Amazing Remodel Sold By Rose City Realtors

This lovely house on SE 38th was just sold by Rose City Realtors. Such an amazing custom remodel in the heart of SE Division. We loved the stunning light-filled gourmet kitchen w/concrete counters, fir cabinets, French doors to backyard garden w/raised beds and mature fruit trees. Beautiful wide plank maple floors throughout. The house has a spacious master suite. Huge finished flex space in basement, perfect for media room.

The new owners will enjoy the adorable work/art studio space in detached garage. This house is in a great SE Portland area, close to so many delicious restaurants including xico one of our favorite Mexican spots, and Salt & Straw (YUM!) plus, its right off of the Clinton Street bike boulevard. What a find!

If you’re in the market for a new neighborhood, let us know, we’d love to help!

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Charming Home Sold By Rose City Realtors

This lovely house on NE 70th in Portland was just sold by Rose City Realtors.

Incredibly charming home on a rare oversized lot. This spacious, well-kept home is as solid as they come. Boasts a large living room and dining room, two spacious main floor bedrooms. Enjoy the upstairs master suite or retreat to the finished basement family room. Park in the two car garage.

We’re so glad to welcome the new owners to a house that has a garden in the back yard ready for Spring plantings. Ample space and storage, quiet street, this home offers much to love. Plus, the house is a short walk to Wellington Park and Ira’s Deli





Have you outgrown your current home or are you looking for a new neighborhood? Drop us a line or connect with us on Facebook, we’d love to get you into your dream home.

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Portland Public Schools balancing enrollment

Just an FYI from Portland Public Schools…

Dear PPS Community,

Enrollment at Portland Public Schools is steadily growing. This has created an opportunity to have strong schools in every neighborhood by balancing enrollment among schools so that no schools are over-crowded or under-enrolled and so that the academic program offered in each school fits well in the school building.

On Oct. 29, PPS released two possible scenarios for balancing enrollment. The scenarios are a starting point for community discussion about how best to “right size” schools. A school board decision is expected in January/February and any changes would start in Fall 2016 and be phased in over time.

The scenarios rely on three main approaches: moving boundaries for some schools, changing which middle and/or high school some students attend, and reconfiguring a number of K-8 schools into K-5/middle school combinations.

View street-level maps by region showing changes proposed in each scenario.

View a side-by-side, school-level comparison of the scenarios.

Community meetings to discuss the scenarios start Nov. 9. View the schedule below. Soon we will also release an online survey to gather feedback on the scenarios.

Thanks for your continued engagement in this important work to have strong schools in every neighborhood!

Jon Isaacs
Chief, Communications & Public Affairs

Jason Trombley
Chair, District-wide Boundary Review Advisory Committee
*Note: Materials in all supported languages are being emailed directly to families speaking those languages today and tomorrow as translations are completed.
Share your views
PPS along with our partners invites you to comment on the scenarios at community meetings across the city:

Monday Nov. 9, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Hosford Middle School, 2303 SE 28th Place
Tuesday Nov. 10, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Cesar Chavez K-8, 5103 N Willis Blvd., bilingual in Spanish & English
Thursday, Nov. 12, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Center for Intercultural Organizing, 700 N Killingsworth St.
Monday Nov. 16, 10 a.m. to noon, Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon, 8114 SE Division St.
Monday Nov. 16, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., West Sylvan Middle School, 8111 SW West Slope Dr.
Tuesday Nov. 17, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Charles Jordan Community Center, 9009 N. Foss Ave.
Tuesday Nov. 17, 6 pm to 8 pm, Madison High School, 2735 NE 82nd Ave., en Espanol
Wednesday Nov. 18, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m, Roseway Heights K-8, 7334 NE Siskiyou St.
Monday Nov. 23, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Markham K-5, 10531 SW Capitol Hwy.
Meetings will include an overview and Q-and-A about the proposals, break-out group discussion and public testimony. Childcare will be provided. We appreciate our many community partners who are spreading the word about the meetings.

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Cooling market makes buying less spooky…

I know, that headline is a terrible seasonal pun – but it’s true, the market is cooling and that is a good thing for buyers. The number of closed sales in September were down 2.8% from August, and the average total market time went from 41 to 46 days in the metro area, according to RMLS data. Still, this appears to be more of a leveling than a down-trend, since the average sale price is up 5.9% this September when compared to September 2014 prices. All in all, it’s still a seller’s market, but patient buyers are beginning to see relief.

Apparently it’s also a seller’s market for pumpkin growers. The harvest is low this year, so don’t hesitate to buy your pumpkin pie makings otherwise you might not have your thanksgiving pumpkin pie! You could also get around the shortage by roasting your own pumpkins from one of the local patches that sell good pumpkins for pies. They’re usually sold under the name “sugar pumpkins” or “cinderella pumpkins” and all of the farms below have their fun Halloween activities in full swing right now!

The Pumpkin Patch

Lee Farms

Kruger’s Farm

Posted in Moving to Portland | Tagged , , , , | Comments closed

Is Portland Reaching a Rental Peak?

The number of people renting homes is as high as its ever been in Portland, but the improving economy might mean a shift in buying over renting.

Over the past decade many people have decided to rent rather than own their home.

The reasons are many: The great recession saw a big jump in home foreclosures and a reluctance among banks to make mortgage loans. A bad economy meant many young people couldn’t find money for a down payment. Finally, there was a shift in tastes, where people wanted to live downtown in multifamily units, rather than in the suburbs.

