Living Beaverton - Your guide to everything Beaverton

I remember a few years ago the ads selling the right to name stars after loved ones and before that it was selling land on the moon. My question is, can I sell land on the moon or do I need a special license for that?

I know I can't sell in other states or countries unless I have their real estate license, but I've searched and I can't find the Moon's Department of Licensing. I thought to myself, can I get in trouble if there are no laws on the moon pertaining to real estate or in this case does my state where I write the contract actually count?

Who records the deed on the property and how do I find an appraiser who is willing to tell me if I'm being taken advantage of, or not, on price? These are a couple of questions I would love to have answered. If any of you out there own land on the moon, who did you use as your agent? I would love to talk to them.

I see a new slogan...Service and deals that are out of this world! Catchy, don't you think? If you would like to buy or sell land on the moon (I can't help you) but if you are looking to buy in Washington County, Oregon then I will gladly help you and all you have to do is contact me!

Todd Clark - broker
Kastings & Associates
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8739

Did you know by having poor credit that you are missing a lot in life? It's also costing you thousands every year that you didn't even know about. Let me explain. You know with bad credit you could be turned down for home loans, auto loans and credit cards, but that is only the tip of the iceberg.

Also, here is a free download that can help you better understand your credit and how it can change your life. Can you imagine having and extra $5,000-$10,000 a year just because of a good credit score? It is possible, it just takes some work.

                                                       



Todd Clark - broker
Kastings & Associates
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8739

It finally happened, my worst nightmare! I had some clients call me the other day to list their home that had been a rental for the past 5 years. We met at the office, quickly went over the comps in the area and then were going to go over to the home for pictures and measurements as the renters had finally moved out the night before.

As we drive up, I compliment my client on how clean the home looks on the outside and how this was going to be great for selling it as the curb appeal was amazing! He said "Thanks, I have a service come out every Friday and take care of the property. I don't want the neighbors to be upset or even know it is a rental. That usually makes a neighborhood worth less and I didn't want that to be my property."

I thought that was pretty cool! So, we pull into the driveway and walk up to the house and the first thing we see s what looks like a screwdriver mark on the deadbolt. That's a little weird! But, we proceed to go inside and are just overwhelmed by a horrible smell! It smelled like a house with 50 cats and no litterbox! The only problem was these people didn't have any pets!

We got out of there as we just couldn't handle the smell even long enough to take pictures or measure and had to re-group outside and figure out what was going on. I originally thought it was just really strong cleaning products, but then someone walked up while we were there and they startled us! They asked, "Where Jimmy?" "Ahhh, Jimmy doesn't live here anymore, he moved and we don't know where."

That is when we figured it out! This was a drug house and they had used it to manufacture Meth. His $289,000 home, just dropped to $125,000 in less than 20 minutes. It was my worst nightmare to have to tell this client that he was going to have to call the EPA and have this house basically condemned! We called the police, who came out and confirmed our suspicions and gave us the number to the EPA and told us we had to have the house boarded up by the end of the day to avoid being fined.

 

The lesson here, is if you walk in to a house that smells of ammonia and don't see any sign of pets, get out and get out fast!

Todd Clark - broker
Kastings & Associates
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8739

OK, I know you are asking, "Todd, you are joking right? Where are you taking this?"

For more information on selling your home in Beaverton, Oregon please contact me anytime.

Todd Clark - broker
Kastings & Associates
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8739

Today is Friday, March 28, 2008 and it is time for another breakdown of homes sales in the Washington County, Oregon market. This week was a little slow for sales, but we still had some movement in the market. This week, I've started to add stats for expired listings to the weekly pages for each neighborhood because of the increase of over priced homes that are not selling. 

                                        

Neighborhood # of Active Listings

Todd Clark - broker
Kastings & Associates
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8739

I used to have "Our house" by the group Madness, as a ringtone, but recently I went back to using the standard AT&T ringer. I don't know why, I just did. But, what other people could you think of that could use ringtones to say what they do?

I bring this up, because I was talking about ringtones with someone when we heard a news report about an arsonist who was arrested, and wondered if we called him right now, would we hear "Burning Down the House" by the Talking Heads coming from his pants pocket.

