March 2009 – Page 2 – Property Blotter

March 6, 2009

Lake Oswego Open Houses – Sunday March 8th, 2009

There are 11 properties to see on Sunday in Lake Oswego. Enjoy!

Here are those that will be held open according to RMLS:

44 Eagle Crest Dr $129,900 1 Bd, 1 Ba Open 1-3

3311 Fir Ridge Rd $459,000 3 Bd, 2 1/2 Ba Open 1-3

3 Cellini Ct $465,000 4 Bd, 2 1/2 Ba Open 12-3

624 Livingood Ln $559,000 4 Bd, 3 Ba Open 1:30- 3:30

3254 Duncan Dr $575,000 4 Bd, 3 1/2 Ba Open 2-4

17960 Ridge Lake Dr $634,900 4 Bd, 2 1/2 Ba Open 1-3

13222 Deerfield Ct $649,000 4 Bd, 2 1/2 Ba Open 1-3

5267 Lakeview Blvd $750,000 4 Bd, 3 1/2 Ba Open 11-1

14133 Amberwood Cir $750,000-800,000 4 Bd, 2 1/2 Ba Open 1-4

14067 Goodall Rd $1,149,000 4 Bd, 3 1/2 Ba Open 12-4

100 Garibaldi $1,199,000 5 Bd, 3 & 2 1/2 Ba Open 2-4

March 4, 2009March 4, 2009

Real Estate “No No’s”

A while back Dianne wrote a post on the Realtors Code of Ethics. I loved that post because I don’t think most people are aware of all the standards to which Realtors are held. It really is great to be in a profession where we are mandated to treat each other and the general public with respect. That mandate then becomes a part of our culture. I notice it in the conversations I have with other Realtors. There definitely is a flavor of deliberate respect that is not always the experience for most of us in the day-to-day “non-real estate” wider world of affairs.

I read something in the recent REALTOR magazine published by the Portland Metropolitan Association of Realtors (PMAR), and written by Jo Becker of the Fair Housing Council of Oregon on subject matter along the same lines that made me think you’d find it interesting. This is regarding words Realtors may and may not use in promoting properties, and the overall guidelines of the Fair Housing Act.

HUD is the federal regulatory body with the power to enforce the Fair Housing Act. Generally speaking, the Fair Housing Act is in place to ensure that discrimination and something called “steering”, among other things, do not inhibit peoples’ right to live wherever the heck they want and are qualified to. It is also set up to ensure that the public receives information about housing that is fair and as free as possible of inaccurate and/or unduly influencing or discriminatory language. “Steering” is essentially trying to influence buyers to live in, or not live in, certain areas based on something other than the buyers’ own parameters for what they want in a new home & neighborhood. Basically, a Realtor is to supply a buyer with options for potential homes based on the information a buyer supplies to the Realtor regarding their wants & needs. A Realtor will often refer a buyer in the overall Portland area to this website: www.PortlandMaps.com where the buyer can enter the address of any property and view all kinds of facts on a property including statistical, demographic and crime information. Buyers are ultimately choosing a home that fits their particular needs, and Realtors are there to assist with service, information and real estate expertise.

The Fair Housing Council of Oregon’s website states plainly:

The Fair Housing Council of Oregon (FHCO) is a civil rights organization with a mission of eliminating housing discrimination through enforcement and education across Oregon and southwest Washington.

We promote equal access to housing by providing education, outreach, technical assistance, and enforcement opportunities specifically related to federal, state, and local fair housing laws. These laws protect against illegal housing discrimination based on “protected class status.”

The federally protected classes are:
race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status and disability

There are additional state and local protected classes.

When a Realtor enters listing information into RMLS, it is scanned for potential “no no’s” that are most always either unintentional or erroneous, i.e., as the article I mention elaborates- the RMLS program may highlight the word “white” for the Realtor’s attention when it is only being used as a description for a picket fence etc. A real human at RMLS who understands context always reviews these issues, according to the article. There is no “list” of unnacceptable words as many people believe. It’s all about intention, and about upholding our highest societal values… as well as the law. Some terms can seem to be either benign or on the edge but for their context, for instance, the term “Walk-In Closet” is commonly understood to describe a well-known feature in many homes. As long as the Realtor is not trying to imply a limit on access to someone who is not ambulatory this term is not a problem. “View Property” falls into the same category as long as no one is limiting access to the “view property” to sighted individuals only. The same goes for “Mother-In-Law Suite” and “Bachelor Apartment” according to the article. Where it can become trickier is with words like “near”. Often a house will be described as “Near shopping, transit” etc., which is OK. What is not OK, due to implications that certain people may or may not be welcome in that neighborhood, are things like: “Near ABC Mosque” or “Close to the XYZ Church” or “Near the LMN Jewish Community Center”. It is also not considered proper to refer to specific schools due to the potential for using this technique to promote some schools over others for the same kinds of reasons. It is generally considered all right to refer to school districts as long as this is done consistently throughout a Realtor’s listings.

