Beautiful home built in 2001 located in sought after Fox Hills neighborhood.  4 bedrooms, office, and a bonus room!  Features 2 gas fireplaces.  Gourmet kitchen with granite counters and cherry cabinets.  Large master suite with vaulted ceiling.  Large private backyard.  Over looks pond on the side yard.  Also pre-wired for surround sound in master bedroom and family room.

Terrific light and bright home with formal living and dining rooms PLUS a granite kitchen with gas downdraft island, and informal eating area too.  This plan boasts four bedrooms upstairs PLUS an office/den on main level.   There is a spacious family room with gas fireplace, a large formal living room adjacent the formal dining room.  The above mentioned kitchen has a granite gas island with an eating bar, and granite counters too.  The kitchen eating area is next to the sliding door to the back patio.   Upstairs there is an open landing with the four bedrooms, and the master suite features a walk in closet, plus a full bathroom with both a soaking tub and a seperate shower.

There is also a two car attached garage, central air conditioning, forced air gas heat and  gas water.  The back yard has both a grassy area plus bark dust and shrubs and is sprinkled.  The front yard is maintained by the association and there is a front porch too!

All this in coveted Orenco Gardens close the to the neighborhood park, and the MAX trains as well as Intel and the high tech hub of Oregon.

 As listed in the Portland Business Journal, The “Green Cities Index” ranks metro areas on a variety of environmental factors, including traffic congestion, transit use, water quality, carbon emissions, LEED-certified projects and number of “green” jobs. Read more here: http://portland.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2010/03/08/daily51.html?ed=2010-03-12&ana=e_du_pub

Portland has appeared at or near the top many times on many surveys.  At the same time Portland ranked 8th in the country for public transportation use.   More info on our transit system can be found at www.trimet.org

One level charming  3 bedroom 2 bath house.  House has 2 bedrooms/1 bathroom, connected by shared laundry room and a seperate apartment with 1 bedroom/1 bath, living area & small kitchen with an outside entrance. Great rental or in laws quarters or convert back to a 3 bed/2bath house. Hardwod floors, fireplace, covered patio.  Huge private lot in SW Portland.  Great location.

Literally "Grandma's cottage" first time on market in a generation.  2 beds plus office, hardwood in living and dining, one car atttached garage all on a big 1/4 acre lot with its own irrigation well too!  Nice storage shed, close to downtown.

This home is located at the end of a cul-de-sac, on a private & secluded .44 acre lot.  Spacious floor plan with nice open kitchen for entertaining.  3 bedrooms, 2 baths & a bonus room on the lower level.  3 fireplaces,  the living room fireplace is operated by a remote. A huge deck with a spectacular view of Mt. Hood.  Enjoy the wildlife on this secluded forested lot.   Featured updates in this home include, in 2010 new carpet and paint, windows, plumbing, heat pump, tank less hot water heater, roof replaced 2000, and much more. Come see this well cared for home.

To see a full video tour view our link listed below.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjqZtu5dmus

Completely updated charming Cape Cod home on large level lot.  Located across the street from Hancock Park.   2  large bedrooms on the main level with a full bath.  Huge master suite upstairs.  Full basement with large utility room and fireplace.  Newer windows, updated plumbing, lots of hardwoods, 2 fireplaces, & A/C.  A must see!

Cosmetic fixer in the hot Overlook neigborhood close to Adidas headquarters.  First time on the market in a generation, hardwood floors, two bedrooms, one bath, 900 square foot basement plus garage in basement.  Brand new roof installed, big storage shed at back.

Gorgeous updates in this four level Mountain Park Home.  Sitting on a quiet street, this home features hardwood floors on the main level, newer cherry kitchen, master bedroom with big closet and a deck.  Also the 2nd bedroom is on the main floor.

The 2nd level has the family room, plus access to the two car attached garage.  The 3rd level has a family area plus what can be re-finished off to be a 3rd bedroom.  Lastly the lower 4th level is a recent addition and has a seperate entrance, a full family/bonus room as well as a 4th bedroom and full bathroom.

All this on a nice spacious lot in coveted Mountain Park.

Picture perfect setting.  Set back off the street on a private wooded lot.  Great front porch.  Large Swim spa & oversized deck.   Large great room floor plan with master bedroom on the main floor.  Hardwood floors & gas fireplace.  Spacious kitchen with island and gas cooktop.  Lots of possiblities for space above garage.

This 3 bedroom 2 bath townhome boasts over 100k in upgrades.  Features a gourment kitchen with stainless appliances, cherrywood cabinets, cherry floors and banister, and so many more upgrades.  2 private decks backing to greenway.  Private hot tub area on lower level.  Don't miss the apx 300 sf storage area on lower level.

Given the population from the 2000 census being at 1.93 Million, projections are there is a 90% chance that in the year 2030 (only 21 years from today) the population could be as much as 3.2 Million (between 2.9m and 3.2m), and in 2060 between 3.61 & 4.38 Million.

The forecasts are for the seven county area of the Portland-Vancouver(WA)-Beaverton MSA and include the counties of Multnomah, Clackamas, Washington, Yamhill & Columbia in Oregon and Clark and Scamania in Washington.

