Eugene Real Estate » First Time Buyers

Roost is hot

admin — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 07:04:24 +0000

Joel Burslem over at FOREM posted an excellent review of Roost, a new real estate search engine platform built upon IDX functionality.

He makes some great points, and one especially relevant to a lot of people who visit this site – the listings are complete. You can quickly search MLS listings for multiple brokers at once.

Time to add it to the Find a Home tab..only to have ZERO people come back to visit this blog once they discover how great Roost is!

Feb 13th Economic Stimulus Package

admin — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 05:35:58 +0000

What does it mean for Eugene home buyers and sellers?

Here’s a quick assessment:

The current FHA-backed loan limit is $260,839. NAR predicts that as a result of the stimulus package, this will grow to approximately $343,209.
The GSE limit will remain at $417,000. Contrary to new reports stating that Jumbo loans will suddenly be available at the conforming (lower) interest rate, that’s simply not the case for most of Oregon. NAR predicts however that Jumbo limits will rise slightly for Jackson and Deschutes Counties.
HUD will post the actual limits on or before March 14, 2008.
These new limits will expire on December 31, 2008.

Home for Sale – Marquet Way – $140 sq. Ft.

admin — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 05:27:18 +0000

This home appears to have arrived on the market yesterday. $259,900 is ALMOST starter home range in Eugene.

The house looks clean inside and out. Yard seems to be a good size. They sell the backyard a bit short by only showing one angle, but it’s possible that the reasoning is that there’s something undesirable behind the house? I don’t think the freeway is directly behind the house, although freeway noise could be one reason for the lower price per sq. foot price for this listing. The water feature picture is sort of funny. It’s a $200 fountain from Jerry’s right?

Overall this is a great price for a starter home. The important thing with a starter home is that you find a neighborhood that will appreciate well over a 5-7 year period. Eugene has some strong micro-neighborhoods within larger neighborhood like “Harlow” or “Cal Young” – these micro neighborhoods include homeowners who care for their yards and homes, and usually include families with a real stake in the friendliness and security of the neighborhood.

3.7/4.0.

New Listing – 3079 Kentwood, $191 sq. ft.

admin — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 16:41:17 +0000

Looks like it’s being sold by real estate brokers. A house they might have bought at a discount and updated. Price seems about average for this area. Definitely in starter home price range…hard to find those in the Ferry Street Bridge area.

Featured Home: 3337 Peregrine (Santa Clara)- $186 sq. ft.

admin — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 05:42:20 +0000

This home has a small, but very tidy backyard. The interior has a nice look to it..it features a kitchen island with an open floorplan. Also, the windows bring a lot of light to the interior.

There is one picture of a bathroom, and it looks small. There appear to be 2 1/2 baths, where one would assume that the bathroom in the picture is the largest of the lot (or the agent decided to ignore this detail).

Even if the bathrooms are small, open kitchens and lots of counter space are far more important if you plan to live in a house for several years.

Back to the ratings system… 4/5. Not a showcase, but it has some assets that come together in a way that can be difficult to replicate via many of the homes currently for sale in Eugene.

Iggys House – Free MLS listing

admin — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 07:48:56 +0000

Iggys House is an interesting concept. Sign up as a seller and you can list your home on the MLS for free. There is really no catch. You are not obligated to sell through their agency.

This service is currently available in Oregon, but not in some other States. Specifically, Midwestern and Mountain States. States that apparently nobody wants to move to…Woops, I didn’t mean that Heartland. We love you!

They also put your home on Realtor.com, Wall Street Journal, etc. Isn’t that the result of listing with MLS? Iggy, please correct me if I’m wrong..

Basically, IggysHouse is a lead generation tool for BuySideRealty, an innovative realtor that operates in a similar fashion to Redfin. The primary difference being that Redfin refunds 2/3 of the 3% buyer’s agent traditional commission to the buyer. That amounts to 2% of the final sale price. BuySideRealty will refund you 3/4 of the buyers’ agent commission that they receive, so the BuySideRealty offer is slightly better.

Redfin requires a minimum $3000 comission payout, so the home you buy needs to cost at least $300k. The advantage to BuySideRealty is that you receive the comission as a check, within 14 days. You can apply it to closing costs, but since most buyers will have a lender lined up in advance, the majority of buyers will opt for the cash rebate option.

IggysHouse.com is a brilliant lead generation tactic that provides a valuable service to sellers. Their buyer’s side business isn’t a new concept, but they clearly know who their competitors are, and how they plan to differentiate.

