Tigard, OR

As more and more people realize that they may have to go in to default, I'm starting to get more and more calls from people asking me how to talk to their banks about how to avoid losing their homes.

The story time after time is that they called their bank and the banks all say, "Sorry, can't help you until you are already in default." Now, I've been able to help a few of these people, but most of the time I have to sit down with them and discuss their options with the HOPE program, talking to a lawyer to contact the bank or just stop the payments until the bank is ready to talk.

I tell the people that I understand that they don't want to ruin their credit and are looking for options, but the banks just aren't willing to listen and I just can't understand this. Most of these people are just in a temporary situation with a temporary job loss and are just looking for away to do something such as a loan modification that will just move 2 or 3 months worth of payments to the end of their loan.

But, I keep hearing that the banks tell the owners of the homes that if they had called when they their credit was fine, they probably would have done the loan modification, but because of their credit score, their really isn't much they can do! WHAT? They tried to call you when they didn't have credit problems and you told them you couldn't help them.

I would love to see the banks help these people who want to keep their homes do exactly that. Yes, there are situations where people won't be able to keep their homes, but I think in more cases than not, people don't want to default on their loans, they want to keep their homes. But, if these banks aren't willing to listen when the people want options, I don't think they should be surprised when these people hang up on them when they call and ask why they are late on their payments and when they are going to be expected to catch up.

Please, banks, try to show some compassion prior to the default. I think you will find you will get a lot more money in the long run and a lot fewer homes sold on short sales or be given back to you in foreclosure.

Todd Clark - broker
Kastings & Associates
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8739

Personal property can help a house sell faster.

The Seller of this home is obviously a well-heeled, astute, serious seller. I am in a quandry on what to do if my buyer wants this egg-carton collection. How do I come up with a value for this collection that does not insult the Seller and have him reject our offer, and still be fair for my client? What is the current market value of this collection? I have not seen anything as unique as this on Antiques Road Show and a Google search of "egg-carton appraisers" turned up nothing. I hope this home does not sell before I get this figured out!

To see other things that really help a house sell faster, read Refrigerator Magnets are Toxic.

Wayne B. Pruner is a Realtor® at Oregon First, who works in the Portland and Tigard, Oregon area. He is ready to help you with all your real estate needs and he is also a licensed contractor. His phone number is 503-891-0795. Here are links to his real estate website and his real estate blog.

Friday, we all heard the news as it hit the TV, radio, internet, and newspapers that the house had passed the 700 billion dollar bailout. We all sat and wondered if and how it was going to affect the buyers and our house sales.

Now, something certainly happened, but did it really have anything to do with the bailout? On Friday night at about 6pm PST, I got my first call asking me about the bailout and what I thought it meant for the nation and the home selling and buying market. After a long conversation, the person on the phone wanted to set up an appointment to meet at my office this morning. After that, we got them pre-approved and started to look at homes.

Then, about 15 minutes after that call, one of my sit-on-the-fence buyers calls and though we hadn't looked at any homes together yet, they were now ready and we went out that night and put an offer in on a property.

After my meeting today, I got two calls telling me that they had offers on two of my listings. Then, last but not least, I just got a call from one of my friends in my Vancouver office and she said she had a buyer that she wanted to refer to me that was ready to buy and wanted to look at a home tomorrow at noon.

Now, I don't know if any of this had to really do with the bailout, or the talk about real estate that the bailout brought to the front of the news reports. But, whatever the change was, thank you! I look forward to seeing if the next couple weeks remain the same with activity increasing.

If you are in the market to buy or sell in Washington County, Oregon, I would love to sit down with you and discuss your needs and see if I can help you.

Todd Clark - broker
Kastings & Associates
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8739

Photo courtesy of harrykelly

This is a question I got from a buyer yesterday and as a person with 3 kids of my own, ranging from ages 4 to 10, I couldn't believe I was being asked this question. I personally think this is a question that I shouldn't have to be asked. Without kids, we don't have a future and I want them to learn about life and the home buying process.

I love kids and I told them I would send some of my past posts about kids on appointments to look at homes and how sometimes the biggest joy I get out of life is getting kids to laugh or kids getting me to laugh. I coach baseball, softball, did Junior Achievement, Big Brothers/Big Sisters and have done S.M.A.R.T. (Start Making a Reader Today), because I love kids and welcome them at every chance I get.

Then I started joking with them that they had better remember that if they find a house they like they will have to hurry and pick their room out, because I tell kids that rooms are on a first come, first serve basis. I let you in on a little secret, the kids will pick the master bedroom as theirs every time!

So, bring your kids when you go look at homes. This is going to be their home as well and they should be included in the home buying process.

Todd Clark - broker
Kastings & Associates
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8739

WES, or Westside Express Service is the commuter railway system that was scheduled to begin service this November but now has been pushed back to February. The manufacturer, Colorado Railcar Manufacturing LLC, seems to be having money problems. Also, more time is needed for saftey testing, especially after that commuter rail crash in Los Angeles.

Apparently CRM has been having financial issues for months and when Tri-Met realised that CRM's suppliers were not being paid, Tri-Met stepped in and paid them directly, putting the project $3 million over budget.

Buying from another manufacturer is not an option because CRM is the only U.S. firm that builds the DMUs that meet federal safety standards, and the purchase complied with the Buy America requirement.

Taking the extra time to do safety tests is a worthwhile reason to not rush. Despite manufacturing slowing things down, Tri-Met is not going to move things along and risk service issues. We've waited 16 years, what is a few more months.

http://tigardtimes.com/news/story.php?story_id=122290722545219500

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