The article refers to a few blatantly illegal and discriminatory statements that have evidently actually been published on a popular local online service. These are obviously examples of absolute “no no’s” and you will not see these or anything like them on RMLS:

“No minorities”,
“African Americans and Arabians tend to clash with me so that won’t work out”,
“Ladies, please rent from me”,
“Requirements: Clean, Godly Christian Male”,
“Will allow only single occupancy”,
“No children”,
“Christians only”.

These are all clear violations of the Fair Housing Act. Fair Housing Act laws apply in newspapers, flyers, yard signs, verbal statements, and online advertising among other instances & places.

For questions about Fair Housing Laws visit: www.FHCO.org

or call: 503 223 8197 or 1-800 424 3247.

March 3, 2009

Market Activity for February 23-March 1, 2009

Linda and I work very hard to have our weekly market activity reports posted on Mondays. Yesterday was full of computer challenges and created a delay. So you are getting the report on Tuesday. Thanks for your patience.

Lake Oswego had 16 New Listings, 9 Pending Sales, and 9 Closed Sales:

NEWLY LISTED (February 23—March 1, 2009)

Address	List Price	#BR	# BTHS	Total SF	Prop Type	List Date
5063 FOOTHILLS DR	$230,000	2	2	991	CONDO	2/23/2009
15010 TWIN FIR RD	$294,900	8	4	3,526	DETACHD	2/25/2009
13805 REGENCY CT	$419,000	4	2.1	2,045	DETACHD	2/27/2009
16026 PARKER RD	$425,000	3	1	1,670	DETACHD	3/1/2009
3311 FIR RIDGE RD	$459,000	3	2.1	2,112	DETACHD	2/25/2009
20 NORTHVIEW CT	$499,999	3	3.1	2,827	ATTACHD	2/26/2009
2084 RIDGEWOOD RD	$519,900	3	2.1	2,117	DETACHD	2/28/2009
12836 SIERRA VISTA DR	$529,000	3	2.1	2,166	DETACHD	2/26/2009
3140 ROSEMARY LN	619000	4	2.1	3,000	DETACHD	2/27/2009
17675 CARDINAL DR	699000	3	3	3,458	DETACHD	2/23/2009
17751 MARYLCREEK DR	719000	4	3	3,505	DETACHD	2/23/2009
5868 SUNCREEK DR	749900	4	2.1	3,174	DETACHD	2/23/2009
4114 CASEY CT	949000	4	2.1	3,405	DETACHD	2/27/2009
1176 TROON RD	985000	3	2	3,022	DETACHD	2/23/2009
3203 Southshore BLVD	1299900	4	3.1	3,773	DETACHD	2/23/2009
17147 OLD RIVER DR	2795000	5	4.2	5,961	DETACHD	2/25/2009

PENDING SALES (February 23—March 1, 2009)

Address	List Price	#BR	#BTHS	Total SF	Prop Type	CDOM
4640 LOWER DR	$115,000	2	1.1	1,170	CONDO	572
4 TOUCHSTONE DR	$159,500	3	2.1	1,351	CONDO	45
2800 WEMBLEY PARK RD	$374,500	3	2	1,575	DETACHD	10
1228 HALLINAN CIR	$389,000	4	2	1,932	DETACHD	7
4 OTHELLO ST	$399,900	4	3	2,184	DETACHD	111
221 HIDALGO ST	$419,500	3	2.1	2,628	DETACHD	54
16919 LAKERIDGE DR	$449,900	5	3	2,710	DETACHD	189
762 3RD ST	$650,000	3	2.1	2,710	DETACHD	198
1670 PINE ST	679987	4	3.1	3,286	DETACHD	565

SOLD (February 23—March 1, 2009)

Address	O/Price	Close Price	#BR	#BTHS	Total SF	Prop Type	CDOM
44 EAGLE CREST DR	$114,950	$114,950	1	1	798	CONDO	7
86 KINGSGATE RD	$145,000	$145,000	2	2	938	CONDO	31
15848 PARKER RD	$187,500	$177,000	3	2	1,318	DETACHD	17
1400 PARRISH ST	$299,999	$290,000	3	2.1	1,880	CONDO	143
6067 CLAIRMONT CT	$529,000	$510,000	4	2.1	2,344	DETACHD	11
5624 SOUTHWOOD DR	$740,000	$525,000	4	3	3,120	DETACHD	514
5299 WESTFIELD CT	$799,900	$555,000	3	2.1	2,865	DETACHD	156
17561 SHEPHERDS CT	$765,900	$589,000	4	2.1	3,011	DETACHD	347
5406 LANGFORD LN	795000	795000	3	2.1	3,341	DETACHD	0

Criteria: Homes in the 97034 and 97035 zip code, listed, pending or sold between the dates listed above as reported by the Regional Multiple Listing Service (RMLS). DETACHD refers to Single Family Detached Residence, MFG refers to manufactured housing, and ATTACHD refers to single-family residences with some portion of the structure attached to another property, but not constituting CONDO ownership. DOM stands for days on market, or the number of days from when the listing became active and when it received an acceptable offer.