Nick Krautter

It turns out going green does pay in Portland Oregon.

For sellers that are wondering what they can do to get an edge over the competition the answer might be right under your feet. Portland realtor Nick Krautter recently completed a survey of homes sold in the last month and came up with interesting results.

"It turns out having a garden increases your chance of selling and greatly reduces time on market," Krautter explains. "I wanted to see if there was relationship between gardens and success in selling a home and it turns out about 25% of homes sold in the last month in Portland have a garden." The really exciting results came in the form of reduced time on market. Krautter goes on to say, "In most areas of Portland having a garden translated into selling almost one month quicker than the average home!" To put that into dollars just take one mortgage payment to see how much green having a garden might put in your wallet.

Percentage of homes sold in the last month by area that have a garden:

North Portland 33%
Northeast Portland 23%
Southeast Portland 17%
West Portland 31%

Average days on market saved by homes with gardens:

North Portland 28 days
Northeast Portland 3 days
Southeast Portland 26 days
West Portland 22 days

PDC will begin accepting OYO Entry Packets between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on Monday, November 9 at 9:00 a.m. until Monday, November 30 at 5:00 p.m. To be considered for the OYO program households must submit an OYO Entry Packet to PDC prior to the deadline. Once the deadline has passed no further packets will be accepted unless the number of entries is deemed to be insufficient to allocate the funds budgeted for the program.

A complete OYO Entry Packet must be delivered to the Portland Development Commission (PDC) to the attention of the Neighborhood Housing Program at 222 NW 5th Avenue, Portland Oregon 97209 by the above deadline. If the packet is mailed, regardless of when it is postmarked, it must still be stamped as received by PDC prior to the deadline.

An OYO Entry Packet must include all of the following relevant documents:

A fully completed and signed OYO Questionnaire (which will be posted at www.pdc.us/oyo, November 9, 2009 by 9 a.m.)
Proof of current income for all adults in the household, such as one month of current pay stubs, 2008 W2's or award letters for all income earners in the household. If self-employed, provide copies of 2007 and 2008 federal tax returns and a current profit and loss statement for 2009.
A credit approval letter from a first mortgage lender for a 30-year fixed rate loan. The approval letter must demonstrate that the application has been fully underwritten including a credit approval, credit scores and the underwriter's signature.
Certification from the first mortgage lender that they can close a first mortgage loan with a second OYO loan and that the OYO loan meets their programmatic requirements (form will be posted at www.pdc.us/oyo on November 9, 2009 by 9 a.m.).
A copy of the signed Uniform Loan Application (1003) that was submitted to the first mortgage lender.
A copy of the Good Faith Estimate and Truth in Lending Disclosure provided by the first mortgage lender.
Proof that the borrower has at least 1% of the purchase price in their own funds to purchase the home. Appropriate documents include bank statements (checking and savings account) and/or a gift letter from a family member.
FIRST MORTGAGE FINANCING TERM LIMITATIONS:
To obtain the approval letter, applicants select a lender of their choice. The loan MUST be a 30 year fixed rate conventional, FHA, HUD 184, or VA loan.
The interest Rate cannot significantly exceed the current market interest rate as determined by PDC.
Loan fees cannot exceed a 1% loan origination fee, a 1% yield spread premium (if applicable) and cannot exceed $1,000 in other direct lender or broker fees.
Lenders need to confirm that their first mortgage underwriting guidelines will permit a Community Second up to 105% combined loan-to-value, or other limits imposed by the loan type they have selected.
The total Debt-to-Income Ratio must be under 45% and the proposed house payment (PITI) must be no less than 30% of the household's gross monthly income.
When PDC receives a OYO Entry Packet it will be date stamped by the PDC receptionist or security guard to prove the package was received by the deadline, 5:00 p.m. on November 30. Upon request the deliverer of the packet will be provided a receipt documenting it met the submission deadline. PDC will NOT accept electronic submissions of an entry packet by fax or e-mail.

Prior to the drawing all packets will be reviewed by PDC staff to determine which entry pool they fit into. The two types of entry pools are:

Low-income (80 percent of Median Family Income as adjusted for size) first time homebuyers (applicants who have not owned and occupied a home in the past three years); or
All other eligible entries.
All eligible entries will be sorted into these two different types and then assigned a sequential number. From the pool of all eligible entries, 32 of the entries will be randomly selected made up of 24 entries from the first pool and 8 entries for the second pool according to the approved selection process (link to detailed selection process). All households who are selected via this process will then be notified that they will be considered for the program subject to qualification and funding availability. The drawing will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, December 3 at the office of the Portland Housing Bureau located at 421 SW 6th Avenue Suite 500 in Portland.

This selection process will be conducted in accordance with federal, state and local fair housing laws and is an equal opportunity housing event. For more information about the selection process please contact Jon Gail at 503-823-3292 or by e-mail at gailj@pdc.us.

The city along with state and federal agencies have a created a new program called the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. With federal and state Neighborhood Stabilization Program funding, the program will help homebuyers purchase a home of their own by providing them a silent second mortgage of up to $50,000 for down payment, closing costs and home repairs. This new money is not yet available but the expectation is that by October these loans will be available to buyers.

The secondary loan does not accrue interest and does not require monthly payments. The program does have a declining five-year share of appreciation provision to encourage longer-term ownership and requires the borrowers to occupy the homes for the life of the loan.

Eligible properties are limited to foreclosed properties in specific target areas located in Fairview, Portland, and Troutdale
MAP HERE

Program details HERE

www.sellpdx.com

This morning on my guest spot as the real estate expert on KXL-AM I spoke about my instinct that there is a coming storm for first time buyers or anyone buying in the under $300,000 price range.

1. I think the first time home buyer tax credit will NOT be extended. Right now you have to be in title by December 1st, 2009 [that's this year folks!]. Considering loans are taking longer to fund you're looking at 45 days on average from acceptance to closing. That math means that you need to find your place by the first week or October - that's coming up very quickly.

2. Inventory under $300,000 and especially under $250,000 is already around 2 months in Portland. For perspective, 2 months of inventory is an absolute sellers market and this is the amount of inventory we had at the height of the real estate hysteria. So if you want to know what it's like to be a first time buyer think back to multiple offers on the first weekend. It just happened to 3 of my clients in the last week. I'm very comfortable with multiple offers and I can almost always help my clients win them if they really want the home.

3. Interest rates this time last year were roughly 6.5%, right now they're 5.4% - that means you have 10% more buying power right now. Interest rates will not likely go any lower but they certainly can go up. For every one percent interest rates go up you lose 10% of your buying power.

We are in the midst of an unbelievable time of opportunity. If you or anyone you know is thinking of buying please let me know so I can help you find a home before this opportunity passes.

www.sellpdx.com

The USDA loan program is a fantastic option for buyers in rural areas that allows 102% financing. Last week the USDA added 9 areas to their list of qualified locations. There are income limits but the rates are competitive.

Newly eligible areas: Altamont, Coos Bay, Cornelius, Forest Grove, Klamath Falls, North Bend, Roseburg, Wilsonville, and Woodburn

Previously these communities were improperly classified as ineligible, on the basis they were "too large in population or not rural in character". The Acting State Director has determined these nine communities to be eligible rural areas based upon our review findings and recommendations.

Eligibilty map and address look-up. [the map is not yet updated to included the above areas but is otherwise accurate]