Mississippi Street Fair

Looking for something to do this weekend? Enjoy Portland at it's best at the Mississippi Street Fair this Saturday and Sunday July 13th and 14th. The annual Mississippi Ave. Street Fair takes place every July and is a community-building event that celebrates the residents, businesses and organizations from N. Fremont to N. Skidmore on Mississippi Ave.

Stroll down the Avenue and visit many excellent restaurants, like Interurban, Mississippi Pizza Pub, Por Que No?, and Prost. And don't forget to grab some ice cream at Ruby Jewel, and shop the wonderful boutiques and stores along the Avenue.

 

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Argyle #PDX Bubbles

 

In our very own backyard, Oregon's own Certified Sustainable Winery is the highest rated sparkling wine outside of Champagne, France.  The only winery earning the distinction of "Top 100 Wines of the World" in all three categories. We can enjoy Argyle Winery Portland Bubbles week 2013. #pdxbubbles A city wide celebration of sparkling Argyle Wine May 6th – May 12th.
 

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SOLD – Pinnalce #513

SOLD – 1255 NW 9th #513 $265,000. Congrats Nick!

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VOTE YES ON 79

 

Stop another tax on your property! 

What is a Real Estate Transfer Tax?

A real estate transfer tax is imposed by a state, county, city, or other governmental entity when ownership of property is transferred from one party to another. It is essentially a sales tax on your home or property. Real estate transfer taxes are usually one-time fees paid at the time of closing and are typically a percentage of the selling price of the property. In Oregon, homeowners pay property taxes to support schools, health care, public safety and important community services. A new tax on the sale of your home would result in an unfair, double tax on real estate.

How would a Real Estate Transfer Tax work?

If entities were allowed to begin enacting them, each government could impose a tax based on a percentage of the sales price (rates typically vary from .1% to 4%) when a home or real property is sold. Consequently, there could be multiple layers of taxation on a single transaction. For example, if you sold a $200,000 home and the county transfer tax was at 1%, and the city transfer tax was .5%, then you would pay $3,000 at the time of closing to support local governments – even if you already owed more on your home than it is worth. A real estate transfer tax is imposed whether or not a profit is made on the sale or transfer and applies to all real property including agricultural, commercial and residential property.  read more

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Portland Build It Green Home Tour coming in September



The 11th annual Build It Green! Home Tour and Information Fair is a self-guided tour of green remodels and new homes around the Portland metropolitan area. Tour-goers pick up great ideas for their own projects by visiting with homeowners, designers, do-it-yourselfers and contractors about accessory dwelling units, solar panels, ecoroofs (green roofs), rainwater harvesting, natural landscaping, affordable housing, water and energy conservation, natural building materials, alternative construction techniques and much more. Tickets available in mid-August here

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Good News for the Housing Market

"The housing market’s been giving mixed signals, flashes of hope mixed with sudden bad news. There’s no sign yet that a real recovery has taken hold, but some new data are optimistic.

Home prices and sales are on the rise. DataQuick says the average sale price for the past 30 days was $189,500, up $7,000 from a month earlier. Sales are also up 8.2 percent during this time. In Southern California, for example, DataQuick says the market is continuing its “step-by-tiny-step trek back toward normalcy.”

Shadow inventory is shrinking quickly. The so-called shadow inventory refers to distressed properties that aren’t listed for sale but probably will be—homes on which borrowers are grossly delinquent or already in foreclosure, or that banks have already repossessed. CoreLogic says in April, 1.5 million homes were in the shadows, which equates to a four-month supply, down from a six-month supply a year earlier. A smaller shadow inventory can be positive for prices because it means there are fewer distressed homes poised to come on the market."  Read more here

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Beaverton Farmers Market Opens Mothers Day

SATURDAYS
5/12/12 – 11/17/12
8am – 1:30pm

WEDNESDAYS
6/20/12 – 8/29/12
3pm – 6pm

Driving Directions

From Interstate 5:
Go north or southbound, turn north on Oregon Hwy 217; go five miles to Oregon Hwy 10 (the Beaverton-Hillsdale Hwy). exit; go Left (west) on Hwy 10, about ½ mile to SW Watson. Left To SW Fifth Street. Beaverton Farmers Market is adjacent to Beaverton City Park and the Beaverton Public Library.

From US Hwy 26 (the Sunset Hwy):
From Portland, or from the Oregon Coast, take Hwy 26 to the Oregon Hwy 217 South exit. Travel approx. two miles south to the Oregon Hwy 8/Hwy 10 exit and follow directions above.

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Warren Buffet on the Housing Market

Warren Buffett says along with equities, single-family homes are a very attractive investment right now.  Appearing live on CNBC's Squawk Box, Buffett tells Becky Quick he'd buy up "a couple hundred thousand" single family homes if it were practical to do so.  If held for a long period of time and purchased at low rates, Buffett says houses are even better than stocks.  He advises buyers to take out a 30-year mortgage and refinance if rates go down.  Buffett revealed that he put 175 million euros into each of eight European stocks on behalf of Berkshire Hathaway at the end of 2011, but did not reveal the names of those stocks.  He also said Berkshire bought just a "few" shares of IBM [IBM  204.72    0.94  (+0.46%)   ] this quarter.  He would have bought more but the price went up.  Buffett tells Becky he probably won't buy a tech stock again, but if he understood a company and liked its management and price he wouldn't rule out another tech purchase.  Buffett says if he could only own one bank stock it would be Wells Fargo  [WFC  33.37    0.04  (+0.12%)   ] and Berkshire also added to its position in that stock during the current quarter.  Read more

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Tour the Mayor’s House, Circa 1912

Sunday, December 11, 2011
2:00 – 4:30pm
Cost $10

The mayor has invited you to his home. No, it’s not Sam Adams’ place in NoPo. (Although, what do I know? I bet you get invited to a lot of places I don’t.) It’s H. Russell Albee, Portland’s progressive, parks-minded mayor of 100 years ago, who lived not in a humble home in Kenton but in the newly-developed Laurelhurst neighborhood, in a not-so-small house (mansion comes to mind) designed by the city’s most illustrious architect of the day, A.E. Doyle.

While Mayor Albee won’t be there to greet you, and the architect will have to let the building speak for him, the Architectural Heritage Center has arranged for the private home to be open to the public for self-guided tours the afternoon of Sunday December 11, 2011. They’ll also have on hand a couple of historians who are good stand-ins for the historical figures themselves.

Tickets

Read more

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2011 Portland Architecture and Design Festival

Saturday, October 1, 10:00 am

This homes tour provides a rare opportunity for guests to glimpse inside six sensational Portland residences. Featuring both cutting-edge and historic homes designed by architects, this daylong self-guided tour is a not-to-be-missed event!

The Design Matters homes tour is open to all, from design enthusiasts to professionals, builders to homemakers, students to senior citizens, and is a highlight of the 2011 Architecture + Design Festival, presented by the American Institute of Architects Portland. For more information, please call AIA Portland at 503-223-8757.

Just $40! Includes access to six featured homes, printed program with maps, and interactive iPhone app with GPS.

Event Link

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