Oregon

Today is Friday, January 25, 2008 and it is time for another breakdown of homes sales in the Washington County, Oregon market. I'm happy to say if you own a lower to medium priced home, sales are still making a moderate increase, if your home is price correctly.

While this is good news, higher priced homes are starting to sit a little longer on the market. This just may be due to the fact that we seem to have a larger than normal inventory of the upper end homes.

Here is a breakdown of homes sales for the week by neighborhood. Just click on the link to your neighborhood for the complete breakdown of what the average of homes that are on the market, how long they have been on the market, how many have sold, what their average price was, and how long they were on the market.

As always, if you are looking to buy or sell in the Washington County, Oregon area, I would love to show you how you can save the most money by being on your side during the negotiations.

Neighborhood # of Active Listings

Aloha Neighborhood, Beaverton, Oregon 157
Bull Mountain North Neighborhood, Tigard, Oregon 77
Bull Mountain South Neighborhood, Tigard, Oregon 117
Cooper Mountain Neighborhood, Beaverton, Oregon 112
Greenburg Neighborhood, Tigard, Oregon 50
Greenway Neighborhood, Beaverton, Oregon 28
Hart Neighborhood, Beaverton, Oregon 68
Highland Hills Neighborhood, Beaverton, Oregon 51
Lexington Neighborhood, Aloha, Oregon 33
Mountainview Neighborhood, Tigard, Oregon 104
Murray Hill Neighborhood, Beaverton, Oregon 98
Sexton Mountain Neighborhood, Beaverton, Oregon 99
Sorrento Ridge Neighborhood, Beaverton, Oregon 68
Summer Lake Neighborhood, Tigard, Oregon 39
Summerfield Neighborhood, Tigard, Oregon 20
Tigard Neighborhood, Tigard, Oregon 26
Walnut Grove Neighborhood, Tigard, Oregon 25

Tigard: Coyotes are in Cook Park

As Tigard grows and subdivisions impact wildlife habitat, wild animals are often attracted to live in open space areas, parks, undeveloped parcels of land, river bottoms and on or near bodies of water. In most situations humans and wildlife can co-exist.

Coyotes share Cook Park with humans and other wildlife. Coyotes have not attacked any humans in Cook Park, but they have startled a few early morning joggers. However, when an area cat goes missing, coyotes are quick to be blamed. Officials think coyotes are keeping the non-native nutria in check, resulting in less damage to streams and ponds. Coyotes will eat just about anything and are attracted to compost piles and pet food.

Coyotes and other urban wildlife, such as raccoons, skunks, opossums, and squirrels, are becoming quite comfortable living with humans. Urban wildlife has enough food to survive and homeowners are discouraged from feeding them. This can cause higher numbers of animals than would naturally occur, and spread disease as they come in closer contact with each other. The increased critter population puts pets at risk and increases the nuisancee factor to humans.

For advice on how to trap and remove unwanted guests in and near your home, call the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife at 503-657-2000.

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. His phone number is 503-891-0795. Here are links to his real estate website and his real estate blog.

Although Southern Oregon has a wealth of natural beauty to share with us, one of her special places is Lithia Park. This was one of the first places my family and I discovered upon moving here in June 2004, as we attended the City of Ashland's 4th of July Parade, enjoying the many different food, art and craft booths lining the entrance drive to the Park on this special day. We enjoy this park so much, every person who comes to visit us is brought here to experience the glory this National Historic Reserve has to offer, strolling through the many paths picking Mulberries and Blackberries, putting their feet in Ashland Creek, laying on the grass deciphering cloud formations, feeding the ducks, viewing the incredible landscape and wildlife that present themselves.

In the heart of downtown sits Lithia Park, Ashland's crown jewel. Lithia Park started as an 8-acre gathering spot, growing to what is now a 93-acre gem that has gorgeous lawns good for picnics, tennis courts, a sand-pit volleyball court, fabulous landscaping and playground equipment including some of the best swings in Southern Oregon. The park follows Ashland Creek through undeveloped woodlands, and includes a Japanese garden, two duck ponds, a formal rose garden, groves of sycamore trees and a number of secluded spots great for enjoying a good book or a romantic snuggle.

