Thursday, March 27, 2014

Airbnb is headed to Portland and Creating 160 Jobs When They Get Here!

Airbnb is planning to open here in Portland creating 160 jobs when they do. What is Airbnb you ask?
Well according to the Bizjounrnal "Airbnb is the fast-growing company that connects travelers looking for a place to stay with people with extra room. Founded in 2008, Airbnb has more than 1,300 employees, according to its Crunchbase profile."
The article goes on to tell us that "Thetus Corp. announced it is heading into 40,000 square feet at the historic U.S. National Bank Block. San Francisco newcomer Airbnb is taking Thetus’ old office to establish a North American operations headquarters. Airbnb will take the roughly 20,000 square feet that Thetus is leaving at 34 N.W. 1st Ave. The office will be one of 12 global offices for Airbnb and will be one of the biggest outposts for the company with a planned 160 employees, said Molly Turner, director of public policy for Airbnb."

That means 160 new jobs for Portland and hopefully, an increase in visitors. To read the entire article please click on the Link/Picture below!

http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/blog/2014/03/thetus-has-a-new-home-and-airbnb-finds-its.html?page=2

 

Friday, March 21, 2014

Portland the "Fittest City in America"

Men's Fitness magazine has names Portland the "Fittest City in America" While that's certainly something to be proud of, what makes this national recognition even more notable is that cycling got top billing in the magazine's report.



Check out the whole article by clicking on the link below

"Portland named Fittest City in America".

Portland is Weirder Than Austin

"It's official: Portland is weirder than Austin, Texas. Well, it's not quite official, but the Sparefoot blog (in Austin) has compared the cities and determined the Rose City is the weirder of the two. The site cites 12 different lists like "America's Strangest People" and "Most Tattooed Cities" going back to 2010.Portland ranked higher in eight categories (including the two above) and Austin took the lead in only four categories. But surprisingly, Austin's winning categories did include "Best Cities For People Watching" and (gasp) "Best Beer Town."
 
 
 
 
Check out the whole article by clicking on the link at the below
"Portland is Weirder than Austin".

Good News for Home Buyers

Good News for Home Buyers!
Breaking NewsVerified account https://twitter.com/BreakingNewst@BreakingNews
Applications for US home mortgages rose last month as interest rates slipped; Mortgage Bankers Association index up 9.4% - @Reuters.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Cedar Mill Walgreens Opens Discussion for Standing Remodel Regulations

Cedar Mill News reports Washington County’s Land Use and Transportation Department may review “standing wall remodel” regulations following concerns raised in Cedar Mill.
 
When a Walgreens went in at Cedar Mill Town Center, the store did not have to meet town center building requirements because the new store was built with one wall of the previous building left standing, according to Cedar Mill News. However, not much of the wall was actually left standing and a new building was constructed without meeting some transit-oriented regulations for development.
 
Such loopholes could become part of countywide discussion later this year.
 
The Land Use and Transportation Department’s 2014 work plan will be finalized in April.

Check out the ling below to read the original article.

http://www.oregonlive.com/beaverton/index.ssf/2014/03/cedar_mill_standing_wall_debat.html

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

New Technology Takes Homes on Acreage to the Next Level

No boring pasture here.

The video of this entertainer's paradise will speak for itself. Over 2000sf of single level living with gorgeous remodeled master suite. Wine cellar, granite counters, slate floors, and an outdoor living room with million dollar view. Tons of extra outbuildings include: 3 car garage, guest cottage, caretaker studio apartment, covered barn and outdoor arena!

See it all in this inspiring short video.


16796 SE Royer Rd, Damascus 97089 from McImagery on Vimeo.


16796 SE Royer Rd. $679,900

Thursday, March 6, 2014

If You Didn't Buy a Home Yesterday, You Should Today



Did you purchase a home yesterday, or the day before? Well if you didn’t you should buy today. With a projection of increase in prices now is the time to buy before they go up any further. CoreLogic found that Oregon had some of the largest home-price increases in the country in January.

Elliot Njus said in his article that in the Portland area, prices were up 15.6 percent in January from a year earlier. Nationally, home prices were up 0.9 percent in January compared with December and 12 percent from a year ago.Based on sale contracts already signed, CoreLogic said it expects a year-over-year increase of 12.5 percent through February.

So, if you aren’t in the process of buying a home now, you should definitely start looking at getting into the process soon rather than later. Check out the rest of the article below. 


Monday, March 3, 2014

Mortgage Servicer’s Buiness is Called into Question

Check out the excerpt below regarding William Erbey, a mortgage servicer who owns OCWEN, among other companies, and why his business is being called into questions. It's rather unsettling that there are minimal, if not incredibly limited, regulations on what is happening here. The full article is available at the bottom of the page.

Mortgage servicers collect money from homeowners and distribute those payments to lenders. It’s a fairly boring business, but not to William C. Erbey.The 64-year-old billionaire has built a servicing empire of mind-aching complexity that plays a huge role in the nation’s housing market. Mr. Erbey’s flagship company, Ocwen Financial, now services about one of every four subprime mortgages in the United States.
Now, Mr. Erbey’s smarts — and his collection of companies are being tested. State and federal regulators are concerned that Ocwen is mishandling some of the mortgages it now services, citing examples of shoddy paperwork and faulty technology.
Regulators and investors, which actually own most of the loans Ocwen services, are also questioning the unusual arrangements between Ocwen — “new co” backward — and four other publicly traded companies where Mr. Erbey is chairman. The companies do things from buying up delinquent loans to renting out foreclosed houses.
In effect, Mr. Erbey’s enterprise has become a complex financial services group, but without the regulatory scrutiny that a bank must face.
But in the view of critics, these businesses are rife with potential conflicts because some aren’t entirely separate from each other.
For example, Ocwen and a spinoff, Altisource Portfolio Solutions, were employing the same chief risk officer, who was reporting directly to Mr. Erbey in both capacities, according to New York’s top banking regulator. Ocwen also contracts with some of Mr. Erbey’s other companies. And some of the other companies hire Ocwen.
In the case of one of Mr. Erbey’s companies, Home Loan Servicing Solutions, it now works only with Ocwen. Home Loan Servicing Solutions was created to purchase mortgage servicing rights from the banks. Ocwen actually services the loans.
By providing financing for Ocwen’s servicing business, Home Loan Servicing helps bolster Ocwen’s returns. And Mr. Erbey owns about 13 percent of Ocwen, but a much smaller stake in Home Loan Servicing, which means that, in theory, he has more of a stake in Ocwen’s success.
Investors have seemed willing to overlook any potential pitfalls in the unusual corporate structure. Helped by a flood of new servicing business, Ocwen’s shares more than tripled in value from the end of 2011 to the end of last year.
But its stock price has recently tumbled in the wake of fresh scrutiny of Ocwen from Benjamin M. Lawsky, New York’s superintendent of financial services, who sent a letter to Ocwen earlier this week demanding more details about the relationships between the companies.
While some state and federal regulators and housing advocates have criticized the servicing companies broadly for frustrating homeowners with sloppy paperwork, erroneous fees and inadequate customer support, others say that Ocwen does a good job in granting mortgage modifications to troubled borrowers.
“We get more principal reductions out of Ocwen than we do out of anyone else,” said Bruce Marks, who heads the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, a nonprofit housing advocacy group.
Still, the question hovering over Mr. Erbey’s empire is whether the increased regulatory scrutiny will slow the growth of Ocwen’s servicing pipeline.

Mortgage Servicer’s Ties Raise Regulatory Concern