Read more about this articlehere

via Oregon Office of Economic Analysis

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Buying in September? Great Idea!

We all know this truth: Portland has been HOT this summer.

And you know I’m not just talking about the weather. RMLS statistics revealed that July 2015 boasted the most home sales on record for the Portland Metro area. Despite the seller’s market driving multiple offers, low inventory, and some very weary buyers, Portland isn’t even in the top 20 hottest real estate markets (according to Realtor.com). So what’s a buyer to do?

September Settlement!

Autumn Acquisition!

Whatever you want to call it, September through November are great times to buy. Inventory is expected to rise, and sales trends over the years show an easing of competition over the Fall months. Combine that with interest rates hovering around an amazing 4%, and the right time to buy could be right now. So if it’s time for you to move to your next home, give us a call!

Posted in #portland, Housing, Markert, Moving to Portland, portland real estate, Real Estate, Uncategorized | Comments closed

Springtime brings out the best in Portland!

It’s easy to love Spring in Portland, and the fact that there are tons – TONS – of fun events to enjoy makes it even better. Here are some to explore.

Tulip Festival
April 1 – May 3, 2015
See 40 acres of tulips and daffodils in bloom, visit the gift shop & cafe, and check the weekend-events schedule for Tulip Fest at the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm in Woodburn.

Wooden Shoe Tulip Fest

Hardy Plant Sale
April 18 & 19, 2015
Shop for new and time-tested plants as well as garden art at Hortlandia, a plant and art sale run by Hardy Plant Society of Oregon (HPSO) at Portland Expo Center. Free.
http://www.hardyplantsociety.org/hortlandia

Food Cart Festival
April 29, 2015 (5 to 9 pm)
Southeast Portland. Buy a ticket to taste samples from food carts at Eat Mobile, in 3 locations connected by shuttle buses in 2015. Tickets on sale April 1.
http://www.wweek.com/portland/eatmobile

Posted in #portland, Elena MacPhee, Food Carts, Garden, Plants | Tagged , , , , | Comments closed

Stolen: A Klamath Falls House (an actual house, off the foundation). If you see it call Klamath Falls police

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Klamath County sheriff’s deputies have a bizarre mystery on their hands.

A house was stolen.

KOBI-TV reports the 1,200-square-foot home from the Sprague River area was reported missing on Tuesday, Feb. 24.

“We had a complete home stolen. This isn’t a motor home, this isn’t a mobile home and this is a ‘home,'” Sheriff Frank Skrah told KOBI.

Skrah said the home was not on wheels. It was on a foundation.

The home owner has been notified of the theft.

Anyone who spots the missing house is asked to call the Klamath County Sheriff’s Office.

Link to story: http://www.kgw.com/story/news/2015/02/26/klamath-county-house-stolen/24059875/

Posted in Elena MacPhee, Housing, Oregon | Comments closed

Do you know someone moving to Portland in 2015? You probably do!

We’re over a week into 2015, which sounds very futuristic. So where is my flying car? I remember somebody saying there would be flying cars. Yet, my car hasn’t left the ground since that time I took a speed bump on SE Lincoln too fast. It’s still the same car. It hasn’t changed, and it won’t this year. But 2015 will bring other changes. We’re seeing them all around Portland, with new restaurants new transportation lines, and a lot of new carpet. Maybe even new neighbors.

Oregon had the highest percentage of people moving in vs. those moving out of all the states in the US in 2014. A huge number of those people are landing in the Portland area, so you can expect new faces and more people around town. While many grumble about the growth, we understand the draw of the city. So let’s welcome them… then encourage city planners to anticipate more housing needs and traffic flow, if they can see to that pleaseandthankyou.

Don’t forget that we can help!  If your friends or family are among the incoming transplants to the Portland area, they’ll need a place to live. We often work with people moving to Portland. We will help them get to know neighborhoods, familiarize them with available housing, and even show them a commuting shortcut or two. Be sure to put us in touch so we can get them into a great home!

So, who do you know who is moving to Portland? 

Amy Seaholt, Oregon Broker
503-936-8705
amy.seaholt (at) comcast.net

Posted in #portland, Amy Seaholt, Moving to Portland, portland real estate | Comments closed

The GasCo Building: See it before it’s gone, better yet Save It!

Photo by: Jody Miller

 The GasCo Building is but a shell of it's former glory 
 sitting along Hwy 30 surrounded by more modest industrial
 buildings. 
 It stands out, it's hard to miss and it's presents is a 
 reminder of Portlands past.
 There is so little time left to save it but it's worth a 
 try.  Find out more by clicking the link.
 http://saveportlandhistory.org/

Photo by: Jody Miller
"Friends of the GasCo is a multi-generational grassroots preservation group that is seeking alternatives
to the demolition of the 1913 Portland Gas and Coke Building located in Portland, Oregon.
The Gas and Coke building or GasCo, was constructed in 1913 by Portland Gas and Coke as part of an coal 
and oil gasification plant. Today the building is owned by its successor Northwest Natural Gas (NWNG) and
recently NWNG had planned to demolish the building. The Friends of the GasCo was formed and are currently
in negotiations with NWNG to preserve the building in place with funds raised by 
The Friends of Portland GasCo."
Posted in 1913, Architecture, Building, Elena MacPhee, GasCo, Past, Preservation | Comments closed