Portland, OR

Portland Oregon was rather late to grasp the idea of condos. It wasn't until the mid 1990s when some developers started reviving the old downtown warehouses into upscale condominiums that people started to eat up the idea of the urban life style. And then their popularity sky-rocketed. Around the clock eateries, gyms and shopping starting filling in on the ground floors and the old and young alike left their cars in the suburbs and moved to the city. The views, the convenience, the culture... it all fit. Downtown living was hip with a six zero price tag.

Today, sales are waning. According to our local MLS, 1,100 condominiums sold in West Portland over the past 12 months. There are currently 1,062 condominiums for sale in West Portland. With the inventory growing, owners are forced to drop their prices and some developers are opting turn their condo constructions into apartments to save themselves the agony of long market times and lower sales prices.

It's no wonder. Most of the West Side condos are not priced for the first time buyer crowd. This is a second, third or even retirement home option for many. And then there are the HOA fees which run on average of about $200 to $400 per month.

Portland is holding strong in an overall sagging nationwide market. But the reason for the decline in condo sales? In the past, when I would appraise a new condo unit in the downtown area I would constantly see the first phase of construction being snagged up by outside investors. Probably about two thirds of the proud new owners in a new condominium building would never see their property in person. Once the project was completed they would simply put a 'for sale' sign on their unit and make that magic profit. Investors have been by-passing the Portland market these days. There are more desperate markets out that have lower price tags and potentially higher profit margins.

So in strange way, I see the decline of condo sales in the Portland area a sign that our housing market is stronger than much of the nation.

With the fall of creative financing and option of home buying becoming less available to a larger piece of our demographic, some people are clinging to the idea of co-housing or shared living communities.

One such community is happing just down the street. The Daybreak Cohousing Community has ‘broken ground' on a new project. When I say broken, I mean dismantled a great set of ‘horse shoe apartments' circa 1943 (that were in decent condition and rather iconic to the neighborhood in my eyes) in preparation for their new fancy building.

Knowing my past experiences with roommates, I'm sure that this would never be my calling. But I am fascinated in the Daybreak community's plight. First off (and perhaps unfairly and incorrectly), I think of people that want to participate in commune-style living to be hippies... suns of the earth... tree huggers... And yet they've taken these perfectly fine buildings and re-purposed them into modern day condo-like hipster housing. (When I use the words ‘dismantle' and ‘re-purpose' I do mean that they are consciously re-using as much of the original structure as possible to build their ideal community).

What made the original apartments so charming was the huge maple tree that sat in the middle of the horse shoe. Other than severely trimming the tree back to make way for construction, they've thus far managed to save it. In fact, it might be bad karma to take the old tree to the ground now after they had their ground-breaking ceremony under the tree and adorned it with Tibetan prayer flags.

I would imagine that this project is created for both social and financial endeavors. To become fulfilled by creating a community within a community while sharing the costs.... And they might save quite a bit of money on this venture. There appear to be 16 families participating in the community and if they keep their building budget under $2,000,000 they stand to save $75,000 to $200,000 on a ‘similar' (a term loosely used under the circumstances) condo. Hey, this could be the new wave. Now reselling their space in the community when they decide to move on might be another story all together.

Growing up as a kid in So. Cal I can remember having so many talks with my Dad, usually sitting in his car driving somewhere. He knew that he had my attention because I wasn't going anywhere, at least physically I wasn't going, but mentally I usually drifted off to a place where there were no rules. He would say to me "son you have so much potential and you are just wasting your time and energy with all this stuff you do. Which was code for.."go to college, get a good job and make something of your self.

Potential? how did he know what my potential was? How does anybody know what your potential is? But apparently I had some becuase it seemed as though every adult in my life would say the same thing to me. Then one day I heard this friend of mine say that "he was being crushed by the weight of his potential" I love that saying because it was spot on true! I could hardly breathe....

Being a manger in the real estate business I find my self today saying the same things to recruits, new agents and seasoned agents. of course I don't say it out loud but inside my head I say "you have so much potential blah blah blah. What the hell does that mean, its as if my father is inside my head speaking.

I can say that hiring on potential is a mistake, it is the same as marrying for potential, you know " I thought I could change him/her". Brian Buffini says it best "when people show you who they are, believe them". As a manager my number one job is to retain agents and hopefully teach them some things about the business and life. Do I think that I can change them? No not really, I might be able to help them develop better habits and learn to run this like a business. But actually change them I don't think that is possible. Agents, especially now, have to want this more then anything else. They need to wake up every morning excited about what the day is bringing and to show that enthusiasm to their clients and other agents in the office. I am not saying that times are great, they are not great, but I have agents in this office who are doing a great job, enjoying life and doing what they can to achieve success.

This is not an easy Career path. I have been doing this for 11 years and it took me a few years to figure out that nobody is watching me, nobody really cares if you make it to the office and really if I want to make this my Career I better lift that weight of potential off of me and get moving. I love what I do, I love the agents in the office, I love living in Sellwood. But in the beginning of my career I thought this was all going to be easy, but in the end it has taken a lot of hard work and dedication to have the life I have today. I guess my Dad was right because I don't feel crushed anymore....

Newport,Astoria,Seaside,Cannonbeach,Oceanside,How do these places sound to you? Please email me for the latest price list. You snooze you will loose......!!

After graduating from the University of Oregon, a good friend of mine moved to Seattle to begin his career. An avid UO Duck football fan, he found it frustrating to find a local bar to watch his Alama Mater play on Saturday. He knew he couldn't be the only one, so he developed:

University of Oregon graduate Ryan Lewis '02 founder of www.FanSpan.com has a solution. www.FanSpan.com gives sports fans the opportunity to search for a local, fan-friendly sports environment to watch their favorite teams. The website locates and categorizes these bars/restaurants as watch sites, and identifies them by the teams and sports they associate themselves with.

Lewis says, "Our vision for FanSpan.com is to connect sports fans in both a virtual environment as well as a physical one. With FanSpan.com, people will be able to find a local fan-friendly atmosphere to watch a game, get a hold of old friends, and make some new ones. We want to help foster the community that sports create."

"Macadam's Bar & Grill (an Official UO Watch Party Location in Portland, OR) is one of many watch sites on FanSpan.com," said proprietor Ryan Steele. "FanSpan.com allows us to promote our establishment to sports fans looking to watch their favorite teams, but it also allows us to promote other events that are going on that will appeal to our patrons as well."

Membership on FanSpan.com is free; however, non-members will be allowed to use the watch site search function. Logged-in members have the ability to:

~ Search for watch sites
~ Review and critique watch sites based on different criteria
~ Upload personal photos and videos to their profile
~ Locate friends and fans in their community or around the nation
~ Post blogs
~ Create and join groups

The current watch site list covers over 2,500 bars and restaurants across the U.S. pertaining to the following sports: Football (NFL & NCAA), Soccer (MLS & English Premier), Mixed Martial Arts, NASCAR, Basketball (NBA & NCAA), Hockey (NHL & NCAA), Rugby and Baseball (MLB & NCAA).

To sign up, go to FanSpan.com.