Silverfall

All industries have an internal culture and politics that define systems and ways to conduct business.  Most of us don’t care about the internal politics unless it affects us directly.  When I go to the doctor, I want the doctor paying attention  to me and  providing service to me .  I’m selfish that way if I’m paying you for something.  I don’t care if they hate Blue Cross’ payment system.   I don’t care if they don’t like how the state handles their licensing.  I don’t care because I have... Read Full Story

Useless data.   I live for it.  What can I say?  When running the normal foreclosure numbers for you all, I decided since I have all these numbers just sitting there, I needed to do something with it.  So here you go, Melina’s fun facts about foreclosures in Salem Oregon.  Okay, I know what you are saying.  If I think this is fun , I really  need to consider poking a sharp stick in my eye for a rip roaring time, but I’ll pass on that.  Thanks for the offer though. ;-D The average mortgage... Read Full Story

Home prices have continued to decline in Keizer, just like Salem .  The question is whether or not I was accurate in my predictions from last year .  I have an ego to maintain, you know.  Last year I predicted a 5% decline in home prices and a flat line in home sales.  So how did I fare? Well like Salem I underestimated the decline a bit.  The median shifted downward by 7.7, so I missed it by 2.7%.    The average home price declined by 9.2% which isn’t surprising as fewer high end homes... Read Full Story

Last year my crystal ball was off by 1.6% .  You’ll recall, I failed to eat my Wheaties and ended up erring on how much the market was going to correct for 2010.  For 2011, I guessed 5-7% with a possible 10% correction at most.   Well, Salem Oregon maxed out in 2011.  The average home price dropped 9.7% and the median shifted downward 10.7%.  It was a more volatile year than anticipated for home prices as they took a header during the first quarter, but remained at that value for the... Read Full Story

You all think real estate is Beemers and golf outings during the day.  I know you do, but really real estate is more glamorous than that.  Seriously…so much more glam.  In fact, I am wearing my Vera Wang and Jimmy Choos as I type this.   I will share an only slightly embellished true story with you to demonstrate the sheer sophistication of being a real estate agent… It was a cold, clear day in Salem, Oregon.  I sashayed down the stairs in my typical taffeta real estate attire ready to sell... Read Full Story

I wrote before Thanksgiving that I think sometimes we forget that we should be thankful the other 364 days a year.   With this economy, the needs of our local citizens isn’t changing because the holiday season is over.   Our charities are still hurting and all of us are stretching our dollars in our budgets.  As such, I’ve decided to stick to my words and be thankful 365 days this year.  I’m going to share with you all and our local Salem area because I am thankful for everyone that has... Read Full Story

For my two regular readers of my blog, you’ll notice that I had a writing lapse here.  The rest of you didn’t even notice I was gone.  Sometimes life just happens that pulls you in other directions and something has to give.  Alas…this time it was writing. One of the things that threw me off kilter was a major leak in our master bathroom.  Lovely…the unexpected remodel.  True to form, I decided, hey, if we are gutting our master bath, let’s redo the master bedroom at the same time.  Without... Read Full Story

I was supposed to write a thankful post.  That’s what every blogger does this time of year, right? I’m supposed to write some thought provoking post about how I am thankful for the multitude of things in my life.  Gathering dust on a shelf are those “thankful” cards I’m supposed to send out to my clients to remind them to do business with me again because I love them so.  Never mind that you never talk to them any other time of the year…the how-to-keep-your-clients-using-you-forever-guide... Read Full Story

August saw a bit of a jump up in home prices from last August.  I certainly wouldn’t say that home prices are appreciating in Keizer but last year was the end of the tax credit and July and August were dismal months in real estate.  Home prices really couldn’t get worse than after the tax credit ended.  With a current average of $175,297 and a median of $156,000, Keizer is fairly close to Salem median home prices.   The 90 day absorption rate is 29.67 which means the current inventory of... Read Full Story

The average and median home prices have been hovering in the $150,000-$160,000 range for most of this year and August was no exception.   With sales of more expensive homes incredibly lackluster with no change in the foreseeable future, this is going to be where home prices will continue to stay. The nice thing about August 2011 is that it was the best year in three years for home sales beating 08-10, nicely.  With interest rates insanely low and more affordable home prices many buyers... Read Full Story