Living Beaverton - Your guide to everything Beaverton

Today I have switched companies. After 3 years with Kastings & Associates, I, Todd Clark have switched to Palazzo Realty Group in Portland, Oregon. With this company change, you will also notice one other little change on my side bar.

Palazzo, in Italian, means Palace, and as many of you know from my writings over the past two years here in the rain, I make every one of my families feel like they are buying the palace of their dreams.

I think everyone will see that other than the new name and the little addition to my title, that I will still be the same Todd, just with a new company. I promise to always help those in need and maybe even bring some new people to Activerain.

I’m still going to treat your referrals like kings and queens that are looking to either buy or sell their palace in Beaverton, Oregon, and the surrounding areas. I promise to make you look great for referring me to your clients.

As always, my referral structure will remain the same as it did the day I started with Activerain. If you send me a referral, I will pay you 25% for that referral, and if they ever buy or sell through me again, I will send you 10% of that sale. Oh, wait there is more! If the client your referred to me ever refers someone, a friend, a relative, or heck maybe even a co-worker, I will send you 5% of that sales as well. (Basically, as long as I’m making money from your referral, and you are still licensed, you will get a check for every sale from that referral)

Now, this company does have some bloggers within it, but the company as a whole needs some work on their blogging skills… The Company’s blog, Dave Smith, and the principle broker Seraina Aguayo. I will be hiring on some new agents with this company and really making it grow.  I certainly will be looking within the ranks of Activerain for some serious new talent.

So, what made me change to this new company? Well Seraina was a mentoree of mine 3 years ago when she was at Activerain and I have to say, what she has done in the last 3 years has just amazed me. When she invited me to her upstart company to train new agents, it was a chance I couldn’t pass up. She said, “Todd, I know what you did for my career and I want you to teach that, your ethics, and your skills, to everyone that comes aboard with our company.” Well, to say that made me blush would be an understatement! But how could I pass her up on the offer when she put it that way?

Many of you will ask why I didn’t start my own company, and to be honest, I’ve owned four businesses in my life and I wasn’t ready to go back to that life. I wanted to be able to leave at any time and not have to worry about an office that was being left behind. I have enough stress in my life, I didn’t want to worry about an office again. Maybe in the future, but for now, it is more about my family than me.

Todd Clark - Broker / Sales Coach
Palazzo Realty Group
Phone: (503)524-9494
Fax: (503)622-8739

©2009 Todd Clark - OK, here is the big news that I promised would come today

When I meet people buying their first home, they always tell me stories of their friends who, by the time they were done, hated the home because it caused so much stress during the home buying process.

This amazes me as one of the things I enjoy seeing is that smile on peoples faces when they unlock THEIR door for the first time. But if it was a stressful transaction, how could unlocking that door be joyful?  

Now, I do have to admit that at times there are things that can cause stress in a real estate transaction, and I write about them everyday, but you know what? My clients never hear about that kind of stuff, they only hear what they need to hear. I promise you they don’t need to hear that the other agent is having a bad day or that the inspector got delayed in getting the report out.

All you need to know is that everything is going along smoothly and that if I see something that is out of the ordinary and that I think will actually affect you and or your pocket book, then, at that point, I will bring you in and only then.

There are a lot of things that go on behind the scenes in a real estate transaction that have to happen, but my job is to take care of those and make sure your first time home buying purchase the best it can be. I’ll take care of the little problems and you can take care of the big ones, like where will you put the couch and the television once you move in?

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

©2009 Todd Clark - Buying your first home in Beaverton Oregon doesn’t have to be stressful

Have you ever had one of those listings that you work and work and work some more, but you swear that underneath that listing is a Indian Burial ground? Well, I have one of those listings and it is from a past client. They wanted to price it right, so I took the listing.

Well, that was where things started to go bad… quickly. It was nothing my clients did, it was just this house. Talking to neighbors, they say this house that is only 12 years old has lived the life of a house 75 years older.

You see, my clients were starting to get to the point that they were going to get behind on their payments, but instead of just letting that happen, they decided to sell it and take their local trucking company national so they could make more money. If they did that, they would no longer need the home, they would live out of their truck.

They cleaned up the property, got everything moved out and priced the home great. We were getting showings and then it happened, some teenage kids broke in and had a weekend party. (I would like to say this is the first time this has happened at this home, but nope, this has happened before during one of the other six times this home has been listed in the last 12 years.)

Now, you’d think this would be bad enough, but we still managed to get three offers on the property when we lowered the price to reflect the now damaged house. All was going good until, low and behold, the bank, as they were about to accept one of the offers, finds a lien on the property from a judgment against the owner’s son, who is over 18, and has never lived in that house… WHAT?

