The Advantages of Using a Local Lender

If you need financing, you should reach out to your Realtor in order to find
a local lender that can provide better service than a larger institution.

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search

Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation

Should you reach out to your Realtor in order to find a local lender? Yes. Real estate agents have access to many local lenders, credit unions, and mortgage companies.

Larger institutions can’t service your financing needs as well as mortgage companies. They usually offer limited products, whereas mortgage companies usually offer 15 products or more. You’ll also face a better chance of pre-approval with a mortgage company because they offer more loan products to choose from and are more flexible with down payments and credit scores.

The advantages of working with a preferred lender are numerous. Our preferred lenders have amazing customer service, they’re great to work with, and they’re always available after hours and on the weekends.

If you have any questions about our preferred lenders or what’s going on in the real estate market, please give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you.

How to Pick the Best Offer on Your House

When you're considering multiple offers on your home, there are many other 
variables besides price to consider before making a decision.

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search

Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation

When you’re selling your home and juggling multiple offers, is the highest offer always the best?

Not necessarily. There are a lot of other variables in play, including the terms of the loan, whether or not it’s a cash offer, some contingencies, and the length of the closing. You should consider four things before accepting a buyer’s offer:

1. Their financing
2. The length of the closing period
3. The terms of the loan
4. Any contingencies

Sometimes cash buyers are better than financed offers; however, cash buyers usually come in lower. A qualified professional can help you select the right offer by recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of each one.

If you have any questions about buying or selling real estate, feel free to give me a call or shoot me an email. I look forward to hearing from you.

A Quick Tour of the Sellwood Neighborhood

Today we're taking a quick look at the Sellwood neighborhood in Portland, located on the east bank of the Willamette River. It's a walkable neighborhood with tons of great amenities.

Buying a home? Click here to perform a full home search

Selling a home? Click here for a FREE Home Price Evaluation

Today, we wanted to take you on a quick tour of the lovely Sellwood neighborhood in Portland. Sellwood is located on the east bank of the Willamette River, near the southern end of Ross Island. It's about two miles long and a mile wide.

Sellwood is a teardrop-shaped area that's rich in natural and recreational amenities, including four public parks. Sellwood also boasts a full range of businesses and services, like specialty retail stores, antiques, grocery stores, hardware stores, banks, and dry cleaners to name a few.

It's a very walkable neighborhood for both errands and exercise.

One of the great parks is Sellwood Riverfront Park, which stretches 7.6 acres along the river in Southeast Portland. The park has a boat dock, canoe launch, an off-leash dog area, paths, and riverfront views. It's a popular area for celebrating the Fourth of July thanks to the great views of the downtown fireworks. The park is just south of the famous Oaks Amusement Park and Roller Rink.

Sellwood has a New Seasons Market nestled right in the middle. New Seasons is a locally-owned chain of grocery stores that supplies many locally-sourced items and sells home goods and wellness products as well.

In the video above, you can see a good example of a Sellwood house. This bungalow was built in 1904 and is 1,899 square feet with three bedrooms and one bathroom. This home sold for $500,000 in November 2015.

I hope you enjoyed this look at Sellwood! If you're interested in buying or selling a home in Portland, give me a call or send me an email. I'd love to work with you!