I’ll give you personal account that just happened to me.  My wife and I put in an offer on a beautiful home with nearly an acre of river frontage in Rhododendron.  Sounds good, right?  It does but here is where it gets tricky.  The detached shop is was built without a permit. The 720sf deck was built without a permit.  The cesspool is substandard and 60 years old.  Well, knowing these things we wanted to find out what we could do to retro-permit these structures.  So, off to the county planning and zoning department with one of my agents who is the resident land use agent in my office.  Our findings?  The shop is over into the neighbors property by a few feet, the shed is completely in the neighbors property and because of the flood zone it is in, we can’t retro permit the structures because they would not let us build them in those spots today.  Not a lot of other options for where they can go either.  Hmm.  Not looking good. Okay, so we are still interested but need some time to process.  Then came the homeowners insurance quote.  Nearly $3,000 for the year ON TOP of the flood insurance of quote of $2,400/year.  It seems the recent fires in the Colombia River Gorge caused insurance companies to reset their rates for the Mt Hood area.  Ugh.  I guess this is a good time to tell you to begin checking on what your insurance will cost as soon as you get into contract (heck, even before).  These things can take time as well as make a huge difference in your monthly payment. Bottom line – take the time to complete your due diligence within your inspection periods afford to you in your purchase and sale contract.  Not only will you gain valuable insight into what the county know (or does not know) about your home, you will be able to unearth things that could easily help you to negotiate better terms for your sale. Good luck in your house hunting! ———————————————————– Garett Chadney is a Principal Broker/Owner of The Broker Network, LLC – a boutique-style real estate brokerage with offices in Oregon and SW Washington. He can be reached at [email protected] or via his personal website.

I’ve been a licensed REALTOR for nearly 25 years so I’ve seen a few ups and downs in the housing market.  The question is get asked most often is, “What is the market going to do this year?”  Its a fair question but a difficult one to answer as I don’t believe I yet own the wondrous power of absolute prognostication but I will do my best to put some context to my answer. Prior to the Great Recession the Oregon real estate market enjoyed an amazing ride from 2002 into 2007.  The market turned for the worse by summer of 2007 and by the 3rd quarter of 2012 the free fall was complete.  That was approximately 5 years of growth followed by 5 years of decline.  Since the 3rd quarter of 2012 the Oregon market has grown by leaps and bounds back to what it once was (and then some).  We just finished 2017 on a high as another 5 year cycle has been completed.  What does that say for 2018 and beyond?  As history tends to repeat itself, 2018 may be the transition year into either much slower growth or even a bit of a decline in home values.  Most economists agree that by the time 2019 rolls around and the new tax laws take full effect, we may see a completely different market than the one we just witnessed. But that’s not bad news.  In fact, it actually is healthy for our market to stabilize like we have seen signs of it doing as of late.  A more balanced market that is fair to both buyers and sellers is key to long term sustained growth.  With inventory levels expected to rise in 2018, buyers should see more choices and you may not need to compete with multiple buyers for the same home. The market is strong, employment is strong and Oregon remains one of the top in-migration states.  As a result, we should see a relatively stable market for the time being. Garett Chadney is a Principal Broker/Owner of The Broker Network, LLC a boutique-style real estate brokerage with offices in Oregon and SW Washington.