/13/2012 (tomorrow!)
Time: 7:00 PM
Location: LaSells Stewart Center, Austin Auditorium
875 Southwest 26th Street, Corvallis

Homes rank second behind vehicles as the highest greenhouse gas emitters in theU.S., responsible for 17 percent of totalU.S.carbon dioxide emissions, according to the EPA.

There is a growing, segment of theU.S.housing market being referred to as net-zero-energy homes, many of which use solar energy to achieve net-zero energy use vs. consumption, and thus achieve a year-end positive energy generation-to-use balance. It turns out the Northwest is leading the charge of what is considered to be a national change in how people think about power.

In 2009,U.S.homeowners paid an average $2,200 for energy use in their homes, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. A growing number of homeowners are taking it upon themselves to not just lower, but erase that cost. This rising trend of super-efficient, solar-powered new homes allows homeowners to combat rising energy costs by giving back to the power grid. Some owners are even realizing a small profit from their home's power-generating capacity. Imagine that!

Intelligent house layout and design, and home features such as dual-pane windows, air-tight ductwork and high-caliber wall and attic insulation, are curbing energy consumption. And when coupled with solar energy, captured through photovoltaic panels, these homes are becoming their own mini power plants that feed electricity to the grid.

High-caliber insulation, like the attic-coating foam above, are among the products that contribute to energy efficiency. In the sun-sparse days of winter, energy consumption often exceeds generation, but in the sunny days of summer, energy generation often far exceeds consumption.

Homeowners can do some simple things to make their homes more efficient. For about $1,000, homeowners can transform their home from poorly performing to within the top 10 percent echelon of energy-efficient homes.

You could start with insulating walls and ceilings. From there, experts say to look at your windows. Both steps will minimize "energy freeways." Consider energy-efficient appliances, like Department of Energy-rated Energy Star-designated models. Turn off lights when not in use. When it's nice outside, turn off the thermostat and open the windows for fresh air. Practice minimal heating and cooling use.

And beware of vampire loads: connect TVs, VCRs and other electronics to a power strip, and control their operation through it. For example, the average TV uses half its electricity over its life when off, he said.

With an influx of federal money for research, and federal tax credits that refund up to 30 percent of the cost of a solar-energy system on a home through 2016, power generation is within reach for a larger group of homeowners.