Agents need to move faster to adopt new ways to compete with this kind of efficiency. The human touch will always be necessary, so I doubt that commissions will disappear altogether, but the cost of buying and selling a $400k home through a traditional agency is over $24,000. The paperwork, legal process, and due diligence are practically the same whether the home is $400k or $200k. The stakes are higher for sure, but if the homeowner took the original risk in buying the home, so why should that risk be transferred to the agent as a % of the home price rather than as a flat rate or negotiated rate?

I’d like to get comments from agents. How can a seller create a contract with agents that provides the agent with a fair reward for service, above-and-beyond? Possibly finding the right buyer at a max price, and keeping 50% of the difference between sale price and “walk away” price? Are there other options there?

Traditional agents’ pricing model is facing significant risk. How do realtors adapt without selling out their fellow agents? How does an entire industry shift at once? Some tough challenges for an industry that clearly prefers to ignore or protest the future, rather than lead it.

1810 Ridgley – Starter home – $178 sq ft.

admin — Thu, 17 May 2007 14:40:45 +0000

Given that most 3BR homes in Eugene have been selling for $300K+, and especially homes in safe, family-friendly neighborhoods like this one, this one should go quickly. The price may be discounted a bit due to proximity to a large nearby electrical station, as well as the freeway. The freeway noise isn’t bad however, and I believe that this entire corridor will be getting a sound wall built as per the new overpass. That leaves the electrical station, which some people will find more bothersome than others. It’s interesting that there are three homes near this one, all selling at a discount. Do your homework; ask the neighbors why those four homes are for sale at once. They might simply be investment homes.

A document that Eugene first time home buyers should read..

admin — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 05:16:40 +0000

This PDF document, available on the State of Oregon’s Real Estate Agency Division website, provides some useful tips for the first time home buyer.

There are many people who buy a home without having basic knowledge of the offer, inspection, and closing processes. If you don’t have your own buyer’s agent when you find a home that you like, pay attention to the details in that PDF.

You might also consider finding a buyer’s agent and setting up a special contract with them. These contracts can be setup so that your agent earns a bonus for negotiating a price below your ceiling. If you don’t have a buyer’s agent to represent you, and you’re buying your first home, make sure you read all that you can about the negotiations process. A good resource for information about how to make an offer is available from Nolo.com

Nolo offers a lot of condensed, accurate legal knowledge. If you consider that the cost of your first house may surpass $200k, a well researched book is worth the investment.

Eugene vs. CNN’s top ten places to live

admin — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 15:48:18 +0000

CNN let’s you compare Eugene-Springfield to their “top ten places to live.”

The first difference is obvious – job growth. Anemic job growth of 2.76% over FIVE YEARS. The second difference is in Median income. Median income in Boise was comparable to Eugene’s, but with a 12.11% job growth rate? Somehow Boise has laid the groundwork for a business-friendly, living-wage friendly economy.

Eugene City leaders, are you listening?

As for housing – when you compare the average home prices in Eugene-Springfield to that of the top ten, it’s obvious that Eugene has simply caught up with the rest of the nation in media home price ($240-250k). It’s also obvious that unless Eugene can create more sustainable wealth, this boom in housing does not provide young families with the ability to move into a home and invest in the community. Not with an average household income level well below the national average.

Follow up – Zillow’s blog post

admin — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 16:02:27 +0000

Coinciding with their 2006 home values report, Zillow also blogged about it.

Judging from their blog post, one thing Zillow understands well is that the data can’t explain everything – or WHO is impacted. Local resources/knowledge are necessary to paint a picture of why one region might have declining home prices, while another (read: NW) can continue to grow at 10%+.

One explanation, aside from general desirability for those who don’t mind a little winter rain: growth management. The NW, relative to most other regions in the country, especially relative to the Southeastern US, tends to push a controlled pattern of development in which city and county counselors, as well as the citizenry assert significant influence over new and existing development projects.

Does this mean that counselors should be responsible for also providing the public with adequate living wage housing for those who can’t afford to get into a starter home at $200k+? You bet. A single income mother with three children, unless she’s a lawyer, is unlikely to be in a position to buy a starter home in the Northwest.

I don’t accept that housing prices would decline if people who previously couldn’t buy a starter home, could find options in the $120-170k range. Those people would not have contributed to the housing boom in the first place, although by renting they apply pressure to the speculative and rental market in a way that might depress home prices initially. Free markets are great for many, but they are a numbers game, a zero sum game that doesn’t determine a person’s true value to society. Eugene should attempt to do more than just limit development for the privileged 60% (Friends of Eugene) who already own a home or are established here.