About Clackamas County, OR

I have to admit, I understand how some mortgage brokers could have become caught up in providing creative financing to many innocent buyers with no money and little ability to make monthly mortgage payments. After all, I suspect that many lenders trusted the fact that these buyers understood that they would be paying more on their mortgage payment than their current rent payment. I am certainly not justifying the lenders that are now being called "predatory lenders" I am simply stating that I can see how it can happen.

What I don't understand is the new generation of so-called predators under the guise of a "loan-modification" company. These are companies that ask for money up front to negotiate with banks. The problem with these companies is they cannot guarantee their promises of reducing the interest rate or saving foreclosure and many if not all do not refund the upfront money. There is no doubt that these companies work hard in their attempts, and there are definitely ways to modify your loan, however, if you are financially strapped you should not have to pay someone to do it. The best way to modify your loan is directly through your bank. There are also some wonderful non-profit organizations that can help you as well. You can find a non-profit counselor to assist you at the FHA website: http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/sfh/hcc/hcs.cfm

Prefontaine Studio

Fused Glass Art Sale

&

Ornament Extravaganza to Benefit

Sisters of the Road

Saturday and Sunday

December 6 & 7 2008

10:00 am to 4:30 pm

6410 SE Ash Street

(One block South of Burnside on SE 65th)

503-260-6900

Prefontaine Studio invites you to celebrate their Holiday Fused Glass Art sale. There are holiday designs as well as creative art for your home for year-round enjoyment. Studio glass bowls, platters, plate, vases, artwork and more.

Glass art is the perfect gift if you're looking for something different from "The Mall" and the Studio has pricing for everyone's pocket book.

For those looking to give a gift from the heart this is your chance! Make your own fused glass holiday ornaments. Just $10 each, two for $17 and 3 for $25. It's a lot of fun and everyone has the skills needed to participate.

For each ornament you create Prefontaine Studio will contribute $2 to Sisters of the Road. This is especially great timing since there are matching grants that could double the $$ for SOTRC.

We'll be with you in the studio to assist you through the fused glass process. Ornaments will be fired during the following week for pick-up on Saturday the 13th of December, between 10:00am and 1:30pm.

Gift certificates are available to gift the experience of a half-day glass fusing workshop where certificate holders may create a 9" bowl. Workshops will be held on three dates during the winter months of January, February and March. More gift certificate details available at Prefontaine Studio

Please, no children under 14 in the studio and please wear closed toe shoes and long pants if you're going to make ornaments.

Bring a friend, share the news and spread the word... Santa's on his way and Prefontaine Studio is the place to be on December 6th & 7th!

Either way, I really don't care and I think it is a great idea, but can the American public accept the change that the United States Government has been trying to get accepted for the past 30 years?

On Friday, here in Portland, Oregon, the US Government parked an armored truck in the middle of Portland's Pioneer Square and had a money exchange. They were exchanging one dollar paper money for the new one dollar coins. They are billing them as better for the environment because they last longer and are 100% completely recyclable, but I hear it also will save the government some $5 billion dollars a year.

So, bring on the dollar coins, it has been working in Canada for years and they don't seem to be having any ill effects.

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

It's estimated that only 10% of Buyers are able to correctly envision how to use an awkward vacant space, or if their furnishings will fit there or not ~ the remaining 90% can become confused when trying to figure this out.

Our goal as Home Stagers is to help the 90% of potential buyers imagine how they might use the vacant spaces in a home. We also show them how to create the best traffic flow from one area to another. Room Solutions Staging in Portland OR was asked to stage a small space just off the entry to this home. When vacant, this awkward space had no purpose and felt like nothing more than a "pass through" to the rear patio, which contained a lovely garden.

We wanted to highlight the rear garden by staging this space with lots of plants and garden-type furnishings. Now when potential buyers enter, they're drawn to the beautiful garden just beyond the entry area, something the "vacant' space just couldn't convey.

Potential buyers need "clues" to help them see the purpose and true size of a space. Sellers and Realtors ~ consider consulting with a professional Home Stager before listing a property. You can find experienced and qualified home stagers right here on A/R.

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Do you have a vacant listing that isn't capturing the imagination of buyers? Give Room Solutions Staging in Portland OR a call at 503-246-1800. We'll be happy to provide a no-obligation staging proposal to help your property sparkle!

Imagine a place where you can cause eyebrows to raise when you mention where you live, where you can cook using your own produce from you own garden and where you can still be a short distance to snowboarding on Mt. Hood, shopping at a New Seasons or a city mall, or the Portland International Airport. Perhaps you’d like to live in a place where you can enjoy the rural country fresh air when you walk your dog or significant other. Imagine a place where you can have a goat or two, watch an Equestian show, or not be worried about your roosters waking up the neighbors. There is hope for you .. there is a place call Boring.

Boring, Oregon, developed in 1903 is an unincorporated community – not a village, not a hamlet, not a town, not a city, but a rural community in Oregon off of Highway 26 approximately 15 miles outside of Portland on the way to Mount Hood. Boring is named after a real person, W.H Boring, who homesteaded the area in the 1800’s. His grandson, W.H Boring, at age 91 was still a part of our community until 2002.

Many travel through our community on their way to, or returning from Mount Hood. Some even get here by bike, coming from Milwaukie or Portland via the 40 mile Springwater Corridor. They chuckle as they see some of the signs or drive through the short “Main Street”. They take note of the one open Shell station, and the two convenience stores. Perhaps on their way into town they’ve seen one of the several local nurseries, Boring Bark. Yet, if they venture off that main drive through our community, they will discover thriving nurseries that help landscape homes and businesses across America, corporations such as Care Service Options, Inc that provides assistance to seniors and their families in over 15 states, the Oregon campus for Guide Dogs for the Blind providing new life and companions for the blind, or such places as Lieopold Farms who puts fresh strawberries on dining room tables throughout Oregon.

As one googles Boring, Oregon you can read some funny stories written by non-locals that felt a need to write home about something "different". The sign off of Highway 26 that you see here often gets a laugh or two. (See.. it's not really Boring that is so boring, it's Oregon City). But there are indeed hidden treasures here. Go ahead and stop by and get a cup of freshly-brewed coffee at the espresso stand (serving Bridgestone coffee) next to the Post Office. Enjoy a cup of homemade soup at the Full Moon Tavern on the "Main" street. You'll enjoy not only the soup, but the spirited locals.

The average Real Estate consists of homes sitting either on acreage, one of the two golf courses, or in several of the exceptionally well-maintained neighborhoods. The average list price of homes for sale at this time (November 2008) is $460,000 with an average square footage of 2288 sq. ft – and that is in a down market. But .. once people move here, they're not anxious to leave.

Discover a treasure. Twitter me if you'll passing through and I’d be happy to take you on a tour of Boring. As the locals will tell you, "It is an Exciting Place to Live".