New Website

Here is where I am blogging about Real Estate www.pdxmetroproperties.com

Slippery Slope in SW Portland

Some drivers in SW PDX are having a little trouble getting over the hump.

Downsizing to the Extreme

Here is a solution to the housing crisis. Sell your normal sized house and buy a small one (100 sq.ft.)for only $15,000. It is tempting but I'm not sure where I would put everyone.

Best Value- PDX #10

Cities Where Your Dollar Goes Furthest

Money goes further some places in the United States than it does in others.

Housing, in particular, has remained most affordable in the South and the Midwest. That’s because of less stringent building, an abundance of land and growing populations in the South, says Daniel McCue, a research analyst at Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.

To determine the cities that offer the best quality of life for the least amount of money, Forbes magazine calculated the ratios between a city’s median home price and its median household income. It also factored in projected job growth. And it compared median income to Moody’s Economy.com’s cost of living index.

Here are the 10 cities that it found to offer the best value, and the cities that it believes offers the worst value.

Cities Where Residents Get the Most for Their Money:

1. Austin, Texas
2. San Antonio, Texas
3. Indianapolis, Ind.
4. Houston, Texas
5. Charlotte, N.C.
6. Columbus, Ohio
7. Dallas
8. Minneapolis/St. Paul
9. Denver
10.Portland, Ore.

Source: Forbes, Abha Bhattarai (10/10/2008)

PDX #1 on Sustainability Charts

We are the greenest city in the nation according to Sustain Lanes sustainability rating, see more info here.

Increase your Property Value......and your Neighbors

According to this article in the Portland Tribune having a local grocery store close by will increase your property value by 20%. So I would like a New Seasons down the street and Pedro and I are going to open our own book store!

Businessweek: Up-and-Coming Neighborhoods for Artists - #10 Alberta Arts

Artistic people like to live where it is gritty, near neighbors who are tolerant of noise and odd behavior, and where the price is right.

In many cities they have led the way for urban renewal, setting the stage for redevelopment. After they have done the hard work, investors, developers and wealthy buyers arrive, pushing up rents and displacing the artists, who go seek out the next undesirable neighborhood.

Businessweek.com has selected 15 urban neighborhoods that artists have discovered and where adventuresome homeowners, willing to take a risk, are likely to see big returns in the coming decades.

Here are these up-and-coming neighborhoods:

Atlanta, Castleberry Hill
Austin, Texas, East Austin
Boston, Jamaica Plain
Chicago, Pilsen
Los Angeles, Echo Park
Miami, Wynwood
Minneapolis, Northeast
New York, Bushwick, Brooklyn
Philadelphia, Northern Liberties
Portland, Ore., Alberta Street Arts District
Raleigh/Durham, N.C., Downtown Durham
San Francisco, Mission District
Seattle, Georgetown
Shreveport, La., Highland
Washington D.C., Atlas District (H Street)

Source: Businessweek.com, Prashant Gopal (09/23/2008)