Oregon DMV rated one of the Worst in the Nation



If you’ve ever walked out of an Oregon Driver and Motor Vehicles Services office muttering, “Oregon DMV is the worst,” you weren’t exaggerating, according to a new national survey.
DMV.com, a startup that aims to “ease the stress and annoyance of dealing with the DMV,” compiled a list of the country's best and worst state motor-vehicle agencies.
Oregon came in dead last.
Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean the Oregon DMV is the nation’s worst, since an eight-month survey of more than 10,000 DMV.com visitors failed to gather an adequate sample size for 13 states.
So, technically, Oregon has the 37th worst DMV, according to the website. Washington ranked 17th. The Ohio DMV, according to respondents, is the nation's best.
Interestingly, according to the DMV.com survey, longer or shorter wait times don’t necessarily drive customer satisfaction.

The average wait time at an Oregon DMV office is 25.45 minutes, according to DMV.com’s “Wait Time Study.” Oregon ranks 12th out of the 41 states included in that analysis.
Nationally, the average wait is 34 minutes, meaning Oregon’s service times are actually 26 percent shorter.

David House, an Oregon DMV spokesman, said he hadn’t seen the results of the customer satisfaction survey but was surprised by the poor ranking, even as the agency's struggles with office closures, staff cuts and a reduction in Saturday hours.
The agency, he said, conducts monthly customer-satisfaction survey and the DMV is working hard to improve the experience for motorists seeking services.

Click HERE for the whole Oregonian Article

Blu Homes offers sustainable mid century modern homes with Silver LEED Certified construction

Blu Homes, an incredible new company centered on green building and personalized living, offers architect-designed, precision built, and eco friendly homes in an incredibly convenient way. Blu Homes combines warm eco-friendly materials with a simple and streamlined building process to make it more convenient for consumers. The steel framing used was developed out of research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Rhode Island School of Design. The research put behind the steel being used provides incredible strength, quality and durability. This allows for high performance in even the most extreme weather conditions such as hurricane level winds zones, extreme snow loads, high seismic zones, and challenging soil and marine moist environments. Blu Homes are build by incredibly skilled craftspeople. The homes are beautiful, healthy, green and extremely well constructed. The way they construct the homes allows for a construction time of 6-8 weeks which makes the process more green. Because they use a process that protects from the elements it limits the amount of moisture and mold, debris, noise, and all together annoyance of having a home built. It also means they are able to be more rigorous in their research for the green materials selected to build the home. Blu Homes process also allows for less mistakes and errors because of the computer driven and automated construction. With a multitude of floor plans, options and personal design input, the home you have built is one of a kind to match you and your lifestyle. Their options and floor plans are versatile and diverse and fit nearly any need. So, if you are looking for a one of a kind home built with green materials, with silver LEED certified certification and will last well into your future, you should consider Blu homes.

If you would like to receive more information on these homes please click HERE

Click on the photos below to see different styles and options


Breezehouse



Interior view











Origin Home

Lofthouse
















The Hottest Neighborhoods in Portland and How they Compare

Tax Day Freebies!! Incorporate Or Form an LLC Free on Tax Day

April 15th.  Either you love it, or you hate it.  Some people are off dreaming of what kind of luxury vacation they will take on their tax refund, and some of us, well, probably most of us, are debating canceling cable or constructing meal plans around ramen and bologna to help ease the pain of writing a check. 

Regardless which camp you fall in this year, be sure to check out Tax Day Freebies! Because writing a big check or booking travel plans can only be made better when done with a free Arby's curly fries.

Own real estate? Perhaps a slurpee won't help you out, but did you know MyCorporation is offering an "Incorporate or Form an LLC Free on Tax Day". Real Estate is a great vehicle for investing, one of the best ways to protect it and yourself is to keep your properties in an established LLC (Limited Liability Corporation). 

While the Free LLC and Tax Filing Assistance are great, I can't help but love this companies spin on April 15th. I'm not sure what I would do with an apple scented urinal screen, but boy do I like the sentiment!

MVPee.com is giving out 1,000 “Abolish the IRS” apple scented urinal screens FREE to the first 1,000 people that request (+ $3.00 shipping/handling). 

Down with Portland foreclosure rates!

The Portland area’s foreclosure rate dropped to 1.89 percent in January, falling 0.65 percentage points compared to a year ago, according to Irving, Calif.-based CoreLogic.

CoreLogic said local activity remained below than the national rate of 1.97 percent.

The group had reported last month it expected to enter 2014 with fewer than 1 million homes worth of foreclosure inventory.

Too, the local mortgage delinquency, defined as the rate of mortgage loans 90 or more days past due, fell to 3.89 percent in January from 5.17 percent one year ago.

Check out the original article here at the BizJournal.

 

 

 

Hillsboro School Board approves $2.25 mil for new high school

 

 

The Hillsboro School Board approved a $2.25 million land purchase of 40 acres in the South Hillsboro development area.

In February, the Oregon legislature approved House Bill 4078, which expanded the urban growth boundary and established new urban and rural reserves in Washington County. For Hillsboro schools, that means new property in South Hillsboro, South Cooper Mountain and Cornelius.

The district expects South Hillsboro to eventually include more than 10,000 new housing units, resulting in 3,200 new students.

 

 

Ed Hayden, the district's realtor, had searched 11 years for an adequate property in the area on which to build a high school. The current landowners agreed to finance the purchase under a four-year contract. 

 

The address of the new property is 22520 S.W. Rosedale Road.

Check out OregonLive.com/Hillsboro to see the original article.