Continue on thru today when I get another call from a showing agent and guess what… Another party happened over the weekend and the door was wide open and beer cans were everywhere. Now, I can’t watch this house 24/7, but you would think the county police officer that lives two doors away, or the state police officer that lives 8 houses down would notice all the traffic at a vacant home, but nope, I guess not.

So, does anyone know how to look up to see what is under this house that is causing all this bad Karma on it?

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

©2009 Todd Clark - Heads you win, Tails I lose (Wait…I can’t win?)

Yesterday one of my clients calls and says he has decided to go with his local bank because the interest rates on their Veterans loan is ¼ lower than anyone else, which is fine by me. I prefer you use a preferred lender because I know it will close then, but, still at least it is a local bank.

This is when the buyer drops a bomb shell on me telling me he only has 90 days to close on a home we haven’t found yet! I asked, “Does your lease end then and you are afraid of having to sign another one?” He informs me that, “No, it is because my bank charges a $250 application fee for Veterans loans and you have to close within 90 days or you will have to pay the $250 again to get a new pre-approval.”

“OK, so in order to get a pre-approval you have to pay them $250, and now we have to manage to find your dream home at a good price, do all the negotiations and close within 90 days?” He asked, “Is that a problem?” I said, “No, but it means it’s going to really limit what homes you can look at and how good of a deal you are going to get, because now you have timelines that have to be met.”

Basically, this made it impossible to put an offer in on any kind of short sale or foreclosure that he may have wanted to look at, because if we do, there is a very good chance that he will lose his $250.

But, that really isn’t my problem with the whole situation… My problem is how anyone could do this to our Veterans. Our Veterans are the ones that gave us the freedom of speech, the freedom to conduct business as we do, and who made this country great, and you repay them by charging them a $250 fee? To me, this is just wrong and when I find out what bank is doing this to our Veterans, I will call them out on it!

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

© 2009 Todd Clark - What kind of bank does this to our Veterans?

Twice now in the past year I’ve have seen the heart break of a potential client moving to Beaverton Oregon. They move here without actually investigating Beaverton and the surrounding areas of Tigard, Portland, and Hillsboro where homes can still be rather expensive.

Now, home prices have dropped in Oregon just as they have in other places around the country, but what people are finding out as they move from a place where they can buy a 4 bedroom 2.5 bath home for under $100,000, that the same home here is over $250,000. It is just heartbreaking when they find out that they can’t even afford to rent here because they didn’t have a job lined up either.

One of the things I do to help people succeed in their relocation is I help them find a job here in Oregon. I give them the websites, and even in some cases, the contact information of the Human Resources department at many of the larger companies in Oregon that I happen to have sold homes to in the past.

I’m here to help families home, not keep them out, and the only way I can do that is if you call and let me help you in your relocation every step of the way. One of the first things I’m going to have you do before your big move here is to send you a link to a site that has a cost of living calculator, so you can check out what you would need to make here to keep your present lifestyle where you are at now.

So, call today.  I can help your family home and I look forward to having you as a neighbor!




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

© 2009 Todd Clark - Please call before relocating to Beaverton Oregon, I want your relocation to succeed!

This picture was taken at the zoo last weekend and just really shows the size of these animals. This sea lion wouldn’t have survived in the wild as he is blind, but here he sure seems to be happy and doing just fine and really seems to enjoy swimming around and I swear he can hear the kids.

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

© 2009 Todd Clark - Tigard Oregon Real Estate Sales by Neighborhood

This chart below breaks down Tigard Oregon Real Estate sales by neighborhood, for the week ending 03/27/2008. Sales have been off since last year with the pending sales in Tigard, Oregon were down 25.4% from 2008 for the month of February when the last stats came out. The news isn’t a good for Tigard with the average sales price being down only 7.5% from the same time last year, but by up more than a percent since January. This wasn't good news for sellers, but is better than expected by many with so many foreclosures and short sales hitting the market the last couple months of 2008.

Here is a breakdown of homes sales for the week by neighborhood. Just click on the link to your neighborhood for the complete breakdown of what the average of homes that are on the market, how long they have been on the market, how many have sold, what their average price was, and how long they were on the market.

