PORTLAND OREGON 
REAL ESTATE

Celia Lyon
Principal Broker

503-260-6231

CeliaLyon@aol.com

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Facts About Portland Homes Values


Portland Lot


Financially that may be a good strategy but take heed and purchase your Portland lot with care. Why? Because it can happen that the lot you buy today is not suited at all for the Portland home you want to build in the future. Here are some things to watch out for.

Portland Real Estate...Homeowners Insurance


Portland real estate Insurance costs can vary by hundreds of dollars depending on the insurance company from which you buy your policy. There are different types of policies that differ in the amount of coverage they provide. The most popular type is called HO-3. This kind of policy offers Area property protection and liability insurance. Portland real estate or property protection means that you will be reimbursed for losses or damages to the house and its contents. Liability Insurance protects you against personal liability, medical payments for injuries to others and damage to other people’s property. There are policies with more extensive coverage and are usually called “deluxe” or “executive” policies. If you do major remodeling to your home, make sure you upgrade your coverage. If you have an office in your home, you might want to consider special insurance for your computer equipment.

Portland. How Much Should You Offer?


A good starting premise is that everyone wants to buy a home for thousands of dollars under market and when the time comes, to sell that home for thousands of dollars over market. This is basic human nature. When you are in the position of making an offer on Portland real estate property there are certain facts you need to know.

Is it a Buyer’s Market or a Seller’s Market? In a Buyer’s Market conditions favor the buyer. Portland real estate listings are plentiful, home sales are declining or stagnant. In a Seller’s Market the opposite is true. There are more buyers looking for homes than there are homes available. Your low-price offer is far more likely to succeed in a Buyer’s Market than in a Seller’s Market. How do you know what kind of a market exists? Ask your REALTOR, read the newspaper, check online.


Choosing Your Portland Neighborhood


You’ve probably heard about the three major determinants of Portland values are: 1) location, 2) location and 3) location. This is not only true about real estate in Portland; it is true about real estate in general. If you cannot afford what you want where you want it, give up something inside the house rather than settling on a lesser location.


Rent or Buy Portland


In the early years of your Portland mortgage, nearly all of every monthly payment is interest. This means you are only paying off a tiny bit of the loan principal, but it is good news in terms of tax savings.

The monthly payment for a $100,000, 30-year, 8% mortgage on your Portland would be about $734. In the first year of your mortgage, $7,970 of your $8,805 payment or 91% would be deductible as mortgage interest. Even in the tenth year, almost 81% of your payments would be deductible. What this is worth to you depends on your tax bracket but this tax savings built into the home-buying equation is why you can afford to make higher mortgage payments than your current rent payments without squeezing your budget. There is no similar tax subsidy for renters.


The Benefits of Selling Portland


In order to sell Portland as your personal residence, you must have lived in it for two out of the five-year period ending on the date of the sale of the property. This means that you can buy a second home and live in it as your personal residence while renting out your first home. If, in a couple years you decide to sell your first Portland personal residence you can sell it and still benefit from the $250,000 to $500,000 Capital Gain tax exclusion. The law says that the home must be your personal residence for at least two out of the past five years.