Think about it, a funeral director could use "Dead Man's Party" by Oingo Boingo, car dealers could use, "Drive my Car" by the Beatles. A Doctor could use "Bad Case of Loving You" by Robert Palmer... You know how it starts..."Doctor, Doctor, give the news...

So, help me establish a list of the songs that best fit what profession.

Todd Clark - broker
Kastings & Associates
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8739

If you are a buyer and have a question about the neighborhood, please don't ask your agent. By law he can't tell you, but if you are in a neighborhood and have a question, the person to ask is the person who is out working on their lawn.

Just go up, introduce yourself as a potential buyer in the neighborhood and that you want to know what they think of the neighborhood. I promise, since they have nothing to gain, you will find out more than you ever wanted to know about the neighborhood, including the fact that the other neighbor is having an affair, but you will also find out if it is a neighborhood you want to live in!

Good luck, and for more secrets about buying a home in Beaverton Oregon, please feel free to contact me anytime, and feel free to check out my weekly updates on the neighborhoods every Friday.

Todd Clark - broker
Kastings & Associates
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8739

When most people get in trouble in life the stress affects them in ways they are not prepared to deal with. Most divorces in America are caused by money issues, which I don't think is necessarily true. I think money is part of the problem, the other part is that when people get stressed they shut down, and all communication stops, because their body doesn't know how to deal with the stress.

For more information on avoiding foreclosure in Washington, County, Oregon, please give me a call, there are more options than you think, and I am here to help.

Todd Clark - broker
Kastings & Associates
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8739

I am really lucky to have all my family really close and we can all get together for every holiday. But, today didn't go quite as planned! You see, my sister is a day care owner and the basement of her house is a treasure trove of play toys. So, the kids really enjoy going there every chance they get.

But, today after dinner was served and dishes were being washed, for some reason the hot water pressure dropped in the kitchen. My sister didn't think anything of it, but when her husband turned on the water, he knew something was wrong and ran downstairs to the basement to see the kids laughing and splashing in the ½ inch of warm water on the floor.

A pipe off the hot water, in the wall (of course), had burst and flooded the basement and the kids just thought it was fun, they didn't realize something was wrong. Then, for the next three hours, all the grown ups got to use the wet/dry vacuum, use up all the towels in the house, and cut holes in the wall to find the broken pipe.

My poor brother in law had a very expensive problem on his hands that is looking like it was caused by too much pressure on the pipe. Lucky for him, we had a plumber over for dinner and he was able to give us a break down of what had happened and what needs to be done to fix it. But, being Sunday night and Easter, not a lot of stores that carry the pipes we needed were open.

But, that is cleaned up and Easter is over. I'm just grateful we have each other and we were all able to be there to help. I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter with their families and continue to have a wonderful year.



Todd Clark - broker
Kastings & Associates
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8739

One of the biggest concerns for kids when it comes to relocating across town or cross country is that they will have to make new friends and will never be able to talk to their current friends again.

One thing to consider to help your kids before you move is to enroll them in Boy Scouts / Girls Scouts before you move, and while visiting the new city or area, take them to the new troop so they can start to make friends before the move. That will help with their anxiety of the move if they have already started to make friends prior to it. (Yes, you can do this even when moving cross country...Just call the new school and set it up when you come to see the new home before the close on your house.)

Another thing to consider is making sure they realize they won't have to lose their friends they have now. If you are just moving across town, I suggest set up a slumber party sometime within a month of moving in and set it up before you actually move, so your kids know that it is coming and can get excited about it!

Another way to help kids be less worried about the move, and possibly get them excited, is set them up with an e-mail address and instant messaging so they can keep in contact with their old friends. If you don't have a computer, I suggest you buy 100 envelopes, 200 pieces of notebook paper and 100 stamps as a gift for the kids, so they can write their old friends.

Change is very hard for kids and if you can make it easy for them, they will be more willing to want to do it, especially if they realize that they will still have their old friends and now will even have new ones!

One last idea is get them a 250 minute long distance phone card so they can call their friends for 20 minutes a week and talk about the new home and their new friends. I hope these help give you some ideas of how to help your kids during a move. If you are looking to move to Oregon, feel free to give me a call and maybe I can give you a few more ideas and help you in your move to a great area like Beaverton, Oregon!

Todd Clark - broker
Kastings & Associates
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8739