Neighborhood                    # of Active Listings

Bull Mountain North Neighborhood, Tigard, Oregon :	80
Bull Mountain South Neighborhood, Tigard, Oregon :	124
Greenburg Neighborhood, Tigard, Oregon :	42
Mountainview Neighborhood, Tigard, Oregon :	104
Summer Lake Neighborhood, Tigard, Oregon :	37
Summerfield Neighborhood, Tigard, Oregon :	35
Tigard Neighborhood, Tigard, Oregon :	27
Walnut Grove Neighborhood, Tigard, Oregon :	21

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

© 2009 Todd Clark - Tigard Oregon Real Estate Sales by Neighborhood

This chart below breaks down Beaverton Oregon Real Estate sales by neighborhood, for the week ending 03/27/2008. Sales have been off since last year with the pending sales in Beaverton, Oregon were down 25.4% from 2008 for the month of February when the last stats came out. The good news is that the average sales price was down only 5.2% from the same time last year, but this was a 1% drop since January. This was much better than expected as many with a lot of foreclosures and short sales hitting the market the last couple months of 2008 it would be a lot worse.

Here is a breakdown of homes sales for the week by neighborhood. Just click on the link to your neighborhood for the complete breakdown of what the average of homes that are on the market, how long they have been on the market, how many have sold, what their average price was, and how long they were on the market.

Neighborhood                            # of Active Listings

Aloha Neighborhood, Beaverton, Oregon :	147
Cooper Mountain Neighborhood, Beaverton, Oregon :	108
Greenway Neighborhood, Beaverton, Oregon :	32
Hart Neighborhood, Beaverton, Oregon :	75
Highland Hills Neighborhood, Beaverton, Oregon :	51
Lexington Neighborhood, Aloha, Oregon :	51
Murray Hill Neighborhood, Beaverton, Oregon :	101
Sexton Mountain Neighborhood, Beaverton, Oregon :	100
Sorrento Ridge Neighborhood, Beaverton, Oregon :	66

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

© 2009 Todd Clark - Beaverton Oregon Real Estate Sales by Neighborhood

When I am out with my school aged children during traditional school time, the question they get asked the most is, “Why aren’t you in school?”  My children have been asked this so many times, it’s not even unusual for them anymore.  In fact, they usually smile when they answer because they know they are special.

For me, home schooling is a choice I have yet to regret.  My oldest child showed excitement for learning at a very young age.  She knew all her letters and numbers before she was 3 and was reading at age 4.  I knew that if I put her into public school, that she would be bored.  I found I enjoyed it so much, that I kept it up for all my children.

I did a lot of research and there are all sorts of curriculums out there to choose from.  I found one that worked for me.  Calvert School has home schooling courses in every elementary grade level.  There are lots of add ons, such as foreign languages, art, and music.  The math is separate so if your child is above or below average, you can cater to that. 

Calvert makes home schooling as smooth as can be for the parent/teacher.  The teacher manual is set up so you can just sit down at the beginning of school time and start teaching.  There is not a whole lot of “night before” prep time.  It covers all the bases so you know you won’t be leaving out any major part of a well rounded education. 

If you still feel inadequate in your teaching abilities, they have an advisory teaching service.  You send in the specified assignments, and the provided tests, and they will grade them and send back any feedback to help your child excel.  They are a partner to help you in your home schooling needs. 

Home schooling isn’t for everyone. But it was the right choice for my family.   

© 2009 Samantha Clark - Home School: The Choice for Me

Client trust should be the first priority in your real estate business, because once it is lost, there is no getting it back. Every step of the way the consumer is judging you and your actions, but they can’t see what you do behind closed doors.

With business being slow for so many in this business, I’ve been getting more and more calls requesting a partnership of sorts with mortgage brokers, insurance agents, heck even warranty companies.

But, how do our clients know that we are on the up and up with our referrals of these companies? Well, one form of protection is RESPA. (Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act) This act was put in place so that the consumer would be shown on the HUD statement all compensation paid and they could then know that a referral was based on legit reasons and not a kick back of sorts.

The problem is, when times are thin, some like to blur this line and try to avoid this law by saying, “Oh, no one needs to know”. I’ve been getting more and more calls from warranty companies offering me a kickback if I use their services. Mortgage brokers offering free services to use them, but all these are RESPA violations no matter how small they seem.

How is the consumer to really know that we are really doing everything we do with their best interest in mind? Well, to tell you the truth, the consumer has to have a little faith, but when that faith is broken, it doesn’t just affect that agent, it affects us all as an industry.

I had an agent tell me yesterday of a mortgage broker offering to pay for her website and her flyers if she used his services, as long as he can advertise on both. I advised her that this is a RESPA violation and she asked, “How would anyone know?” I said, “YOU WOULD and that should be a big enough reason not to.”

By doing things like this, even if your clients don’t find out, you are willing to sell out your fiduciary responsibility to them for your own financial gain. You have a financial responsibility to your clients and the only question that should ever enter in to your mind when working for your clients is, “Is the best thing for my client?” If you ever answer anything but “YES” than you need to give them another choice.

Remember it is all about trust, and once that trust is gone, so is your business.

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

© 2009 Todd Clark - Clients need to be able to trust you