With our urban growth boundary, the question remains... Where do we put them all ?  But the bigger question from Portland's top Prudential Realtor's point of veiw is what do I tell my clients when they ask me to look inside my crystal ball and predict where prices will go in the next several years.  Clearly with our land use restrictions, booming population and UGB (urban growth boundary) our prices have no place to go but up in the long run.  In fact even in our slower market, the last 8 weeks have been very busy for us on the Rob Levy team to the extent we just hired a new assistant / office manager to keep up with all the sales.

Clearly in my mind, both from my personal and professional experience, there has not been a better time to invest in the future of Portland.  Prices are down,rates are down, inventory is high and we know the future is bright.

For more information or to find some homes that really make sense to buy now, give us a call.  As Portland's top selling Prudential Real Estate team for two years running and with over 20 years experience.

Please listen to my podcast all about the $8,000 credit at http://www.roblevy.com/agent_files/talkrealty/player.htm

CLICK HERE to see the actual IRS form to claim the credit

We had a busy few weeks at the RobLevy team and again were #1 in the Portland area for Prudential Real Estate.  In fact, we have written more offers in the last 10 days than in the last 90 days.  It does seem to be picking up and the information above validates this.

If you know of anyone who could qualify as a first time home buyer (generally meaning someone who hasnt owned a home in more than three years), please

Portland Oregon offers great skiing...  The Mount Hood areas are 45 minutes to 1.25 hours away and offer all types of terrain, spectacular views, and lots of night skiing too.  In fact, one area has the largest lighted night ski area in North America.

The three main areas are Mount Hood Meadows.  This is my favourite and where I have my pass.  Its the farthest from Portland but I think has the best combination of lots of lifts, varied terrain and lighted night areas.

There is also historic Timberline lodge, this area also has several high speed lifts, and the historic lodge too.

Last but not least there is Mt Hood Ski Bowl.  Lower down the snow is sometimes damp, and the lifts are slower but thre is a combination of challenging terrain and beginner terrain.

We are lucky to live where we do here....  Its so close, I often leave work early and go up and snowboard for a while, then eat dinner, go out some more and come home.  Other days I head up early get in a couple of hours and come back and am at work by lunchtime.

There are of course many cross country areas too, its all in the Mount Hood National Forest...

So if you are thinking of moving to Portland or are a current resident, think about our gorgeous extinct volcano to the east...  We see it every day but not so many of us use it.

Here is a direct quote from Mr. Yun....   . “Given so much stimulus package discussion in January, some would-be buyers simply sat out for clarity and certainty on the nature of housing stimulus,” he said. “The housing market will soon get a lift from very favorable buying conditions – not only from improved affordability, but also from the stimulus of an $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit, and higher conforming loan limits that will allow more people to tap into 50-year low mortgage rates.”  The entire article can be seen by clicking here.  

As Portland's top Prudential Realtor, we are (finally) starting to see some movement in the starter home market which has been slow of late due in part from buyers not knowing about what is available to them, and also from investors not being able to buy due to the new limits on loans available for owners of more than four homes.  Both these issues have been alleviated somewhat in recent days.

For more information on the Portland, Oregon real estate market or to receive a list of homes available that meet your needs, or even a list of bank owned homes, contact us today.

Forbes Magazine has listed Portland as the 5th best city to buy a house in the United States for 2009.   Its an interesting list in that they excluded many cities where prices have plummeted such as Phoenix, or Las Vegas as they want areas where buyers can build equity in a stable area. You can read the Forbes article here.

To see the actual index, click on this link  and you can scroll through the cities listed.

The Portland area continues to win awards or be selected from everything as the greenest city in the US to the best city to raise a family.  Recently Portland was listed as one of the fastest growing cities from in-migration particularly from the educated early 30's crowd.

If you want more information on the Portland area and are considering a move here, email me and I will send you a link to our relocation guide.

Here are the facts....

• In 1998, 120 children ages 14 and under died from falls. Children ages 4 and under accounted for more than half of these deaths. 
• Each year, more than 2.5 million children ages 14 and under are treated in hospital emergency rooms for fall-related injuries. Children ages 5 and under account for more than half of these injuries. 
• Nine percent of fall-related injuries associated with products (e.g., baby walkers, windows, playground equipment) result in hospitalization, more than two times the hospitalization rate of all other product-related injuries.

Now Oregon has revised the height requirement for window sills on floors that are above ground.  This is in direct relation to a series of deaths from small children falling from windows in 2008.  While this code isn't backwards enforceable, it's a good idea to review it if you have small children and make sure you have emergency escape mechanisms.   The full code can be read HERE

The state of Oregon also has a page dedicated to this and discloses the following facts.  So again, if you have small children or if you are an investment property owner, please read this article by clicking HERE

For Portland its pretty good stuff.  What we didn't get is the $15,000 of assistance the Senate passed, and that's a shame because it would have applied to everyone who buys a home as a personal residence.  Its good for us because we have many good houses in the $230k - $300k range where the new credit makes sense.

What we DID get though is good.....  All first time buyers now have a one time $8,000 tax credit if they buy a house this year. This IS NOT A LOAN like last year's plan, but a true credit.  The house must have been closed between January 1st 2009 and December 31st 2009.   A first time home buyer according to the IRS is anyone who hasn't owned a home in the last three years.    It is income guided, so as a single person you have to have earned less than $95,000 or $170,000 if married, and you should check with your tax advisor to make sure you qualify.

I have already been contacted by a few of my clients who have children who are in the 21-24 year age range and are looking to buy a house.  This is a fantastic program for them to use.