Lithia Park's History

Ashland started out in the 1800's with a water-powered sawmill and a flour mill which stood on the banks of Ashland Creek. This mill occupied what is now the entrance to Lithia Park. The plaza at the entrance was a popular gathering spot for early settlers. These early settlers had ties to Ashland County, Ohio and Ashland, Kentucky, hence the town's name, which became official in 1855 when the Ashland Mills Post Office opened.

From 1859 to 1900, the city grew from 50 to 3,000 people, growing faster than any town South of Portland, and was the largest in Jackson County. Hotels, schools, churches and mills sprang up throughout the 1870's and 1880's. Natural spring water, discovered a few miles east of Ashland, was being piped into town and bubbled out of the three new fountains in the park. This water has a high concentration of lithium and is said to have been used by the Native Americans to care for the sick and the elderly.

The Chautauqua Association brought entertainment to Southern Oregon in 1892, building a domed building for their shows whose walls now surround the world famous Oregon Shakespeare Festival's Elizabethan Theater. Visitors came from miles around in the summers to participate in various attractions offered, camping in what has since become Lithia Park. In 1935, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival began with a three-day summer festival of Shakespearean plays under founding director Angus Bowmer.

Today, 42 of Lithia Park's 93 acres are listed in the National Historic Register. Visitors approaching Lithia Park may first see the towering Tree of Heaven at the Plaza entrance, which according to legend was planted in the 19th century by Abel Helman's Chinese cook. In 1908 with the urging of the Women's Civic Improvement Club, the people of Ashland passed a measure to include park maintenance in the City Charter.

In 1909 the old flour mill was torn down, a park board was elected, and additional acres bordering Ashland Creek were acquired. By 1910 the lower duck pond and waterfall that feeds it were constructed, while Bert Greer, an ambitious newspaper editor conceived the idea of making Ashland a world-famous spa capitalizing on the Lithia Springs of the area. The development of today's park began in 1914 with the hiring of John McLaren as the landscape architect. John McLaren also designed San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Lithia Park embodies the distinctive characteristics of park design in the tradition of Frederick Law Olmsted. McLaren's landscape plan for Lithia Park was organic in layout, following the natural canyon of the water course. The plantings were naturalistic to the extent that native alders, oaks, conifers and madrones were incorporated, but other plants, such as willows, maples, sycamores, and numerous ornamental varieties were introduced and selected for hardiness, form and color.

Lithia Park is located at 59 Winburn Way and is open to the public. Trail guides and other booklets about the park can be obtained from the park office of Ashland Parks and Rec. Dept., open Monday-Friday 8:00am to 5:00pm, and free performances are frequently offered at the Butler Band Shell. For performance schedules and further information call 541-488-5340 or visit the Ashland City Band's website. The Ashland Chamber of Commerce offers nature walks Sundays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 10:00am; call 541-482-3486 to confirm tours.

I get calls everyday from investors wanting to know how to find great pre-foreclosure homes and I am glad to help them. But, they are watching the news and think that a thousand a day are going on the market right here Oregon. Well, that just isn't the case!

For more information on buying a home in pre-foreclosure with a bank short sale, please feel free to contact me anytime via e-mail or by phone.

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

The cold is upon us once again with temperatures below freezing everyday this week. At night we have been subzero several times. Beautiful snow covers the mountains and trees and the valley floor is white. In spite of the cold, homes are still selling in La Grande. Utilizing advanced web-marketing, we at John J Howard and Associates have been securing buyer's from all over the west coast. I sold a home last week to a young man from Battle Ground Washington and then sold a manufactured home in Union to a man from LA sight unseen. Both buyers found us through the web.

Snow is one thing you have to love to live in North Eastern Oregon. We have four seasons and winter offers as much recreation potential as any of the others. Yesterday I took the afternoon off and explored the hills around Spout Springs Ski Resort on the Tollgate High. My brother took his snowboard and my Dad and I took our x-county skis. We hiked the slopes and shreaded down through the powder. If this sounds like fun to you, then maybe you need to check out La Grande! If thinking about hiking through four foot drifts of snow in the beautiful Umatilla wilderness doesn't sound like your cup of tea, maybe you should head south!

Have a great day and be sure to check out http://www.jeffdclark.com/!